4-7 Inches of Snow Expected Today
1/9/09 - Winter weather will make its presence known throughout the day. We are currently under a winter weather advisory that will remain in effect until 6am tomorrow. The National Weather Service expects snow to spread throughout the region this morning and will continue throughout the day before tapering off this evening. Snow totals are expected to be between 4 and 7 inches. Strong winds are also expected meaning blowing and drifting snow could be a problem when you hit the roads today. Official remind you to take it slow when roads are slick and wet.
1/9/09 - Winter weather will make its presence known throughout the day. We are currently under a winter weather advisory that will remain in effect until 6am tomorrow. The National Weather Service expects snow to spread throughout the region this morning and will continue throughout the day before tapering off this evening. Snow totals are expected to be between 4 and 7 inches. Strong winds are also expected meaning blowing and drifting snow could be a problem when you hit the roads today. Official remind you to take it slow when roads are slick and wet.
Closed Session Meeting Draws Dodgeland Parents
1/9/09 - About a dozen parents showed up last night at a closed meeting of the Dodgeland school board to voice their concerns are about the possible removal of a district administrator. The agenda did not specify which administrator – and board officials are remaining tight-lipped -- but the parents came to show their support for Superintendent Ron Vaughn (left), who has been with the district for less than two years. Last night’s agenda did not allow for public comment, but board President Jeff Caine says there will another meeting on Monday for parents to share their concerns with the board. Officials have not finalized the wording for the closed session portion of Monday’s meeting, but they indicated that it will be different from last night’s agenda, which cites an “investigation into allegations of harassment against an administrative employee.”
S & R Steps Up
1/9/09 - Beaver Dam now has 24-hour taxi service between two different cab companies. S & R Taxi owner George Rawson says he is offering a late-night, safe-ride service, catering to the tavern crowd and those who work third shift. The city of Beaver Dam had contracted for shared-ride taxi service with S & R for over three decades, but low-bidder Top Hat Taxi of La Crosse was awarded the contract last fall. With a couple exceptions, S& R Taxi will operate in the overnight hours after Top Hat stops running. Rawson says without the city contract, he will have to raise prices a little bit but the phone number will remain the same.
State and Local Government Retirees to see Reduction of Pension Checks
1/9/09 - For the first time in its 26-year history, the state retirement system will reduce pension checks for its state-and-local government retirees. Preliminary figures said the state’s Core Fund lost 26-percent of its value last year, ending with about 58-billion-dollars. That means pensions entirely funded by the core account will be reduced two-and-a-half percent. And those who had up to half their investments in the state’s Variable Fund could get double-digit reductions. The more aggressive Variable Fund lost 39-percent of its value in 2008. The exact amount of the benefit cuts will be determined next month. They’ll affect about 145-thousand retirees from state-and-local governments and school districts throughout the state. State Investment Board director Keith Bozarth said last year was one of the most challenging ever – and the state’s money managers probably handled it as well as most others. He also said the state will not abandon its investment strategies, in order to be in a solid position once a recovery begins.
Salt Still in Demand
1/9/09 - Despite the influx of more than 5,000-tons of salt the Dodge County Highway Department will continue to use a salt/salt mixture on County Roads. Highway Commissioner Brian Field says they need to manage the quantities they have because unlike previous years salt is not available in unlimited amounts. Field says the management of state roads will remain the same, meaning they’ll continue to get 100-percent salt treatment. Field says in the end, no matter how well the roads are maintained drivers need to be aware of changing road conditions and slow down.
Cash Gets Probation for Hit and Run
1/9/09 - A Beaver Dam man who left an unconscious woman at the scene of a car accident has been placed on probation. Ronald Cash was backing out of his driveway last June when the collision occurred. Authorities asked the 69-year-old if he bothered to check on the condition of the woman in the other car and Cash said he saw she was unconscious so he left and planned to call police later. A blood analysis determined his BAC was point-zero-seven-two (.072), which is just below the legal limit. Cash pleaded “no contest” to a charge of Hit and Run Involving Injury and a charge of Operating While Under the Influence Resulting in Injury dismissed but read into the record. In addition to probation, Cash had his license suspended for six months.
Price Sentenced in Soda Pop Spree
1/9/09 - Another one of the people involved in last years series of soda machine break-ins was recently sentenced in Dodge County court. Ryan Price of Burnett got six months in jail after pleading guilty to 21 misdemeanor counts of Entry Into A Locked Coin Box; a variety of bail jumping charges were dismissed but read into the record. The 18-year-old was one of about a dozen accomplices who along with Andrew “Chubbs” Poad caused $30,000 worth of damage to over 80 soda machines in five counties. In October, Poad was sentenced to five years in prison. Restitution hearings begin next month.
