Top Stories July 31st

Arrest Made in Jefferson County Cold Case

7/31/09 - A man has been arrested for the murders of two high school sweethearts in Jefferson County 29 years ago. Edward W. Edwards was arrested late last night in Louisville Kentucky for the 1980 slayings of Tim Hack and Kelly Drew. Detectives re-submitted evidence to the State Crime Lab a couple years ago for review. Hack and Drew were both 19 when they left a wedding reception in Sullivan on August ninth of 1980, and were never seen alive after that. Authorities found their clothes spread in ditches. And hunters found their badly decomposed bodies east of Watertown, just over two months after the disappearances. Officials could never determine how the pair died. No weapons were found, and no suspects were ever identified. Hack’s mother told the A-P in 2000 that more than one person probably killed her son and Drew – and at least one of them knew the area pretty well.

Henry Bound Over For Domestic Murder

7/31/09 - A Waupun police officer testified in gruesome detail Thursday about the murder of Tammy Henry. Judge Steven Bauer found probable cause to bind her husband, Larry Henry, over for trial on a charge of First Degree Intentional Homicide. Detective Brian O’Donovan said that 42-year-old Tammy Henry was found on a mattress that was so soaked with blood that it seeped into the carpet underneath the mattress. O’Donovan testified that he met Larry Henry (pictured right) at the Waupun Police Station the day of the murder and the 44-year-old told him that he had “taken his wife’s life.” The detective described Henry’s demeanor as “calm and normal” when he told investigators that he hit his wife in the head with a metal pipe and then placed plastic over her face. Henry is being held on a quarter million dollar cash bond. He faces a life prison sentence, if convicted. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for September 9.

MEC Expanding in BD

7/31/09 - Well over a hundred jobs will be coming to Beaver Dam in the next year as the Mayville Engineering Company plans to expand. The Beaver Dam Common Council last night approved a developer’s agreement with MEC to bring a new 313,000 square foot facility to the Beaver Dam Industrial Park. Trent Campbell, Vice President of the Area Development Corp, says the city is offering both land and cash incentives. The deal involves a 20-acre site valued at $30,000 an acre, which MEC will pay the city in full if the project has not been substantially completed by the end of next year. The cost is $1. The city will also provide a $935,000 cash incentive, which will be paid back through TIF District with the roughly $175,000 in annual property taxes generated. Rick Torn, MEC’s Director of Operations Support, says the company plans to add another paint line. The salary range for the jobs would be roughly $14 to $17 an hour for skilled positions. Ground could be broken as early as next month with production is expected to start in June of 2010.

BDPD Conducts Alcohol Compliance Checks

7/31/09 - Bartenders at half of the licensed taverns in Beaver Dam were given warnings Wednesday night for selling alcohol to underage patrons. According to Police Chief Dale Boldt, the compliance sweep was funded with a recently-awarded Card Check Grant. The eight taverns that were given warnings were: Applebee’s, Best Western, Cocktails, Doc’s Pub, Dos Gringos, The Fountain Inn, Moonlights and Moonshiners. On Tuesday, a check of grocery and convenience stores resulted in one warning for Save-A-Lot. Boldt says every business that holds a liquor license in the city was checked and those that were in compliance will be sent a letter commending them for not selling to minors. An underage volunteer was used in the sweep and Boldt says that individual used their own license, not a fake ID. He says this was the first time they used the grant but it won’t be the last. Warnings were issued this time but Boldt says next time violators will be given citations.

South Center Street Opens To Traffic

7/31/09 - The 100 block of South Center Street in Beaver Dam will be open to traffic today. That’s according to Mayor Tom Kennedy who says that because the downtown redevelopment project is ahead of schedule, traffic on the one block segment can resume. It has been closed since May to accommodate construction activity related to Phase One of the downtown project, which included the razing of ten buildings and removal of the Tower Parking lot culverts. Public sidewalks along Front and Center Streets that had been fenced off will also be opened for pedestrian use. The west portion of the Tower Parking lot will remain closed for the next couple weeks for cleanup, installation of signage and parking stall striping.

Local FFA Finalists

7/31/09 - The nation’s agricultural education group has named 16 finalists for four national awards – and three of them are from the same F-F-A chapter in Wisconsin. Alex Zimmerman of the Randolph-Cambria-Friesland F-F-A is one of four nominees for the American Star Farmer award. His partner Ben Alsum is up for the Star-in-Agribusiness honor. And the third member, Tony Crescio, is a finalist for the Star-in-Agricultural Placement. The awards recognize students who’ve developed outstanding ag and management skills, and have met various F-F-A requirements. The four winners will be announced at the National F-F-A Convention in October in Indianapolis. The Randolph-Cambria-Friesland chapter is the largest in Wisconsin with 341 members. It has had individual American Star finalists in the past two years.

New Stop Sign in Rubicon

7/31/09 - Authorities are giving residents a heads up about a new stop sign at one of the busier intersections in Dodge County. Officials say the Wisconsin DOT this week changed the intersection of Highways 60 and County Trunk P in the Town of Rubicon into a four-way stop. It had previously been only a two-way stop for those traveling on Highway P. Authorities are hoping the addition of the stop sign will cut back on the accidents that have plagued the area.

Hassett Plans AG Run

7/31/09 - A former secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources is one step closer to running for attorney general. Scott Hassett has filed a candidacy declaration which lets him start raising money. Insiders have known for some time that Hassett plans to run as a Democrat next year against Attorney General J-B Van Hollen, who’s the state’s only Republican constitutional officer. Governor Jim Doyle appointed Hassett in 2003 to run the D-N-R. He resigned that post four years later.

Property Taxes Due

7/31/09 - The second installment of property taxes must be paid by close of business today. Payments should be made at your local treasurer’s office. The second payments cannot be made at your local municipality. In Dodge County, the treasurer is located in the Administration Building at 127 East Oak Street in Juneau. Online bill pay is also available, for a fee, at www.officialpayments.com. Taxpayers mailing after today’s deadline are subject to interest and a penalty of ten point five percent (10.5%).

Kennedy on Community Comment

7/31/09 - On Community Comment today we’ll be sitting down with Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy. This month, among other things, we’ll talk about the types of complaints the city receives and which department is right one to contact for problems with things like dilapidated structures, dead animals in the road and downed trees. We’ll also ask the mayor about the future of the former YMCA property on Park Avenue; the city closed on the parcel yesterday. And we always welcome questions and comments from our listeners. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM at 12:35pm.