BB Gun Shooting Under Investigation
4/1/12 - Authorities are investigating an incident in which several young children were shot with a BB gun. According to Dodge County Sheriff’s Department records, administrators at Beaver Dam’s Prairie View Elementary called them around 12:45 Friday afternoon. They said three students were shot with a BB-gun, and indicated that the person who shot them was the cousin of one of their step-dads. Detectives are now investigating the incident, and social services has also been contacted.
Columbus Adds Auxiliary Officers
4/1/12 - Columbus Police are adding extra personnel to their ranks for special events such as the 4th of July Festivities, and the Horse and Carriage/Civil War History Celebration. The volunteer “auxiliary” officers will be trained for duties such as crowd and traffic control. Chief Dan Meister told the city council that applicants for the auxiliary positions have already been interviewed. The council approved the plan for auxiliary officers last year and recruiting has resulted in the first group of candidates. The timing couldn’t be better. With several Civil War history events being added as part of the Horse and Carriage Festival on Father’s Day weekend, organizers say they could see thousands of additional visitors in the city.
Bio-Fuel Innovation at Moraine Park
4/1/12 - Some day in the near future, the same oil that’s used to cook up French fries at a Fond du Lac technical school will go into the fuel used to cut lawns at the school. Jim Daniels is an instructor with the school’s automotive program. He says they are beginning a bio-diesel fuel project hoping to develop a drop-in replacement for diesel-fueled engines. They would take the used cooking oil used by the schools food service and culinary arts program for the project. He says it will be a nice option for the school, but not enough to replace all of the diesel fuel that is used at Moraine Park Technical College.
Autism Cases on the Rise in the US
4/1/12 - The federal government says autism cases are on the rise, due mainly to better diagnosis and wider screenings. And Wisconsin’s rate is better than the overall average in a survey of 14 states by the U-S Centers for Disease Control. National data released today showed one of every 88 children has been identified as having an autistic disorder which limits their ability to interact and communicate. That’s 23-percent more common than in the last national report four years ago. But in 10 counties in southeast Wisconsin, 1 of every 128 kids was found to be autistic. That puts the Badger State in about the middle of the pack among the 14 states surveyed. The largest increases were among Hispanic and black youngsters. And cases are five times higher in boys than in girls. The new data was gathered in 2008. It focused on eight-year-olds, where age in which autism is said to peak. The C-D-C says the causes of autism remain unknown. Genetics are said to be one possible factor. Others believe that childhood vaccines can cause autism – although many studies have not confirmed that.
Future of Nuclear Power to be Discussed in Madison
4/1/12 - Nuclear experts, scientists and others will meet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next month to talk about the future of nuclear power. That’s an uncertain situation following the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster last year. The forum will start at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 330 North Orchard Street, April 12 at 7 p.m. Panelists will include experts in Japanese culture and environmental history, corporate responsibility and the media.
Alleged “Spammer” Looking for Plea Deal
4/1/12 - A man from Russia who’s charged in Milwaukee with running a major worldwide computer spamming network wants to make a plea deal. His attorney said Oleg Nikolaenko still denies running the spam network – but he could not elaborate because of the plea negotiations which are taking place. Authorities said Nikolaenko’s network placed malicious codes on a half-million U-S computers, and then sent out billions of e-mails selling things like counterfeit Rolex watches and fake Viagra. On some days, officials said the network accounted for one-third of the world’s unwanted e-mails. Defense lawyer Arkady Bukh said the government wants to send Nikolaenko to prison for about 10 years, while the defense wants to limit the sentence to the year-and-a-half he’s been in jail. Bukh says the final agreement will probably be somewhere in between. A Milwaukee F-B-I agent cracked the case, after a Kansas City man complained of having to spend two-million dollars to advertise fake watches on the network. Nikolaenko was arrested in the fall of 2010 in Las Vegas, where he was attending a car show.
Factory Business Continues to Grow in WI
4/1/12 - Factory business kept growing this month in southeast Wisconsin, but at a slower pace than in February. The Center for Supply Chain Management at Marquette University said its manufacturing index for March was 51-point-seven-eight. That’s down seven-percent from February. But it was still a positive number, since anything above 50 indicates growth. The report also showed that new manufacturing orders dropped by an average of 16-percent in the Milwaukee area from February. But company executives who were surveyed remained positive – and some said they were running at their full capacity. The report was prepared for the Institute for Supply Management, a group of Milwaukee area purchasing directors.
Former Cain’s Aide Being Investigated
4/1/12 - The Wisconsinite who ran Herman Cain’s failed presidential campaign last year is now said to be under a federal investigation. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the F-B-I recently talked to donors and others connected with two groups run by Cain’s former manager Mark Block. The groups are the Wisconsin Prosperity Network and Prosperity U-S-A – both of which are apparently being probed for violating limits on campaign donations. Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice reported last year that Prosperity U-S-A helped get Cain’s Republican White House campaign off the ground with chartered flights and numerous equipment. And Cain’s people reportedly never paid a 40-thousand-dollar debt to the Prosperity group. Also, the Journal Sentinel says the group borrowed up to 150-thousand dollars from two people – and then gave most of the money to a conservative civil rights group, right before it brought in Cain to speak at Martin Luther King Day dinner last year. The paper said neither of Block’s groups obtained tax-exempt status, even though donors were told they could write off their gifts. Block has not commented on the apparent federal probe. Assistant U-S Attorney Richard Frohling would not acknowledge that the investigation exists.
