Top Stories March 25th

Supreme Court To Decide Repair Bill Challenge


3/25/11 - A state appeals court refused to decide yesterday whether to keep blocking the new law that virtually ends collective bargaining for public employee unions. The three-judge panel in Madison unanimously agreed that the State Supreme Court should tackle the issue. The justices will first decide whether to take the case. And if so, they’ll rule on whether Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi was correct when she issued a temporary restraining order last Friday against the new union law. It was supposed to take effect tomorrow, but Sumi wants to decide first whether a legislative panel broke the state Open Meetings Law when it passed the measure on March ninth. She’ll begin a hearing on that matter next Tuesday. The Fourth District Appellate Court said there have been conflicting decisions in the past on the same issue – and it said the Supreme Court should sort them out because of the statewide implications involved. Meanwhile, Justice David Prosser – a former Republican Assembly speaker – is up for re-election to the Supreme Court in 11 days. And opponents of the union law are trying to tie him to G-O-P Governor Scott Walker, who served with Prosser in the Assembly in the 1990’s. Yesterday, Prosser said he would not withdraw from the case – and it would be wrong for him to try and delay a decision until after the election. Former Justice Janine Geske, who’s now a Marquette law professor, doesn’t believe the court would rule that quickly anyway. She also said the justices might want to wait on the alleged open meeting violation, because a second lawsuit seeks to strike down the bargaining limits outright.

IN Prosecutor Resigns After Email to Walker

3/25/11 - A prosecutor in Indiana has resigned, after he urged Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to fake an attack on himself, and claim that a public union sympathizer did it. Johnson County assistant prosecutor Carlos Lam admitted sending an e-mail to the Republican Walker on February 19th – right during the massive protests at the State Capitol against the plan to restrict public union bargaining powers. Lam told Walker, quote, “If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions’ cause to physically attack you – or even use a firearm against you – you could discredit the public unions.” Lam also said quote, “We cannot have the public unions hold the taxpayer hostage with their outrageous demands.” And the prosecutor urged Walker to “stay strong.” Lam denied writing the e-mail at first, and said it must have come from somebody who hacked into his computer. But he later came clean. And the Indiana prosecutor resigned yesterday, just hours before the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism published the contents. Lam is the second Indiana prosecutor to lose his job over his comments about the Wisconsin protestors. Deputy state attorney general Jeffrey Cox was fired last month, after he tweeted that police should use live ammunition against the protestors.

2 Fort Atkinson Residents Killed

3/25/11 - Two elderly people from Fort Atkinson were killed when their car collided with a semi-truck a few miles east of Stoughton in Dane County. It happened at the same intersection where 69-year-old Margaret McKay of Stoughton was killed in a similar crash eight days ago. Sheriff’s deputies have not identified the victims of yesterday’s accident. They said an 87-year-old man pulled from a stop sign heading east on County Trunk “A.” And he drove into the path of a southbound semi-truck on Highway 73. The man died at the scene along with his 81-year-old female passenger. The truck driver, a 50-year-old Evansville man, was not hurt. And he was not ticketed. All three people were wearing seat belts. In the previous crash, authorities said McKay pulled from the same stop sign, into a path of a northbound semi on 73.

Flooding Remains a Concern

3/25/11 - Flood warnings continue today on a number of rivers in Wisconsin. But the Army Corps of Engineers says the return of sub-freezing temperatures has slowed down the melting of snow – and the agency might wait to decide until next week which communities it will help with flood preparations. On the Mississippi River, Pierce is the only Wisconsin county that’s under an official flood warning. And a flood warning has been canceled on the Kickapoo River at Viola. But the National Weather Service says several rivers within the Badger State remain above their banks this morning, including the Crawfish River at Milford in northern Jefferson County. The river is about 2-inches above flood stage and wasn’t expected to go much higher. The Rock River at Watertown was also near its flood stage as of early this morning.

FLCI Manure Digester Scrapped

3/25/11 - Plans to build a consolidated dairy farm and manure digester at the Fox Lake Correctional Institution have been scrapped. Senate Majority Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau says the Department of Corrections this week indicated that they do not intend to proceed with the project. Fitzgerald says property owners raised concerns about potential damage to water quality and members of the State Building Commission passed an amendment to withdraw the project from the Capital Budget. Construction was originally slated to begin last August but never got past the planning stage because of the water quality concerns.

