Top Stories March 13th

WASD Board to Vote on Closings Next Monday

3/13/09 - Waupun School District Administrator Randy Refsland believes consolidating classes in the District will make it stronger. Next Monday the School Board will consider whether to close Alto, Fox Lake, and Jefferson Elementary schools. Refsland says putting those classes into one elementary school, the middle school, and having 7th through 12th graders at the High School will make them more efficient. The school closings, a reduction of 30 total positions across the district, and some other cuts are expected to reduce the district's budget deficit by $1.25 million. In response, a group representing the City and Town of Fox Lake has called a meeting for next Tuesday in anticipation that the board will vote to close their elementary. Kim Derleth with Concerned Area Residents for Education says the meeting will be a listening session to see how people want to deal with the closing. Detachment from the district has been talked about, but she says this meeting will address all options. The meeting will start at 6:30 at City Hall in Fox Lake.

Beaver Dam Citizens Police Academy is Fired Up

3/13/09 - The Beaver Dam Citizens Police Academy is in session and the 10-week course got started last night with firearms training. The citizen cadets each shot three rounds of a police-issue, 45-caliber Glock 21 handgun. Jason Achuff of Beaver Dam said he didn’t even know there was a firing range underneath city hall. Achuff says participating in the academy has allowed him to do something he’s wanted to do since he was a kid. Next week the Citizens Police Academy will be studying drug investigations and K-9 training. In coming weeks the academy will also cover OWI proceedures with an actual drunken volnteer, defensive tactics including Tazer gun usage, and criminal investigations. Pictured above: Beaver Dam Police Officer Bill Linzenmeyer demonstrates proper handgun safety to citizen cadet Edith Bolstad. Left: Beaver Dam Police Sgt. Scott Bahr provides firearms training to citizen cadet Jennie Carter of Beaver Dam.

Sheriff Urges Seatbelt Use

3/13/09 - Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls is urging the motoring public to wear seatbelts. Nehls yesterday released a statistical analysis of traffic fatalities over the past three years. In 2007, there was nobody under the age of 21 killed in on Dodge County roadway. But since January of last year, 14 of the 24 people who died were under the age of 21, and more often that not, they were not buckled up. Nehls says it’s the responsibility of law enforcement, educators and especially parents to make sure their children get the message about seatbelts. The stats were released following the death of 17-year-old Bethany Soboleski, who authorities say was not wearing a seatbelt.

Economic Cost of Traffic Crashes Significant

3/13/09 - While the emotion of a traffic fatality is great the economic toll is quite big as well. Using estimates from the National Safety Council it has been determined that each traffic fatality has an economic cost of more than one-point-two million dollars; each serious injury 64-thousand dollars; and each property damage crash about 85-hundred dollars. In 2007, the most recent year for which there is data, fatal crashed had an economic cost for Wisconsin of 947-million-dollars, injury crashes nearly one-point-three billion, and property damage 751-million, for a total of nearly three billion dollars.

Sweetman Gives Back

3/13/09 - A Beaver Dam man whose life was saved last year with the help of an automatic external defibrillator has made a generous donation to help buy more of the devices. Bill Sweetman (back left) collapsed in his garage last November. His life was saved thanks to the quick efforts of two Beaver Dam Police officers who used an AED. The Beaver Dam Community Hospital Foundation provided 50% of the grant funding needed to stock all city squad cars with a newest in defibrillator technology, and they are continuing those efforts. Their most recent fundraiser was held this past weekend at the hospital and featured a performance by the Trinity Irish Dancers. The event raised over $2000, and that included a $1000 donation from Bill Sweetman.

Home & Business Expo Gets Underway

3/13/09 - The Home and Business Expo kicks off Friday afternoon at the Heritage Village Mall in Beaver Dam. The annual event is hosted by the Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce. Executive Director Phil Fritsche says the “Home and Business Expo” will include 76 booth spaces featuring a wide variety of commercial and non-profit organizations for both the home and office. The event had traditionally been held on Saturday and Sunday, but Fritsche says it was changed to Friday and Saturday so exhibitors can capitalize on the momentum of the work week and also have a chance to rest on Sunday. Fritsche says the theme this year is Mardi Gras. Music tonight will be provided by Elwood Lee. The Cream Cheese contest – now in its 6th year - will be among the activities held Saturday. Participants are competing for a top prize of $250 in each of three categories; visitors will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to sample the winning recipes. The Home and Business Expo will be held from 4pm to 8pm Friday and 9am to 6pm Saturday at the Heritage Village Mall. The event is free to the public, and you’ll probably also walk away with lots of free stuff.

