WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL FROM PAGE ONE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28,2008 | A7

A LOOK BACK | STATE JOURNAL'S EIGHTTO WATCH IN 2008

Eight who had an eventful 2008SHIRLEYABRAHAMSONWISCONSIN SUPREMECOURTCHIEF JUSTICE

gottougher1 Wisconsin Supreme

Court Chief Justice ShirleyAbrahamson's goal ofkeèping public trust in thestate's highest court gottougher in 2008 when sixof the seven justices wereforced to decide whethertb discipline their newestrhember, Annette Ziegler.

"The court did have adiÍTicult case because forthe first time, it was askedto reviewthe conductóf one of our own. That\Vas unprecedented," saidAbrahamson, 75.' The court handed down

a public reprimand toZiégler, who acknowl-edged having had conflictsòf interest when she heardcases as a WashingtonCounty Circuit Courtjudge.' Á second justice,

Michael Gableman, alsofaces possible sanctionfrom his colleagues.

Abrahamson faces herown election challenge inApril for another 10-yearíerm on the bench fromJefferson County CircuitJudge Randy Koschnick.

-DceJ.Hall

TOM CANEACCOUNTABILITYBOARD CHAIRMAN

Newgrouphasbeen active

When the GovernmentAccountability Boardbegan its work a year ago,íts chairman, Tom Cane,69, told the State Jour-nal that the group of sixretired judges overseeingelections and ethics lawswould be independentand nonpartisan.

Over the year, the grouptook steps to regulatecampaign ads, barredpublic officials from hid-ing asseis in blind trusts,reviewed lawmakers'daily living payments andstared down AttorneyGeneral J.B. Van Hollenover his lawsuit on voterregistration checks.

"They have shown theirindependence," said MikeWittenwyler, a Madisonlawyer who has arguedbefore the board.

Conservatives have criti-cized the board over itsplans to regulate ads andfor its refusal to conductexpansive voter registra-tion checks prior to theNov. 4 election.

- Mark Pitsch

QABRIELACEZARUW-MADISONSTEM-CELL SCIENTIST

AutSsmresearchyields resuhs

How are the brainsof people with autismdifferent? UW-Madisonstem-cell scientist Gabri-ela Cezar, whose goal for2008 was to study tissuesamples from 20 autisticpatients, says the resultshave been "compelling."She hopes to publish thefindings in early 2009 andexpand the study.

But thafs not ali theBrazilian scientist hasbeen up to. Cezar, 36, andFred H. Gage, professor atthe Salk Institute for Bio-logical Studies in La Jolla,Calif., used human embry-onic stem cells to createbrain cells with character-istics like those in peoplewith ALS, or amyotrophiclateral sclerosis, a degen-erative neuromusculardisease. The findings areexpected to help screen fordrugs to better treat ALSpatients.

Meanwhile, SteminaBiomarker Discovery, theMadison biotech co-found-ed by Cezar, has its firstproduct due out in early2009. It's a test to see ifdrugs being developed willcause birth defects.

— Judy Newman

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His field: "Cardiology is a field thatchanges rapidly—we know more aboutthe heart today than we did yesterday.Each new discovery and innovationtranslates to better care and more livessaved," says Benjamin Kleiber, MD.

'EMPOWERING PATIENTS——gives th em the ability

TO LIVE BETTER,"

says cardiologist Benjamin Kleiber.

His approach: "I make sure my patientsunderstand what their diagnosis meansand what they can do to live better.There are so many different treatmentoptions that it's crucial to answer alitheir questions so they can make thebest decisions."

On Dean: "Dean is different. It's thehealthcare system of the future becausethe doctors make the business decisions,so you know the focus stays on patients,"says Dr. Kleiber.

• Medicai School: University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor

• Residency: Georgetown UniversityMedicai Center, Washington, DC

• Fellowship: Georgetown UniversityMedicai Center/Washington HospitalCenter/Veterans Affairs MedicaiCenter, Washington, DC

DeanH E A L T H S Y S T E M

Partners who carer

Dean & St. Mary s Outpatíent Center700 S. Park Street

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©2008, Dean lltgjih Syaem

MATT FRANKWISCONSIN DNRSECRETARY

Hepusheddealsfor Oreaf Lakes

In his first full yearas Department of Natu-ral Resources secretary,Matt Frank helped pushthrough landmark agree-ments to protect GreatLakes water and cut mer-cury pollution.

