Beaver Dam Homecoming
10/1/11 - Hundreds upon hundreds of spectators donned in green and gold lined the streets of downtown Beaver Dam yesterday for the high school’s homecoming parade. School spirit was high as local businesses chalked their windows with slogans supporting the Golden Beavers and students with died green and yellow hair screamed and scurried for candy. There were floats from various student organizations, the homecoming court and the Golden Beavers football team. The varsity team won a hard-fought battle last night, defeating Watertown 51-42.
Click Below To View Homecoming Parade Picture Montage:
Gross Avoids Prosecution in Danni Jo Thiel’s Death
10/11 - The Burnett man whose actions ten years ago led to the death of a Beaver Dam woman this past May will not face additional prosecution. Nicholas Gross had a blood alcohol level that was over three times the legal limit for driving when he smashed head-on into a vehicle near Horicon in August of 2001. Sue Thiel was killed and her then-14year-old daughter Danni Jo was left bedridden for the next decade before finally succumbing to her injuries four months ago. Gross will be released from prison this coming May. Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg says his hands are tied when it comes to finding justice for Danni Jo. Until 2003, Wisconsin – like many other states – observed the “Year and a Day” common law rule that prevented prosecutions if a person died more than a year after sustaining injuries. In 2003, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the Year and a Day Rule, ruling that it is “unjust to permit an assailant to escape punishment because of a convergence of modern medical advances and an archaic rule from the thirteenth century.” However the Court also held that their ruling only applied to injuries sustained after 2003 and kept the Year and a Day Rule in place for prior offenses. Since Thiel was injured in 2001, Gross cannot be prosecuted. Klomberg says he is “deeply troubled” that he is “legally prohibited from seeking justice for Danni Jo because of an arcane legal rule dating back the middle ages.” Danni Jo’s father Dan Thiel says he is disappointed but he understands.
Burglary Suspect Arrested Outside Alliant Substation
10/1/11 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department and Beaver Dam Police responded to reports of motion alarms being tripped just before midnight Friday at the Alliant Energy substation on County Highway B in the Town of Beaver Dam. Upon arrival, officers were involved in a brief foot chase with the suspect. A 39-year-old Fox Lake man was eventually taken into custody on charges of felony Burglary and Bail Jumping. Authorities are investigating.
Berlin Man Accused of Assaulting Elderly Parents
10/1/11 - A Berlin man has been ordered to undergo a mental health examination. Jeffrey Smaxwill is accused of assaulting his elderly parents. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery of an elderly person and additional counts of strangulation, substantial battery and disorderly conduct. The defense attorney says his 60 year old client has a history of mental health issues. His 82 year old mother reportedly told investigators her son barged into their home in Appleton, grabbed her arm and squeezed her throat to the point she couldn’t breathe. Smaxwill is also accused of punching his 83 year old father. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Appleton Army Sergeant Did Not Die In Line of Duty
10/1/11 - The family of Army Sergeant Garrick Eppinger now says he didn’t die in the line of duty. Wisconsin flags are at half-staff to honor the Appleton soldier today. Eppinger’s family says he was working a desk job at the Bagram Airbase. The Army hasn’t released details of the 25 year old’s death yet. Four days after Eppinger died, Army specialist Jakob Roelli of Darlington was killed. He was the 27th soldier from Wisconsin to be killed in the war in Afghanistan. His funeral is scheduled for next Saturday.
Formal Charges Filed Against 13 Protestors
10/1/11 - Formal charges were filed in Madison Friday against 13 people who were arrested during an August demonstration at the Capitol. Those people were demonstrating against Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining law. At the time they refused to leave the Capitol rotunda at about 7 p.m., an hour after the building had officially closed. Hundreds of demonstrators had rallied August 25th, the first day the state began making payroll deductions for pensions and health insurance under the new law. Six people in the group were charged with obstruction of police. They were accused of asking Capitol police if they could walk through the building from State Street to King Street. The group stopped in the rotunda instead, and refused to leave. Some had to be carried out. Six of the people were charged with misdemeanors. The rest got citations.
Wisconsin Changes Presidential Primary Date
10/1/11 - Wisconsin voters will go back to choosing their party’s White House nominees in April instead of mid-February. Governor Scott Walker signed a bill yesterday (Fr) that moves the state’s presidential primaries back to the first Tuesday in April, the same day as the local general elections. Both national parties asked Wisconsin to make the change, because too many states were bunching up their primaries-and-caucuses earlier in the year. But Florida decided yesterday to move its primary up to January 31st – and that’s expected to cause other states to move up their White House votes as well. Walker’s office did not comment on the Florida move. Wisconsin moved its primaries to mid-February in 2004, in an effort to make them more important nationally and get more White House candidates to show up here. It did not work as well as planned. The 2004 Wisconsin primaries were most notable for convincing Democrat Howard Dean to drop out of the race. In 2008, both parties’ contests were pretty well decided by the time the Wisconsin vote rolled around. The new primary date will put the Badger State in about the middle of the national selection process.
Wisconsin Medicaid Reforms Top a Half Billion Dollars
10/1/11 - A package of Medicaid reforms proposed by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services would have the state cut more a half-billion dollars. This year’s state budget directed the agency to identify nearly 445 million dollars in savings in the public assistance program. The state says it would actually have to come up with more than 554 million dollars in savings to balance the Medicaid. DHS officials say no one with an income under the federal poverty level would be impacted by the changes. The sweeping reforms would include asking the federal government for a waiver to restrict eligibility for people who have access to employer-based insurance coverage, require young people to seek coverage on their parents’ insurance rather than BadgerCare Plus and requiring recipients to live in the state.
Madison Web Tracking Company Gets $20 Million Investment
10/1/11 - Madison-based Network Insights is getting 20 million dollars in venture capital from a group of nation investors. Funds connected to Goldman Sachs Asset Management made what is one of the three biggest transactions of its kind for a non-biotech firm in Wisconsin history. Network Insights monitors Internet conversations for data which helps marketers make better decisions. Many companies today use what’s called networking buzz to anticipate trends and put its advertising budget where it will do the most good. Social monitoring tools can collect the real-time information not available in such a useable form from other more-traditional sources. The company provides that information to help direct up to five million dollars of media spending.
Fired Milwaukee police officer Ladmarald Cates pleads not guilty to two felonies in federal court. Cates is charged with raping a woman after he responded to her 9-1-1 call last July. Cates is accused of violating the woman’s civil rights while acting under the color of law and using a firearm in the commission of an act of violence. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. A trial date hasn’t been set and Cates is free on his own recognizance. Cates has been prohibited from having any contact with the victim or any witnesses in the case.
Solis Touts Obama Jobs Plan In Milwaukee
10/1/11 - U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s construction project at Jones Island is the type of innovative, long-lasting investment in public facilities that the President’s American Jobs Act will pay for. Solis was at Milwaukee’s harbor yesterday to try to build public support for the 447 billion dollar jobs bill. The 88 million dollar project by MMSD includes a pipeline and installation of turbines to burn landfill gas. When those turbines start burning landfill gas, rather than more expense natural gas, to generate electricity, district taxpayers will start saving 10s of millions of dollars, according to district officials. Solis says the President’s jobs plan would invest 575 million dollars in Wisconsin transportation projects. That spending alone would put 75 hundred residents back to work.
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