Top Stories November 18th

WBEV Tribute To Veterans: Scott Smith

11/18/11 - We wrap-up our look at last Friday’s Tribute to Veterans with a person who is no stranger to the radio station: Scott Smith who organizes the “Angel Walk” with his wife. The Angel Walk is a fundraiser dedicated to their late daughter Noel and has been a signature event for the past three years in our annual WBEV-WXRO Children’s RadioThon. Smith tells us he signed-up for the National Guard after graduating from college in 1988. He was assigned to the Seventh Infantry Division, Rapid Deployment Force in South America, the same unit depicted in Tom Clancy’s “Clear and Present Danger.” In the December of 1989 he was sent to train at Fort Sherman in Panama. Smith’s unit was put on lockdown and while there were plenty of rumors during the information blackout they did not realize that they would play a role in the invasion of Panama. The effort to defeat Manuel Noriega was marked by psychological warfare in the form of good old fashioned rock-and-roll blared at mind-numbing decibels, but Smith says they didn’t have any of that fun stuff in their arsenal. He says they just fired round-after-round into military outposts and government installations until the enemy surrendered. Our thanks to the Beaver Dam American Legion for collaborating with us on this special program and to our veterans: thank you for your service.

Concealed Carry Law Means Big Changes For Hunters

11/18/11 - Recent passage of the concealed carry legislation will make it easier for deer hunters. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says revisions in the firearms laws as a result of Act 51 now allows hunters to carry uncased and unloaded firearms in motor vehicles and rest loaded firearms on vehicles. Firearms can now be transported without a case but they cannot be loaded. If the firearm is loaded, it can now be placed on the top or exterior of a stationary vehicle and the engine can be running. You can not put a loaded rifle, shotgun or muzzle loader inside a vehicle and you can not load those weapons inside the vehicle either. Handguns, however, can be loaded inside or even on a motor vehicle. It remains illegal to use a vehicle as a shooting platform for sighting in or shooting at game, but again the recent changes now make it legal to rest a loaded firearm on a vehicle. There are no changes for waterfowl hunters as all firearms must still be unloaded and cased for transport in watercraft.

For more information:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/enforcement/act51_faq.htm

Here’s a round-up of what’s new for this 9-day hunt and beyond:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/news/DNRNews_article_Lookup.asp?id=1959

Hunting from a tree stand? Here’s how to stay up there:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/news/DNRNews_Article_Lookup.asp?id=1924

See a deer with a collar or tag? You can harvest it:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/news/DNRNews_Article_Lookup.asp?id=1946

DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp wishes hunters a safe, successful 2011 deer gun season: http://www.youtube.com/user/WIDNRTV

Anderson Won’t Fight Extradition

11/18/11 - A Fond du Lac man arrested in Alabama for the murder of his wife will return to Wisconsin next week to face a homicide charge. 35-year-old Jason Anderson has waived extradition, and police say he’ll be brought back to Fond du Lac next week. Nicole Anderson was shot to death, and police found the body in her bedroom on November eighth. Her husband was an immediate suspect – and police said he left a paper trail by using his debit card. That’s how officers found Anderson in Birmingham Alabama, where he was arrested last week. Police said they’re still investigating the incident.

50,000 Signatures So Far in Walker Recall

11/18/11 - Fifty-thousand people signed petitions in the first 48 hours of the drive to recall Governor Scott Walker. That’s according to Meagan Mahaffey of United Wisconsin, the group that’s organizing the recall effort for Democrats, unions, and their supporters. Mahaffey said the early numbers of signers were more than what her group expected. They need to average at least nine-thousand signatures a day to get the 540-thousand valid signatures they’ll need to file by January 17th in order to force a recall election. The group also wants to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and separate petitions with 540-thousand signatures will be needed. About 16,800 signatures are needed to recall State Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

Recalls Will Be Costly

11/18/11 - State elections’ officials say they’ll need an extra 650-thousand dollars next year to deal with the new recall efforts. The Government Accountability Board has not officially asked for the money. But it did break down the expected costs for the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, which would allocate the funding. The board said it would need 50 temporary workers, and office space for them to check the validity of up to one-and-a-half million petition signatures. The board wants advertising money to educate voters about the new photo I-D law in the weeks before the recall primaries and general elections. Officials have not determined how much next year’s recalls might cost municipal and county clerk’s offices around the state. This year, the recall votes against nine state senators cost a total of two-point-one million dollars.

Protestors Closedown Milwaukee Bridge

11/18/11 - Several hundred protestors closed a bridge over Interstate-43 in Milwaukee for two hours late yesterday. Four people were arrested. But Police Chief Ed Flynn said he refused to break up the crowd because he didn’t want to fulfill their quote, “martyrdom fantasies.” They then declared victory. The protest demanded economic equality, and was among numerous demonstrations around the country exactly two months after the first Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. Milwaukee’s event began in a nearby park, with signs reading “Tax the Rich Now” and “Jobs, Not War.” The group eventually marched onto Milwaukee’s North Avenue bridge.

