Top Stories April 15th

Waupun Moves Forward on Two Land Development Projects

4/15/09 - Nearly every chair was filled last night for the Waupun City Council meeting that saw the board pass two significant land development projects. The council approved an option to purchase a more than 280 acre parcel of land owned by the state Department of Corrections for 2.08-million-dollars. City Administrator Gary Rodgers says the option to buy allows the city to have the price locked in on the property for the next three years until they can find a developer at which point they’ll finalize the sale with the state. The property is east of Highway 151 and will be made up of commercial and residential zones. The other project approved was a Developers Agreement with New Haven Development for a mixed-use development with commercial and retail opportunities near the high school property. The total expected price tag on the 45-acre parcel is right around $1.9-million dollars and will be funded by the recently created TIF district #5. The states building commission is expected to approve the sale of the corrections land next month and developers with New Haven hope to break ground on their property by August 1st.

Multiple Fires Reported in Dodge County

4/15/09 - With the dry weather our area is experiencing small fires continue to be an issue for area fire departments. There were five more fires reported yesterday throughout the county after more than 10 last week. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department says an uncontrolled burn in the Town of Theresa early yesterday afternoon resulted in three fire departments responding to the scene to put it out. About an hour later another fire call came in, this time for a machine shed on fire on Sunny View Road in the Town of Lomira. No word on how extensive the damage was. Authorities also responded to a grass fire in the Town of Elba on Highway 60 just after 8:30. About an hour and half later the Iron Ridge Fire Department was sent out to deal with a ditch fire on Highway AY in the Town of Herman. An AT&T box was damaged in that fire. The fifth fire occurred in the Town of Lebanon late last night. The Sheriff’s Department says a caller reported a portion of a neighbor’s farm field on Highway MM had caught on fire just before midnight. When authorities arrived it was found the fire was actually in the ditch and made up of what the Sheriff’s Department described as a “large quantity of tires.” Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze quickly. However, officials say smoke may continue for a while this morning.

Juneau City Audit: Clean Opinion

4/15/09 - The City of Juneau received a clean opinion in their audit for fiscal year 2008. Don Rahn with Virchow Krause presented the financial statement to the common council last night, saying the clean opinion is the highest amount of assurance an auditor can give a municipality. The city spent around $1.8 million last year, which turned out to be about $4000 more than what was budgeted. With the overage at less than one percent though, Rahn says the city basically broke even. He also says the fund balance is holding steady at $935,000, down $5000 from the previous year. Juneau has the just over $6 million is borrowing power. Of that, they currently owe $3.6 million in general obligation debt, so the city is at about 60% of its borrowing capacity, which Rahn says is normal for Wisconsin. In 2007, the city was at 52% of its borrowing capacity.

Juneau Utility Warns of Moratoriums End

4/15/09 - The Juneau Utility Commission is reporting that their electric customers have accumulated $62,000 worth of delinquent accounts over the winter months. After tomorrow, a six-month winter moratorium on residential power disconnections will be lifted and utilities statewide may begin to disconnect service to customers with outstanding bills. Juneau Utility Commission President Dan Wegener says the power will be cut tomorrow to those customers who do not make arrangements to pay their bill. If bills are not paid after three days of a power disconnect, the city will shut-off the delinquent customers water. Wegener says they will work with customers in setting up payment plans.

Last Day to File Tax Returns

4/15/09 - Wisconsin accountants will breathe a sigh of relief once the clock strikes midnight. That’s because more folks needed professional help to complete their income tax returns which are due today. Christopher Miller of the I-R-S says Internet filings in Wisconsin are up six-and-a-half percent from last year. But only 19-percent of those returns were sent from personal computers. The tax pros filed the rest. Many new customers are nervous about the economy, and they wanted to make sure they got every penny possible in their refunds. Some people want to write off big stock market losses. But they can only claim three-thousand-dollars a year, and bigger losses must be spread over subsequent years. Greenfield accountant Jon Neal says some of his clients will be spreading their investment losses over the next 10-to-20 years. Other people had questions about the education tax credits for flood victims. Those credits are doubled in the 30 counties which were declared federal disaster areas a year ago.

