uncle keith returns!!

Uncle Keith gets his man.

In April at a family party Uncle Keith sat me down and in great detail explained how he was going to get revenge on his enemies on the city council. It all sounded pretty fucked up, and I wondered if he'd do it.

He did.

"Rowdy night results in councilman's arrest"

City Councilman Rappe has been arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor sexual assault, disorderly conduct and battery stemming from a rowdy November night at a bar on Fulton Street. Rappe, a two-time candidate for mayor, was booked at the County Jail on Monday afternoon and released. He will make his first court appearance on May 17.

Whether Rappe, 36, will face trial is up to District Attorney O'Leary. O'Leary was unavailable for comment, and an assistant said his office had yet to receive Rappe's file.

Police Chief Keith said Rappe was drunk when he groped two women who were dancing provocatively on the bar of the downtown watering hole. He said the women-Milz, 21, and Arthur, 26-asked Rappe to stop. Both have been arrested on disorderly conduct charges.

Uncle Keith said Milz later was fired from her job as a bartender at the bar by owner Plautz, who has not been charged.

Ironically, Rappe serves on the city liquor license committee and campaigned on a platform of reducing the number of downtown bars.

Uncle Keith said Rappe went to the bar after a city council meeting with Alderman Thompson, who left after an hour. Mayor McIntyre arrived later and stayed with Rappe until the bar closed shortly before 2 a.m.

Uncle Keith said interviews with patrons showed that neither Thompson nor McIntyre were involved in the groping.

McIntyre, who was opposed by Rappe in the April election, filed a complaint with Uncle Keith that week.

The investigation was not a secret during the campaign, but the chief said he delayed Rappe's arrest so it would not affect the election.

During the campaign, McIntyre described the bar incident to a reporter as "stupid." He said he had discussed the night's activities with Uncle Keith but believed it was something best left for Rappe and his wife to work out.

McIntyre, who is about to start his fifth term as mayor, said Rappe told him not to tell anyone about the night's activities. He also said Rappe told him to remember that he was at the bar, too.

On Tuesday, McIntyre said he reported the incident to Uncle Keith because "it just seemed the right thing to do." He said he did not believe the investigation altered the outcome of the election and that he had no political motivation to report Rappe to Uncle Keith.

"I will continue to do city business as best I can," McIntyre said.

He said he did not know what effect Rappe's arrest would have on the city's image or council relations.

In a signed statement given to police earlier this year, Rappe acknowledged he was at the bar and said that two women were dancing in a provocative manner on the bar and pulling up their own underwear. He admitted giving them $3 or $4 but said he saw no touching or nudity.

In a statement, Rappe said he was "extremely shocked" by the charges but claimed "complete and total innocence."

"I feel very unfortunate for all the people who are or have been involved in this situation," he said.

"It is regrettable that the complaint was filed by McIntyre during a political campaign," he wrote. "I am confident that the truth will come out and true justice will be served."

His attorney said he suspects the complaint was politically motivated.

"We have yet to complete our interviews," he said. "Right now we don't have the facts. All we have is the police investigation."

News of the arrest quickly spread through the community of 5,000 that is struggling to improve its image and attract new business.

Councilman Schieldt, a confidant of Uncle Keith's, called Rappe's arrest an embarrassment to town. He said Rappe should resign from the council.

"It's a debacle, and I'm just sick about his behavior," he said. "Council members are under a microscope and should stay above the fray.

"But I don't feel that one brush of dishonor should mess up the total portrait of a good council. I also don't think this affected the mayor's race. He won by a margin of 551 to 410 votes."

Hale, a critic of Rappe, said he should quit the council.

"This looks very bad," she said. "People are supposed to look up to council members and trust them. What was he thinking?"

Councilman Lund called Rappe's arrest a "political act" by both Uncle Keith and McIntyre. Lund, who has clashed with Uncle Keith over the past decade, said Rappe should not resign.

"I think a lot of this has to do with Rappe's questioning of police budget issues, especially after that harshly critical study was done by a consultant last year," he said.

"The chief will do anything to get back at people who question him. I know that from past personal experience."

Lund was arrested by Edgerton police in 1992 with several other aldermen for allegedly violating open meeting laws. He was acquitted of the charges. Later that year, his wife was arrested for drunken driving in Edgerton.

Lund said he no longer would trust McIntyre.

"I'm not going to go anywhere with him that I don't have to," he said.

Both Rappe and Lund serve on the public safety committee, which oversees the police department. At a Tuesday night reorganization meeting, both men were returned to their positions on the committee.

Lund said he is fairly certain McIntyre is acting on Uncle Keith's behalf and he suspects that the two may have cut some sort of deal.

"McIntyre wouldn't do anything the chief doesn't want," he said.

Lund said Rappe's arrest will only give town another "black eye."

"This is not what we need now," he said. "We try to get our town on the right track and promote good things we are doing. And then stuff like this happens. It's frustrating."

Uncle Keith declined to respond to Lund's charges but said he and Rappe had established a good working relationship in the fall.

"I'm honestly sorry this has happened," he said.

Uncle Keith, however, expressed dismay with unidentified city officials whom he said attempted to pressure him into turning the Rappe case over to either the County Sheriff's Department or the district attorney's office.

"We don't do that here," Uncle Keith said. "If we had, then I think politics could have entered into things. But I played it straight, and the facts will bear that out."