Braker Waives Prelim in Arson
1/9/09 - A Randolph man, accused of setting fire to a house his parents own to collect insurance money, waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday. Seth Braker entered a “not guilty” plea to a felony count of Arson of Building With Intent to Defraud related to the September fire at the unoccupied home in the Town of Westford. According to the criminal complaint, the 25-year-old Braker embezzled $50,000 from a former employer, which his parents repaid. Braker reportedly wanted to reimburse his parents, so he set the fire to collect on the $50,000 insurance policy. The house was valued at $450,000. Braker allegedly admitted to investigators that he used a torch to ignite a coat in the bathroom. Fire Chief Bruce Miller says there was extensive damage to the exterior of the house and smoke and water damage to a number of rooms on the main floor. The home had been unoccupied since October of 2007. Braker faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
New Prison System in Wisconsin Needed
1/9/09 - A consulting firm says Wisconsin is in dire need of a more modern prison system. Mead-and-Hunt says the state should spend one-point-two billion dollars in the next decade to add almost nine-thousand new prison beds, and replace 27-hundred old ones. Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch says the proposals will be used as a future guide. But with the next budget over five-billion-dollars in the hole, Raemisch says there’s no way the state could afford everything. He says they’ll need to do something, though – because the demand and the cost for prison space both keep growing. Wisconsin started the year with almost 23-thousand prisoners – 27-percent more than its facilities were made for. Raemisch says it would cost 160-million-dollars to build just one new medium-security lock-up for two-thousand inmates – and that doesn’t include the maintenance. But Mead-and-Hunt says taxpayers are already spending way more than they should on its facilities. It says the Waupun, Green Bay, Fox Lake, Kettle Moraine, and Oak Hill prisons are so old, they cause major problems in maintaining and staffing them. And the consultants say there’s way too much overcrowding, with two inmates now in cells meant for one at Waupun and Green Bay. Mead-and-Hunt says that’s far below accepted correctional standards, and it’s a practice that needs to be discontinued.
New Years Holiday Sees Fewer Traffic Fatalities
1/9/09 - Traffic fatalities over the New Years Holiday weekend were among the lowest in recent years. According to preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, crashes claimed six lives during the 102-hour period starting at 6 p.m. New Years Eve and lasting through midnight Sunday, January 4th. The six deaths are one-third the total recorded during the 2003-2004 New Years holiday, the last time New Years fell on a Thursday. Last year, five people died in traffic crashes during the New Years Holiday.
Kohl Wants November Election on a Weekend
1/9/09 - Legislation from U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) would move Election Day from the first Tuesday in November to the first full weekend of the month. Andrea Kaminski with the League of Women Voters says it's worth considering, since it could improve access to the polls for many people. She says the large number of people in Wisconsin who voted early before the 2008 election shows the convenience a more open schedule can have in helping more people make it to the polls. The first Tuesday Election Day has been used since 1845. Kaminski says society has changed greatly since then, with a move away from an agrarian society and improvements in transportation.
S & R Steps Up
1/9/09 - Beaver Dam now has 24-hour taxi service between two different cab companies. S & R Taxi owner George Rawson says he is offering a late-night, safe-ride service, catering to the tavern crowd and those who work third shift. The city of Beaver Dam had contracted for shared-ride taxi service with S & R for over three decades, but low-bidder Top Hat Taxi of La Crosse was awarded the contract last fall. With a couple exceptions, S& R Taxi will operate in the overnight hours after Top Hat stops running. Rawson says without the city contract, he will have to raise prices a little bit but the phone number will remain the same.
State and Local Government Retirees to see Reduction of Pension Checks
1/9/09 - For the first time in its 26-year history, the state retirement system will reduce pension checks for its state-and-local government retirees. Preliminary figures said the state’s Core Fund lost 26-percent of its value last year, ending with about 58-billion-dollars. That means pensions entirely funded by the core account will be reduced two-and-a-half percent. And those who had up to half their investments in the state’s Variable Fund could get double-digit reductions. The more aggressive Variable Fund lost 39-percent of its value in 2008. The exact amount of the benefit cuts will be determined next month. They’ll affect about 145-thousand retirees from state-and-local governments and school districts throughout the state. State Investment Board director Keith Bozarth said last year was one of the most challenging ever – and the state’s money managers probably handled it as well as most others. He also said the state will not abandon its investment strategies, in order to be in a solid position once a recovery begins.
