Zion---Dairy Queen has closed its store here and terminated its relationship with the franchise owner after he was accused of using racial slurs in a confrontation with a customer. Jim Crichton reportedly admitted to police that he used the slur in the presence of a 21 year-old woman and her children after she had asked for a refund. He told police that he's "fed up with black people." In a statement issued Monday by American Dairy Queen Corp., Crichton called his behavior "inexcusable and unacceptable" and said he would "undergo sensitivity training."
Pleasant Prairie---A bakery business that's headquartered in Chicago is establishing production at LakeView Corp. Park. Gold Standard Baking plans to take over an existing building off of County Highway "H" just south of Highway 165. According to a news release from Pleasant Prairie, 90 full-time workers are expected to staff a production line around the clock, with the company expected to add five or six additional lines in the future. Also from the village Monday: Doheny Enterprises, a Kenosha-based seller of swimming pool supplies, plans to consolidate three facilities at a new building that it plans to build in the southeast quadrant of Highway 165 and 80th Ave. The building will include its main office and warehouse space.
Racine---At the time of his murder last year, 41 year-old Michael Hardy was described as a church-going man on disability who volunteered daily at a food pantry. Friends were shocked to learn that Hardy had been shot in his Indiana St. apartment. New homicide and robbery charges that were filed Monday against a 26 year-old neighbor reveals that Hardy, for an unspecified reason, had been, at the time of his death, in possession of a wad of cash totaling $10,000. According to the complaint, the suspect, Joseph Jackson, told an acquaintance that he'd been helping Hardy set up a fake bank account and had been "doing credit card stuff with him." Jackson allegedly shot Hardy and stole the money.
Racine---A 28 year-old man who allegedly robbed the Landmark Credit Union on Rapids Drive last week had been wearing a G-P-S monitor at the time. According to a criminal complaint, data from the monitor confirmed that Renault Griffin, Jr. had been in the credit union at the time of the robbery. Griffin had been released on bail and ordered to wear the monitor after being charged with hit and run and robbery in separate, earlier cases.
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