Top Stories August 26th

Gas Prices Up in Beaver Dam

8/26/11 - Gas prices in Beaver Dam are up 15-cents since Tuesday morning. Earlier this week motorists were paying $3.49 per gallon in the city, which was well below the state average at the time of $3.62. However, gas is now going for $3.64, which is more in line with the state average this morning of $3.68. That’s according to WisconsinGasPrices.com, who says motorists in the state are paying six-cents more than a week ago and $1.05 more than a year ago. Gas can also be had for $3.64 in Fond du Lac, Mayville and Watertown.

Horse Hit By Car, Killed

8/26/11 - A horse was killed and one person was injured in a crash in the town of Rubicon early this morning. It happened on Highway 60 near Highway 67 just before 2 a-m. It’s unclear how the horse, which was owned by Earl Captain, got onto the roadway. The 33-year-old woman who hit the horse had minor injuries and refused EMS treatment.

Leintz Bound Over for Trial

8/26/11 - A 25-year-old Horicon man was bound over for trial on charges he attacked his girlfriend at their apartment earlier this month. Keith Leintz is charged with strangulation/suffocation, battery, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. According to prosecutors, Leintz and his girlfriend were arguing about money on August 9th when he let their 7-month old child roll off the couch. The criminal complaint states as the argument escalated, Leintz allegedly began pushing her and then placed his hands around the woman’s neck. Police say the woman told them that Leintz grabbed a knife and threatened her with it. Later in the criminal complaint the girlfriend claimed that when she tried to call police, Leintz told her he would ruin her life and cause her to lose their son by telling the cops that the drugs in the home belonged to her. Leintz is free on a $10,000 cash bond and has an arraignment hearing set for September 14th.

National Labor Leader Unsure of Role in Possible Walker Recall

8/26/11 - The head of the nation’s largest labor organization says he’s not sure if the union movement will support a possible recall of Governor Scott Walker next year. Richard Trumka, head of the A-F-L C-I-O, said in Washington yesterday that the matter is still under discussion by various local union leaders. He said a lot of things will hinge on labor’s involvement in a Walker recall movement – including the likelihood that it would succeed. Democrats defeated two-of-six Republican state senators in this summer’s recall votes. But they failed to win three seats, and therefore did not achieve their main goal of winning back the majority in the state’s upper house. They did, however, make the chamber more moderate by reducing the G-O-P’s majority from five seats down to just one. Trumka said labor’s involvement in the recalls was still a success for those reasons. He said Wisconsin had a Republican governor who tried to quote, “drive the proverbial wooden stake in our heart … and we stopped that.” The labor coalition “We Are Wisconsin” spent a reported 11-million-dollars on the Senate recalls.

Capitol Protests Start Up Again

8/26/11 - Twelve adults and a juvenile were carried out of the State Capitol and arrested during a large protest last evening. It happened on the first payday in which state employees saw smaller checks – as higher pension and health insurance deductions took effect as part of the law which limits public union bargaining. Several hundred people banged on drums, chanted, and sang “Solidarity Forever.” Most left around 6:30 as police tried to close the building for the day. They heard Eric Cobb of the South Central Wisconsin Building Trades Council call the higher pension and health payments “austerity measures” on the backs of the workers – and he said it was not a “shared sacrifice.” But the governor’s office repeated that the measure was necessary to avoid employee layoffs and tax increases. A couple of those arrested last night said they had also been arrested in February’s massive Capitol protests against the union law. The final protester was led out around 7:50 p-m. Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs said the arrests were for unlawful assembly, and some could face additional charges of obstructing officers and resisting arrest.

John Deere to Celebrate 100th Anniversary

8/26/11 - John Deere Horicon Works will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in the community tomorrow. It all gets underway with a parade that will step off at 11:30 a-m. Officials say it will include every model of tractor the plant has produced going back to 1911. The parade is expected to be about an hour long. Due to a larger than expected response from current and former John Deere employees, as well as collectors, city officials plan to set up bleachers on Lake Street at three different intersections. Afterwards the tractors will be in a parking lot for the public to view.

Juneau August Fest 2011

8/26/11 - Juneau August Fest gets underway today at City Park with tons of food, music and games. Beginning at 4pm, there will be soccer and kickball tournaments and from 9 to 1-am Cherry Pie will take to the stage. Tomorrow there will be Bingo at 12:30 p-m with a free corn roast beginning at 2. The live music will include the Die Spiel Meister band at 4:30 p-m and Save the Day at 8:30 p-m. On Sunday, there will be a tractor pull at noon. At 1 p-m the Siegmann Family Gospel/Bluegrass Band takes to the stage. And there will also be a pie eating and kiss a pig contests later in the afternoon. More information is available on Juneau Chamber of Commerce’s website. You can find a link on our website wbevradio.com.

Abrahamson Comments on Justice Altercation

8/26/11 - Wisconsin’s chief justice says more of the State Supreme Court’s conferences should be open to the public, as a way to restore civility among the court’s seven members. Shirley Abrahamson proposed the idea in a written statement yesterday. It was the part of her response to a prosecutor’s decision not to charge Justices David Prosser and Ann Walsh Bradley in a physical altercation in mid-June. Prosecutor Pat Barrett said other justices who saw the incident gave conflicting accounts of what happened – and there was not enough evidence to support criminal charges. There has been friction between the Supreme Court’s four conservative justices and three liberal justices for some time. Abrahamson – who commented on the altercation for the first time – said the court must be a place where disputes are resolved, not created. Former Justice Janine Geske, who’s now a law professor at Marquette, said the process of deciding cases is complicated and often takes months. And it would be hard for people to follow, and justices often switch sides as they research various issues. The State Supreme Court already opens its meetings on court rules and finances to the public. Geske says no court in the nation opens its deliberations to the public.

No Bat Colony at Dane County Airport

8/26/11 - Federal health officials said today there’s no evidence of a bat colony or infestation at Madison’s airport. Baggage handlers had told the Centers for Disease Control they occasionally saw dead bats on the ground – and they saw evidence of possibly colony of live bats. That was after a live bat hopped aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Madison to Atlanta on August fifth. The bat flew around the cabin before passengers trapped it in a restroom on board. The bat later escaped. Danielle Buttke of the C-D-C said the incident was apparently an isolated one. And neither federal nor state officials found any evidence of a bat colony or groups of dead birds at the Dane County Regional Airport. Buttke said there were no signs of either trend – like bat droppings.