Top Stories, March 24th

BD Offered Fullerton Lumber Free For Senior Center

3/24/11 - The city of Beaver Dam has been offered a free building for a new Senior Center. The city’s ad-hoc committee last night got an update from the Senior Center’s Building Committee on efforts they’ve undertaken to move to a larger facility. After conducting an in-depth study of three different sites, the Senior Center Committee chose the former Fullerton Lumber building on South Center Street as their top choice. While it may be free, the Fullerton site is the smallest of the sites they looked at and falls well below the 25,000 square feet the Senior Center Committee is seeking. At 13,000 square feet the building, which sits on 1.6 acres, would cost $3.3 million to renovate. Council president Jon Litscher, who chairs the city’s ad hoc committee, says he doesn’t know where the city would get that kind of money and he is concerned that if the city takes ownership there would be pressure to immediately begin renovations. A recent feasibility study determined that between $500,000 and $750,000 could be raised from private donations. The Senior Center currently has around $300,000 in an endowment fund. Community Activities and Services Administrator Evonne Koeppen says while it would be nice to have some financial support from the city, they plan to rely on fundraising and grant money. Members of the ad-hoc committee will be reviewing the architects study and are planning a joint meeting with the city’s Operations and Administrative Committee next month. The Senior Center and Recreation departments were combined in a cost-saving move in 2007. A new building would not be used for recreational programs but would continue to house an office space for rec staff to plan programming and for public registration.

Tears Shed Along Birkholz Procession Route

3/24/11 - The Fond du Lac police K-9 officer who was wounded by a gunman last Sunday is getting better. Ryan Williams was taken off the critical list Wednesday and is now in serious condition at a Neenah hospital. He was taken off a ventilator, and doctors expect him to make a full recovery. The police dog, Grendel, was shot-and-wounded while sitting in the back of Williams’ squad car. The dog is in critical but stable condition at an animal hospital in Appleton. Both were shot by 30-year-old James Cruckson as authorities responded to a sexual assault complaint at his home. 28-year-old officer Craig Birkholz was killed, and Cruckson killed himself during a subsequent standoff. State Justice agents said Williams was wearing both a normal duty vest and a tactical vest – and they probably saved his life. Birkholz was wearing his regular body armor when he was shot in the chest. He will be buried on Saturday in his home town of Kenosha.

Meanwhile, stories of heroism continue to emerge from the tragedy. The Fond du Lac Reporter said officer Zach Schultz – who got hurt falling down a stairway – managed to pull Williams just barely out of the house, where Lieutenant Jason Laridaen continued to get the wounded officer further out of harm’s way. Schultz was holed up in the basement with officer Becky Kollmann, Captain John Gutzmann, and Cruckson’s sister during the gunfire. They all managed to escape unharmed.

One Contested Aldermanic Race In Mayville

3/24/11 - There is one contested race on the Mayville Common Council where newcomer Paul Pogrant is challenging former Alderman Mike Schmidt. Pogrant says if elected, he would work to re-open the city pool, which was closed following extensive flooding in 2008. Schmidt, who also chairs the city’s Police and Fire Commission, says one of his top priorities would be to restore one of the two police officer positions that were cut last year in a budget saving move. Next Monday on Community Comment we’ll hear from the candidates competing in the only contested aldermanic race in the city of Waupun.

Legislation Would Blacklist Porn Watching Teachers

3/24/11 - Teachers who look at pornography from their work computers could lose their state licenses under a bill that’s being proposed in the Legislature. The heads of the Assembly and Senate education committees are asking colleagues to co-sponsor the measure. It stems from the case of Christopher Nelson, spent 20 years in the Randolph school district before moving to Beaver Dam in 1994 where he served as Assistant Principal until 2000. Five years later he was quietly allowed to resign as Madison’s school athletics coordinator after he was caught looking at porn at work. Nelson was arrested in Milwaukee in January for trying to arrange sex with a 15-year-old boy while serving as New Holstein’s school superintendent. After the Wisconsin State Journal uncovered the Madison case, the state School Boards’ Association said teachers should lose their licenses if they get fired for looking at porn on the job. But the new bill goes farther than that. It would add the viewing of porn to a law that currently allows teacher license revocations for incompetency or immoral conduct – and it says nothing about having to be fired first. Porn viewing would be immoral conduct under the bill, which is sponsored by Senate Republican Luther Olsen of Ripon and Assembly Republican Steve Kestell of Elkhart Lake. It would also require the state to post the names of teachers whose licenses are revoked on the Internet.

Appellate Court Rejects Tolonen Retrial

3/24/11 - A state appeals court on Wednesday refused to give a new trial to an Allenton man convicted of shaking a six-month-old girl to death. The Second District Appellate Court didn’t buy the arguments made by Craig Tolonen and his reckless homicide conviction will stand in the death of Serenitee Halbert in August of 2006. The 27-year-old said the jury in his original trial never should have heard what he told police. Tolonen said Washington County prosecutors did not prove that his actions killed the infant. And he said he deserves a new trial because research into shaken baby syndrome has advanced since his conviction. But the appellate judges said the police questioned him properly – and medical evidence tied Tolonen’s actions to the baby’s death. During his 2007 trial, Tolonen argued that detectives lured him into making a confession – and the real killer was the boyfriend of the baby’s mother, who’s in prison for beating another of her children.

Metzger Arraigned In Pharmacy Break-In

3/24/11- A Horicon man accused of breaking into the Marshland Pharmacy and stealing thousands of dollars worth of drugs was in court for an arraignment hearing yesterday. Alexander Metzger stood mute and the court entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf. Metzger is charged with felony burglary for allegedly smashing in the front glass doors to the pharmacy last September and taking over $3600 of Oxycontin. Police were tipped to the crime by an anonymous call. According to the criminal complaint, a hair found at the crime scene matched one obtained from Metzger. When he was questioned, authorities say the 23-year-old had a white, powdery substance crusted around his nostrils that turned out to be Oxycontin. Metzger could spend over 12 years in prison, if convicted.

Waupun Man Sentenced Following Bizarre Drug Arrest

3/24/11 - A Waupun man will spend 40 days in jail after pleading to reduced drug charges stemming from a bizarre arrest last June. Timothy Lavoie drove a friend to a cell phone store in Waupun. According to the criminal complaint, that friend was in the store trying to activate a phone that the clerk said was stolen. It was not stolen. In her frustration, she left the store without her wallet but returned with LaVoie to reclaim it. But she was only given her identification card back as the clerk decided to steal her wallet. Meanwhile, Lavoie went into the bathroom to get toilet paper to clean up grape juice that had spilled in his car. That’s when the thieving clerk called police to report the toilet paper as stolen. The clerk also said she saw Lavoie drop a baggie with white powder as he returned the toilet paper. A canine sweep of Lavoie’s vehicle uncovered illegal drugs and he was arrested along with the woman whose wallet was stolen. Charges were eventually dismissed against the woman though her mother was also arrested, and later pled guilty to obstructing, for protesting her daughters arrest. It wasn’t until later when Waupun police reviewed video footage from the store that they discovered the clerk had indeed stolen the wallet and lied about it. The clerk pleaded guilty in September to misdemeanor theft charges and was fined $250. Lavoie was charged with felony drug possession but on Tuesday pleaded to reduced misdemeanor charges.