UP: Kelley Howe. The Madison resident, arrested while trying to alert Madison police after finding his brother's stolen bike ("Crimefighter Thrown in Jail," 7/24/09), has all charges against him dismissed by the Dane County District Attorney's Office. But Assistant DA Brian Asmus says the state was unable to "meet our burden of proof" - an apparent effort to insinuate guilt, rather than admit error. And Madison police plan no further investigation into the original theft, despite reported evidence implicating a particular suspect.
DOWN: UW Hospital. Madison's medical behemoth tells 53 patients they are slightly at risk of contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob, an always-fatal brain disease, because they were operated on with possibly contaminated surgical instruments. The UW did the right thing in giving notice, but it was horrible notice to have to give.
