Top Stories November 14th

Randolph Loses in State Semifinals


11/14/10 - The Randolph football team saw their dream season come to end last night in Stevens Point on game short of a state championship. The Rockets lost to Gilman 34-26 in a game that saw just one score in the first half. Gilman will move on to face Burlington Catholic Central for the Division 7 title in Madison later this week. Randolph finished the season with a record of 12-1.

Authorities Continue Search for Robbery Suspect

11/14/10 - Authorities are asking for the publics help in finding a suspect that robbed a Beaver Dam business Friday night. It happened at Easton Motors on North Spring Street just before 5:30. According to Beaver Dam’s Deputy Police Chief Dan Schubert, the suspect entered the establishment and displayed a handgun, demanding cash. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken. The suspect was last seen fleeing on foot in a northwest direction. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Beaver Dam Police Department or the anonymous We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

Dodge County Jury Hears Testimony in Homicide

11/14/10 - The public defender says his client thought he'd hit a deer. Rory Kuenzi faces homicide charges in a trial that started last Friday. Prosecutors say Kuenzi was drunk when he left an underage drinking party in 2004. They say his truck hit and killed Kevin McCoy. The two may have argued at the party. Prosecutors say vehicle parts found at the scene match the defendants truck and DNA on the dead man's leg matches Kuenzi. Defense attorney David Dickmann says his client didn't know he'd hit a person - and there were no field sobriety or blood alcohol tests to prove Kuenzi was drunk at the time of the accident. A Dodge County jury was brought in to decide the case.

Governor’s Office Announces State Contract Agreements

11/14/10 - Just a short time after Governor-elect Scott Walker asked that negotiations be halted Governor Jim Doyle announced that agreements with six state worker unions had been reached. Wisconsin lawmakers still have to approve the contracts but the deals include no pay raises for thousands of state employees. It includes furloughs which amount to a three percent cut. The legislature has already adjourned, but it is possible a special session of the Democrat-controlled legislature might be called to act on those contracts before the incoming Republican-controlled Legislature is sworn-in next January.

New Senate President Promising Change

11/14/10 - The incoming Wisconsin Senate president promises a different approach in dealing with those unions during the next legislative session. Mike Ellis says unions had what he calls an absolute fun time in Madison, saying labor people got “just about everything they wanted.” He cites as an example, changes last year to teacher contract bargaining law contained in the state budget. The new rules don’t require factoring in local economic conditions and potential effects on revenue control. Ellis says this could lead to “blowing a hole” in the revenue control and lead to shortages for other public services. The long standing Qualified Economic Offer was eliminated in June of 2009 and took effect in July of this year. Unions claimed the QEO was a pay cap that stifled innovation from teachers.

Pro-Life Group Looking Forward to Legislative Session

11/14/10 - The state’s largest pro-life group is looking forward to a productive legislative session, thanks to Republican majorities in the state Senate and Assembly. Susan Armacost, legislative affairs director with Wisconsin Right to Life, said the group is in the best position in years to see its pro-life agenda advanced. The group says its highest priority will be to prevent elective abortions from being paid for by taxpayer money under provisions of the federal health care reform. Armacost says states are allowed to opt out of abortion coverage in the state-based exchanges created by the health care reform plan. She says Wisconsin Right to Life is focused on making sure there are no taxpayer-funded abortions.

2 Killed, 1 Injured in Snow Related Crash

11/14/10 - Snow is blamed in a Wisconsin traffic accident that left two drivers dead and a passenger in the hospital. The Bayfield County Sheriff's Department says the crash happened Saturday morning in the town of Keystone. Road conditions at the time were deteriorating fast in a snowstorm that had dumped more than four inches on the ground by last night. When emergency responders arrived on the scene they say both drivers were already dead. The snow system that hit the region Saturday blanketed the Twin Cities with up to 11 inches in some areas. Most of the snow expected in western Wisconsin came down as rain. Meteorologists are forecasting western and north-central Wisconsin might see up to an inch of snow today, but no more. Since the ground is still relatively warm and temperatures are expected to be in the 30s for the next few days, any snow that falls should melt quickly.

Equipment Failure Caused Sprint Outages

11/14/10 - Sprint says an equipment failure at a major switching station in New Berlin is why thousands of customers lost service for about seven hours Friday. Mobile phone, data and text service was affected starting at about 2:30 p.m. Customers in Milwaukee and other parts of southern Wisconsin were affected, as far west as Madison. Users still having problems are advised to turn their phones off, then back on, to reset them - something like rebooting a computer. Sprint is the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States with an estimated 50 million users.