Top Stories, December 10th

WBEV-WXRO Food Drive Successful

12/10/11 - A box truck full of non-perishable food items was collected amid frigid temperatures during the annual WBEV-WXRO Food Drive. In addition to the food, Friday morning’s two-hour effort resulted in $1,550 in cash donations for the Dodge County Food Pantry. Store manager Kathy Wheeler says this time of year is important because the generosity of people runs highest around the holidays, even given the nations current economic situation. Station manager John Moser says it takes the whole community to stock the shelves of the food pantry and cited the efforts of, Countryside GM Auto Group, Mischler’s Harley Davidson and Charter Communications, in addition to the listeners who helped out this year.

Standoff Ends without Incident or Arrest

12/10/11 - A five-hour stand-off in Fox Lake ended without incident and without an arrest Friday. Sheriff Todd Nehls says a man and woman were involved in an alleged domestic incident on the 200 block of Rosedale Avenue around 6:30am. The woman left the residence but the man remained inside. While no weapons were involved in the domestic altercation it was believed there were weapons available to the man inside and some nearby residents were evacuated. Nehls says there was intermittent contact with the suspect through department negotiators and he was not overtly threatening but refused to come out of the house. After several hours, Nehls says it was necessary to decide if they would escalate the situation by using tear gas into the home for voluntary compliance or employ “dynamic entry” by the Dodge County SWAT Team. Nehls says after consulting with law enforcement on scene he made the determination to “disengage” and attempt to take the suspect into custody at some point in the future or through a summons from the Dodge County District Attorneys office. He says there was no justification for the use of force because the situation could have turned out bad and it was not worth the risk. The 23-year-old suspect is facing likely charges of domestic violence and disorderly conduct.

UW Regents Discuss Campus Safety

12/10/11 - The day after two more people died on the Virginia Tech campus, parents and students were assured by University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly campuses here are safe. UW-Madison Police Chief Sue Riseling attended the meeting with the Board of Regents, briefing members about security and safety measures. Training and communication are the center-pieces of the system’s safety approach. She says it took two hours to send out mass e-mails in 2005. Today, that’s less than 10 minutes. Text messages take six minutes.

Man Sentenced For Injuring Bike Cops

12/10/11 - A driver who slammed into three Milwaukee bicycle police officers was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in jail yesterday. Gaudencio Ruiz-Ramirez pleaded guilty to three counts of drunken driving causing injury and one count of hit-and-run involving injury. Ruiz-Ramirez was driving west of West Lincoln Avenue last September 9th when he hit three of four officers bicycles down the street. The three all suffered injuries which weren’t life threatening, but they are in physical therapy three months later. The suspect was arrested a short time later.

Student Accused of Igniting Girls Hair

12/10/11 - A 17-year-old student at Case High School faces a charge of endangering public safety for setting a girl’s hair on fire. The boy says he had been playing with a lighter in the school hallway between classes and the act wasn’t intentional. The 14 year old victim says she didn’t realize her hair was burning until people started to scream at her. The boy with the lighter was the one who put the fire out, then he ran away. The fire left a bald spot on the girl’s head the size of a quarter. Bond for the boy was set at one thousand dollars yesterday.

Retired Company President Accused of Tax Evasion

12/10/11 - The retired president of a chemical company in Waukesha County has been convicted of tax evasion. 68-year-old James Stuart faces up to 15 years in prison, after a federal court jury in Milwaukee found him guilty on three counts of evading taxes. Prosecutors said Stuart reported an income of 631-dollars in 2005, and did not file tax returns for ’06 and ’07. But the I-R-S said he actually made over 900-thousand-dollars during that period – and he owed around 200-thousand dollars in federal taxes. His attorney said Stuart did not intend to commit the crime he was charged with – evading taxes – because he honestly felt the tax laws didn’t apply to him. A legal brief said Stuart had a “frank difference of opinion” with the I-R-S – and the tax laws are not meant to punish people in cases like that. Officials said Stuart also filed amended returns to try to get refunds from previous years – claimed he was a consultant instead of an employee at his New Age Chemical firm – and turned over the title of an 80-thousand dollar Corvette to his daughter to try and avoid taxes. His former company said Stuart retired a couple years ago.

BD Area Orchestra Performing Tonight

12/10/11 - The Beaver Dam Area Orchestra is hosting two holiday performances Saturday. Music Director Rich Zieman, who has been with the orchestra for 19 seasons, says the orchestra is comprised of a pool of over 50 musicians come from all over the region. The 5:30pm show is more family-oriented, and shorter, and will include appearances from Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. Kids in attendance will get a gift courtesy of sponsors Tom and Judy Heffron, who will also be hosting Santa Claus again at the Heffron White House Sunday from 11am to 1pm. The second, full performance begins at 7:30pm. Both shows are free but Zeman says they’ll charge you to get out. They will be held in the Beaver Dam High School Auditorium.

