Top Stories July 16th

Heat Wave Begins Tomorrow

7/16/11 - Meteorologists are predicting some of the hottest and most humid weather of the season beginning tomorrow and lasting throughout the week. The National Weather Service has already issued Excessive Heat watches for western Wisconsin and it’s expected that will be expanded into our area soon. That has local emergency responders urging the public to stay hydrated. Beaver Dam Deputy Fire Chief Matt Christian says – especially if you’re going to be outside – you should drink plenty of fluids. He says water is good, but a drink with electrolytes is even better because it replaces the salt that is lost when you sweat. Christian also urges the public to check in on older neighbors. Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joe Meagher says its vital people take the warnings seriously as summer heat waves have been the biggest weather related killer in the state over the past 50-years.

Secret Shopper Ad On WBEV Under Investigation

7/16/11 - The Beaver Dam Police Department is warning people of a possible scam involving an advertisement that ran on WBEV and WXRO recently. Station Manager John Moser says he received a call Friday from a listener who had responded to an advertisement for mystery shoppers. The listener says she received a check in the mail from the advertiser with a note asking her to send back her own money to enroll in the program. The woman found the offer suspicious and contacted the station who in turn alerted the police department, who is investigating. While the validity of the advertisement and employment opportunity are being investigated, police are asking that you refrain from replying to the ad. Anyone with information or concerns is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.

State Preparing for Federal Default

7/16/11 - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says he would rather plan for the possibility that Washington fails to raise the federal debt limit, than to be caught the day after the August 2nd deadline trying to figure out what to do. Walker says he has ordered Administration Secretary Mike Heubsch to conduct a review to find out which state services would be impacted by a federal default. Cabinet secretaries, in turn, have been told to report back within a week on how that would affect their departments. Huebsch says a total shutdown is unlikely, but it is possible the feds might only pay a portion of their obligations if the deadline passes next month with no action.

Legislature to Hold Hearings on Redistricting

7/16/11 - Hearings will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday on three redistricting bills which redraw political boundaries in Wisconsin. Then, the full Legislature is expected to approve the plans. A state Senate committee gave the maps party-line approval yesterday. The committee chairman says Republicans were moving quickly because of a federal lawsuit that had been filed. Senator Jon Erpenbach says the real reason was to get the maps approved before recall elections are held that could give Democrats a majority control of the Wisconsin Senate.

Columbia County Road Designated ‘Rustic’

7/16/11 - Wisconsin’s network of Rustic Roads continues to grow. That’s after the state’s Rustic Roads Board recently approved adding two new routes, bringing the total number of Rustic Roads in Wisconsin to 111. Rustic Road 110 travels about six miles through western Columbia County. Also Rustic Road 111 covers about 25 miles in Sawyer and Ashland counties. Rustic Roads are lightly-traveled scenic routes intended for the leisurely enjoyment of hikers, bikers and motorists.

Senate Committee Endorses New Legislative Maps

7/16/11 - A Wisconsin Senate committee voted 3-to-2 Friday to recommend the new state legislative and congressional district boundaries drafted by majority Republicans. The panel did not make any changes to the eight proposed congressional districts. They did modify a couple of state Assembly districts in Milwaukee, to change the percentage of Hispanic residents in each one. Also, the committee approved new legal language so cities and counties that have already drawn their new districts won’t have to change them to fit the state’s boundaries. Democrats again called the new maps an unconstitutional “power grab” by the G-O-P. Republicans have been accused of rigging the new district lines to fill up as many districts as possible with their own voters, with the goal of staying in power for the whole decade. But Republican leaders say the maps are constitutional, and one of their attorneys brought in a Marquette law professor to testify as such at a public hearing this week. The new redistricting plans now go to the state Senate on Tuesday, and the Assembly on Wednesday.

Poll Shows Rural Residents More Satisfied With Life

7/16/11 - Want to be satisfied with your life? Move to the country. The latest Badger Poll from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows rural state residents more satisfied with the way things are going than people living in urban and suburban locations. The latest polling shows 32 percent of urban residents are satisfied with the way things are going in Wisconsin, while 38 percent of rural residents say they are satisfied. A majority of all of those polled said they think rural residents get less than their fair share of state resources. Only 21 percent think urban areas are at a disadvantage.

Boa Constrictor Missing in Delafield

7/16/11 - People living in Delafield are keeping a wary eye on high grass and looking up into tree limbs overhead from time to time. A boa constrictor is missing. The four-foot female snake was left in its owner's car a week ago today while he was inside a Game Stop store with a friend. He says he left all four windows partially open. When he returned, the snake was gone. It could have slithered out the window, but Sam Ruzga says it never did that before. It could have been stolen. People living in the area were advised when police used a 9-1-1 reverse call system to warn them. Anyone seeing the two year old snake is asked to call police. It is black, with grayish-brown spots and a red tail.

Bankruptcy Judge Says Church Officials Will Stay On Topic

7/16/11 - Victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests cannot use the bankruptcy court to grill two former top leaders of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley ruled Friday that retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland and retired Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba will only testify if they have to answer questions about the specific question at hand – the financial problems of the Archdiocese. The church filed for bankruptcy a few months ago, saying it’s under heavy financial restraints due to the past-and-future settlements to priest abuse victims. Those settlements have already totaled in the millions. Attorneys for abuse victims have tried for years to force a deposition from Sklba, who’s been called the key figure in Milwaukee’s sex abuse scandal. Weakland said in a deposition three years ago that Sklba was his quote, “go-to guy” in the church’s handling of abuse cases. Attorneys for the church’s creditors said both Weakland and Sklba need to give depositions now due to their advancing ages. But the judge agreed with the church that there’s no risk that either man’s about to die or start losing his memory. Kelley is scheduled to hear more arguments in the bankruptcy case on August 12th. The Milwaukee Archdiocese is comprised of ten southeast Wisconsin counties including Dodge County.

Marinette Will Hire Lawyer Over Mayors OWI

7/16/11 - City officials in Marinette will hire an attorney to respond to any legal complaints that might be filed against Mayor Robert Harbick. The 68-year-old Harbick was recently convicted of his first drunk driving offense, with a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit. Some aldermen in Marinette have called for the mayor to step down, but Harbick refuses to do so. His second term ends in almost nine months. The City Council told its personnel committee last night to consider hiring an attorney to deal with complaints that arise. Harbick said he had a few drinks at home on July second before he went to a taco restaurant, and then slammed his car into traffic light pole. He was fined almost 900-dollars, lost his drivers’ license for nine months, and was ordered to breathe into a sobriety tube to start his vehicle for nine months after that.

Red Cross Urging Blood Donations

7/16/11 - The Red Cross is making an urgent appeal for blood donations, saying the supply has reached “critically low” levels. Nationally, blood donations to the Red Cross were at their lowest levels for May and June since 1999. Donations normally drop during the summer because school is out, and people are either on vacation or busier than normal. The Red Cross is hosting a blood drive at the Beaver Dam High School next Tuesday from noon to 5pm.