Top Stories March 28th

Fitzgerald Defends Budget Plan On Community Comment


3/28/11 - State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald joined us on WBEV’s Community Comment on Friday. The Republican from Juneau defended the governors efforts to make permanent the public employee union restrictions saying that it will put the state in a better position for long term growth and make significant reforms to the way state business is run.

One caller praised the work of Fitzgerald and his fellow Republicans for “finally sticking up for the taxpayers.” Fitzgerald refuted assertions that the plan is meant bust unions and instead called it “top-down” reform. He called it a deep philosophical difference that some believe that unions, as strong as they are, should be allowed to organize against school boards, city councils and taxpayers. Fitzgerald’s appearance was last minute. We are also making arrangements with democrats and/or union supports to get equal time to state their case. Representatives with Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald tell us the Horicon Republican looks forward to being on WBEV just as soon as our schedules allow.

Election Coverage Continues On Community Comment

3/28/11 - We’ll be hearing from more of the candidates in contested aldermanic and school board races this week on WBEV’s Community Comment. On today’s program, we’ll speak with the candidates seeking the District One seat on the Waupun Common Council. Julie Nickel and April Cox are seeking the replace Dale Schmidt, who recently resigned. Tomorrow we’ll sit down with the candidates in the city of Beaver Dam’s only contested race. Ward Five incumbent Alderman Aaron Onsrud is being challenged by former alderman Mick Fischer. On Wednesday, we’ll hear from the candidates in Wisconsin’s only statewide election. State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser will state his case for re-election as will his challenger Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg. We conclude our election coverage on Thursday, with the four candidates competing for three seats on the Beaver Dam School Board: incumbents Joanne Tyjeski, Lisa Panzer and Kim Darst will be joined by challenger Mickale Carter. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM beginning at 12:35pm.

Publishing Budget Repair Bill Could Hurt Prosser

3/28/11 - Political observers said Republicans may have hurt their chances of having Wisconsin’s public union bargaining restrictions upheld in the courts. Marquette professor Rick Esenberg said Friday’s move to have the Legislative Reference Bureau publish the bargaining law may have riled up the public unions and their liberal base just a week before the Supreme Court election. Esenberg said it could hurt conservative Justice David Prosser in his re-election bid, while helping his opponent JoAnne Kloppenburg. If Prosser loses, the court loses its 4-to-3 conservative majority – presumably making it easier for opponents of the union restrictions to strike them down. U-W Madison political scientist Howard Schweber wondered if the G-O-P was thinking how the law’s publication would affect Prosser’s re-election chances. Senate G-O-P Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he’s not sure how it would affect Prosser’s fate. But Fitzgerald said he brought up the law’s publication because the Reference Bureau was obligated to publish it when it did. The Walker administration assumes the law’s in effect. But a circuit judge halted it by telling the secretary-of-state not to have it published – which he didn’t. Judge Maryann Sumi put a temporary restraining order on the law’s adoption until she could decide if lawmakers broke the state Open Meeting Law when they passed it. A hearing on that question begins tomorrow.

BD School Board to Discuss Staffing

3/28/11 - We should learn more tonight about possible layoffs in the Beaver Dam School District. The school board will hear a recommendation from administrators about the staffing plan for the 2011-2012 school year. Earlier this month officials said the district is facing a $2.9-million deficit in the upcoming school year, and while some of that will be made up with employees paying more into their pension accounts, they said layoffs are likely. We’ll also find out if the district plans to take any action against teachers who called in on February 17th forcing the schools to close. That was the day that more than a dozen school districts were forced to close as thousands of teachers and other public employees converged on Madison to protest Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, which strips them of most of their collective bargaining rights. The board meets at 6:30 p-m at the Educational Service Center.

