Top Stories October 10th

Domestic Abuse Numbers Up Drastically

10/10/11 - Domestic abuse numbers are up sharply in Dodge County. That’s according to Jamie Kratz-Gullickson, the Executive Director of People Against Violent Environments, who appeared with us on WBEV’s Community Comment last week as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. She says they have already provided as many nights of shelter this year as during all of last year, 3100 so far and counting. In 2010, PAVE provided 2800 nights of shelter, which is measured as one person spending one night with PAVE. Kratz-Gullickson says the beginning of the recession 2009 was a peak year with over 3800 nights of shelter provided. She says they are on pace to break that record-setting year. The crisis line for PAVE is 800-775-3785 and can be found on our website wbevradio.com.

Gas Prices Continue to Drop

10/10/11 - The average price of a gallon of gas is down almost 40-cents in the past month. That’s according to WisconsinGasPrices.com, which says a gallon of unleaded regular is going for $3.36, down from $3.74 a month ago. Gas is below the statewide average in Beaver Dam, going for as little as $3.27. It was $3.29 in Juneau and Randolph, while at least one station is Columbus is reporting a price of $3.34. The statewide price is still 52-cents higher than this time last year.

Group Says State Needs to Raise Gas Tax

10/10/11 - A new study says Wisconsin’s gas tax would have to rise by 50-cents a gallon to maintain all of the roads in the state – local streets included. U-W Madison researchers say up to 55-percent of all road costs are paid by general taxes, including the local property tax. And while the gas tax does cover state-owned highways, those roads only make up 10-percent of what Wisconsinites drive on. The U-W did the study for the One-Thousand Friends of Wisconsin environmental group. The group’s director, Steve Hiniker, said the gas tax and vehicle fees need to be jacked up so local governments can avoid cutting other services – and perhaps cut property taxes. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities jumped on the study to demand a larger share of state funding for local roads and transit. Pat Goss of the state road builders’ group said both local-and-state roads need more funding. But he said environmentalists quote, “want to rob Peter to pay Paul” by demanding a huge hike in the state’s gas tax. Goss said local sales taxes can pay for mass transit – and he notes that Milwaukee has its own city vehicle tax to help maintain local streets. Meanwhile, road builders continue to push for a constitutional amendment to prevent the state from using gas tax money for other things – something Republicans halted in this year’s state budget. The new study reviewed expenses over a five-year period ending in 2008. It said Wisconsin households pay an average of 780-dollars a year in general-and-property taxes to maintain roads – and they pay 50-dollars a year to keep transit buses rolling.

Fire Damages Fall River Apartment Complex

10/10/11 - Fire damaged a Fall River apartment complex Friday afternoon but officials say it could have been worse. It happened at a complex on Fox Trails. Firefighters were on scene within minutes to evacuate tenants and knock down the flames. Officials are crediting that quick response with limiting damage to just two of the eight townhouse units. No one was hurt and a cause has not been determined.

2009 Watertown Bank Robbery Solved

10/10/11 - Authorities in Watertown believe they’ve solved a bank robbery that happened more than two years ago. The Associated Bank on Main Street was robbed in the early evening hours of August 6th, 2009. According to police, they believed the man who robbed the bank in Watertown also robbed a Mid-America Bank in Janesville early that year. Officials say they continued to work the case, communicating with other local and national enforcement agencies. Then, earlier this year, a detective from Waukesha recognized the same method of operation when investigating a robbery in 2010. From that officials were able to pin the robbery on a 39-year-old man from Sun Prairie is already being held at the Oshkosh Correctional Facility on unrelated charges. Jefferson County officials say charges are pending for the Watertown robbery.

Clark Bound Over for Trial

10/10/11 - A 22-year-old Beaver Dam man, who allegedly threatened to shoot Fond du Lac police during a domestic dispute last month, has been bound over for trial. Nicholas Clark was in Fond du Lac County Court Thursday for a preliminary hearing. He was also arraigned and pled not guilty to the charges he’s facing. According to the criminal complaint police were sent to 56 Doty Street on September 28th after getting a call about a woman who had been struck. On the phone with police Clark allegedly said he’d shoot if police came in the house. He was taken into custody after trying to flee out of a back door. He’s being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on a $15,000 cash bond. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Watertown Man Injured in Motorcycle Accident

10/10/11 - Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say a 56-year-old Watertown man was hurt when he failed to negotiate a curve in the Town of Lebanon Saturday afternoon. John Smith was taken to Watertown Memorial Hospital after he was thrown from the bike on County Highway O near the County Highway R intersection. Speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Deadline Set for PSC to Rewrite Rules to Regulate Wind Energy Industry

10/10/11 - The state Public Service Commission has five months to rewrite new rules to regulate Wisconsin’s wind energy industry – or else original rules drafted by all affected parties would automatically go in place. Republican state lawmakers scrapped the original rules last March, leaving the industry in limbo. Those lawmakers told the P-S-C to draft a new package – but seven months later, the agency is not close to reaching an agreement. Kristin Ruesch of the P-S-C says the sticking points are the same as they’ve always been – the effects of the wind turbines’ noise and light flickers on the neighbors, and the risk of lower property values. And all those issues are connected to how far turbines should be set back from neighboring houses. In January, Republican Governor Scott Walker went along with a request by Realtors to lengthen the setback from 450-feet to 18-hundred feet. But the wind industry howled at Walker’s bill, saying it would kill Wisconsin’s wind energy that thrived during the Doyle years. The bill was scrapped. And because the state has no regulations, five major wind farm projects have been delayed or canceled. And the industry said it cost the state’s economy up to one-point-six billion dollars, plus up to a-thousand jobs.

Boy Scouts Found Safe

10/10/11 - Everyone’s okay after part of a Boy Scout troop got lost during a canoe trip in southern Wisconsin during the weekend. But Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden said it would have been a lot easier to find the missing youngsters, had the scout leader not taken away their cell phones. Fourteen Scouts and their leader from Mendota Illinois started canoeing late Saturday morning on the Sugar River about 15 miles west of Beloit. When they got to Sugar River Park, they noticed that two canoes containing four young boys were missing. The sheriff said they waited a half-hour, so the missing boys could catch up. But they didn’t. So they did some more searching. And when they arrived at a forest preserve in Illinois, they called for help. Rock County sheriff’s personnel and rescuers from four departments searched for the 12-to-13-year-old kids – and a state D-O-T chopper finally found them around one yesterday morning. Officials think the four missing boys might have taken a wrong turn on the river. The scout leader took their cell phones so they wouldn’t get wet – but Spoden said at least one youngster on the boat should have kept his phone to call for help. Also, deputies could have traced the phone to find the youngsters’ exact location without having to do the extensive search.

DNR Investigating Bear Attack

10/10/11 - The state D-N-R is investigating the mauling of a deer hunter by a bear in Superior. The man was wounded on his right leg and wrist, and was taken to a hospital in nearby Duluth Minnesota. His name was not immediately released. According to police, the man and a female hunting companion were setting bait Saturday night off a road on the south edge of Superior when the bear came along. Officers said the man tried to chase away the 150-to-200 pound animal – but the bear turned on the hunter and attacked him. Police said the man wounded the bear with a knife, and his hunting partner tried to shoot it with an arrow. But the bear was still alive when officers got there. And they shot the animal, fearing it would be dangerous to others. The bear is being tested for rabies.