Salt Still in Demand
1/9/09 - Despite the influx of more than 5,000-tons of salt the Dodge County Highway Department will continue to use a salt/salt mixture on County Roads. Highway Commissioner Brian Field says they need to manage the quantities they have because unlike previous years salt is not available in unlimited amounts. Field says the management of state roads will remain the same, meaning they’ll continue to get 100-percent salt treatment. Field says in the end, no matter how well the roads are maintained drivers need to be aware of changing road conditions and slow down.
Cash Gets Probation for Hit and Run
1/9/09 - A Beaver Dam man who left an unconscious woman at the scene of a car accident has been placed on probation. Ronald Cash was backing out of his driveway last June when the collision occurred. Authorities asked the 69-year-old if he bothered to check on the condition of the woman in the other car and Cash said he saw she was unconscious so he left and planned to call police later. A blood analysis determined his BAC was point-zero-seven-two (.072), which is just below the legal limit. Cash pleaded “no contest” to a charge of Hit and Run Involving Injury and a charge of Operating While Under the Influence Resulting in Injury dismissed but read into the record. In addition to probation, Cash had his license suspended for six months.
Price Sentenced in Soda Pop Spree
1/9/09 - Another one of the people involved in last years series of soda machine break-ins was recently sentenced in Dodge County court. Ryan Price of Burnett got six months in jail after pleading guilty to 21 misdemeanor counts of Entry Into A Locked Coin Box; a variety of bail jumping charges were dismissed but read into the record. The 18-year-old was one of about a dozen accomplices who along with Andrew “Chubbs” Poad caused $30,000 worth of damage to over 80 soda machines in five counties. In October, Poad was sentenced to five years in prison. Restitution hearings begin next month.
Braker Waives Prelim in Arson
1/9/09 - A Randolph man, accused of setting fire to a house his parents own to collect insurance money, waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday. Seth Braker entered a “not guilty” plea to a felony count of Arson of Building With Intent to Defraud related to the September fire at the unoccupied home in the Town of Westford. According to the criminal complaint, the 25-year-old Braker embezzled $50,000 from a former employer, which his parents repaid. Braker reportedly wanted to reimburse his parents, so he set the fire to collect on the $50,000 insurance policy. The house was valued at $450,000. Braker allegedly admitted to investigators that he used a torch to ignite a coat in the bathroom. Fire Chief Bruce Miller says there was extensive damage to the exterior of the house and smoke and water damage to a number of rooms on the main floor. The home had been unoccupied since October of 2007. Braker faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.
New Prison System in Wisconsin Needed
1/9/09 - A consulting firm says Wisconsin is in dire need of a more modern prison system. Mead-and-Hunt says the state should spend one-point-two billion dollars in the next decade to add almost nine-thousand new prison beds, and replace 27-hundred old ones. Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch says the proposals will be used as a future guide. But with the next budget over five-billion-dollars in the hole, Raemisch says there’s no way the state could afford everything. He says they’ll need to do something, though – because the demand and the cost for prison space both keep growing. Wisconsin started the year with almost 23-thousand prisoners – 27-percent more than its facilities were made for. Raemisch says it would cost 160-million-dollars to build just one new medium-security lock-up for two-thousand inmates – and that doesn’t include the maintenance. But Mead-and-Hunt says taxpayers are already spending way more than they should on its facilities. It says the Waupun, Green Bay, Fox Lake, Kettle Moraine, and Oak Hill prisons are so old, they cause major problems in maintaining and staffing them. And the consultants say there’s way too much overcrowding, with two inmates now in cells meant for one at Waupun and Green Bay. Mead-and-Hunt says that’s far below accepted correctional standards, and it’s a practice that needs to be discontinued.
New Years Holiday Sees Fewer Traffic Fatalities
1/9/09 - Traffic fatalities over the New Years Holiday weekend were among the lowest in recent years. According to preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, crashes claimed six lives during the 102-hour period starting at 6 p.m. New Years Eve and lasting through midnight Sunday, January 4th. The six deaths are one-third the total recorded during the 2003-2004 New Years holiday, the last time New Years fell on a Thursday. Last year, five people died in traffic crashes during the New Years Holiday.
Kohl Wants November Election on a Weekend
1/9/09 - Legislation from U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) would move Election Day from the first Tuesday in November to the first full weekend of the month. Andrea Kaminski with the League of Women Voters says it's worth considering, since it could improve access to the polls for many people. She says the large number of people in Wisconsin who voted early before the 2008 election shows the convenience a more open schedule can have in helping more people make it to the polls. The first Tuesday Election Day has been used since 1845. Kaminski says society has changed greatly since then, with a move away from an agrarian society and improvements in transportation.
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