Authorities have determined that a Hephzibah High School homecoming queen who died in a car accident was using her phone when she lost control.

According to Richmond County Coroner Grover Tuten, 18 year-old Jewel Miller's Verizon Wireless account indicates that she sent or received a message at 11:47 p.m. the night of the crash. Five minutes later and accident call was dispatched by the Richmond County Sheriffs Office to emergency response crews. 

Tuten explained the time between the message and the call as "people hearing the accident, recognizing that it was an accident, responding to the scene, calling 9-1-1 and relaying the information to the 9-1-1 dispatcher." 

Authorities suspected Miller was using her cell phone after it was found lying open next to her body. She was pronounced dead shortly before 1:00 a.m. Thursday.

Lincoln County police are investigating the circumstances of a car crash that left one 63-year-old woman dead and her 23-year-old son injured.

The man was able to pull his mother from her sinking pickup truck after it crashed into Moraine Lake at a Harrison shore. Emergency workers arrived in time to transport the man to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Police are uncertain as to what caused the crash, whether the woman lost control of the vehicle due to mechanical failure or driver error or if foul play was involved. The results of the coroner's autopsy have not been release to the public for police fears that it might comprise their ongoing investigation. The toxicology report from the crash will be released, and is expected to be made public by next week. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department noted that it was working with the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation in order to double-check their results.

Somo was the site of a two-vehicle crash that occurred around 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, leaving three people injured.

Lincoln County police sited the incident on Highway 8 at Garvin's Place. Tomahawk firefighters assisted two injured people from one of the crashed cars, while the third passenger in that vehicle was able to exit on their own power. That vehicle ran off the road following the crash, stopping only after crashing into a tree and then a telephone pole.

The three people in the car that left the road following the crash were all injured, although the two passengers suffered only minor injuries. The driver air-lifted via helicopter to Aspirus Wausau Hospital, where that individual underwent treatment for injuries described as non-life threatening. The driver of the other vehicle in the crash did not require assistance from authorities and was not injured from the collision.

The crash itself is under investigation. Police are still uncertain as to what caused the wreck to happen, if anyone was truly at fault, or if there was a defect with the road. Police have determined that alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

If you or someone you love has been injured while on the road, you may be entitled to legal action. Know your rights. Contact the Wausau personal injury lawyers at Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®, by calling 800-242-2874 today.

A University of Wisconsin Marathon County professor suffered a bout of sickness after eating cookies presented by a student.

The student, 37-years-old, is facing up to a $10,000 fine and a 42-month prison sentence following the charge of placing a foreign object in food. She had placed a plate of cookies, which had been laced with half of a box of laxatives, outisde the professor's office December 18, 2009. The cookies were found prior to handing out her Bacteriology 101 class. According to the professor, she only ate one of the cookies before a student reached her by phone and warned her that the cookies may have been compromised.

Confessing to her unpopularity among students, the teacher noted that she had intended on leaving the area for southern California, but remained in Wausau while her contract bound her to Wisconsin.

The preliminary hearings for the trial of the student are expected to begin July 6, 2010.

If you or someone you know has been injured by the malicious intent of someone else, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Wausau personal injury lawyers of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ®, by calling 800-242-2874 today to discuss your claim.