Top Stories September 9th

Study Finds Little Support For Herberger’s Site


9/9/10 - It’s back to the drawing board for those seeking a new Beaver Dam Senior Center. An ad-hoc committee last night heard the results of a fundraising feasibility study that determined that money and support are just not there for the plan in its current form. The study had looked at community interest in spending over $4 million to convert the former Herberger’s Department store in the Heritage Village Mall into a Community and Senior Center. Mary McCann of the McDonald Schaefer Group says the study determined that between $500,000 and $800,000 could be raised from private donations. She says a majority of those surveyed objected to the Herberger’s site. The ad-hoc committee last night voted to send the matter back to the Senior Center’s Building Committee. A number of possible sites were mentioned in last night’s meeting and the Building Committee is expected to review those sites and bring a recommendation to back to the ad-hoc committee for further consideration.

Crime Stats Scrutinized in Sheriffs Race

9/9/10 - The candidates for Dodge County Sheriff logged close to two-and-a-half hours on WBEV’s Community Comment yesterday afternoon. While former Sheriff Steve Fitzgerald has made his opponents 10-month attendance at War College a main campaign point, incumbent Todd Nehls instead has focused on crime statistics. Nehls says his department has solved close to 27% of the violent crimes and property crimes that have occurred since he’s taken office while his opponent came in below the statewide average of 22%. He says Fitzgerald campaigned in 1988 that he would improve the crime clearance rate of Sheriff Edwin Nehls who was – quoting a sarcastic Todd Nehls – “a pathetic 25%” and for 14 years Nehls says Fitzgerald never got close to that average. Fitzgerald calls Nehls numbers misleading because, among other things, there have been two different methods of reporting crime rates over the past decade. He says the crime stats chart on Nehls campaign brochure were intentionally “jacked up” to make Fitzgerald look bad.

Neumann Makes a Stop in BD

9/9/10 - Mark Neumann’s campaign made a stop at Walkers Restaurant in Beaver Dam yesterday afternoon. And like most places the former congressman has stopped, jobs were a main topic of conversation. The Republican Gubernatorial candidate says he spoke with at least three people that said they wanted to work but have been unable to find a job. Neumann says he has an extensive plan to bring jobs to the state if elected. The other main Republican candidate for governor, Scott Walker, will be in Beaver Dam this afternoon. The Milwaukee County Executive is expected at the Dodge County Historical Society on Park Avenue at 2:45 p-m.

Meeting to Discuss Future of Fox Lake and WASD Tonight

9/9/10 - An ad-hoc committee for the Waupun School District will hold the second of two meetings in Fox Lake tonight to discuss the issues the community may still have after the closing of its elementary school at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. Superintendent Don Childs says the meeting is designed to allow the community to let the district know what their issues are, and what they think can be done to bridge the gap between the two. When asked whether the school in Fox Lake could reopen Childs said it’s currently a remote possibility but not something they can totally take off the table. The meeting is slated to start at 6 p-m at the community center in Fox Lake.

GOP Demands Greater Wisconsin Committee Give Back Campaign Money

9/9/10 - The head of the State Republican Party says the Greater Wisconsin Committee should return the one-million-dollars Governor Jim Doyle gave that group – or else it should stop running ads slamming G-O-P candidate Scott Walker. Doyle is stepping down in January. And he gave most of his one-point-eight-million-dollar campaign fund to the group, to try and get Democrat Tom Barrett to win in November. The Greater Wisconsin Committee recently spent a half-million on ads which attack Walker. State G-O-P chairman Reince Priebus says the donation proves that electing Barrett is like giving Doyle a third term. Doyle spokesman Adam Collins said it was clear that the governor would support his fellow Democrats ever since he announced 13 months ago that he wouldn’t run for re-election.

75 Jobs in Jeopardy at Tomahawk Harley Plant

9/9/10 - A proposed new labor contract would cut about one-of-every-four jobs at the Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant in Tomahawk. Union workers learned the details yesterday, a day after Harley employees in the Milwaukee area were told that at least 200 jobs would be lost there under the new deal. The Tomahawk plant makes windshields, side-cars, and other accessories for Harley bikes. The plant now has about 275 full-time employees, and about 75 of them would be replaced by seasonal workers aimed at making Harley’s production more flexible to market conditions. Harley says it needs to cut millions in labor costs in order to keep making motorcycles in Wisconsin. Workers at both the Tomahawk and Menomonee Falls plants will vote Monday on a new seven-year deal that takes effect after 2012. If they reject it, Harley says it will consider moving the work out-of-state, and a total of 17-hundred jobs could be lost.

DNR Announces Educational Seminars at Horicon Marsh

9/9/10 - The state D-N-R will again hold free educational seminars and hikes at the Horicon Marsh this fall. The one-hour programs will take place on Saturdays and Sundays from September 18th through Halloween. The Horicon Marsh is a major stopping point for Canadian geese and migrating ducks each fall. The programs will explain the history, wildlife, geology, and management of the marsh and its eco-system.