Godbolt Arraigned On OWI Injury Charge

11/18/11 - A Milwaukee man waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday to charges that he injured his girlfriend in a drunken driving accident. Tony Godbolt II then entered a “not guilty” plea. Godbolt spent the evening of April first at a friend’s 21st birthday party in Oshkosh but woke-up the following morning to news that his step-father had died. Godbolt, who was one month away from his own 21st birthday, rolled his vehicle four or five times on Highway 41. He was not injured but his girlfriend was ejected. Authorities say Godbolt’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit for driving at point-zero-nine-five (.095). Witnesses on the road that morning say they were driving 70mph and Godbolt’s vehicle flew past them. Godbolt is charged with three felony counts of Injury By Intoxicated Use of a Vehicle and a misdemeanor count of Operating Without A Valid License. If he is convicted, the charges carry a combined maximum term of over 38 years in prison. Godbolt has court activity on the calendar again next month.

State Employees To Get Two-Year Pay Freeze

11/18/11 - For the first time, Wisconsin legislators Thursday told most state government employees how much they’ll make, and what work rules they’ll follow, with no say from those affected. The Joint Committee on Employment Relations voted 6-to-2 in favor of the Walker administration’s first comprehensive pay plan since the law which took away most public union bargaining privileges. The changes take effect January first. Both Democrats on the panel voted no, and State Employees Union chief Marty Beil called the plan unconscionable. He said morale among state workers was at an all-time low. But employment relations director Greg Gracz said most provisions from the old collective bargaining days were left unchanged. He said the biggest changes are how overtime is assigned and paid. Among other things, it took away the ability of prison guards to call in sick, work the next shift, and then get paid for both shifts with time-and-a-half for the second one. The pay plan also freezes base salaries for two years – gives the power to grant merit raises only to the employment relations agency – and tightens rules for dealing with state employee grievances. Most larger state government unions never voted to re-certify, so they won’t be able to bargain for pay hikes – the only thing that can be negotiated under the new law. Six smaller state unions have re-certified, so they can bargain for pay hikes up to the rate of inflation – which officials say will be about two-percent.

Private-Sector Job Losses Top 9300 in October

11/18/11 - Wisconsin lost another 93-hundred private sector jobs in October. It was the fourth straight month of job losses, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development. Officials said there were job cuts in manufacturing, health care, construction, and retail trade last month. Leisure-and-hospitality was among a few sectors in which jobs grew. Government employment was relatively flat. Officials said the public sector had 85-hundred fewer jobs than a year ago, while the private sector gained 14-thousand-500 jobs on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Also, the state’s adjusted unemployment rate for October dropped one-tenth-of-a-percent from September. It’s now at seven-point-seven percent – more than a full point below the national average.

Boston Stores Parent Company Posts Huge Losses

11/18/11 - A company that owns numerous department stores throughout Wisconsin, including one on Beaver Dam, lost 22-million dollars in its last quarter. Bon-Ton – which owns Younkers, Herberger’s, Elder-Beerman, and Boston Stores – reports a loss of $1.21-per-share. That’s a much bigger loss than a year ago, when Bon-Ton lost six-point-three ($6.3) million dollars or 36-cents a share in the third quarter of 2010. Bon-Ton C-E-O Bud Bergren said its moderate traditional assortments did not sell as well as expected – and customers did not accept price increases for those categories. As a result, Bon-Ton had a six-percent (6%) drop in sales from July-through-September compared to the same time the previous year. Bergren said its merchandise will be better aligned with customer desires, as they’ve expanded their most popular categories. And he says inventories are quote, “priced appropriately and well-positioned heading into the holiday season.” Bon-Ton said it also made changes in its marketing, which should improve its financial results in the year’s final quarter.

Kohl Rep In Juneau Today

11/18/11 - A representative for Senator Herb Kohl will be in Dodge County this morning (Fr). Marlene Mielke, Kohl’s regional representative, will be available to meet with constituents at the Dodge County Administration Building in Juneau from 11am until noon. Kohl says people should meet with Mielke if they are having a problem with a federal program or agency, or have an opinion on an issue before Congress. No appointment is necessary. Mielke can also be contacted at Kohl’s regional office in Appleton. Kohl’s regional office is located at 4321 West College Avenue, Suite 370, in Appleton, WI 54914. The telephone number is (920) 738-1640 and email address is marlene_mielke@kohl.senate.gov.

Walker Signs Bill Moving Fall Primary

11/18/11 - Governor Scott Walker has signed a bill that moves the fall party primaries from September to August. The move was made to give communities more time to send their November election ballots to military troops and other residents overseas. A new federal law requires those ballots to be shipped out at least 45 days before the November vote. And the mid-September primary did not give clerks enough time to print updated November ballots. Some Democrats were against making the change. They said it would not let college students vote at their campuses. The bill also allows overseas voters to have their ballots e-mailed to them – but those back home won’t have the same privilege. Republican lawmakers said it would create too much of a risk for fraud.

WELS Employee Charged With Child Porn Possession

11/18/11 - Waukesha police say they have arrested a 52-year-old worker at Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod on child pornography charges. Fifty-two year old Joe Hochmuth was taken into custody after investigators found what they call key pieces of evidence. With the help of an FBI task force, police found evidence that child porn was distributed from Hochmuth’s home on Hunter Court in Waukesha. The WELS is the third-largest Lutheran Church body in the country.