Milwaukee Alderman Facing Child Abuse Charges

4/15/09 - A Milwaukee alderman is accused of hitting his six-year-old daughter at least eight times with a coat hanger. Prosecutors released a felony child abuse complaint Monday against 35-year-old Ashanti Hamilton. The incident happened about three weeks ago when Hamilton had custody of the four children he shares with his ex-wife. Hamilton told a Milwaukee TV station he hit the child because she misbehaved, but he denied committing child abuse. If convicted, Hamilton could get up to six years in prison and he'd lose his Common Council seat.

Hunters Unhappy With Alternate Plan for State Deer Herd

4/15/09 - Wisconsin hunters are not happy about an alternative plan to keep the state’s deer herd in check. At the annual conservation hearings in Horicon, they voted overwhelmingly against a proposed season to shoot only antlerless deer. Gun hunters could take bucks on their opening weekend, while bow-and-arrow hunters could shoot bucks for two weeks prior to that. The plan was suggested as an alternative to the controversial earn-a-buck policy. But it was voted down 55-hundred to 11-hundred at the Conservation Congress hearings held in all 72 counties on Monday night. Hunters favored dumping earn-a-buck altogether 55-hundred to 13-hundred. And by the same margin, they favored allowing earn-a-buck for only two straight years in each management zone. Last week, the agency suggested a one-year moratorium on earn-a-buck, except where chronic wasting disease has been found. This week’s votes are advisory. D-N-R policy-makers may consider them later this year.

Not So National?

4/15/09 - Wisconsin governors could challenge orders to federalize the state's National Guard, under legislation being introduced at the Capitol. The proposal from state Representative Spencer Black would require the governor to review any order to put National Guard troops on federal active duty. If a governor found the orders were questionable and not justified, they could challenge them in federal court. The Madison Democrat says the legislation is in response to concerns that the federal government no longer has the authority to call Wisconsin National Guard troops to serve in Iraq. He says questions have been raised about whether that authority has expired, and the federal government shouldn't be able to take authority over those troops. If approved, Black says the measure would not impact Wisconsin National Guard members currently called to active duty.

Smoke-Free Cities Enjoying the Fresh Air

4/15/09 - New surveys find growing support for smoking bans in Wisconsin cities. Polls by the Mellman group were done in three cities that have already adopted smoke-free ordinances. They checked the outlook of people in Appleton, Eau Claire and Marshfield. They found that after those communities snuffed out the smokes, public support increased from a two-to-one to a three-to-one margin. Maureen Busalacchi of Smoke-Free Wisconsin says she's not surprised. She says in their experience more people enjoy being able to go to smoke-free establishments, including some smokers. Busalacchi says it should send a message to lawmakers to pass a statewide smoking ban.

“Tea Party” Gatherings in Madison and Wausau Today

4/15/09 - Up to four-thousand people are expected in Madison today, for a protest against high federal-and-state spending. Mark Block of the Americans for Prosperity tells Wis-Politics-Dot-Com that government must tighten its belts just like every family is doing right now. And while other rallies throughout the country attack President Obama’s deficits for the economic stimulus package, the Wisconsin rally will also slam the higher taxes-and-spending in Governor Jim Doyle’s proposed state budget. Block says about 50 buses will bring conservative protestors from throughout the state. House Republican Paul Ryan of Janesville and national G-O-P leader Reince Priebus will be among the speakers at the State Capitol rally – which is planned over the lunch hour. Smaller rallies are planned in Milwaukee, Wausau, Appleton, and several other Wisconsin cities. The last time the Americans for Prosperity held an anti-tax rally in Madison, more counter-protestors from union showed up than the actual number of rally participants. Block says he knows of no large-scale counter demonstrations this time.