Lottery Winners in Wisconsin
4/1/12 - There were three jackpot winners in Friday night’s history Mega Millions drawing but none came from Wisconsin. The tickets were apparently sold in Illinois, Maryland and Kansas. But several players in Wisconsin will take home some nice winnings. Tickets sold in Eau Claire, Richfield and Walworth won $250,000. There were 13 others in the state that won $10,000. The $640M prize was the largest in lottery history. Wisconsin sold $9.3-million worth of Mega Millions tickets for the drawing, including 6.2-million sold on Friday alone. Nationwide, players spent nearly $1.5-billion to hit the main jackpot.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Top Stories March 31st
Judge Throws Out Parts of Act 10
3/31/12 - A federal judge allows the biggest part of the controversial law limiting collective bargaining rights to stand, but he did give unions two of the victories they sought. U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled union dues could be automatically withheld from public workers’ paychecks. He also ruled against requirements that all union members would have to approve maintaining the union by a vote every year. Seven unions banded together as plaintiffs in the suit. They will discuss a possible appeals on the issues they lost. The lawsuit was filed last summer after the governor’s plan was passed by the Legislature.
Barrett Will Run for Governor
3/31/12 - The June 5th recall election facing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is starting to look like a rematch. Just hours after the Government Accountability Board ordered the election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced he would oppose Walker again. Barrett sent an e-mail to his supporters saying he would begin campaigning immediately. He faces a Democratic primary against the union-supported candidate Kathleen Falk on May 8th – and that’s just five and a half weeks away. A Walker campaign spokesperson branded Barrett a two-time loser who has failed to turn Milwaukee’s economy around.
Meanwhile, if Walker wins his recall election, he will be the first sitting governor to accomplish that. Walker is the third governor in U.S. history to face a recall attempt. North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier was successfully recalled in 1921 and California Governor Gray Davis lost a recall vote in 2003. Rebecca Kleefisch is the first lieutenant governor ever to face a recall election.
Ex-Walker Aide Will Face Trial in Milwaukee County
3/31/12 - A former top aide to Governor Scott Walker will have to stand trial in Milwaukee County because the judge says that’s where her alleged crime was committed. Kelly Rindfleisch had told the court her true residence was in Columbus, asking her trial be moved to Columbia County. Judge David Hansher said no. Rindfleisch is accused of doing extensive campaign work in 2010 while holding a taxpayer-funded job for Walker in his final year as Milwaukee County Executive. Her attorney says they will likely file an appeal. Tentative trial date for Rindfleisch is October 15th.
Mayor Talks About Fountain Inn Tavern
3/31/12 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy shared a letter with our listeners on WBEV’s Community Comment on Friday about the ongoing issue with the Fountain Inn Tavern. The structure was built over the Beaver Dam River a century ago and is in violation of modern state statutes; ten neighboring buildings were razed. Owner Jay Hoeft rebuked buy-out offers from the Department of Natural Resources and the state ended negotiations early last December. Hoeft would have received at least 100% of the assessed value for his property but was holding out for relocation costs. Hoeft filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Administration in late December alleging Beaver Dam and the DNR are “involuntarily” attempting to remove him from the property. He cited a state law in his complaint that requires the state to pay relocation costs to property owners who are involuntarily removed from their land. In a letter the City of Beaver Dam dated March 27, the Department of Administration said in part that the offers by the city and DNR were voluntary sales offers. They added that when a purchase offer is declined there would be no relocation assistance payments. The letter said that because no offers had been accepted the question of whether relocation benefits should be given becomes moot. The letter also says that the city did not violate any provisions of state law. Our attempts to contact Hoeft for comment have been unsuccessful.
WPS Could Reduce Requested Rate Increases
3/31/12 - Wisconsin Public Service Corporation says it might reduce the rate increases it is proposing at a future date. They are based on economic forecasts from late last year and the picture seems to be improving. The utility says it had to move ahead on its proposal because the deadline to file for a rate increase was tomorrow. WPS wants a 9-point-2 percent increase in electric rates and a 3-point-7 percent increase for natural gas. The rates would go into effect next year. If the rate increases are approved the typical customers would see his or her electric bill go up by seven dollars a month, with an increase of two dollars, 50 cents a month for gas.
Snow Hampers Lottery Hopefuls
3/31/12 - To some lottery players the heavy, wet snow which hit northeast Wisconsin was an interruption to the dreams of a 640 million dollar pay day. The Mega Millions lottery was offering the biggest jackpot in lottery history, but they couldn’t buy a ticket. Several stores in Oconto and Marinette counties lost satellite connections to the game yesterday morning. Snow collecting in their satellite dishes interrupted their signals for about two hours starting at 7:30 a.m. The manager of one store said she had customers waiting in line to buy 10 to 15 dollars worth of tickets and she couldn’t sell any until her son climbed onto the roof and cleared the snow off the dish.
Hartford Dentist Offering Free Dental Care Today
3/31/12 - A dentist in Hartford is offering free dental care Saturday to those in need in the Dodge and Washington County area. Dr. Peter Wilk of Grand Avenue Dental Care dubs the event “Sharing Smiles.” The practice will offer each patient one basic service including fillings, extractions and cleanings. It’s open from 8am to 4pm to everyone age 6 and older. Patients will be seen on a first come, first serve basis with registration beginning at 7am and the final patient seated at 3:30pm. Last years event served 64 people but this year the staff is hoping to serve 100 patients. There is also a food drive to benefit the Hartford Food Pantry so those attending are asked to bring in a non-perishable food item.
Breathalyzer Tests to Get into School Dances?
