Top Stories, September 24th

Toilet Paper Caper Unravels

9/24/10 - An employee at a cell phone store in Waupun has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft charges for stealing a customer’s wallet. A Dodge County judge fined 21-year-old Chelsea Lefkoski $250 this week related to the incident this past June. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was in the store trying to activate a phone that Lefkoski said was stolen. Turns out it was not stolen. In her frustration, the victim left the store without her wallet but returned with a friend to reclaim it. That friend, Timothy Lavoie of Waupun, apparently went into the bathroom to get toilet paper to clean up grape juice that had spilled in his car. The victim was only given her identification card back. Meanwhile, employees of the cellular store called police to report the toilet paper as stolen. Employees also claim they saw Lavoie drop a baggie with white powder as he returned the toilet paper. A canine sweep of Lavoie’s vehicle allegedly uncovered illegal drugs and he was arrested along with the woman whose wallet was stolen. Charges were eventually dismissed against her but Lavoie faces a pair of felony charges. The victim’s mother was also arrested, and later pled guilty to obstructing, for protesting her daughters arrest. Waupun police later reviewed video footage from the store and discovered that Lefkoski had indeed stolen the woman’s wallet and lied about it.

Weapons Stolen In Break-In

9/24/10 - A gun vault was among items missing from a town of Leroy home that was the target of a break-in Monday night. It happened at a residence on County Highway Y in the northeastern part of the county. The subjects forced their way into the home through a back door. Items missing from the home included the vault, a 9-milimeter pistol, several vehicle keys and the dresser the gun vault was screwed into. The Sheriff’s Department investigation continues.

Peyer On Randolph Referendum

9/24/10 - Randolph Superintendent Greg Peyer says he’s heard from both sides in preparing for a major school referendum that will appear on voter’s ballots in November. The school board approved two questions last month. The first will ask them to approve a bond not to exceed $12.6 million to build an extension at the high school that would allow grades sixth through eighth to be moved there. The second option would have the district expand that addition to include pre-kindergarten through eighth grade at a cost not to exceed 20.8-million. If the first option were to pass an owner whose property is valued at $150,000 would see an additional 369-dollars per year added to their tax bill, while if the second option were to pass it would increase that to 624-dollars.

Fall River Meter Upgrade

Fall River residents will be getting a new system for metering homeowners’ water usage. The contract to install the antenna on the Water Tower went to Hill Wiring of Baraboo. That should be installed by October 1st. The Village will hold a special Board meeting next Tuesday (September 28th) to approve the bid for installation of home meter transmitters. The new technology will send information on water usage from home meters to the Village Hall monitoring equipment via radio waves. This will allow for daily monitoring and replace quarterly visits to each home by “the meter man.” The Village’s contract for installation of home transmitters calls for the first 25 meters to be installed for test purposes by October 17th.

BDACT Goes Loco

9/24/10 - The Beaver Dam Area Community Theater is presenting a musical revue highlighting the 1970’s this weekend. “Loco Vocals” features four band directors and two choir directors, mixed-in with a couple of the guys from “Harmonology” covering music from the likes of Elton John, The Eagles, The Doobie Brothers, the Carpenters and Supertramp. Show times are 7pm tomorrow (Sat) and 2pm Sunday at the Beaver Dam Community Theater building on North Spring Street. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids 12 and under and are available at Rechek’s Food Pride or at the door.

Jobless Numbers Edge Downward

9/24/10 - Unemployment rates were down slightly in four of five area counties last month. Dodge County dropped from 7.9% in July to 7.7% last month. Last year at this time it was at 9.6%. Fond du Lac County was down one-tenth of a percent to 7.6%. Jefferson County sits at 8.2% down from 8.5%, while Washington County dropped three-tenths to 7%. Columbia County was the only area county to see an increase in their unemployment rate over the two-month period moving from 6.9% to 7%. Sixty-one (61) of Wisconsin’s 72 counties saw their actual unemployment rates go down or stay the same. Dane County continued to have the lowest rate at 5.1% while Menominee County has the highest rate at 20.3%. The statewide rate was 7.7%. That’s down one-tenth of a percent from July and eight-tenths of a percent lower than a year ago.

State Unemployed Waiting Longer for Benefits

9/24/10 - The federal government says unemployed Wisconsinites are still waiting longer than they should for appeal hearings when their requests for jobless benefits are denied. The Labor Department said the state is completing about 10-percent of appeals within 30 days after they’re filed. That’s well below the federal standard of 60-percent. And only 13-percent of appeals are handled within 45 days after they’re filed – below the federal standard of 80-percent. State officials say they’re doing better now than a few weeks ago. Workforce development spokesman John Dipko said there almost 57-hundred pending appeals – 220 less than several weeks ago. He said the state is dealing with record claims, and Wisconsin is not the only one that’s behind. Dipko said 39 other states have also failed to meet the federal standards for scheduling appeal hearings. And he says Wisconsin has done better than most states in other standards – like making first-time payments on a timely basis.

Price Of Bacon Up

9/24/10 - It costs more than ever to bring home the bacon. CattleNetwork-Dot-Com said Wisconsin shoppers paid 4.35-a-pound for bacon last month. That’s an all-time high, and it’s 20-percent more than the same month a year ago. But the Wisconsin Pork Association says it’s not a big windfall for pig farmers – many of whom are in debt from the recession. The group’s Tammy Vaassen said production costs were so high over the last two years that many farmers lost money-per-pig. And it forced some farmers nationwide to leave the business, while others down-sized their hog operations. Vaassen says more pigs normally enter the supply chain in October, and it’s likely that the record-high prices for bacon and other pork products won’t be sustained for much longer.

Wisconsin’s Richest Losing Ground

9/24/10 - Wisconsin’s richest business magnates are losing ground, compared to others around the country. That’s according to Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the 400 richest Americans. John Menard of the Eau Claire-based Menards home improvement chain is worth an estimated five-point-two-billion dollars. That’s up from five-billion a year ago, but he dropped down the Forbes list from 44th a year ago to 51st. Herb Kohler, the plumbing and golf legend from the Sheboygan area, lost a third of his net worth. Forbes puts it at two-billion, dropping him from 97th to number-182. Trucking magnate Donald Schneider of Green Bay maintained his net worth of two-and-a-half billion, but he still fell 21 spots down the Forbes list to 144th. Diane Hendricks, who co-founded A-B-C Supply of Beloit, dropped from 158th to 170th, despite gaining 100-million over the last year. And the family that owns S-C Johnson of Racine shared the 182nd spot with Kohler – and that’s one place better than last year, with a gain of 50-million dollars. Also, James Cargill of Birchwood in northwest Wisconsin rose from 220th on last year’s Forbes list to 205th. His net worth rose from one-point-six billion last year to one-point-nine billion now.

Farm Aid Seeks Volunteers

9/24/10 - A group that promotes volunteerism is looking for people to help out at the Farm Aid concert a week from Saturday at Milwaukee’s Miller Park. The group “Serve-60” is looking for people to survey concert-goers about the music they like, their favorite foods, and how much they know about farming. The information will help the Farm Aid organization use its resources better – and it will help in arranging future concerts. The volunteers are being sought through Friday. More information is available on the group’s Web site at Serve60-Dot-Com. “Serve-60” is based in Milwaukee, and it encourages community service for 60 minutes at a time. Willie Nelson started Farm Aid a quarter century ago, and the October second concert is the 25th annual event. Neil Young, Dave Matthews, and John Mellencamp will be among those joining Nelson on stage.