Top Stories June 2nd

Fire Destroys Barn in Reeseville

6/2/11 - Fire destroyed a barn about a mile outside of Reeseville yesterday morning. It started just before 10:30 a-m on Maiden Lane Road and when the Reeseville Fire Department arrived on the scene the barn was fully engulfed. No one was hurt and some cattle being kept in the structure were rescued before it collapsed. Firefighters were on-scene until 3pm and then were called back out just before 7 p-m after some hay caught on fire. As of last night, the cause of the fire hadn’t been determined. Firefighters from Clyman, Lowell, and Waterloo assisted Reeseville at the scene.

Klomberg Continues Speaking Tour

6/2/11 - Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg believes his goal of making people more aware of the county’s drug problem, specifically heroin, has been successful. Klomberg has been traveling around the county since February speaking to town and village boards along with city councils explaining a recent uptick in overdose deaths related to heroin. He told the Fox Lake City Council that in the past two years there have been 23 overdoses and six have been confirmed as the result of heroin. Klomberg is seeking help from residents in their fight to eradicate heroin from the community by having them report any suspicious activity. So far, Klomberg estimates he’s visited about half of the municipalities in the county and will continue until he’s reached them all.

Traffic Fatalities Down in WI, Up in Dodge County

6/2/11 - Wisconsin is on pace for its fewest traffic fatalities in the past five years but the trend hasn’t carried over to Dodge County. So far this year the state has had 173 people killed in traffic accidents which puts us on pace for a total of 415. That would represent a decrease of more than 100 from 2010. In Dodge County though, there have already been eight traffic fatalities which is just one less than all of last year. Sheriff’s Patrol Captain Molly Soblewski says they are making every effort to educate the public on safe driving but there is only so much they can do. Last years total of nine fatalities was a huge drop-off from the 18 in 2009 and 21 in 2008. Soblewski says things run in patterns and she hopes the public recognizes what safe driving means. The eight fatalities in Dodge County so far ranks as the 4th most in the state. Milwaukee County leads the way with 17. In our area, Washington County has seen five traffic deaths, Columbia County has had four, Fond du Lac County has had three so far and Jefferson County has had the fewest with just one.

Civil War Re-Enactment Coming To Beaver Dam

6/2/11 - The Civil War began 150 years ago, pitting brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. The public is invited to witness history come alive at a Civil War re-enactment on June 11 and 12 at Beaver Dam’s Edgewater Park. The free, family-friendly event is sponsored by the Beaver Dam Exchange Club and Tenth Tennessee Company D. Organizer Robert Krist says the re-enactment features authentic civilian and soldier encampments, with participants dressed in period-specific uniforms and firing historically-accurate muskets and canons. And the re-enactment will be held rain or shine because Krist says the war did not stop for inclement weather. While it will not be recreated shot-for-shot, he says there is a general blueprint for the battles that is based on historical fact. In this case, it will be the Battle of Bull Run, or as the Confederacy called it, First Manassas. The Civil War Re-enactment is free to attend and will be held Saturday, June 11 from 9am to 5pm and Sunday, June 12 from 9am to 4pm, with battles each day at 2pm. Food and refreshments will be available. Edgewater Park is located off Highway 33 on Beaver Dam’s north side.

Beaver Dam Treatment Plant Receives EPA Award

6/2/11 - The upgraded and expanded Beaver Dam Wastewater Treatment Plant has been given an award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Mayor Tom Kennedy recently accepted the Pisces Award, which stands for “Performance and Innovation Creating Environmental Success.” It is given to only ten plants in the United States each year. The Beaver Dam wastewater treatment plant incorporates green technology and was built with $20 million in stimulus money. The city entered into a public-private partnership with Kraft Foods, pre-treating waste from the company for conversion to biogas. That biogas generates two times the amount of electricity that the plant uses and the power sold to Alliant Energy at a half million dollar profit. The wastewater project will keeping sewer usage fee’s in Beaver Dam among the lowest in the state. The average Beaver Dam resident pays $39 for sewer compared to the statewide average of $93. The plant is expected to be fully online this month.

GAB Asks For GOP Recall Certification Extension

6/2/11 - State officials asked a judge Wednesday for more time to decide whether to certify recall elections against three Democratic state senators. A hearing is planned for Friday in Dane County Circuit Court on a request by the Government Accountability Board to have another week to act on the proposed recall votes against Senators Jim Holperin, Dave Hansen, and Bob Wirch. The board was supposed to decide by Friday whether to certify those elections. But the panel says it needs more time to determine if G-O-P recall supporters misled those who signed the petitions against the Democrats. If the board rules that there was not misrepresentation, it will order the elections against Holperin, Hansen, and Wirch if enough valid signatures have been gathered. They would take place July 19th. The board has certified recall elections against six Republican senators. But three of them have asked the courts to kill their proposed elections, saying Democrats failed to submit proper paperwork in getting the efforts started. The three who filed those actions are Republicans Dan Kapanke, Luther Olsen, and Randy Hopper. The other G-O-P senators facing recalls are Rob Cowles, Alberta Darling, and Sheila Harsdorf.

Joint Finance Helps Realize Walkers Vision

6/2/11 - The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee is almost finished re-writing Governor Scott Walker’s proposed state budget for the next two years. And the majority Republicans on the panel gave their party’s governor most of what he wanted. The G-O-P members did not march in lockstep with Walker on everything. They rejected benefit cuts in the Senior-Care prescription drug program, and the end of state recycling grants. And the G-O-P slightly reduced the huge cuts in state aid for public schools. Todd Berry of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance said he’s glad the budget not only eliminates the state’s three-point-six billion dollar deficit in the next budget – it also does away with multi-billion-dollar structural deficits in future years. But Senate Democratic Minority Leader Mark Miller says the budget is balanced on the backs of the poor and the middle class, while the wealthy continue to benefit. Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca says he’s appalled there are not “shared sacrifices” in closing the deficit. Those Democrats and others have slammed massive cuts in education and aid for local governments, enrollment caps in the Family-Care program to keep seniors out of nursing homes, and smaller tax breaks in the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor.

Mediator Assigned In Capitol Access Controversey

6/2/11 - A Dane County judge has told a member of the Government Accountability Board to help resolve a dispute over the limited public access at the State Capitol. Circuit Judge John Albert has appointed Gordon Myse as the mediator. Myse is a former state appeals’ judge from Appleton. Albert wants Myse to help the Walker administration and the state’s largest employees union settle their differences over the access issue. The union says Walker’s people are violating a court order by closing six of the Capitol’s eight entrances, and making people go through metal detectors and security officers at the other two doors. But the administration says it’s all necessary to keep the peace, as politicians and the courts consider the law to limit collective bargaining by most public employee unions. The administration says it wants to ease the access limits, but not until the union bill is resolved. The law has been blocked in the courts for almost two months. If it’s not reinstated soon, G-O-P lawmakers say they’ll put the measure into the next state budget that’s now being finalized in the Legislature.

Waupun Man Arraigned For Child Porn Possession

6/2/11 - A Waupun man entered a “not guilty” plea at arraignment yesterday (Wed) to charges of possession of child pornography. Spencer Andrle is charged with the four felony counts after undercover internet investigators say the 29-year-old downloaded movies and pictures with pre-teen girls from a file sharing website. If convicted, the charges carry a maximum 100 year prison sentence. Court activity is on the calender for next month.