Democrat Targeted For Recall

12/10/11 - A government watchdog group filed paperwork in Madison Friday to pursue the possible recall of state Senate Democrat Bob Jauch in northwest Wisconsin. Northern C-R-G, part of the Citizens for Responsible Government, cited Jauch's refusal to support the G-O-P Assembly version of the bill to speed up state approval for an iron ore mine in Jauch's district. The bill was unveiled yesterday. The C-R-G was first known for engineering the recalls of Milwaukee County board members a decade ago, after a scandal that involved multi-million-dollar pension payments. The Northern C-R-G said it would form an exploratory committee to determine if there's enough support for a Jauch recall. Jauch has not commented. He would be the first Democratic senator targeted for recall early next year, after four G-O-P senators were targeted. A few months ago, Jauch said he would be okay with speeding up the process to get state mining permits, as long as environmental concerns are addressed. But the Republican bill would ease groundwater and wetland protections. A public hearing on the measure will be held Wednesday. Jauch said yesterday it insults people to give them only six days to digest a 183-page bill. The 66-year-old Jauch has been in the state Senate for 25 years, and was in the Assembly for four years before that.

GAB Says More Time Needed For Recall Validation

12/10/11 - The head of the state elections' agency says it will take longer than the legal time limit to validate up to one-and-a-half million recall petition signatures. Kevin Kennedy says the Government Accountability Board will need 60 days to determine if there are enough valid signatures for recall elections against the governor, lieutenant governor, and four G-O-P state senators. The board will need a court order to run the process for that long -- because the time limit is only 31 days. Kennedy says up to 50 temporary employees will be needed to review the petitions, which must be filed by January 17th. Kennedy says the workers would be separated into teams led by people with more training. The full accountability board is expected to finalize the process when it meets next Tuesday. State Democratic chairman Mike Tate says his party might have some objections with the review procedures -- but he says they appear reasonable considering quote, "the unprecedented nature of the undertaking." The state Republican Party has not commented. Meanwhile, lawsuits are pending in both state-and-federal courts asking that the Senate recall votes use the new districts drawn up this summer. Kennedy says the Board will need guidance from the courts, because the petitions are being circulated in the old districts.

Recall Organizers Face Funding Shortage

12/10/11 - The effort to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker could end – due to lack of money, not lack of signatures. The Wisconsin Democratic Party says it needs to raise another 150 thousand dollars by next Friday, or it’s going to have to stop its recall effort. Party workers are still trying to collect signatures today, despite the critical need for cash. The party says the money is needed to maintain its staff of more than 100 workers in more than 40 offices around the state.

More Drivers Texting, Emailing, Web Surfing

12/10/11 - A new national study shows that growing numbers of drivers are thumbing their noses at laws against texting behind-the-wheel. Thirty-five states ban the practice, including Wisconsin. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says one of every 100 U-S drivers at any given time are texting, e-mailing, Web surfing, or using some hand-held device. And that's gone up 50-percent in the last year. Six-thousand drivers were polled over the past month. Two of every 10 admitted sending texts or e-mails while driving, including half of all 21-to-24-year-olds. Wisconsin banned the writing and sending of text messages a year ago. But only about 160 tickets had been issued in the first 11 months. Half of drivers in the national survey said texting or using hand-held cell phones does not affect their driving performance. They said other drivers are the problem -- and 71-percent favored bans on hand-held cell phones, and 94-percent support bans on texting behind-the-wheel. Wisconsin has rejected several efforts to ban cell phones while driving. Some cities ban it, like Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids.

Milwaukee Shelter Raising Money from Cat Toes

12/10/11 - A cat that was rescued in October has come to the rescue of the shelter that saved him. Daniel, a white-and-orange tabby with a rare 26 toes, is helping the Milwaukee Animal Rescue Shelter raise money for a new building. The center saves unwanted pets that could otherwise be euthanized -- and it learned that its rent at a shopping mall would double next month. So the shelter decided to build its own place. And Daniel has become the center of a fund drive to get donations of 26-dollars -- a buck for each of his toes. That effort has raised 50-thousand-dollars, and the new facility has a total of 80-thousand so far. That's enough to secure financing, but the shelter hopes to raise 120-thousand by Christmas so it can be more financially secure. Cats normally have 18 toes, but a genetic mutation resulted in Daniel having 26 -- two short of the Guinness world record.