The Great Lakes Com-pact approved by boththe state Legislature andCongress will prevent theirfresh water from being di-verted. The mercury rtilespassed in October will cutcoal plant emissions ofthat pollutant by 90 per-cent by as early as 2015.

"Wisconsin is aboutwater and ifs really impor-tant that we protect ourwaters," Frank said.

Former DNR secre-tary George Meyer, nowexecutive director of theWisconsin Wildlife Fed-eration, praised Frank'saccomplishments but saidthe state must act to keepinvasive species out of theGreat Lakes.

Frank, 52, said Wis-consin intends to have a"strong state permit" inplace to prevent invasivesbefore the beginning ofthe 2009 shipping season.

— Jason Stein

JULIEJENSENMADISON REPERTORYTHEATERADMINISTRATOR

Arts' fiscal dívecostherjob

Julie Jenscn knows first-hand what the econoniy'snosedive has done to thearts. For one thing, it didaway with herjob.

As Madison RepertoryTheatre's top administra-tor, Jensen holds one of sixpositions cut in November.Although the Rep hadachieved what Jensen laidout a year ago as its mostimportant goal — recruit-ing more season ticketholders — this fali, single-ticket sales bombed.

"When the economyreally took a dive, we wèntfrom selling around 100tickets a day to, one day,selling nine," said Jensen,38.

She'U leave the Rep atthe end of February, per-haps for a career intermis-sion.

"I have two kids (ages5 and 18 months), so Imight stay home withthem for awhile," she said."1 certainly plan to stayin the nonprofit world. Ilove the arts and I have astrong arts administrationbackground, so I hope tostay connected to the artsin one form or another."

— Gayle Worland

MARK OLINGERMADISON PLANNING ANDDEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

City plannerhas been busy

Mark Olinger has beena busy man.

Olinger, director of theMadison's Planning andDevelopment Department,has guided progress onsome of the most ambi-tious efforts in years.

The city:• Started constructíon

on phase one of the $28million redevelopment ofAllied Drívc.

• Began to redevelopthe Villager Mall on SouthPark Street.

• Updated its EconomicDevelopment Plan andwill finish an update ofthe Downtown Plan bysummer.

• Adopted a Capito]Gateway Corridor Plan.

But Olinger, 52, didn'tanticipate effects of a fastchanging economy.

"The way that themarkets affected majorredevelopment projectssuch as Union Cornersand Hilldale was amaz-ing in how quickly thedevelopment landscapein Madison changed," hesaid.

— Dean Mosiman

NOBLE WRAYMADISON POLICE CHIEF

New cops helpMadison Police Chief Noble Wray said

a dozen new officers in 2008 and anincreased. focus on burglaries and gangshelped him address a citywide clamorfor policeattention toquality-of-lifecomplaints.

Most of the12 new officerswho hit thestreets in Junewere assignedto patrol,heading offissues such asloitering, loudparties, unat-tended children, drugs, public drunken-ness and drug-dealing, Wray, 48, said.

But the new officers also allowed foranother neighborhood officer for a trou-bled Southwest Side área, Wray said, andfor extra support for Toki Middle Schooland Brittingham Park.

A task forced headed by Lt. MarkBrown uncovered ties to gangs and drugsin the growing number of commercialand residential burglaries since 2007. Asecond gang officer, Lester Moore, alsowas added. "Thafs been tremendouslyhelpful," Wray said.

— Karen Rivedal

NED YOSTMILWAUKEE BREWERS MANAGER

Team made playoffs, he didn'tIt was expecled that Ned Yost would be

a lightning rod for Wisconsin sports fansin 2008, but who knew he would gener-ate so many sparks in his sixth season asmanager of theBrewers?

Milwau-kee had abreakthroughperformance,going 90-72 inthe NationalLeague CentralDivision andqualifying forthe playoffs forthe first timesince 1982.

But Yost, 53, wasn't around when theBrewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on thefinal day of the regular season to clinchthe NL wild-card berth. He was fired Sept.15 — even though the Brewers were 15games over .500 with 12 games remaining— reportedly at the behest of owner MarkAttanasio because the team had lost 11 ofits last 14.

Yost was replaced on an ínterim basísby bench coach Dale Sveum, who coaxedthe Brewers into playoffs, where they lostto eventual World Series champion Phila-delphia in the NL Divisional Series.

— Andy Baggot

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