Top Stories November 10th

DC Board Approves .5% Tax Levy Increase


11/10/10 - After four failed amendments, the Dodge County Board of Supervisors approved the 2011 budget yesterday afternoon. The tax levy will increase by $160,000, a half-percent increase from the current year. Based largely on a drop in property values, taxpayers will see a 19-cent increase to their mill rate leaving it at $5.40 per thousand. The first two amendments would have had the county taxing the maximum allowable limit of 3-percent, which would have added an additional 800,000 to the tax levy or 13-cents to the mill rate. Both proposed by Supervisor Jeff Schmidt, the first one would have given the extra money to the highway department for road projects, and the second would have put the money into the general fund. Schmidt called the transportation structure the lifeline of the economy, and they should take the money now as cuts may be coming from the state in the near future. However, both amendments failed by healthy margins. A second round of amendments would have left the county with no increase to the tax levy, something Supervisor Bob Smith believed would allow the board to say to their constituents that they were holding the line on taxes. County Administrator Jim Mielke says he can understand both points of view in regards to the tax levy, but he felt his recommendation of a .5-percent increase was the best way to go. The budget passed on a 33-3 vote and means that the owner of a property worth $100,000 will pay $540 for the county portion of their tax bill.

Victim Identified in Sun Prairie House Explosion

11/10/10 - A man killed in a house explosion in Sun Prairie has been identified as 26-year-old Andrew Manley. He was one of three people living in the house that blew up early yesterday morning. Steven Slack and Lindsey Stephany own the building. They were in fair condition at last word at U-W Hospital in Madison. Rick White of We Energies said natural gas apparently caused the explosion, but it’s not known how the gas leaked in the home. There were no problems with the gas pipes outside. Reports said the residents had recently installed a new furnace, but police could not say if it had anything to do with the blast – which was felt over a mile away. A nearby elementary school will re-open today after it was closed yesterday. Westside Elementary lost some ceiling tiles and had a few minor cracks from the explosion. About two dozen nearby homes were evacuated at first, and 14 were still evacuated by late yesterday afternoon. The residents ended up at a social services facility. The Red Cross helped set up overnight accommodations for those who needed it.

Jury Could Decide Fate of Theresa Man Today

11/10/10 - A jury in Washington County could decide today whether a former factory worker from Theresa is guilty of killing a female employee in 1999. Mark Libecki was arrested just over a year ago after his D-N-A was found on the victim, 22-year-old Theresa Weselowski of Milwaukee. But the 49-year-old Libecki testified yesterday that he was pulling the woman from the back-seat of his S-U-V as another co-worker – Tommy J. Thompson – attacked her with a knife. Thompson died in 2003. All three were employed at the Smurfit-Stone Container factory in Germantown. Weselowski was stabbed more than 40 times. Libecki said he never told anyone about the incident because he panicked when he saw blood in his vehicle – and he was afraid Thompson and a couple other people would go after him.

Quad Invests $20M in Lomira Plant

11/10/10 - The Quad Graphics plant in Lomira will be benefitting from a $20 million expansion announced today. President and CEO Joel Quadracci says the company will be adding four retail offset presses at the Dodge County facility, giving clients a quick-turnaround on advertising inserts for newspapers. The improvements are expected to help Quad Graphics grow its business in the grocery, dollar store, sporting goods and related retail markets. The investment includes two new, high-speed, digital ink presses that will be ready for start-up by the middle of next year. Quadracci says the “investments in Lomira reinforce [the company’s] commitment to help retailers use the power of print to succeed in a competitive marketplace.” Quad Graphics is based in Sussex and has 28,000 employees throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe and is also one of Dodge County’s largest employers.

Petri Doubts Transfer of Train Funds To Roads

11/10/10 - Governor-elect Scott Walker got some bad news Tuesday from one of his fellow Republicans in Congress. House Transportation Committee member Tom Petri of Fond du Lac said he doubted that Congress would let Wisconsin use 810-million federal stimulus dollars to improve highways, instead of for the Milwaukee-to-Madison high-speed train. The proposed line would have a stop in Watertown. The Republican Walker made that request to Congress. And he remains committed to stopping the train, because he fears that the state will get stuck paying the tab to operate it. Petri says the House would have to change the law to divert the train money to new roads. And as long as there are states like New York that want the cash for high-speed rail, he doesn’t see much of a chance of Walker succeeding. Petri says it’s possible, but not likely. He also noted that his transportation panel never had a chance to vote on the rail funding, because it was part of the stimulus package that was approved by House Appropriations Committee. Petri voted against the package on the House floor. On Monday, U-S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said other states would get Wisconsin’s money for their trains if the Badger State doesn’t want it. Democratic Governor Jim Doyle has said that all along.

Wisconsin Voter Turnout Among Highest in Nation

11/10/10 - We don’t know the final figures yet – but a preliminary study shows that Wisconsin had the nation’s seventh-highest voter turnout last Tuesday. That’s according to preliminary numbers from Michael McDonald of George Mason University. Early numbers showed that about 50-percent of Wisconsin’s voting age adults went to the polls. Oregon had the most, followed by Minnesota, Maine, South Dakota, Colorado, and Alaska. Ballots from overseas are still being counted until later this month. The final numbers for the national turnout are expected to be known in December.

Former Winnebago County DA Released From Prison

11/10/10 - Former Oshkosh prosecutor Joe Paulus was freed from prison Tuesday, more than six years after he was convicted of taking bribes from a defense lawyer. He was allowed to serve his time at a minimum-security prison in Pensacola Florida, close to where his family lives in Alabama. He still owes the state government over 50-thousand-dollars, and he’s starting a three-year probation term. Paulus, who’s now 51, was Winnebago County’s district attorney when he accepted 48-thousand-dollars from a defense attorney in exchange for dropping and reducing charges for his clients. Most of those charges were for drunk driving. He served both federal-and-state sentences – and he spent the entire time in Pensacola because his attorney said it would be dangerous to put him in a state prison with convicts he was responsible for putting away. Besides the bribe money, Paulus must also re-pay three-thousand-dollars in expenses to transport him from Pensacola to Oshkosh for his state sentencing.

More Phony Money in Beaver Dam

11/10/10 - Another counterfeit bill has been reported in Beaver Dam. The police department received a report Monday afternoon that fake bills had been passed at the Park Avenue Shell. There have about a dozen such reports this month and authorities urge those working with money to remain vigilant. The evidence has been turned over the Secret Service for investigation and counterfeiters face federal charges.

New ‘Western Union’ Scam Reported

11/10/10 - Authorities in Dodge County are warning of an email scam. Sheriff Todd Nehls says it’s a new twist, one he had not seen before. The email from Western Union says the 156-year-old company is celebrating its anniversary by rewarding customers with a $920,000 prize. It reads that because the recipient had sent money with Western Union in the past they have been selected. All that is needed to receive the money is bank account information, routing number and other sensitive information. Nehls says if it sounds too good to be true it probably is and he warns that the public should never provide personal or financial information to unsolicited emails, phone calls or mailings.