Deer Herd Lower Than Projected

3/13/09 - The state D-N-R announced its final estimate of Wisconsin’s deer herd Friday. The agency says about a million-deer were left, after last fall’s hunting seasons ended in January. Experts recently said they over-estimated the size of the herd a year ago – when it was listed at one-point-five million to one-point-seven million. The D-N-R’s Keith Warnke said about 453-thousand animals were killed last fall, down 13-percent from the previous year. Another 68-thousand wounded deer were left un-tagged. Earlier this week, the D-N-R said it would propose four fewer zones this fall for the controversial earn-a-buck program – that seeks to reduce the deer herd by making hunters get does before shooting those trophy bucks. The head of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress was disappointed, saying he thought there would be no earn-a-buck zones in the fall.

Technology Changing the Playing Field for Hunters

3/13/09 - Officials with the Department of Natural Resources say emerging technologies could drive the need to change how a hunting gun is defined in Wisconsin. DNR conservation warden Tom Van Haren says the current law allows any gun that is discharged from the shoulder to hunt in the state. However, he says there's a growing interest from people who want to hunt with guns that fire projectiles using electromagnetic fields, essentially using magnetism to propel rounds at a very high velocity. Van Haren says other technologies could be developed down the road as well, which haven't even been thought about yet. The DNR has proposed new rules to limit the definition of a legal hunting gun to those that fire using gunpowder or compressed air. Van Haren says all traditional guns will still be allowed, and the proposed change is just to anticipate what may be coming next.

Fond du Lac Company Earns Big Army Contract

3/13/09 - A big military contract has spared a Fond du Lac company from layoffs. Brenner Tank will build 480 stainless steel tanks for the Army, and will get 15-million dollars for it. They’ll use them to transport fuel and water in Iraq. Navistar Defense of Warrenville Illinois placed the order on behalf of the military. C-E-O Bruce Yakley says it will allow Brenner Tank to keep its current workforce for the rest of the year. He did not say how many people worked there. The first Army containers will start being built within 30 days, once a prototype is approved. Brenner Tank has been in business for 109 years. It’s the largest maker of stainless steel tanks in North America, with a plant in Mauston as well as Fond du Lac. It also makes tanks for the chemical and petroleum sectors – both of which have been hurting. Yakley says those customers have literally stopped buying. But with the new Army contract he said, quote, “Last year was our recession.”

Legislators Working on Rescinding 2011 Raise

3/13/09 - If state legislative leaders have their way, lawmakers will give up a two-percent pay raise planned for the next session in 2011. Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan and Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker told their colleagues they want to rescind an increase that a panel endorsed a couple years ago. It would raise legislators’ pay to almost 51-thousand-dollars a year in the next session. Lawmakers have been getting heat for a five-point-three percent raise they were given for the current two-year session. Some have promised to give back the increase – even though they’ll have to pay taxes on that extra money. Sheridan says the Joint Committee on Employment Relations will need to approve the halting of the 2011 raise. Sheridan, a Janesville Democrat, co-chairs that panel.

Authorities Still Looking for Mountain Lion in Northwest Wisconsin

3/13/09 - A mountain lion that ran away after it was almost captured last week in northwest Wisconsin was never seen again. Jim Bishop of the state D-N-R said the cougar is thought to be alive – and it might have headed west to Minnesota. Searchers used fresh snow-cover this week to look for cougar tracks, but they didn’t find any. A resident saw the mountain lion near Trego on March second, and chased it to a place west of Spooner where it ran up a tree. Wildlife officials photographed it and tried to stun the mountain lion before it ran off into the nearby woods last Thursday. Apparently, no one has seen it since. The D-N-R was hoping to get a blood sample to see where the cougar came from, and to put a radio-collar on the animal to keep track of it. It was thought to be 2-to-3 years old, weighing up to 120-pounds. And it looked healthy. It’s been over a century since cougars lived in Wisconsin. The last time one was spotted was a year ago near Milton. It was later found in Chicago, where police killed it.

Working Poor Would See Bigger Tax Relief than Expected

3/13/09 - Wisconsin’s working poor families would get up to 270 more dollars in state income tax relief under the governor’s proposed budget. It would add an extra 47-million-dollars to the state’s version of the Earned Income Credit for married couples and larger families. Those with three-or-more kids making less than 45-thousand-dollars a year would see their maximum income tax credits rise to 24-hundred-32 dollars a year. Wisconsin normally provides a percentage of the federal Earned Income Credit – and Congress has expanded that credit as part of the federal economic stimulus package. State officials say the Wisconsin credit will grow by a corresponding amount for next year’s returns. Governor Jim Doyle it’s one of the best ways to help the working poor. And those ranks are growing as a result of the recession. Racine County Representative Robin Vos, the ranking Assembly Republican on the Joint Finance Committee, says he supports the governor’s plan. But Vos says everyone should get a tax break. He believes it’s wrong for the governor to raise taxes on companies and families making over 300-thousand a year.