Top Stories April 17th

Fatal Fire in Waupun

4/17/09 - A structure fire in Waupun Thursday claimed one life. Firefighters responded to the residence on the 200 block of Walker Street just after 11am this morning. Waupun Fire Chief Jeff Berry says the death appears to be fire-related, but they are awaiting word from the State Fire Marshall’s Office and Dodge County Coroner before making that determination. The victim is reported to be a man in his 40’s and was found dead in the bathroom of the home. Waupun Utility crews had been to the two-story house to disconnect power, just 20 minutes before the fire was reported. Berry says they knocked on the door and no one answered leading him to believe that the fire was not electrical in nature. The last fatal fire in Waupun was 15 years ago.

Fire Danger Advisory In Effect

4/17/09 - Saying the number of grass and field fires has reached unacceptable levels, authorities have issued a Fire Danger Advisory in Dodge County. Dispatchers have been taking an average of six calls a day for the last two weeks and the numbers continue to increase. Director of Emergency Management, Joe Meagher says with the dry conditions, no open flame in the outdoors is safe and he says no one should be conducting controlled burns unless they are directly supervised by a local fire department. Meagher says property owners can be charged for expenses incurred while fighting a fire. Or worse, he says if some one is injured in the fire an investigation and criminal charges could be sought against individual who started the fire. Pictured: Just hours after the Fire Danger Advisory was issued in Dodge County, the Beaver Dam Fire Department responded to a grass fire in the township. This one was on County Highway E, and was reported at 3:45pm. Crews were on the scene for about a half hour.

Internal Hire Likely For Dodgeland Supt

4/17/09 - A front-runner has emerged in the search for a new Superintendent in the Dodgeland School District. School Board president Jeff Caine says the board conducted six interviews this week and Annette VanHook Thompson has been selected by the board as the top finalist for the position. Thompson has been with the district for 22 years and is currently the Dodgeland school psychologist and the Gifted and the Talented Coordinator. A second interview with her is scheduled for April 20, after which time a final decision will be announced. Caine says four interview teams took part in the interview process, which was facilitated by Fox River Consultants. The teams were comprised of administrators, teachers, District Office staff, support staff, parents and community members.

Teen Gets 3 Months for High Speed Chase

4/17/09 - A Horicon teen who lead authorities on a high speed chase in a borrowed car will spend 90 days in the Dodge County jail. Jonathan Wehner pleaded “no contest” to a felony count of Fleeing an Officer and had a misdemeanor charge dismissed. Authorities attempted to pullover a speeding Dodge Interceptor on North Spring Street last November but the 18-year-old fled, leading authorities on a chase that reached speeds of 120mph on Highway 151. The pursuit was called off on Highway 73 as he entered the city of Columbus. Two hours later, officers in Horicon located the vehicle, but a 16-year-old female was driving. They learned she was a passenger during the chase and Wehner, her boyfriend, had been driving.

Accused Dealers Waive Prelim

4/17/09 - Two accused Beaver Dam drug-dealers waived their rights to a preliminary hearing yesterday. Janice Scheurer was arrested following a traffic stop on her birthday earlier this month. The 43-year-old was reportedly in possession of 15 grams of cocaine and faces four felony distribution and possession charges. John Butske was arrested around the same time following the execution of a search warrant at his residence. Authorities allegedly recovered a large quantity of cocaine and the 38-year-old Butske faces five felony drug distribution and possession charges. Authorities say the arrests were the result of two separate investigations and the two cases are “not necessarily related.” They also say more high-profile Beaver Dam drug arrests can be expected. If convicted of all the charges Scheurer is facing more than 52-years in prison while Butske could see a combined 92-year’s behind bars.

Knaup Bound Over For Pointing Gun At Cops

4/17/09 - A Beaver Dam man was bound over for trial yesterday on charges that he pointed a gun at police officers who responded to a domestic abuse report at his home. Timothy Knaup is charged with a felony count of False Imprisonment – Domestic Abuse and a handful of misdemeanors related to last weeks incident. Officers first removed a child to safety and then located the 45-year-old in the basement, with a beer in one hand and a loaded 22-caliber handgun in the other. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Hartford Man Arrested for Driving 60mph Over Limit

4/17/09 - A Hartford man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after being pulled over for going 60-miles-per-hour over the speed limit. Dodge County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Moreli cited Paul Droese, for going 115-miles-per-hour in a 55-zone on Highway P in the Town of Rubicon. The deputy says as soon as the 32-year-old saw the squad car spin around to pursue him he pull over to the side of the road and knew he had been caught. Droese is not new to traffic offense as his record show he has three convictions for OWI as well as a March 2009 conviction for speeding. Droese faces a fine of more than $500, six demerit points on his license, and mandatory loss of driving privileges.

State Unemployment at 9.4%

4/17/09 - Wisconsin’s unemployment rate rose to nine-point-four percent last month. That’s up six-tenths-of-a-point from February. It’s above the national average. And it’s almost double the five-percent figure from a year ago. Workforce development said 112-thousand non-farm jobs were lost during the year ending in March – 87-hundred since February alone. Meanwhile, the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has voted to spend over 38-million dollars in federal stimulus money on programs to help the unemployed get the skills they need to find jobs. Those services include tutoring, help in searching for jobs, referrals to support agencies, and training for work skills. Most of the funding must be distributed to local job centers by Saturday. About seven-million dollars will be used to hire about 50 staffers to help with job placements, and helping people file for unemployment benefits.

Primary Seatbelt Enforcement Advances

4/17/09 - A state committee has voted to let police officers stop drivers just for not wearing their seat-belts. The Legislature’s Joint Finance panel voted to include the measure in the new state budget, as Governor Jim Doyle had requested. Some lawmakers have tried for years to pass the so-called “primary enforcement,” but Milwaukee area politicians fought them off. They were afraid minorities would be stopped for virtually no reason – what’s known as racial profiling. To appease them, Doyle’s budget included a tracking system on who gets stopped so the state can prevent racial profiling if necessary. Also, Wisconsin can get more federal transportation funds by making the change. They’ll get an extra 15-million dollars if they stop making police find another offense before giving a seat-belt citation. Doyle also wanted to jack up the fine for not buckling up from 10-dollars-to-25. But the finance panel kept the penalty at 10.