Top Stories November 13th

Beaver Dam Business Robbed


11/13/10 - An armed man held up Easton Motors EZ Credit in Beaver Dam early Friday night. Authorities say a masked man with a gun entered the showroom of the Spring Street business just before 5:30 demanding money. A worker at the dealership gave the man about $2,000, after which he fled on foot. The entire incident was caught on tape by a security camera but so far, no description of the suspect has been released by Beaver Dam police.

Accidents Send Two to the Hospital

11/13/10 - A 23-year-old woman had to be rescued from her vehicle after she rolled it over into some water yesterday morning in the Town of Beaver Dam. It happened around 9:30 on Highway 33 near County Highway B. Sheriff’s Department records show that the woman lost control of the vehicle, rolled it over, coming to rest upside down in some water. Emergency personnel were able to get the woman out of the car and took her to the hospital. Another accident that resulted in injuries happened earlier in the morning. It occurred near the intersection of Highway 60 and County Highway D-J around 7:30. Records show that a school bus had come to stop with the two cars behind it also stopped. However, a third vehicle didn’t come to a stop and rear ended the first two vehicles. One person was taken to the hospital.

Employees Union Ready for a Fight

11/13/10 - A call from Governor-elect Scott Walker to put contract talks on hold gets a quick response from the head of the state employees union. Walker said negotiations on a new contract should be put on hold until he takes office January 3. A spokesman for Walker says the new governor wants to make sure has all possible options when he starts work on the new budget. Wisconsin State Employees Union director Marty Bell says Walker trying to stop the negotiations is a hostile message to state workers. Bell says union members want to work with the new governor, but he says if Walker wants to fight, the union isn't afraid to fight him.

Lawmaker Hopes for Block on Raiding of Transportation Fund

11/13/10 - The new president of the Wisconsin Senate says lawmakers should block raids on the state transportation fund, while passing a constitutional amendment to achieve that. Republican Mike Ellis of Neenah said the voters spoke loud-and-clear last week, when they approved advisory referendums in 53 counties on stopping the funding raids. Governor Jim Doyle diverted almost one-point-four billion-dollars from the gas tax fund in the last eight years to balance the budget. But Ellis says lawmakers could have blocked those transfers – and they should put their foot down and keep the transportation fund off limits in the next session. A road-builders’ group arranged to have counties hold the advisory referendums. They passed in all 53 counties and Dodge County had the highest margin of passage, at 85-percent.

Voit Pleads No Contest

11/13/10 - A Burnett man has pleaded “no contest” to felony insurance fraud charges. James P. Voit reported an $8000 all-terrain vehicle stolen in February of 2008. It was recovered a few weeks later on his neighbor’s property, heavily damaged. Multiple witnesses say Voit intentionally abandoned the ATV. According to the criminal complaint, he was drunk and driving erratically when he went airborne and entered a ditch. A sentencing hearing will be held next month.

Former Worker Claims Retaliation

11/13/10 - A former administrator at the Department of Veterans Affairs says he was fired because he was an "old white guy." Gary Wistrom had used that phrase when he wrote an affidavit for another DVA administrator who was fired. He said he'd heard Secretary Ken Black use it. Gary Wistrom has filed a complaint with the state Equal Rights Division. He claimed his termination is retaliation for his support of Randal Nitschke. Black is African-American. He has denied the claims. The complaint from Wistrom is the latest in a series of personnel problems plaguing the state agency for veterans.

Pridemore to Introduce Immigration Bill

11/13/10 - A Republican state lawmaker wants Wisconsin to follow Arizona's lead and require police to check the citizenship status of everyone they arrest. Civil liberties attorneys says such a law will encourage racial profiling and lead to costly law suits. In an interview on the Wisconsin Eye Network, state Rep. Donald Pridemore says the bill he's drafted has strong support from local police and sheriff's departments. He says it's different from Arizona's law because it would give a suspected illegal aliens 48 hours to produce proof of citizenship. But Milwaukee immigration attorney Jerry Grzeca says police are likely to hold people who don't have an ID on them only if they look like they aren't citizens. He says that will likely lead to costly lawsuits.

Ag. Officials Looking at CWD Case

11/13/10 - State agriculture officials investigate a possible chronic wasting disease case in far northern Wisconsin. Spokesperson Donna Gilson says a deer shot on a game farm in Ashland County tested positive for the deadly brain disease. Gilson says the deer was born and raised on the game farm and officials are waiting for the second diagnosis before launching a full investigation. She says deer farms are separated from the general deer population by fences, so wild deer shouldn’t be affected. Gilson says she hopes to receive the results from the second test by the middle of next week.

Man Suing former Employer for Age Discrimination

11/13/10 - A man who spent years finding store locations for Menards is now suing the Eau Claire home improvement giant. 62-year-old Marvin Prochaska said he was the victim of age discrimination when Menards let him go without warning in the spring of 2009. He filed a lawsuit in federal court in Madison. In it, he quoted Menards’ chief operating officer as saying that Prochaska found 200 excellent store locations in his career – and if he was a baseball player, quote, “His batting average would have placed him in the Hall-of-Fame.” Prochaska said he needed very little oversight as he bought hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate for Menards since the early 1970’s. Last year, a state appeals court approved a one-point-seven million dollar damage award for Dawn Sands, a former Menards’ legal counsel who claimed she was paid less because she’s a woman. The award included 900-thousand dollars in punitive damages.

Solar Energy Jobs Prevalent in the State

11/13/10 - Wisconsin has the nation’s fifth-highest number of jobs that involve solar energy. That’s according to the National Solar Jobs Census, which was issued by the Solar Foundation and the Green L-M-I Consulting firm. The report said Wisconsin had 28-hundred-85 jobs at companies that make, distribute, and install solar panels. The census also predicted that Wisconsin would add nine-percent more solar jobs next year, as the industry continues to grow. Nationally, the groups said half of solar companies plan to add jobs in 2011, and only two-percent planned to cut employees. Researchers from Cornell University helped with the study. Andrea Luecke of the Solar Foundation said it was the first time that anyone tried to quantify solar-related jobs.

Area Athletes Make College Choices

11/13/10 - Several area athletes took the time this week to make their college plans official by signing letters of intent. Alix Kruel, a softball star at Horicon, signed on the dotted line yesterday afternoon to play for Division II Tusculum College in Tennessee. On Thursday night, Cambria-Friesland volleyball player Arianna Wiersma became that schools first athlete to sign a Division 1 letter of intent when she committed to U-W Milwaukee. And on Wednesday, two Beaver Dam girls volleyball players signed with their future programs. Kaitlyn McIntyre will attend Division 1 Central Michigan while Brittany Bleich signed with the University of Mary, a Division II school in Bismark, North Dakota. The early signing period for a number of college sports began on Wednesday and runs until the 17th.