Mayville Votes Down DPW Contracts

3/25/11 - There will be no new contract for public works employees in Mayville. That’s after the common council voted down the proposed two-year agreement. The contract would have put a freeze on wages for 2011 and 2012, with employees contributing 5% to their health care this year and 12-percent next year. It also had employees paying 2.9% this year for their retirement plans and 5.8% in 2012. Those voting against it were most concerned about the length of the deal, especially with the uncertainty of the budget repair bill and what it would mean for the 2012 budget. A majority of local union contracts passed in recent weeks have been 1-year deals.

Columbus Hires Treasurer

3/25/11 - Columbus has a new Treasurer and Financial Director. City Administrator Boyd Kraemer recommended Village of Cottage Grove Administrator Kim Manley as a successor to Barb Green. The Mayoral appointment of Manley will become official as soon as the City Attorney approves the job description. Mayor Bob Link feels that they have found a person with a “lot of experience.” Manley’s selection was approved by a unanimous vote of the Council earlier this week.

One Contested Seat on Juneau Common Council

3/25/11 - There is one contested race on the Juneau Common Council where Roxanne Buss and John Burgbacher are seeking the Ward Two seat being vacated by John Schuster. Both candidates appeared on WBEV’s Community Comment this week and we asked them about Juneau’s residency requirement that calls for city workers to live within a three mile radius of the city. Buss says that’s too “old-school” and there just are not enough qualified people in the area to the jobs that need to be done. Burgbacher says the radius should be expanded with common sense, in that people in Milwaukee don’t need to be traveling to work in Juneau.

Fond du Lac K9 Recovering

3/25/11 - A Fond du Lac Police dog is recovering from a gunshot would received during Sunday’s shooting, which also claimed the life of one officer and left another wounded. K-9 Grendel is Officer Ryan Williams’ partner. He’s currently at the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center in Grand Chute. Doctor Lisa Peters says Grendel is walking, eating, and drinking again. Although, she says there are still serious injuries to be dealt with. Peters says their main concern for Grendel is infection, but they have him on antibiotics and there are signs the infection in his stomach is clearing. She says the gunshot wound penetrated his abdomen and chest. Officer Williams is still hospitalized in Neenah in serious condition. Fond du Lac Police Captain Steve Klein oversees the department’s K-9 unit. He says both Grendel and his partner are showing remarkable signs of improvement and they are optimistic they will be back out on the road eventually. Klein says they’ll work closely with doctors to find out if the K-9 can return to duty some day.

Leaf Pick-Up Begins Next Week in Beaver Dam

3/25/11 - The Beaver Dam Department of Public Works will begin picking up brush and shrubbery cuttings next Friday, April 1. Facilities Director Dave Stoiser says city residents that receive solid waste collection services can place neatly-piled, loose tree limbs and shrubbery cuttings at the street edge by 7am on their first waste collection day of the month. Pick-up is available only to single family residents and apartment buildings with four units or less. Shrubbery cuttings cannot exceed seven inches in thickness and eight feet in length. Stoiser says if there is enough room in the tree border, limbs should be stacked so that all cut ends are facing the street. Limbs and cuttings less than 12 inches in length can be placed in clear plastic bags or 32 gallon cans. Stoiser says they cannot be placed in Veolia waste carts. Yard waste can also be dropped off at the DPW garage on South Center Street, which after this weekend will be open on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Brush pick-up continues once a month through the first collection day in November.

Beer At Miller Park: There’s An App For That

3/25/11 - Milwaukee Brewer fans with smart-phones won’t have to wait in line to buy food-and-drinks during the game. The Brewers said today they’ll use a high-tech service called “Bypass Lane,” in which fans can order concessions right from their seats. It will be offered this season at four locations on the Field Level at Miller Park. Menus will be located close by, and fans can place orders on Blackberries, Androids, and similar devices. They’ll play for their food with credit cards. And when it’s ready, fans will get text messages saying to go pick them up. Brewers’ vice president Rick Schlesinger says the latest technology will provide an easier for fans to buy concessions without missing the baseball action on the field.