Top Stories April 20th

Wisconsin Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week

4/20/09 - It’s Tornado & Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin. Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joe Meagher is urging the public to invest in a NOAA Weather Radio. He says you should make sure it has a SAME feature, which stands for Specific Area Message Encoder, and allows you to program the radio to a specific county or counties. Tornado sirens will be blaring statewide this Thursday as part of a statewide drill. Local media will also be interrupted. Meagher urges members of the public to take advantage of Thursday’s drill to review or implement an evacuation plan and prepare or update an emergency survival kit. The test in Dodge County will be at 1:20pm.

Rubicon Barn Destroyed After Fire Gets out of Control

4/20/09 - A fire that destroyed a barn in the Town of Rubicon started as a result of a controlled burn getting out of control. A call reported the fire at the Brian Behnke farm on South Goodland Road around 4pm Friday. When firefighters arrived, the barn was already fully engulfed in flames and burned to the ground despite extensive efforts by five fire departments. According to the Hartford Fire Department, the owners were doing some burning the previous night and it reignited the next day near a wood pile by the barn. There was no word on how much monetary damage was done.

Petri Gave Aides Big Bonuses in ‘08

4/20/09 - Some of Wisconsin’s federal lawmakers gave their staff’s big bonuses, with money from taxpayers who’ve had their own pay frozen or cut. A Milwaukee paper says four House members each raised their staff payrolls by at least 20-percent in the final three months of last year, including Republican Tom Petri, who represents much of our area. Petri gave one of his aides a bonus of almost 15-thousand dollars, and another got 13-thousand. The money comes from the members’ annual office accounts – and if they don’t use it, they lose it. Petri spokesman Niel Wright said Washington is expensive, and his boss wants his staff to be able to afford to live there.

WASD to Vote on Re-Naming of Schools

4/20/09 - The Waupun School Board is expected to vote tonight on the re-naming of two schools in the district. That comes after the board voted to close three elementary schools effective at the end of this school year. Those closings leave Washington Elementary to house kindergarten through 2nd grade and the middle school to serve grades 3 through 6. Principal of the intermediate building Steve Buss initiated a contest among students moving into the buildings to come up with new names. He says they got a variety of suggestions but have forwarded a number of names to the school. The board is also expected to vote on the schools new start times. The meeting will be held in the Washington Elementary cafeteria beginning at 7pm.

Film Group Says Loss of Tax Credits Hurts WI Business

4/20/09 - The head of a group that encourages movie producers to film in Wisconsin says the state is losing tens-of-millions-of-dollars in business. That’s after Governor Jim Doyle proposed to end the unlimited film tax credits, and instead give a half-million-dollars a year in incentives. Some lawmakers are trying to restore the tax break. But Scott Robbe of Film Wisconsin says the damage has already been done. A movie and a CBS pilot have decided to go elsewhere. However, Deputy Commerce Secretary Aaron Oliver says the state remains interested in helping producers. He says a couple smaller productions have applied for incentives, and a decision on those is expected soon. The governor proposed the reduction after the Johnny Depp movie “Public Enemies” got four-point-six-million-dollars in tax credits last year – just short of the five-million it spent here. But the Film Wisconsin group said there are a lot more success stories from the tax credits that began in 2008. It said eight movies have been shot here since then, along with 16 T-V shows, three national commercials, and two video games.

Columbine Tragedy Led to Security Makeover

4/20/09 - It was 10 years ago today when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire at Columbine High School near Denver, killing 12 classmates and a teacher. Since then, Wisconsin schools both large and small have locked their side doors and controlled visitors – created elaborate security plans – and worked a lot more closely with police. Peter Pochowski of Milwaukee, head of the National Association of School Safety Officers, says all the efforts have paid off. Before Columbine, up to 34 youngsters died in U-S schools each year. Since then, student deaths have averaged around 12-to-14 a year. Those security efforts keep being refined. Elmbrook Superintendent Matt Gibson says his district’s emergency response plans are revised each year. And school psychologists meet with social workers and principals to identify troubled kids and avoid potential crises.

Inspections Coming for Waupun Homeowners

4/20/09 - Home owners in Waupun should expect a knock on their front door sometime soon as Waupun Utilities is beginning to inspect homes for illegal sump pump connections. In a press release, the utility company said the inspections will alleviate significant sanitary sewer system overflows, a necessary precaution to avoid flooding similar to that of last June. Normally, an illegal sump pump connection is one that discharges into a basement floor drain. Waupun Utilities says as part of the Sewer User Ordinance they are going to require a permanent, exterior sump pump discharge. Most of the homes to be inspected are in the area where last summers sewer flooding was most prevalent. Home owners will be contacted before the inspection.

EAA to have Airbus

4/20/09 - The world's largest passenger airliner is coming to Oshkosh's annual air show this summer. The Airbus A380 has a wingspan that's nearly the length of a football field, and can seat 525 people on two large decks. Only 13 of the planes have been made. One will be on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009, which is run by the Experimental Aircraft Association. EAA spokesman David Berkley says attendees will get to walk up to the plane and look around, as well as watch several flight demonstrations. He says it'll be an unusual experience to feel dwarfed next to such an enormous aircraft. The plane is used mainly for long flights, such as from Australia to Los Angeles. EAA AirVenture runs from July 27 to Aug. 2.

Doyle Reacts to Approval Rating

4/20/09 - Governor Jim Doyle says he's not bothered by a new survey showing his approval rating has slipped, with just 45 percent of respondents giving him positive numbers. He says he understands that it's a very tough time with the current economic conditions, and he knows people are not very happy. He toured four northern cities with Congressman Dave Obey to announce new government projects. Doyle worked closely with Obey and other Democratic governors and members of Congress on the economic stimulus plan that included billions of dollars to help Wisconsin deal with a record-high budget shortfall. Doyle says the St. Norbert College Survey Center Poll sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio released may show his numbers are down somewhat, but it also shows many of the moves he's advocating are just what people want.