Top Stories April 9th

Charges Filed in Prison Suicide

4/9/09 - A state prisoner in Waupun has been charged with helping a convicted killer commit suicide in their cell. 20-year-old Joshua Walters allegedly talked 20-year-old Adam Peterson into hanging himself on January 10th. Peterson was serving a life term for stabbing Joel Marino to death in Madison early last year. According to prosecutors, Walters first told prison staffers he had nothing to do with Peterson’s death – and his cell-mate was feeling down after he stopped taking his medicines. But the next day, Walters reportedly told another inmate he convinced Peterson to kill himself, and Walters promised him he’d do the same. The inmate told officers that Walters tied the noose, and Peterson voluntarily put himself in it. The unidentified informant also said Walters was paranoid the night after Peterson died, and he asked, quote – “Can you get in trouble for helping someone kill themselves?” Walters can have up to ten more years added to his burglary sentence. He’s scheduled to appear in Dodge County Circuit Court April 27th on a felony charge of assisting in a suicide.

Horicon Business Owners Question Detour Enforcement

4/9/09 - Business owners in Horicon urged law enforcement to ease up on construction-related traffic stops during a meeting yesterday with city officials and the DOT. Business owners like Scott Hurst says there is a perception that Horicon Police are cracking down on drivers and he and others are saying that could permanently drive customers from Horicon. Lt. AJ Bump says they want customers to visit Horicon businesses but they also need to limit the number of motorists who are only passing through town. Mayor James Grigg says motorists with no plans to stop at city businesses have been ignoring the detour signs and tearing up city streets. One option being explored is new and detailed signs at entry-points. Grigg says he will work with business owners on the wording and seek any required permits from state.

Busy Day for Fox Lake Fire Department

4/9/09 - The Fox Lake Fire Department responded to multiple fires yesterday and early this morning. Chief Bill Frank says they were called out to a brush fire on Highway A in the Town of Trenton around 12:30pm yesterday. He says the fire started in the ditch and caught a power pole on fire. Firefighters were able to put it out quickly and were on scene for about 45-minutes. No one lost power but Alliant Energy was paged out to check the pole for any damage. Another fire occurred early this morning on the south side of Fox Lake at the old feed mill site on Highway 33. The building has been completely torn down but the rubble caught on fire around 12:15. Frank says they were able to get the blaze under control within a half-hour. He says they are not sure how the fire got started and no one was injured.

Three Injured in Two-Car Accident

4/9/09 - A two-car accident in the Town of Herman yesterday afternoon sent three people to the hospital. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department says the accident occurred around 4pm yesterday near the intersection of Highway 33 and County Trunk P. Allenton and Mayville EMS responded and took three patients to the Hartford Hospital. A 16-year-old boy was cited for inattentive driving.

State Budget Would Increase Property Taxes

4/9/09 - If Legislators passed Governor Jim Doyle’s proposed budget as is, local property taxes would go up 7.7-percent over the next two years. Assembly minority leader Jeff Fitzgerald calls that increase “astounding” considering the rising unemployment and falling home values. His reaction came after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau released the increases yesterday. In dollars, the average resident would see an increase of 91-dollars in December and an additional 134-dollars next year. Democrats say the tax hikes are unavoidable, considering the higher demand for government services in the face of lower revenues. The Fiscal Bureau says local governments would have to make up for losses in state aid. More school expenses would be exempt from their state revenue limits. And the state’s taxing limits for local governments would rise by one-percent next year. Budget director David Schmiedicke says local officials will have to balance their spending against the need to keep taxes in check. And he says it can’t be helped, because the state’s deficit is the worst in history.

Washington D.C. Ticket Wins Powerball

4/9/09 - A ticket sold in Washington D-C won last night’s Powerball jackpot of 144-million dollars. One player in Wisconsin won the 200-thousand-dollar second prize by matching all five regular numbers but not the Powerball. The jackpot was the third-highest so far this year. It goes back to 20-million for the next drawing on Saturday night.

Another Watertown Cocaine Sentencing

4/9/09 - Another sentence was handed down yesterday in connection with a two-county cocaine ring. Federal Judge Barbara Crabb sentenced Efrain Pineda-Buenventura to 10 years in prison. The 33-year-old Mexican national was one of eleven people arrested last June for selling cocaine in the Watertown and Fort Atkinson area. The Department of Justice conducted wiretaps between July of 2006 and last June, monitoring hundreds of calls detailing drug transactions in Dodge and Jefferson Counties. On June 19, authorities executed a series of search warrants and seized over $100,000 in cash, multiple kilograms of cocaine and several automobiles. The Department of Justice says all the subjects will be deported after completing their sentences are completed.

Hartford Man Arrested on Strangulation Charges

4/09/09 - Authorities arrested a Hartford man yesterday morning for choking a Mayville man at his residence. According to Mayville Police Captain Chris MacNeill, three men were drinking at a local tavern and the began after they left and went to the victims home. The 27-year-old Hartford man reportedly became belligerent when asked to leave, attacked him and began choking the homeowner until he turned blue. He was punched in the face and fled but returned minutes later and kicked down the door. He was apprehended a short time later in a cemetery, taken into custody without incident and charged with Criminal Damage to Property and Strangulation. All three men refused medical treatment.