Top Stories January 16th

Wind Chill WARNING Through Noon Friday

Very Cold this Morning, Warmer Temps Coming

1/16/09 - Wisconsin’s deepest cold spell of the winter will end tonight. The high pressure system that brought us wind-chills in the minus-20’s-and-30’s for much of the week will head east. Warmer air from the south will move in. The mercury is supposed to rise overnight. And by tomorrow, most places will be back in the teens-to-20’s-above zero. However, we are still dealing with the cold this morning which has led to dozens of school closings throughout our area. That includes the Beaver Dam School District. And while that is music to the ears of kids throughout the area, many are still wondering why the schools weren’t closed yesterday. According to the district website, the reasoning for the closing today is “the severe wind chill will not moderate until mid-day and meets the temperature required by the districts school closing policy.” Superintendent Don Childs says the conditions yesterday did not meet that policy. Because the district has already used its two weather days, students will be forced to make up the day at the end of the year.

Sub Zero School Day

1/16/09 - It wasn’t hard to find a Beaver Dam student who was salty about having to be in school yesterday. One student told us that kids were just plain mad and over half the seats were empty in some classrooms. And many of the parents we spoke with – like Melissa Schreiner - didn’t think it was a good idea to have school because every surrounding school district had cancelled. Jerald Blank didn’t think his grandkids needed to be in class yesterday and he told us he wished the administrators would have thought about the kids first. Not all parents thought the late start was a bad idea. Joy Krahn said it was wonderful because otherwise the kids would just be outside playing. Krahn says it comes down to preparedness and if most parents can arrange for their children to stay at home, they can just as easily arrange to have their kids driven to school.

Student IDed in Bomb Threat at BDHS

1/16/09 -The Beaver Dam Police Department has released details of a bomb threat at the high school. Chief Dale Boldt says the school liaison officer was notified Monday of a bomb threat written on a wall. As a result of a subsequent investigation, an 18-year-old male student was identified as the subject who is believed to have written the threat. Charges have been forwarded to the Dodge County District Attorney’s Office. The school was not evacuated.

Three Identified as Possible Suspects in Deer Killings

1/16/09 - A Waupaca County snowmobiler is free on a signature bond, and two others are due in court today, in last weekend’s slaughters of five deer. 22-year-old Nicholas Hermes of Weyauwega appeared in court yesterday on five felony charges of killing animals by mistreatment. 23-year-old Robby Kuenzi and 24-year-old Rory Kuenzi, brothers from Weyauwega, have not been charged yet. According to the criminal complaint, Hermes claimed he accidentally killed a deer, and said the Kuenzi brothers chased others from behind and ran them over. But a witness said all three were chasing the deer. The attacks happened last Friday night south of Waupaca.

FDL Authorities Make Arrest in Duck Killings

1/16/09 - A man turned himself in yesterday for this week’s killings of 57 mallard ducks by snowmobiles in Fond du Lac. A D-N-R warden interviewed the man, who’s in his early 30’s from the Fond du Lac area. But officials say their investigation is continuing. The dead ducks were found Tuesday at a spot with open water on the Fond du Lac River, near the city’s sewage plant. It’s a place where snowmobilers are known to do water-skipping above a hole on the ice.

Co-Pilot in NY Plane Crash from Wisconsin

1/16/09 - A pilot from Wisconsin helped pull off yesterday’s crash-landing of a U-S Airways plane in the Hudson River in New York. Jeff Skiles of Oregon in Dane County co-piloted the Airbus that had just taken off for Charlotte when it struck a flock of birds. That’s apparently what the disabled the two engines, forcing Skiles and pilot Sully Sullenberger to take the aircraft down. The 49-year-old Skiles is a 23-year veteran of U-S Airways, and is now based in Charlotte. His wife Barbara – who still lives in Oregon – said her husband was relieved that all 155 people on board escaped safely, before the aircraft could sink into the river. Officials were quick to point out that the incident was not an act of terrorism. New York’s governor called it the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Van Hollen Drops Lawsuit Against GAB