3/31/12 - More Wisconsin high school students are being required to pass a test to enter a school dance – a Breathalyzer test. Germantown High School has had random alcohol checks at its dances for years. Now, Cedarburg High School will start randomly selecting students for Breathalyzer tests at its school prom in Kohler next month. And they’ll continue that policy at school dances throughout the year. Cedarburg Superintendent Daryl Herrick denies that it’s a knee-jerk reaction to a mid-February incident when police gave citations to drunk students at the high school’s “Glo-Coming Dance.” Germantown principal Joel Farren says parents love the Breathalyzer tests. And principals in southeast Wisconsin say they get few if any complaints from the students. Germantown lays down the law against being intoxicated at school-sponsored events. Anyone who’s caught faces an expulsion hearing – and 17 students were expelled for that reason in the 2005-06 school year.
3/31/12 - A federal judge allows the biggest part of the controversial law limiting collective bargaining rights to stand, but he did give unions two of the victories they sought. U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled union dues could be automatically withheld from public workers’ paychecks. He also ruled against requirements that all union members would have to approve maintaining the union by a vote every year. Seven unions banded together as plaintiffs in the suit. They will discuss a possible appeals on the issues they lost. The lawsuit was filed last summer after the governor’s plan was passed by the Legislature.
Barrett Will Run for Governor
3/31/12 - The June 5th recall election facing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is starting to look like a rematch. Just hours after the Government Accountability Board ordered the election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced he would oppose Walker again. Barrett sent an e-mail to his supporters saying he would begin campaigning immediately. He faces a Democratic primary against the union-supported candidate Kathleen Falk on May 8th – and that’s just five and a half weeks away. A Walker campaign spokesperson branded Barrett a two-time loser who has failed to turn Milwaukee’s economy around.
Meanwhile, if Walker wins his recall election, he will be the first sitting governor to accomplish that. Walker is the third governor in U.S. history to face a recall attempt. North Dakota Governor Lynn Frazier was successfully recalled in 1921 and California Governor Gray Davis lost a recall vote in 2003. Rebecca Kleefisch is the first lieutenant governor ever to face a recall election.
Ex-Walker Aide Will Face Trial in Milwaukee County
3/31/12 - A former top aide to Governor Scott Walker will have to stand trial in Milwaukee County because the judge says that’s where her alleged crime was committed. Kelly Rindfleisch had told the court her true residence was in Columbus, asking her trial be moved to Columbia County. Judge David Hansher said no. Rindfleisch is accused of doing extensive campaign work in 2010 while holding a taxpayer-funded job for Walker in his final year as Milwaukee County Executive. Her attorney says they will likely file an appeal. Tentative trial date for Rindfleisch is October 15th.
Mayor Talks About Fountain Inn Tavern
3/31/12 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy shared a letter with our listeners on WBEV’s Community Comment on Friday about the ongoing issue with the Fountain Inn Tavern. The structure was built over the Beaver Dam River a century ago and is in violation of modern state statutes; ten neighboring buildings were razed. Owner Jay Hoeft rebuked buy-out offers from the Department of Natural Resources and the state ended negotiations early last December. Hoeft would have received at least 100% of the assessed value for his property but was holding out for relocation costs. Hoeft filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Administration in late December alleging Beaver Dam and the DNR are “involuntarily” attempting to remove him from the property. He cited a state law in his complaint that requires the state to pay relocation costs to property owners who are involuntarily removed from their land. In a letter the City of Beaver Dam dated March 27, the Department of Administration said in part that the offers by the city and DNR were voluntary sales offers. They added that when a purchase offer is declined there would be no relocation assistance payments. The letter said that because no offers had been accepted the question of whether relocation benefits should be given becomes moot. The letter also says that the city did not violate any provisions of state law. Our attempts to contact Hoeft for comment have been unsuccessful.
WPS Could Reduce Requested Rate Increases
3/31/12 - Wisconsin Public Service Corporation says it might reduce the rate increases it is proposing at a future date. They are based on economic forecasts from late last year and the picture seems to be improving. The utility says it had to move ahead on its proposal because the deadline to file for a rate increase was tomorrow. WPS wants a 9-point-2 percent increase in electric rates and a 3-point-7 percent increase for natural gas. The rates would go into effect next year. If the rate increases are approved the typical customers would see his or her electric bill go up by seven dollars a month, with an increase of two dollars, 50 cents a month for gas.
Snow Hampers Lottery Hopefuls
3/31/12 - To some lottery players the heavy, wet snow which hit northeast Wisconsin was an interruption to the dreams of a 640 million dollar pay day. The Mega Millions lottery was offering the biggest jackpot in lottery history, but they couldn’t buy a ticket. Several stores in Oconto and Marinette counties lost satellite connections to the game yesterday morning. Snow collecting in their satellite dishes interrupted their signals for about two hours starting at 7:30 a.m. The manager of one store said she had customers waiting in line to buy 10 to 15 dollars worth of tickets and she couldn’t sell any until her son climbed onto the roof and cleared the snow off the dish.
Hartford Dentist Offering Free Dental Care Today
3/31/12 - A dentist in Hartford is offering free dental care Saturday to those in need in the Dodge and Washington County area. Dr. Peter Wilk of Grand Avenue Dental Care dubs the event “Sharing Smiles.” The practice will offer each patient one basic service including fillings, extractions and cleanings. It’s open from 8am to 4pm to everyone age 6 and older. Patients will be seen on a first come, first serve basis with registration beginning at 7am and the final patient seated at 3:30pm. Last years event served 64 people but this year the staff is hoping to serve 100 patients. There is also a food drive to benefit the Hartford Food Pantry so those attending are asked to bring in a non-perishable food item.
