Top Stories June 13th

State Legislature to Discuss Budget

6/13/11 - Some questions remain about the new state budget that lawmakers will vote on this week. Majority Republicans must still decide whether to re-insert the limits on public union bargaining which were passed in March, and are still tied up in the courts. But except for some other last-minute changes, the budget for the next two years appears to be a done deal. The Assembly will start discussing it tomorrow, followed by the Senate. It would spend 66-billion-dollars, one-point-eight-percent more than the current budget, and it would eliminate over a-thousand jobs. It reduces state aid to schools and local governments and a number of social programs – all with the goal of eliminating not only the three-point-six-billion-dollar deficit for the next two years, but also multi-billion-dollar deficits that previous budgets have left behind for future years. Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller says the G-O-P budget hurts public education in exchange for a host of tax giveaways to prop up business. But G-O-P Governor Scott Walker says it’s necessary medicine to fix the state’s ailing economy and get the state on the road to prosperity. Labor and community groups will protest the business tax breaks during a march in Madison today to the Wisconsin Manufacturers-and-Commerce, the state’s largest business group.

Feingold Speaks to Residents of “Walkerville”

6/13/11 - Former U-S Senate Democrat Russ Feingold fired up the Walker protest campers near the State Capitol last night. He told supporters that Republicans quote, “went right for the jugular” when they chose Wisconsin to demonize public employees with the governor’s limits on collective bargaining. Feingold also accused the G-O-P of destroying the right to vote by passing the photo I-D mandate. And he said Republicans abused the budget process by crafting a package that cuts local government and school aid while helping business. Feingold told the campers at the so-called “Walkerville” they’re there because quote, “We will not stop until we win.” Some people chanted “Run Russ Run” during his speech. Democrats at their recent state convention said Feingold was the top candidate for both Herb Kohl’s U-S Senate seat in 2012, and the governor’s office should Republican Scott Walker go up for a recall vote next year.

SKDS Breaks Ground On Addition

6/13/11 - Officials with St. Katherine Drexel broke ground yesterday on an expansion of their Elementary School. Parishioners voted on the project last year that involves the purchase of the furniture store and surrounding land at the corner of South Spring and Mill streets for office space while renovating the church and school on Spring Street at a cost of roughly $4 million. Under the plan, the entire campus would consolidate into the one location. The other plan would have consolidated the campus at an entirely new location outside of town and carried a price tag of $15 million. Beginning this fall, all classes will be consolidated onto their Spring Street campus. Construction will begin today in the schools courtyard on an addition that will include an elevator, new handicapped accessible bathrooms, offices and a conference room. Classrooms will be updated to accommodate pre-school, 4K and Kindergarten classes. Fr. Mike Erwin told the crowd of over 100 parishioners yesterday (Sun) that the addition has been needed for over 50 years and now is the time to bring the school back to one location. Over the decades the catholic churches in Beaver Dam have consolidated from three separate locations with different names into St. Katherine Drexel. Major construction on this phase of the plan is expected to be completed by the time student’s return in the fall.

Gas Prices Down

6/13/11 - The price of a gallon of gas in Wisconsin dropped 13.5-cents in the past week and is now averaging $3.78 this morning. That’s according to WisconsinGasPrices.com, which also reports gas is $3.65 in Beaver Dam, $3.72 in Waupun and $3.79 in Fond du Lac. The statewide price is $1.11 higher than the same day a year ago but 23-cents lower than last month. The high price in the state is $4.09 in Racine while the low price is $3.58 in Reedsburg. The national average sits at $3.71. That’s $1.10 higher than a year ago but 23-cents lower than a month ago.


Walkers Signs Enterprise Zone Law At Quad

6/13/11 - A bill signed into law in Dodge County on Friday would increase the number of enterprise zones in Wisconsin from 12 to 20. Those zones are designed to increase economic development and create jobs. Businesses opening in those zones, or expanding there, become eligible for a series of state tax breaks. Three of the new zones are required to be located in areas of less than five thousand people. Two others would have been in areas with a population between five and 30 thousand people. Tax breaks are aimed at creating jobs in economically distressed areas of the state. Governor Walker signed the legislation at the Quad-Graphics plant in Lomira.

Baraboo Woman Up For Parole In Fatal Stabbing

6/13/11 - After 30 years, a former Baraboo woman is up for a parole board hearing this week. Bonnie Smith is 63 now and is being held in the minimum-security John C. Burke Correctional Center in Waupun. She and James Willison were convicted of stabbing elderly storekeeper Leona Milfred to death in February 1982. Members of the Milfred family say the premeditated nature of the brutal crime should mean Smith stays behind bars. Milfred died from blood loss after being stabbed more than 50 times.

State Fair Park Finances Improving

6/13/11 - Finances at Wisconsin State Fair Park are improving. Figures from the Legislative Audit Bureau show the park took in 1-point-6 million dollars over its expenses in the last fiscal year. That makes four straight years the park operations have shown a profit, although it still faces more than a four and a half million dollar deficit. Projected figures for this year suggest the park could knock another million dollars off that deficit by the end of this month. Auditors have been focusing on the park's policies on things like free tickets as it continues to try to improve its financial picture.