Top Stories December 4th

Purchase of WI & So. Railroad a Business Decision

12/4/11 - The new owner of the Wisconsin-and-Southern Railroad said its purchase was only a business decision – and there was no motive to gain political influence. Watco Transportation Services obtained a controlling interest in the Wisconsin-and-Southern from its founder Bill Gardner – who was put on two years’ probation this year for giving excessive campaign donations to Governor Scott Walker and others. The Madison Capital Times said Koch Industries is the biggest customer of the new Wisconsin-and-Southern owner, and the Koch Brothers are one of Walker’s major supporters. But Watco spokesman Ed McKechnie says there is no cross-ownership or shared board members between Watco and Koch. And McKechnie told the Cap Times the Kochs quote, “have no more relationship with us than a wheat farmer in Kansas, a potato farmer in Idaho, or U-S Steel Company in Alabama.” He said Watco’s only interest is to have the Wisconsin-and-Southern help the Badger State’s economy take off. Frank Hutchinson of the state D-O-T said he, too, doubts a political motive. He says Gardner is 65, and is probably just looking to retire.

Changes Could Be Coming for Assembly Watchers

12/4/11 - Lawmakers from both parties say people should be able to post small signs and take pictures as they watch the state Assembly do its business. Numerous protestors have been escorted out of the Capitol for doing both this year. But Madison Democrat Kelda Helen Roys says that’s offensive to the Constitution and those who value free speech. She introduced a resolution yesterday allowing spectators in the gallery to take photos and videos of the Assembly at work – and to post signs no larger than a business-sized sheet of paper. Roys says the Legislature needs to focus on creating jobs and not quote, “dragging people out of the gallery” for quietly holding signs or taking pictures. Whitewater Republican Evan Wynn says local governments must allow those things under the Open Meetings Law – and the Assembly should do the same. The law allows each house of the Legislature to make its own rules. The Assembly has banned photography by the general public since 1994, after a challenger’s campaign literature showed a lawmaker sleeping at his desk during an all-night session. For the same reason, the Wisconsin Eye cable channel is limited about what it can show during legislative functions. But at a meeting of the Assembly’s Organization Committee a few weeks ago, leaders from both parties said it might be time to review the rules, and decide what’s considered disruptive.

Snow Owls Making Presence Felt in WI

12/4/11 - Wisconsin’s bird watchers are getting a rare treat, as hundreds of snowy owls have flown into the Midwest from their normal winter outposts in the Arctic. It happens every few years – and experts say it’s because of a decline in the owls’ main food source in the Arctic. Ornithologist Bill Mueller tells the Wisconsin State Journal the owls are searching for lemmings in the Upper Midwest. As a result, up to 100 snowy owls have been spotted in Wisconsin this season. Normally, he says the state gets no more than a dozen during the winter. The last time Wisconsin had so many owls was in 2006. Mueller says they could hang around until March if we have a normal winter.

FDL Residents Will Notice Budget Cuts on County Roads

12/4/11 - Having to do more with less because of budget cuts, the Fond du Lac County Highway Department will have fewer people plowing County roads and highways this winter. Highway Commissioner Tom Janke says a few truck driving positions weren't refilled, which means some roads may take longer to get to. He says most of the positions that weren't filled were for night-time positions, which is when a lot plowing does occur. He says in the meantime they held a pre-winter operations meeting with County, City and State Patrol officials to make sure they are all on the same page.

Advocates Push for Schools to Continue Spending on the Disabled

12/4/11 - Advocates for the disabled in Wisconsin are trying to get the Obama White House to continue preventing local schools from spending less on special education. The Cooperative Educational Service Agency in the Milwaukee area has asked some of the state’s federal lawmakers to approve a new waiver from the funding mandate to reflect cuts in the new state budget. School officials argue that they need more flexibility from the reduced amount of state aid they received – and it hurts that effort when they can’t touch the amount of special education dollars which must be spent under federal law. But a recent survey by Wisconsin school administrators shows that special ed services are being cut just like other school programs. The survey found that 28-percent of responding school districts cut special ed teaching positions in the current school year. A coalition of groups for the disabled told federal education officials that the Wisconsin Legislature made deliberate funding choices that put pressure on schools to reduce funding. And Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick of Disability Rights Wisconsin said difficult funding choices cannot be made quote, “on the backs of kids with disabilities.”

Cheese Production Up

12/4/11 - Wisconsin made more cheese than a year ago – but the increase was not as big as it was nationally. And California – the nation’s second-largest producer – caught up a little. New government figures said the Badger State produced 221-million pounds of cheese in October. That’s up a half-percent from the same month the year before. But the national increase was one-point-seven-percent, totaling 896-million pounds. And California, second only to Wisconsin in its cheese production, had an increase of three-point-eight percent with almost 190-million pounds. Wisconsin’s production of Italian cheeses rose four-and-a-half percent. Cheddar production was up two-and-a-half percent, and the Badger State made one-point-two percent more American cheese.

State Fraud Hotline Available

12/4/11 - Wisconsin now has a hotline where people can report on those who use fraud to get state health and nutrition aid. The new Inspector General’s office in the Health Services Department created the hotline, and Governor Scott Walker unveiled it this morning. We’ll tell you the number in just a few moments. Walker said the hotline will ensure that people get the assistance they need, while cutting down on fraud, waste, and abuses in the system. The Inspector General’s office was created last month to improve the coordination of fraud-fighting efforts in the state health agency – and to follow the recommendations from Walker’s commission on the subject. Inspector General Alan White says he wants to hear from those with information about public assistance abuse. Here’s the hotline number – 1-877-865-3432.

Snow Sculptors Coming to Racine

12/4/11 - Wisconsin’s best snow sculptors will show their talents in Racine next month. The 22nd annual state snow sculpting contest will be held January 13th through 15th in Racine’s Monument Square. The event will be called “The Big Chill,” and it’s being moved from Wisconsin Dells – where it used to be known as the “Flake Out Festival.” Sixteen of Wisconsin’s best two-member sculpting teams will produce the snowy designs – and the public will help decide the winner. The state champion team will advance to the national snow-sculpting competition, to be held in February of 2013 in Lake Geneva.