Breathalyzer Tests to Get into School Dances?
3/31/12 - More Wisconsin high school students are being required to pass a test to enter a school dance – a Breathalyzer test. Germantown High School has had random alcohol checks at its dances for years. Now, Cedarburg High School will start randomly selecting students for Breathalyzer tests at its school prom in Kohler next month. And they’ll continue that policy at school dances throughout the year. Cedarburg Superintendent Daryl Herrick denies that it’s a knee-jerk reaction to a mid-February incident when police gave citations to drunk students at the high school’s “Glo-Coming Dance.” Germantown principal Joel Farren says parents love the Breathalyzer tests. And principals in southeast Wisconsin say they get few if any complaints from the students. Germantown lays down the law against being intoxicated at school-sponsored events. Anyone who’s caught faces an expulsion hearing – and 17 students were expelled for that reason in the 2005-06 school year.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Top Stories March 29th
BD School Board Discusses Financing for Projects
3/29/12 - Under a plan laid out last night, the Beaver Dam School District would be able to take care of its maintenance and space issues without raising taxes. That was the word from administrators to the school board. The board is expected to take action on a resolution next month that would authorize them to borrow $6-million for maintenance and building projects. Superintendent Steve Vessey says approving that resolution doesn’t lock them into taking the money. No decisions will be made on what projects the money would go to until the public has a chance to chime in, though closing Trenton and/or South Beaver Dam Elementary is possible. Other possible projects include additions to the other existing elementary schools and upgrades to the high school science rooms and cafeteria.
One project the school board is going to find funds for is the electrical issues at the middle school. The current output of the electrical services at the school is outside, underneath the parking lot, and there is water seeping down into that area. The solution would see them bringing the output inside the building and filling in the area where the output currently is. The issue is timing. The work would leave the building without electricity for 10-weeks. If they started right after school got out, they wouldn’t be finished until August. And it’s possible the project may not finish on time. The board is expected to put a contingency plan in place in case that happens. The total cost of the project is expected to be around $800,000.
Jury Trial Set for Posthuma
3/29/12 - A jury will decide the fate of a former Beaver Dam School District custodian accused of having a sexual relationship with a high school student. Joseph A. Posthuma Wednesday had a two-day jury trial set for July 11. The 27-year-old is charged with one felony count of Repeated Sexual Assault of the Same Child. According to the criminal complaint, High School Principal Mark DiStefano alerted police about the incident after learning about the encounters from the teen victim. She reportedly met Posthuma at the high school in July of 2010 and the relationship became physical in November of that year with the two having contact between 10 and 15 times over the course of 18 months. Posthuma was working at Trenton Elementary at the time of his arrest. During an interview with investigators, Postuma reportedly admitted to the contact and both parties said the encounters were consensual. The victim told investigators that Posthuma tried to break-off the relationship several times but she persisted. Posthuma is free after posting a $5000 bail.
Romney, Santorum in Wisconsin
3/29/12 - With the Wisconsin primary five days away, the two G-O-P presidential front-runners are zeroing in on the state’s battle over public union bargaining rights. Rick Santorum said in La Crosse yesterday that he stands with Governor Scott Walker – who faces a recall election because he proposed last year’s law which virtually ended most public union bargaining and stopped forcing employees to pay union dues. Santorum is second in recent Wisconsin polls and the national delegate count. And he hopes his support for Walker will get the Republican base to give him his first victory in a heartland industrial state. But front-runner Mitt Romney tried to put a monkey-wrench into that strategy, by again bringing up Santorum’s 1996 Senate vote against a national right-to-work law. It would have ended a requirement that workers join unions as a condition of employment. Santorum has said he would propose a right-to-work law as president – but he voted no in the Senate due to heavy opposition in his home state of Pennsylvania. In an automated phone call to Wisconsin voters last night, Romney said he was quote, “shocked to find out that Rick Santorum repeatedly supported big labor.” But Santorum said quote, “Calling Rick Santorum a friend of labor is like calling Mitt Romney a conservative – Neither are true.” Still, Republican National Committee member Mary Buestin of Mequon said waffling on union issues is not good for a presidential candidate – especially in Wisconsin, where G-O-P activists have lined up behind Walker.
Horicon Ballot Candidates on BEV Today
3/29/12 - On Community Comment today will be hearing from the candidates running for mayor in the city of Horicon who will be appearing on the ballot. Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow will join us beginning at 12:35pm.
Horicon Write-In Candidates Outline Platforms
3/29/12 - The write-in candidates for mayor in the city of Horicon discussed their reasons for running on WBEV’s Community Comment yesterday. City Council President and Personnel and Finance Committee Chair Steve Neitzel highlighted his 16 years of municipal government experience and says he was asked by a number of citizens for over month to run as a write-in. Neitzel says with a new City Clerk-Treasurer on the job it’s important to have the continuity of experience in city leadership. Thomas “Toby” Anfinson, who served 29 years on the Horicon Fire Department, the final seven as fire chief, and is currently the Vice President of the Clyman Fire Commission. Anfinson says his goal as mayor is to attract more business opportunities, improve efficiency of city departments, reconstruct at least one road per year and prevent city worker layoffs. Paul Moxham is a carpenter by trade and was quick to point out yesterday that he has no municipal government experience. He says he is unemployed and the mayor job is open so he applied. Moxham says the other candidates are focused on the needs for businesses and schools and police and fire services, but they are not thinking about what the citizens need. In addition to the three write-in candidates, there are two candidates for Horicon mayor appearing on the ballot. Craig Warmbold will speak with Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow on this afternoon’s Community Comment program beginning at 12:35pm.