Green Bay Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

3/28/11 - The son of a Green Bay area church pastor has been killed in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said yesterday that 22-year-old Army Specialist Justin Ross of Green Bay died on Saturday, after his unit was attacked by small arms fire. Gerald Heins, the associate pastor at New Freedom Church in Howard, said parishioners did not have many details yesterday. Heins said Pastor Ron Ross and his wife Debbie went to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to bring back their son’s body – and funeral services are still pending. Justin Ross graduated from Bay Port High School in 2007, and was deployed to Afghanistan last August. Governor Scott Walker’s office issued a statement saying they hope Ross’s family-and-friends take “some measure in comfort in knowing that he is a Wisconsin hero.”

Funeral Held for Fond du Lac Police Officer

3/28/11 - More than 1,000 law enforcement officers attended the funeral of Fond du Lac Police Officer Craig Birkholz in his hometown of Kenosha Saturday. Fond du Lac police officers and their wives gathered early that chilly morning to board three charter buses and were led by a procession of squad cars out of the city. Along the way they were joined by hundreds of other squad cars. In addition to police departments from across Wisconsin, officers from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and elsewhere were there to show their support and pay tribute to Birkholz who was shot and killed responding to a sexual assault complaint on Sunday, March 20th. Meanwhile, In a week marked by tragedy and grief the police department got a ray of hope last Friday afternoon. Just five days after being critically wounded in the same shooting that killed Officer Birkholz, Officer Ryan Williams was discharged from Theda Clark Medical Center. Williams was driven through the parking lot of the police station yelling out thanks to a cheering crowd. He attended the funeral of Officer Birkholz in Kenosha Saturday sitting in a wheel chair, but stood and saluted when the casket bearing his fellow officer passed. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Car vs Deer Crashes Down

3/28/11 - Wisconsin drivers struck 17-percent fewer deer in 2010 than they did a decade earlier. According to preliminary D-O-T figures, just under 17-thousand car-deer crashes were reported in the Badger State last year. That’s about 600 more accidents than in 2009. But it’s well below the nearly 20-thousand-500 deer mishaps reported in 2000. State Patrol Major Dan Lonsdorf said the recession and high gas prices are resulting in fewer people on the roads. And that’s how he explains the drop in deer mishaps. The lowest number of car-deer crashes during the last decade was in 2008, when the recession told hold and Wisconsinites just started feeling the effects of the financial industry’s collapse. The papers also cited a survey by State Farm Insurance. It says Wisconsin drivers have a 1-in-96 chance of hitting a deer this year. That’s the eighth-highest ratio in the country.

Trinity Dancers Raise $5K For BDCH Foundation

3/28/11 - The Trinity Irish Dancers raised over $5000 in a fundraiser for the Beaver Dam Community Hospital Foundation this month. It was the third straight year the dancers performed in the city. The dance troupe is composed of girls and boys ages six to 18 from Madison and Milwaukee. Students of the Trinity Academy have earned an unprecedented 32 world titles for the United States and have won nine gold medals at international Irish Dance competitions. The proceeds from the event will be directed to the automated external defibrillator, or AED Program, and Hillside Hospice. Through a matching fund program in partnership with community organizations and individuals, AEDs have been provided for local police departments, city halls and school districts, among others.

BDUSD Accepting Employee of the Year Nominations

3/28/11 - The Beaver Dam Unified School District is currently seeking nominations for the Teacher, Administrator, and Support Staff of the Year Award program. Awards will be presented in the following categories: Elementary Teacher, Middle School Teacher, High School Teacher, Administrator/Coordinator, Special Services Teacher, Secretary, Teacher Assistant, Food Service Worker, and Custodial/Maintenance/Computer Technician. Nominees will be considered primarily on the significance of their contributions to the well-being of the educational community. Names of local teachers and administrators selected from each category will be sent to CESA 6. Representatives selected at this level will be sent to the state teacher and administrator of the year competition. Parents, students, and community members who would like to nominate an employee for this honor, may do so by obtaining a nomination form, available at any public school office, the Educational Service Center, or the district website at www.beaverdam.k12.wi.us. Completed nominations may be delivered to the Educational Service Center at 705 McKinley Street, Beaver Dam. The deadline for submitting a nomination form is Friday, April 15, 2011.