January 2013

Annemarie Spitznagle keeps a notebook. She has since she was a kid.

“My mom found lists and notes to myself everywhere,” Spitznagle said of her childhood.

More than a journal or diary, the notebooks have been like close friends, the kind who listen patiently and reserve judgment. The contents of Spitznagle’s notebooks have changed as she’s grown up and her interests have evolved. But through it all, two themes have remained constant: home and cooking.

Spitznagle, the daughter of an Air Force pilot, was born in Japan but raised in Louisiana. It was in Louisiana Spitznagle’s identity took hold in her family’s Cajun culture. Central to her family’s way of life was food. In a Cajun home, the kitchen is court and food is king.

“I’d come home from school, drop off my backpack and join my mom in the kitchen,” Spitznagle said.

Meals took hours to prepare and almost as long to enjoy with one another. Spitznagle was in charge of desserts.

When authorities began tracking a Mexican national suspected of killing 19-year-old Antonio Perez, they didn’t know the fugitive’s whereabouts.

In fact, they weren’t even sure if the suspect, a Middleton High School student, was a teenager or a man in his early 20s. The person they sought also went by three names: Ivan Mateo-Lozenzo, Alberto Ramirez and Arain Gutierrez.

The two-and-a-half year investigation that followed culminated December 28 in the arrest of the individual now known as Arain Gutierrez. He was captured in Cancun, Mexico.

His real age is yet to be verified, according to authorities.

Gutierrez was awaiting extradition as of this newspaper’s press time, but the incident long ago prompted local school officials to reexamine how they verify the identities of their pupils. (A law enforcement agent familiar with the case said extradition of Gutierrez could take as long as a year.)

The Middleton Police Department is currently accepting applications for its Citizens’ Academy, according to community awareness officer Jill Tutaj. Classes will start April 3.

The 10-week course offers citizens an opportunity to learn more about the Middleton Police Department by partaking in hands-on classes similar to those taken by real police officers.  The course will be presented by officers of the Middleton Police Department.

Students in the Middleton Police Department Citizens’ Academy will receive training in the areas of Traffic Law Enforcement, Crime Scene Investigation, Defensive and Arrest Tactics, Emergency Vehicle Operation, Emergency Medical Response, Firearms, Fire Department Response, Police-School Liaison and other Basic Police Procedures.