West Bend Company Adding Jobs With Tax Credits
3/29/12 - A Washington County company is eligible for up to $850,000 in tax credits that will allow them to add almost 200 jobs. Governor Scott Walker made the announcement at Spaulding Clinical Research in West Bend on Wednesday. The tax credits are through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and will create up to 183 jobs related to the company’s expansion of its cardiac safety equipment. Walker says the investment reinforces that the state is one of the leaders in the country in medical innovation. The tax credits will be distributed annually in direct relation to the number of new, full-time positions created and filled over a two-year period.
Unemployment Up Over Two Month Period
3/29/12 - Unemployment in the region increased from January to February. Dodge County had 8.2% of its active workforce file for jobless benefits last month, up three-tenths from January but a full point below the same time last year. Jefferson County is at 8.5% and Fond du Lac County is at 7.4%, both up two-tenths. Washington County is up three-tenths to 7.7%. Green Lake County is up a half point to 9.5%. Columbia County remained unchanged over the two-month period at 7.9%. Dane County has the state’s lowest rate at 5.2%. Menominee, Bayfield and Door counties have the highest unemployment in the state, all around 13%. In total, 66 counties had higher jobless rates from January to February while three had slight decreases. All but four counties in the state had a drop in jobless claims since last year.
Clintonville Booms Continue
3/29/12 - The U-S Geological Survey has asked folks in Clintonville to report any future booms-and-rumblings to the group’s Web site. Heidi Koontz says it will give seismologists and geo-physicists a better handle on what’s happening. The Web site’s address is Earthquake-Dot-USGS-Dot-Gov. The Geological Survey said yesterday it’s thinking about placing a seismometer in Clintonville, after the rumblings came back late Tuesday night. Sixty-five people called police, after the booms had stopped for almost six days. Before that, hundreds of people complained about loud thunder and shakes for four straight nights. Officials blamed it on a series of small earthquakes, including a one-point-five quake early last Tuesday. Clintonville administrator Lisa Kuss says she still wants people who hear and feel things to call police at its non-emergency number.
3/29/12 - Under a plan laid out last night, the Beaver Dam School District would be able to take care of its maintenance and space issues without raising taxes. That was the word from administrators to the school board. The board is expected to take action on a resolution next month that would authorize them to borrow $6-million for maintenance and building projects. Superintendent Steve Vessey says approving that resolution doesn’t lock them into taking the money. No decisions will be made on what projects the money would go to until the public has a chance to chime in, though closing Trenton and/or South Beaver Dam Elementary is possible. Other possible projects include additions to the other existing elementary schools and upgrades to the high school science rooms and cafeteria.
One project the school board is going to find funds for is the electrical issues at the middle school. The current output of the electrical services at the school is outside, underneath the parking lot, and there is water seeping down into that area. The solution would see them bringing the output inside the building and filling in the area where the output currently is. The issue is timing. The work would leave the building without electricity for 10-weeks. If they started right after school got out, they wouldn’t be finished until August. And it’s possible the project may not finish on time. The board is expected to put a contingency plan in place in case that happens. The total cost of the project is expected to be around $800,000.
Jury Trial Set for Posthuma
3/29/12 - A jury will decide the fate of a former Beaver Dam School District custodian accused of having a sexual relationship with a high school student. Joseph A. Posthuma Wednesday had a two-day jury trial set for July 11. The 27-year-old is charged with one felony count of Repeated Sexual Assault of the Same Child. According to the criminal complaint, High School Principal Mark DiStefano alerted police about the incident after learning about the encounters from the teen victim. She reportedly met Posthuma at the high school in July of 2010 and the relationship became physical in November of that year with the two having contact between 10 and 15 times over the course of 18 months. Posthuma was working at Trenton Elementary at the time of his arrest. During an interview with investigators, Postuma reportedly admitted to the contact and both parties said the encounters were consensual. The victim told investigators that Posthuma tried to break-off the relationship several times but she persisted. Posthuma is free after posting a $5000 bail.
Romney, Santorum in Wisconsin
3/29/12 - With the Wisconsin primary five days away, the two G-O-P presidential front-runners are zeroing in on the state’s battle over public union bargaining rights. Rick Santorum said in La Crosse yesterday that he stands with Governor Scott Walker – who faces a recall election because he proposed last year’s law which virtually ended most public union bargaining and stopped forcing employees to pay union dues. Santorum is second in recent Wisconsin polls and the national delegate count. And he hopes his support for Walker will get the Republican base to give him his first victory in a heartland industrial state. But front-runner Mitt Romney tried to put a monkey-wrench into that strategy, by again bringing up Santorum’s 1996 Senate vote against a national right-to-work law. It would have ended a requirement that workers join unions as a condition of employment. Santorum has said he would propose a right-to-work law as president – but he voted no in the Senate due to heavy opposition in his home state of Pennsylvania. In an automated phone call to Wisconsin voters last night, Romney said he was quote, “shocked to find out that Rick Santorum repeatedly supported big labor.” But Santorum said quote, “Calling Rick Santorum a friend of labor is like calling Mitt Romney a conservative – Neither are true.” Still, Republican National Committee member Mary Buestin of Mequon said waffling on union issues is not good for a presidential candidate – especially in Wisconsin, where G-O-P activists have lined up behind Walker.
Horicon Ballot Candidates on BEV Today
3/29/12 - On Community Comment today will be hearing from the candidates running for mayor in the city of Horicon who will be appearing on the ballot. Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow will join us beginning at 12:35pm.
