Top Stories, November 19th

Nehls Warns Hunters About Trespassing

11/19/10 - Authorities are warning hunters to avoid trespassing while searching for the great whitetail deer this week. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says most hunters follow the rules and hunt land they own or rented, but he says there are always some who refuse to take advantage of the thousands of acres of public hunting land accessible to them. Nehls says that one-percent will generate a significant number of calls for law enforcement service. He says trespassing may seem like a minor incident but it has cost several people their lives when land owner and trespasser confront one other. Nehls says the act of trespassing is expensive and evidence of the violation is easily proven. He says if you are hunting unfamiliar land it is up to you to know the property lines. Nehls encourages hunters new to the area to make a point of meeting adjacent property owners and introduce themselves. He says the Dodge County Sheriffs Department will take trespassing violations seriously.

Columbus Adopts Lock Box Ordinance

11/19/10 - The Columbus Council passed an ordinance this week that will help Police and Firefighters do a better job of protecting people and property. The ordinance was recommended by Fire Chief Randy Koehn. The ordinance requires installation of a “key lock box” on the outside of private and public buildings to allow Emergency crews to get into structures faster to save lives and property. Many local businesses and home builders have already said yes to the key lock box system.

Watertown Approved 2011 Budget

11/19/10 - The Watertown city council this week approved their 2011 budget on an 8 to 1 vote. There is a 2.2% increase in the tax levy to $7.12-million. For Dodge County residents that means a mill rate of $7.41 per thousand, a nearly 4% jump from this year, while Jefferson County residents will pay $7.46 per thousand, up 3.3%. The total budget is up nearly 1.1% to just over nearly $15 million.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

11/19/10 - A good turn by a Fond du Lac police officer had the opposite effect when he let a homeless man go early Thursday morning. Police Captain Steve Klein says an officer found the man in his car near the Wal-Mart store. The 28-year-old man from Germantown said he was living out of his car. The man declined an offer to be taken to a homeless shelter. After that he rammed his car into a fabrics shop and began an adventure that kept officers in Fond du Lac and Winnebago Counties busy. After stealing a newspaper delivery person’s vehicle from a nearby Kwik Trip the man took the car into Winnebago County. Sheriff’s deputies there abandoned the pursuit when it reentered Fond du Lac County. Stop sticks were put down on Highway 26 southbound and the pursuit ended when the man’s tires went flat and he was taken into custody. The man was evaluated and he wasn’t on drugs or alcohol.

He’s being held in jail pending charges.

Stranc Has Probation Revoked

11/19/10 - A Fox Lake man who attempted to abduct a young girl has violated the terms of his parole and was sent to prison. Daniel M. Stranc was originally given 90 days in jail and ten years probation back in January of 2009 after pleading “no contest” to two felony counts of Attempted Child Enticement. The 39-year-old made repeated contact with two juveniles during an 18-hour period in the spring of 2008. He drove by one of the girls several times asking if she needed a ride. After turning around, Stranc tried to grab her and put her in his van. As part of that investigation it was learned that Stranc had recently offered preteen girls marijuana at a birthday party before being asked to leave. Judge Andrew Bissonnette revoked his probation this week citing a variety of parole violations, including a failure to complete mandated sex-offender counseling. A three-and-a-half year prison sentence was imposed in addition to six-and-a-half years of extended supervision.

Kitzman Arraigned

11/19/10 - A guard at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun has entered a “no contest” plea to charges that he assaulted an inmate. Driftten Kitzman is facing a felony count of Abuse of Residents of Penal Facilities for an incident in July. According to the criminal complaint, another guard punched the inmate in the mouth and Kitzman intervened as the two struggled. The 41-year-old correctional officer allegedly threw the inmate on the ground face first, kneeled on his head and punched him in the ribs while saying, “Stop resisting.” He told investigators he was using tactics intended to gain compliance. If convicted, Kitzman could spend up to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Job Growth Reported

11/19/10 - Wisconsin added 55-hundred jobs in the private sector last month, and the state’s unemployment held steady at seven-point-eight percent. Both figures are seasonally-adjusted. State officials said most of the job growth was in the service sector, in fields like health care and recreation. Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector – the largest of all the states – had a loss of 600 jobs. The construction industry had 800 job cuts and retail 700. The scientific and technology fields also reported 700 adjusted job reductions. Government jobs increased by 23-hundred in October, for a net statewide gain of 78-hundred jobs.

Minnesota Chimes In on Rail

11/19/10 - A Minnesota labor union is the latest to urge Wisconsin’s incoming governor to change his mind, and allow the proposed new high-speed train. The A-F-L C-I-O in the Gopher State says the project would put thousands of people to work in the Midwest, and encourage the economy to grow. The train would go from Milwaukee-to-Madison starting in 2013, but plans call for an extension of that line to Minnesota’s Twin Cities by 2016. Governor-elect Scott Walker made it one of his biggest campaign promises. But after he won, the mayor of Madison and a number of business and community leaders have urged Walker to break his promise. Walker says Wisconsin cannot afford the operating costs it would be stuck with – and it’s faster and cheaper for folks to drive between the Badger State’s two largest cities. Critics also say it’s not the big economic engine the train’s supporters say it is – citing a lack of new industries at the stops for Amtrak’s current high-speed train from Milwaukee-to-Chicago. Walker supports that project. He says the stimulus funding for the train to Madison would be better spent fixing highways. But the Obama administration won’t allow that, saying train projects in other states would get the money if Wisconsin rejects it.

Uniform CCAP Rules Ordered

11/19/10 - Wisconsin courts are being told to list all charges against defendants in the state’s on-line court records – including those dismissed in plea deals. A committee that manages the on-line database ordered the move Thursday. That’s after the Associated Press found that some counties, but not all, were deleting charges that were substituted in plea bargains. The chief information officer for the database, Jean Bousquet, said there should be a uniform statewide policy on posting court information. And by keeping dismissed charges out of the system, she said it looks the government is hiding something. But Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts John Barrett wondered whether listing all charges in a case would exacerbate what he called the “Scarlet Letter factor” – in which employers and landlords reportedly shy away from those charged but convicted of crimes. Other members said the public has the right to know what’s going on in their courts, and listing all charges tells the full story about a case. Bousquet said her staff plans to separate dismissed charges by making viewers click on links to reach them.