1/16/09 - Attorney General J-B Van Hollen has dropped his lawsuit against the state’s Government Accountability Board. He says he’s now convinced that the agency will do what he wanted, and double-check the registrations of voters who have signed up since the start of 2006. Yesterday, the board agreed to have its staff review those registrations from May through the end of November. Local clerks were expected to get that job, but they won’t. Last fall, the Accountability Board told local clerks they’d only have to review registrations since last August – when the state’s computerized voter list went fully on-line. Thousands of people had discrepancies in their various state records. Van Hollen and Republicans cited possible fraud. But board members and Democrats said it was more likely that the non-matches were caused by typing errors – or a Rebecca who calls herself Becky on one document and not another. Those people would have had to cast provisional ballots last November, but Democrats said it would have caused massive lines at the polls, thus discouraging people from voting. A judge agreed, and dropped Van Hollen’s lawsuit. But the attorney general appealed. A board staff member said there were no fraud investigations resulting from the mismatched voter data.

Some Dairy Producers May Not Survive ‘09

1/16/09 - A longtime dairy farmer says some producers won't survive 2009. Bill Herr of Greenwood, who serves on a number of national dairy boards, says the tail-end of 2008 presented a perfect storm of factors that pushed milk prices from 20 dollars per hundredweight to 10, or below. He says predictions for the coming year have prices remaining low. The last time milk prices were this low was in 2002, and the industry survived. However, Herr says feed, fuel and fertilizer prices are much higher than they were then, making it much harder for dairy farmers to keep going. Herr adds that farmers were able to borrow to make ends meet in 2002. He says that probably won't be the case this year with many lenders requiring down payments of nearly 40-percent before they'll lend them money.

Wisconsin Could Host Events if Chicago gets 2016 Olympics

1/16/09 - If Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics, southern Wisconsin could host a couple of major bicycling events. Governor Jim Doyle will say more at a news conference today. Mark Sherven, who chairs the town of Vermont in Dane County, says one race under consideration is a Tour-de-France-style road event that would go through the rolling hills west of Madison and end up at Blue Mounds State Park. And a site near Whitewater in the Kettle Moraine State Forest is a possible venue for an off-road Olympic mountain bike event. Former Olympian Tom Schuler says Wisconsin has an advantage over others, because the state’s courses are good enough to be endorsed by the International Cycling Union. David Vogt of the state’s Bicycle Federation says the Badger State is fantastic for cycling, and it’s got some of the best roads in the country. He’s says it’s also got the challenging hills that Chicago doesn’t have. We’ll learn this fall if Chicago will be chosen to host the 2016 Games.

DNR Unveils New Floodplain Maps

1/16/09 - Despite the cold weather, there was good turnout yesterday for the DNR’s Open House unveiling the county’s new, preliminary floodplain maps. The DNR has been working with FEMA to modernize the maps statewide. Floodplain maps are used by local officials to make flood risk management decisions related to property development. The new maps will also affect other homes and businesses in floodplains and their flood insurance. DNR Floodplain Engineer Bob Watson says that digital technology has vital in updating the maps, many of which are decades old. Watson says that because of the new technology, engineers were able to remove about 300 miles of floodplain area county-wide mainly because technology identified dry areas once thought to be waterways. The updated maps have identified eight new floodplain buildings in downtown Beaver Dam that are not listed on the current map, which was assembled in 1984. City officials have had access to the new maps since last year and have been referring to it in planning for downtown revitalization efforts. The public can appeal or comment on the preliminary maps. Once maps are finalized, local governments have six months to incorporate the new maps into their zoning ordinances.

Dodge County Fair Music Acts Announced

1/16/09 - The music line-up for the 2009 Dodge County Fair has been announced. Gary Allan will be performing on Wednesday; Allan is known for such hits as “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful,” “Right Where I Need To Be” and his latest “She’s So California.” Rodney Atkins is scheduled for Thursday. Atkins has had 4 number one hits in a row; that includes “If Your Going Through Hell,” “Watching You,” “These Are My People” and his newest “It’s America.” Styx is the rock act on Friday, bringing their well-known songs like “Come Sail Away,” “Blue Collar Man” and “Mr. Roboto” to the fairgrounds. The musical acts wrap-up Saturday night with newcomer James Otto whose number one hit is “Just Got Started Loving You” and his newest is “These are The Good Old Days.” The Dodge County Fair will be held August 19th through the 23rd at the Dodge County Fairgrounds.