Horicon Write-In Candidates Outline Platforms
3/29/12 - The write-in candidates for mayor in the city of Horicon discussed their reasons for running on WBEV’s Community Comment yesterday. City Council President and Personnel and Finance Committee Chair Steve Neitzel highlighted his 16 years of municipal government experience and says he was asked by a number of citizens for over month to run as a write-in. Neitzel says with a new City Clerk-Treasurer on the job it’s important to have the continuity of experience in city leadership. Thomas “Toby” Anfinson, who served 29 years on the Horicon Fire Department, the final seven as fire chief, and is currently the Vice President of the Clyman Fire Commission. Anfinson says his goal as mayor is to attract more business opportunities, improve efficiency of city departments, reconstruct at least one road per year and prevent city worker layoffs. Paul Moxham is a carpenter by trade and was quick to point out yesterday that he has no municipal government experience. He says he is unemployed and the mayor job is open so he applied. Moxham says the other candidates are focused on the needs for businesses and schools and police and fire services, but they are not thinking about what the citizens need. In addition to the three write-in candidates, there are two candidates for Horicon mayor appearing on the ballot. Craig Warmbold will speak with Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow on this afternoon’s Community Comment program beginning at 12:35pm.
West Bend Company Adding Jobs With Tax Credits
3/29/12 - A Washington County company is eligible for up to $850,000 in tax credits that will allow them to add almost 200 jobs. Governor Scott Walker made the announcement at Spaulding Clinical Research in West Bend on Wednesday. The tax credits are through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and will create up to 183 jobs related to the company’s expansion of its cardiac safety equipment. Walker says the investment reinforces that the state is one of the leaders in the country in medical innovation. The tax credits will be distributed annually in direct relation to the number of new, full-time positions created and filled over a two-year period.
Unemployment Up Over Two Month Period
3/29/12 - Unemployment in the region increased from January to February. Dodge County had 8.2% of its active workforce file for jobless benefits last month, up three-tenths from January but a full point below the same time last year. Jefferson County is at 8.5% and Fond du Lac County is at 7.4%, both up two-tenths. Washington County is up three-tenths to 7.7%. Green Lake County is up a half point to 9.5%. Columbia County remained unchanged over the two-month period at 7.9%. Dane County has the state’s lowest rate at 5.2%. Menominee, Bayfield and Door counties have the highest unemployment in the state, all around 13%. In total, 66 counties had higher jobless rates from January to February while three had slight decreases. All but four counties in the state had a drop in jobless claims since last year.
Clintonville Booms Continue
3/29/12 - The U-S Geological Survey has asked folks in Clintonville to report any future booms-and-rumblings to the group’s Web site. Heidi Koontz says it will give seismologists and geo-physicists a better handle on what’s happening. The Web site’s address is Earthquake-Dot-USGS-Dot-Gov. The Geological Survey said yesterday it’s thinking about placing a seismometer in Clintonville, after the rumblings came back late Tuesday night. Sixty-five people called police, after the booms had stopped for almost six days. Before that, hundreds of people complained about loud thunder and shakes for four straight nights. Officials blamed it on a series of small earthquakes, including a one-point-five quake early last Tuesday. Clintonville administrator Lisa Kuss says she still wants people who hear and feel things to call police at its non-emergency number.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Top Stories March 28th
Santorum in Beaver Dam
3/28/12 - More than 200 people were on hand at the Elk’s Lodge in Beaver Dam yesterday to hear Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum speak. The former from Pennsylvania spoke for about an hour hitting on all the main themes of his campaign, including the economy – gas prices – and family values. But he spent a lot of his speech taking shots at his main GOP foe, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, for what Santorum said was support of President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill. Santorum called on those in attendance to help him get his message out, and once again said he was the only true conservative with the ability to beat Obama. In the latest Marquette Law School poll, Santorum trails Romney 39-percent to 31-percent with less than a week before Wisconsin’s primary next Tuesday.
BDCDC Discusses Its Future
3/28/12 - The Beaver Dam Community Development Committee discussed its future role in city government last night and wound up tabling any decisions to dissolve. The bulk of the CDC’s responsibilities were lost when the city entered into a partnership with the Beaver Dam Area Development Corp 15 years ago and CDC Chair Robert Ballweg says the Development Corp has plenty of other city committees to run new business projects through. Ballweg says there is no official record of the intended function of the CDC, so he would like to establish a purpose or dissolve. Ballweg says one possible function of the CDC would be to award grant funding for downtown façade improvements. The CDC approved a plan last night to use the approximately $25,000 accumulated annually through the downtown TIF #6 for that purpose. It still requires council action. Another possible function of the CDC would be to for downtown blight elimination. TIF #3 near Rechek’s is due to end next year. With approval of the various taxing entities, the city could extend TIF #3 for another five years, collecting nearly $1.2 million in that time to clean-up blighted areas like the county-owned MetalFab property.
Juneau Candidates Spar on Community Comment
3/28/12 - The candidates for mayor in the city of Juneau appeared on WBEV’s Community Comment yesterday. Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld was critical of Mayor Ron Bosak’s plan to restructure the city-owned Utility Commission. The plan replaces two of the five commissioners with alderpersons and trims their pay by 45%. Affeld says a lot of experience was lost as a result of the restructuring and any savings will be lost to the increase in consultants needed by the new commission. Bosak defended the change pointing to the $5000 in annual savings and said the new commission will not be using consulting firms any more frequently than in the past. You can hear our complete conversation with the candidates for mayor in Juneau and also Waupun on our website, click on Election Coverage tab on the right-hand side of the page.
