Top Stories, September 8th

War College Common Topic at Sheriffs Forum

9/8/10 - Availability was one of the issues that came up the most during last night’s debate between the candidates for Dodge County Sheriff. The forum was sponsored by the Beaver Dam Chamber and pitted Sheriff Todd Nehls against former Sheriff Steve Fitzgerald, who accused his opponent of abandoning his post to attend War College. Fitzgerald says the ten-month course was an elective that Nehls chose to attend. Nehls says he was told about War College from a general who told him he had until the end of the week to get to Washington DC. Nehls, in turn, asked Fitzgerald what advice he’d give his son, legislator Scott Fitzgerald, if he was afforded such a prestigious honor. Fitzgerald said he wouldn’t recommend leaving a job as Senator to attend War College, just as Nehls didn’t have to leave his job as Sheriff. Nehls says he did not apply to War College and was proud of the fact that he was accepted. He says the program trained him in strategic planning and other programs that he will implement in the sheriffs department. The candidates will discuss the issues again this afternoon on WBEV’s Community Comment beginning at 12:35pm.

Mannel: ‘Water Rescue Upgrades Needed’

9/8/10 - Beaver Dam Fire Chief Alan Mannel told the Police and Fire Commission last night that his department is limited in the equipment they have to perform search and rescue operations on Beaver Dam Lake, especially when it’s frozen. PFC Chair Nancy Conley asked Mannel to review the departments operations and identify any deficient areas. Mannel says the equipment the department has uses for water rescues are intended for sport and recreation and more professional gear is needed. He says his firefighters face a fairly significant amount of risk going in the water with antiquated apparatus that is no longer the industry standard. Suiting up one diver is estimated to cost around $10,000 and the department currently has five divers in open water search and rescue operations. The suits would be size specific. Mannel says the department’s water craft are also getting older. Mannel says grant funding is being explored but he says it doesn’t not look promising for specialized search and rescue needs. He is currently putting numbers together for the cost of the whole package and plans to prioritize the needs in anticipation that it could take several budget years to fund. Budget figures for 2011 are due in mid-October. Neighboring departments in Washington and Columbia Counties have water rescue teams, but Mannel says waiting that long could turn a water rescue into a recovery effort.

Udey Day Work Underway

9/8/10 - After six years of debate, Ad Hoc Committee study, DNR negotiations and resident disagreements… construction on the Udey Dam is finally underway. The Columbus City Council heard Mayor Bob Link report last night that repair of the Crawfish River Dam has begun. The Council accepted a $566 thousand dollar repair bid from Terra Engineering and Construction of Madison on August 2nd. The Dam has been sitting idle with the spill gates removed since a high water event in November of 2004. Mayor Link said that work on the Dam will continue through Fall and early winter. The City approved the Dam repair after being assured of a DNR Municipal Dam Grant for $283 thousand dollars.

Kiefer Enters Plea In Assault and Robbery

9/8/10 - Another one of the men charged with assaulting a pregnant woman and stealing her student loan money has struck a deal with prosecutors. 23-year-old Brad Kiefer of Delafield pleaded “no contest” yesterday (Tu) to a felony count of Theft and had a felony count of Robbery With the Use of Force and misdemeanor Battery dismissed but read into the record. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was attempting to get into her car at the Watertown High School in February when Kiefer and two other men walked up behind her, knocked her to the ground and started kicking her. She was around four months pregnant at the time and sustained cuts and scrapes. Around $1000 in student loan money was stolen from her purse. The trio claims the victim had stolen $400 that they had collected to purchase illegal drugs and say they were just trying to get their money back. 23-year-old Desmond Durow of Mukwonago was arraigned last month and has court activity on the calendar later this week. 21-year-old Andrew Hoffman of Madison struck a similar plea deal last month (8/5). Both Hoffman and Kiefer will be sentenced in October.

BDPD Investigates Counterfeit Bill

9/8/10 - A phony $100 bill was passed at Menards in Beaver Dam over the weekend. Deputy Chief Dan Schubert says the suspects were a male and a female in their 30’s. The incident was reported just before 3pm on Saturday. The bill was taken as evidence. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Beaver Dam Police Department or the anonymous We-Tip hotline at 800-78-CRIME.

Female Veterans Conference Set

9/8/10 - Wisconsin’s female veterans will get together this fall. The fourth annual Wisconsin Women Veterans’ Conference is set for October 22nd-through 24th at Fort McCoy. The women will attend programs on combat trauma, sexual trauma in the military, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide prevention, changes in women’s military health benefits, and more. Wisconsin has about 28-thousand female veterans. Nationally, women make up eight-percent of all who have served. Experts say the figure should rise to 10-percent by 2020. More information about the program is available at the State Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Web site, accessible through Wisconsin-Dot-Gov.

Flu Shots Available Starting Next Tuesday

9/8/10 - Wisconsin health officials say the flu vaccine will be available starting next Tuesday. That means several flu shot clinics will start opening for business across the state. This year an estimated 160 million dollars are to be made available, meaning we aren't likely to run out. The vaccine will include the H1N1 strain, while protecting against other varieties of flu as well.