Top Stories, November 30th

Names Released in Fatal Rollover

11/30/10 - The names of those involved in a fatal accident in the city of Beaver Dam Sunday morning have been released. Authorities say 22-year-old Diamond M. Avalos of Beaver Dam was killed in the one vehicle rollover on the 400 block of North Spring Street, right in front of the Beaver Dam Middle School. 19-year-old Guadalupe Rodriguez Jr. of Beaver Dam was ejected and was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital before being flighted to UW Hospital in Madison. Their passenger car was traveling southbound on North Spring Street at a high rate of speed when the driver went through the Mackie Street stop light, lost control around the curve and struck some small trees before rolling over at least one time. Neither occupant was believed to be wearing a seatbelt. Authorities have not said who was driving. Speed is said to have played a part in the crash but it is unknown if alcohol was also a contributing factor. The Dodge County Crash Investigation Team and the Beaver Dam Police Department continue their investigating.

Watertown Woman Charged With $17K Embezzlement

11/30/10 - A former bookkeeper with the Lebanon Sanitation Department is accused of embezzling over $17,000. Brenda Hollenbeck of Watertown is charged with Theft In A Business Setting Over $10,000 and four counts of Forgery, all felonies. The 44-year-old allegedly wrote numerous checks to herself from the Sanitary District, cashed them and then kept the money. In four instances she reportedly forged her bosses signature. A signature bond was set at $1000 yesterday and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for mid-January. If convicted, Hollenbeck could spend up to 34 years in prison.

Beaver Dam Woman Charged With Burglarizing Neighbor

11/30/10 - A Beaver Dam woman is accused of burglarizing her neighbor’s house. 28-year-old Michelle Behrle is charged with felony Burglary and misdemeanor Theft. The victim told police that she accidentally left her door unlocked and when she returned home, she discovered her iPod missing and her laptop power cord gone. She also had $30 worth of winning lottery tickets taken from her coffee table. The victim noted that they were new Wisconsin State Lottery Green Bay Packer tickets, so new they were numbers #9 and #10. Authorities used that information to find out where the tickets were cashed and then reviewed video surveillance footage. According to the criminal complaint, Behrle says she found the lottery tickets in her backyard and blamed area kids. The 28-year-old also reportedly told investigators that when she learned her neighbor had her laptop power cord stolen, she gave the neighbor a spare. Detectives were able to determine based on the serial number that the spare power cord actually belonged to the victim. Behrle faces over 13 year in prison, if convicted. A signature bond was set at $1000 yesterday and a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month.

Journalism Group Questions Didion Grants

11/30/10 - The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is calling into question the decision to award over five-and-a-half million federal stimulus dollars to Didion Milling in Cambria to create green energy jobs. The corn-milling and ethanol plant was found guilty of numerous violations of the federal Clean Water Act, only a month before Governor Jim Doyle announced an energy-efficiency grant for the company last year. Also, the journalism group found that Didion settled a state lawsuit five months after Doyle’s announcement. The firm paid just over a million dollars to settle 23 air-and-water violations since 1999. The Center for Investigative Journalism also uncovered records under the open meetings law that the U-S Energy Department never asked about the company’s environmental record before awarding the grant. The company didn’t volunteer it, and Doyle didn’t say a word about it – even though the Justice Department had been working on the lawsuit at the time. The governor’s office has not commented. Didion pointed to the job creation and clean-energy benefits of the stimulus grant, but refused to discuss its violations. Consultants for the state’s Focus-on-Energy program said they recommended stimulus funds for Didion Milling – and they never considered the firm’s environmental record because the application did not require it. Didion says the grant will help it use 25-percent less energy for making its ethanol. It planned to hire 75 people this year and 10 more later on.

Fox Lake Charter School Possible

11/30/10 - It appears as though a task force working to determine the future of the former Fox Lake Elementary will recommend the building reopen as a charter school. The group, made up of residents and school board members, will meet Tuesday night to make a final decision but it’s believed they’ll make the charter school recommendation to the Waupun School Board in December. Interim Superintendent Don Childs says if they do decide to go in that direction they will put together a pamphlet to send out to the community with information. The building was one of three closed at the end of the 2008-2009 school year as a cost cutting measure.

Jefferson County Gets Permanent Drug Drop-Off

11/30/10 - Jefferson County now has a permanent pharmaceutical drug collection site. Sheriff Paul Milbrath and his office worked with the county’s Solid Waste/Air Quality Committee for the past year and obtained approval from the Drug Enforcement Agency for the drop-off site. It’s located in the jail lobby of the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office on South Center Avenue in Jefferson and its open 24 hours a day year round. Prescription and non-prescription drugs are accepted, along with vitamins and pet medicines. The drugs should be kept in their original containers, so they can be properly disposed of, with the name and prescription numbers scratched out. Items not accepted include sharp needles, radioactive materials, oxygen tanks and nebulizers. The drug drop-off is only available to Jefferson County residents. Hospice, group homes and assisted living homes are also permitted to use the site. Hospitals, group homes and pharmacies are required to do their own disposal.

Juneau FD Responds To Small Porch Fire

11/30/10 - The Juneau Fire Department responded to a minor porch fire in the Town of Oak Grove Sunday night. Chief Curt Ninmann says the call at N5098 County Highway A was reported by a neighbor just before 8:30pm. Ninmann says the homeowner extinguished the flames prior to the department’s arrival and damage was limited to a small portion of the homes front porch. A thermal imaging camera was used to make sure the fire did not spread into the walls of the home and the scene was cleared in about a half hour. It is not known how the fire started.