Horicon Mayoral Candidates in Studio Today
3/28/12 - On Community Comment today will be hearing from some of the candidates running for mayor in the city of Horicon, where there are two candidates appearing on the ballot and three declared write-ins. On today’s program, we will be speaking with write-in candidates Thomas “Toby” Anfinson, Paul Moxham and Alderman Steve Neitzel. Tomorrow, we welcome ballot candidates Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM beginning at 12:35pm.
Walker in Tight Race Against Potential Recall Opponents
3/28/12 - Governor Scott Walker is in a statistical dead heat with two of his potential recall challengers. That’s according to the newest Marquette Law School poll released yesterday. Seven-hundred-seven likely voters were surveyed from last Thursday through Sunday. And they gave the Republican Walker a 49-to-45 percent lead over Kathleen Falk, and a 47-45 edge over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Both are within the poll’s four-percent margin of error – and both leads are slightly smaller than in the last Marquette poll in January. Walker has a stronger 49-42 advantage over Secretary of State Doug La Follette, and a 49-41 edge over Senator Kathleen Vinehout. Falk, La Follette, and Vinehout announced their bids some time ago. Barrett says he’ll wait until after Friday’s deadline for the state to certify the Walker recall petitions. The Marquette poll also showed that Barrett leads Falk 36-to-29 percent in a potential Democratic primary. Without Barrett in the primary, Falk has a wide 54-percent edge to 15 for La Follete and 12 for Vinehout. Falk asked Barrett last week to step aside and support her – just like she supported Barrett against Walker in 2010. The new Marquette poll also gave Walker a 50-percent approval rating – same as in January and up a bit from February. Forty-seven disapproved of Walker’s job performance.
Workers Rally in Waupun
3/28/12 - Corrections workers say no one is listening to them about escalating safety problems at state institutions brought on by restrictions in collective bargaining. Over 100 workers marched outside Waupun Correctional yesterday afternoon. Marty Biel, head of the American Federal of State, County and Municipal Employees says there used to be a consistent set of policies and procedures accepted by both labor and management but with the signing of Act 10, management developed new polices and procedures without employee input, leading to a harmful work environments. The legislation did not dissolve the unions but did limit their bargaining powers to negotiating only for wages at or below the rate of inflation. Biel says state officials won’t return phone calls from the union to talk about wages or workplace safety. Our phone calls to corrections officials were not immediately returned.
BDUSD Seeking Employee of the Year Nominations
3/28/12 - The Beaver Dam Unified School District is seeking nominations for their Teacher, Administrator and Support Staff of the Year Award program. Awards will presented for Elementary teacher, Middle School teacher, High School teacher, Administrator/ Coordinator, Special Services Teacher, Secretary, Teacher Assistant, Food Service Worker and Custodial/ Maintenance/ Computer Technician. Nominees will be judged primarily on the significance of their contributions to the well-being of the educational community. Representatives selected will be submitted to the statewide teacher and administrator of the year competition. Parents, students and community members who would like to nominate an employee can obtain a nomination form at any Beaver Dam public school office, the Educational Service Center or on the district’s website. The deadline for submitting a nomination form is Friday, April 13.
Federal Court Will Re-Draw Two Assembly Districts
3/28/12 - A federal court panel said Tuesday it would be willing to re-draw the boundaries of two state Assembly districts in Milwaukee. But first, the three judges have asked all parties in the recent re-districting lawsuit to try and reach an agreement on their own. And if they cannot agree, they can each submit their own maps by next Tuesday for the judges to consider. Last week, the court upheld the other 97 Assembly districts and 33 Senate districts throughout Wisconsin that were re-drawn by majority Republicans in secret last year. The judges said the two Milwaukee Assembly districts were the only ones to violate the requirement that the districts be of relatively equal population according to each 10-year Census – and that communities-of-interest be considered. The court said the two districts violated the federal Voting Rights Act, by making it less likely that large Hispanic populations would be able to elect at least one of their own members to Madison. State law requires the Legislature to complete the redistricting process. But the federal judges said they knew it would be virtually impossible for lawmakers to do that, given the current two-party split in the Senate.
Bus Driver Arrested on Suspicion of Drunk Driving
3/28/12 - A school bus driver for the West Bend district has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Police stopped the bus with two dozen students onboard Monday as it arrived at West Bend East Side High School. Driver Terrance Habram was taken into custody. He was also allegedly in possession of narcotics. Police report two students on the bus had called their parents to tell them Habram was driving erratically. Those parents called police, who were quick to respond.
Mega Millions at $476M
3/28/12 - Wisconsinites will have a chance to win the biggest lottery jackpot in U-S history on Friday night. The Mega Millions jackpot is now 476-million-dollars, after nobody won the top prize of 363-million last night. Forty-seven players around the country won the quarter-million dollar second prize, but none were from Wisconsin. Friday’s jackpot surpasses the previous record lottery prize of 390-million-dollars in a Mega Millions’ drawing on March sixth of 2007. It was the largest in the world at the time, and it was split by two winners – truck driver Eddie Nabors of Georgia and building contractors Harold and Elaine Messner of New Jersey. Friday’s cash option is just over 341-million dollars for a single winner who takes the entire prize now instead of in yearly installments. No Wisconsin player has won the Mega Millions’ jackpot since the state lottery began offering the game in February of 2010.
3/28/12 - More than 200 people were on hand at the Elk’s Lodge in Beaver Dam yesterday to hear Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum speak. The former from Pennsylvania spoke for about an hour hitting on all the main themes of his campaign, including the economy – gas prices – and family values. But he spent a lot of his speech taking shots at his main GOP foe, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, for what Santorum said was support of President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill. Santorum called on those in attendance to help him get his message out, and once again said he was the only true conservative with the ability to beat Obama. In the latest Marquette Law School poll, Santorum trails Romney 39-percent to 31-percent with less than a week before Wisconsin’s primary next Tuesday.
