Top Stories, November 27th

State Launches Winter Preparation Website

11/27/11 – Just in time for the snow, Governor Scott Walker’s office announced a new Web site to help Wisconsinites deal with winter. It’s called “Ready Wisconsin,” and it offers plenty of information – including the best way to make an emergency kit. Todd Pritchard of Wisconsin Emergency Management says you should have a kit in your vehicle – because it can save your life. He said you should have things like blankets, flash-lights, and shovels at the ready at all times. NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth of Cambridge is featured on the Ready Wisconsin Web site – and he’s urging folks to sign up there for a free emergency kit. The address is ReadyWisconsin-Dot-WI-Dot-Gov.

Local FSA Election Ballots Due Soon

11/27/11 - Local ag-producers have just over one week to return ballots for the 2011 FSA county committee elections. Dodge County FSA Executive Director Susan Blachowiak says the County Committee makes decisions about the local administration of federal farm programs, like disaster and conservation payments, establishment of allotments and yields, producer appeals and other local agricultural issues.  Blachowiak is urging all eligible farmers and ranchers, especially minorities and women, to get involved. To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate or cooperate in FSA programs. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot can obtain one at the USDA Service Center.  In Dodge County, producers being elected come from the townships of Fox Lake, Trenton, Chester, Westford, Burnett, Calamus, Beaver Dam and Oak Grove. Agricultural producers in each county submitted candidate names during the nomination period held last summer. This year’s candidates are: Dale Macheel, Laura Helmer and Glen Berndt. The deadline for eligible voters to return ballots to their local FSA office is December 5.   Newly elected committee members and alternates take office January 1. 

Coast Guard: ‘No Pollution Threat From Beached Barge’

11/27/11 - Authorities report no immediate threat of pollution from a barge which has run aground in Lake Michigan.  The U.S. Coast Guard is handling the accident near Sheboygan.  It’s believed the barge is carrying a cargo of rocks.  It was being towed to Manitowoc last week when it broke away from its tugboat and the crew wasn’t able to regain control in conditions of rough seas and high winds.  Coast Guard investigators are expected to remain on the scene, monitoring, until the barge can be re-floated and examined for damage.

Pro-Life Groups At Odds

11/27/11 - Two pro-life groups disagree on whether Wisconsin should legally recognize a person at the moment an egg is fertilized in the mother's womb. Freshman State Assembly Republican Andre Jacque of the Green Bay area has introduced a "personhood" constitutional amendment which legally defines people as quote, "every human being at any stage of development." And the measure would eliminate the word "born" from the constitutional guarantee that "all people are born equally free and independent." Matt Sande of Pro-Life Wisconsin says it would ban all forms of surgical and chemical abortion. But Wisconsin Right-to-Life says the personhood amendment would most likely be struck down in court if it was ever adopted. And the group says the state already has a law to ban abortions if the U-S Supreme Court overturns its Roe-versus-Wade opinion which legalized abortions throughout the country. Jacque tells the Wisconsin State Journal his amendment is not meant to challenge Roe-versus-Wade directly -- but if it's ever struck down, he says Wisconsin needs a "true definition of human life" in the state constitution. But Nicole Safar of Planned Parenthood says it would ban hormone contraception. And she said the measure is quote, "way out of touch with Wisconsin values." Jacque's amendment would need to be passed in two straight legislative sessions, and then by the voters in a statewide referendum. Fifty-eight percent of voters in Mississippi rejected a similar amendment earlier this month.

Job Creation Tax Credits Under-Utilized

11/27/11 - Wisconsin businesses are supposed to add certain numbers of jobs to receive state tax credits they've applied for -- but many companies are falling short. Gannett's Wisconsin newspapers have found that only nine-of-15 businesses that completed tax credit contracts since 2007 actually met their hiring goals. And of the 191 businesses which remain active in the state's program, only eight-percent have added the required numbers of jobs to earn the tax breaks. Of those completing their contracts, Gannett said two firms never added a single job in their five-year commitments, and they did not get tax credits. Four others fell short of their goals. Governor Scott Walker's administration has made tax credits a big part of its efforts to grow the state's economy. But Dave Gionti of Extreme Engineering Solutions in Middleton said a higher demand by customers spurred his business to add more workers -- and the tax credits it received had little to do with it. Still, Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie says the credits help create an environment that encourages job growth.

Door County Shipbuilder Rehiring

11/27/11 - A ship-builder in Door County is bringing back its workforce, thanks to two new projects and repairs for others. The Bay Ship-building Company of Sturgeon Bay had about 250 people working as of mid-November. But vice president Gene Caldwell says the plant will be back to full union employment by early January – and total employment this winter could peak at 800-or-so. The plant is in the process of making two large platform supply vessels for a marine company in New Orleans. And as winter sets in, the shop also does maintenance and overhauls on a variety of freighters on the Great Lakes. Bay Ship-building is owned by Fincantieri, the Italian firm that also owns Marinette Marine and ACE Marine in Green Bay. The company has made about 100-million dollars in capital improvements at Sturgeon Bay and Marinette. Bay Ship-building is also seeking other commercial work – and officials say the new platform supply vessels could open up another line for the business.

Disgraced Koss Exec Sells Home At Loss

11/27/11 - Former Milwaukee business executive Sue Sachdeva (satch-dee’-vuh) has sold her home for almost two-thirds of its assessed value. The Milwaukee Business Journal said Lars and Megan Hickey bought the Mequon residence for 500-thousand-dollars. And 268-thousand of that will help pay back some of the 34-million-dollars Sachdeva embezzled from the Koss Corporation when she was the financial vice president. The property was assessed at 780-thousand dollars in 2009. A federal court had ordered that Sachdeva repay the embezzled funds that were used to improve her home. She’s currently serving an 11-year prison term for the crime. Earlier, about 680-thousand-dollars from Sachdeva’s retirement account was repaid to the Koss Corporation, which makes stereo head-phones. The U-S Marshals Service has been auctioning off various pieces of high-end clothing and other items she bought with the stolen funds – and those auction proceeds are also being repaid to Koss.

Milwaukee Employees ‘Triple Dipping’

11/27/11 - We've heard a lot lately about "double-dipping" by Wisconsin public employees. Now, the Journal Sentinel says over 30 city employees in Milwaukee are "triple-dipping." They get a paycheck and a pension while building up money for a second pension. City Election Commission director Sue Edman gets a salary of 83-thousand-dollars a year, and she's building up retirement money in that post. Edman also gets 76-thousand for another pension as a retired Milwaukee police captain. Her total salary is 159-thousand, or 12-thousand more than Mayor Tom Barrett makes. But both Edman and the mayor say the city could be paying more if it hired somebody else to run the city's elections. That's because the pension in her current post was based on the bottom of her pay range. Even so, the Milwaukee Common Council recently voted not to give second pensions to any retired city employees who are rehired starting in December. The 30 who do get second pensions will keep receiving them.

Business Week: ‘Sussex Best Place To Raise Kids’

11/28/11 - Looking for a better place in Wisconsin to raise your kids? Bloomberg BusinessWeek-Dot-Com puts Sussex at Number-One on its list. According to the Web site, Sussex is close to Milwaukee without losing its own sense-of-community. The survey looked at almost 42-hundred places around the country with populations of one-thousand to 50-thousand, with family incomes within 20-percent of a state's median. The rankings emphasized school costs and quality. And it recognized low crime rates, good amenities, and affordable living costs.