BDCDC Discusses Its Future
3/28/12 - The Beaver Dam Community Development Committee discussed its future role in city government last night and wound up tabling any decisions to dissolve. The bulk of the CDC’s responsibilities were lost when the city entered into a partnership with the Beaver Dam Area Development Corp 15 years ago and CDC Chair Robert Ballweg says the Development Corp has plenty of other city committees to run new business projects through. Ballweg says there is no official record of the intended function of the CDC, so he would like to establish a purpose or dissolve. Ballweg says one possible function of the CDC would be to award grant funding for downtown façade improvements. The CDC approved a plan last night to use the approximately $25,000 accumulated annually through the downtown TIF #6 for that purpose. It still requires council action. Another possible function of the CDC would be to for downtown blight elimination. TIF #3 near Rechek’s is due to end next year. With approval of the various taxing entities, the city could extend TIF #3 for another five years, collecting nearly $1.2 million in that time to clean-up blighted areas like the county-owned MetalFab property.
Juneau Candidates Spar on Community Comment
3/28/12 - The candidates for mayor in the city of Juneau appeared on WBEV’s Community Comment yesterday. Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld was critical of Mayor Ron Bosak’s plan to restructure the city-owned Utility Commission. The plan replaces two of the five commissioners with alderpersons and trims their pay by 45%. Affeld says a lot of experience was lost as a result of the restructuring and any savings will be lost to the increase in consultants needed by the new commission. Bosak defended the change pointing to the $5000 in annual savings and said the new commission will not be using consulting firms any more frequently than in the past. You can hear our complete conversation with the candidates for mayor in Juneau and also Waupun on our website, click on Election Coverage tab on the right-hand side of the page.
Horicon Mayoral Candidates in Studio Today
3/28/12 - On Community Comment today will be hearing from some of the candidates running for mayor in the city of Horicon, where there are two candidates appearing on the ballot and three declared write-ins. On today’s program, we will be speaking with write-in candidates Thomas “Toby” Anfinson, Paul Moxham and Alderman Steve Neitzel. Tomorrow, we welcome ballot candidates Craig Reiger and Craig Muenchow. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM beginning at 12:35pm.
Walker in Tight Race Against Potential Recall Opponents
3/28/12 - Governor Scott Walker is in a statistical dead heat with two of his potential recall challengers. That’s according to the newest Marquette Law School poll released yesterday. Seven-hundred-seven likely voters were surveyed from last Thursday through Sunday. And they gave the Republican Walker a 49-to-45 percent lead over Kathleen Falk, and a 47-45 edge over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Both are within the poll’s four-percent margin of error – and both leads are slightly smaller than in the last Marquette poll in January. Walker has a stronger 49-42 advantage over Secretary of State Doug La Follette, and a 49-41 edge over Senator Kathleen Vinehout. Falk, La Follette, and Vinehout announced their bids some time ago. Barrett says he’ll wait until after Friday’s deadline for the state to certify the Walker recall petitions. The Marquette poll also showed that Barrett leads Falk 36-to-29 percent in a potential Democratic primary. Without Barrett in the primary, Falk has a wide 54-percent edge to 15 for La Follete and 12 for Vinehout. Falk asked Barrett last week to step aside and support her – just like she supported Barrett against Walker in 2010. The new Marquette poll also gave Walker a 50-percent approval rating – same as in January and up a bit from February. Forty-seven disapproved of Walker’s job performance.
Workers Rally in Waupun
3/28/12 - Corrections workers say no one is listening to them about escalating safety problems at state institutions brought on by restrictions in collective bargaining. Over 100 workers marched outside Waupun Correctional yesterday afternoon. Marty Biel, head of the American Federal of State, County and Municipal Employees says there used to be a consistent set of policies and procedures accepted by both labor and management but with the signing of Act 10, management developed new polices and procedures without employee input, leading to a harmful work environments. The legislation did not dissolve the unions but did limit their bargaining powers to negotiating only for wages at or below the rate of inflation. Biel says state officials won’t return phone calls from the union to talk about wages or workplace safety. Our phone calls to corrections officials were not immediately returned.
BDUSD Seeking Employee of the Year Nominations
3/28/12 - The Beaver Dam Unified School District is seeking nominations for their Teacher, Administrator and Support Staff of the Year Award program. Awards will presented for Elementary teacher, Middle School teacher, High School teacher, Administrator/ Coordinator, Special Services Teacher, Secretary, Teacher Assistant, Food Service Worker and Custodial/ Maintenance/ Computer Technician. Nominees will be judged primarily on the significance of their contributions to the well-being of the educational community. Representatives selected will be submitted to the statewide teacher and administrator of the year competition. Parents, students and community members who would like to nominate an employee can obtain a nomination form at any Beaver Dam public school office, the Educational Service Center or on the district’s website. The deadline for submitting a nomination form is Friday, April 13.
Federal Court Will Re-Draw Two Assembly Districts
3/28/12 - A federal court panel said Tuesday it would be willing to re-draw the boundaries of two state Assembly districts in Milwaukee. But first, the three judges have asked all parties in the recent re-districting lawsuit to try and reach an agreement on their own. And if they cannot agree, they can each submit their own maps by next Tuesday for the judges to consider. Last week, the court upheld the other 97 Assembly districts and 33 Senate districts throughout Wisconsin that were re-drawn by majority Republicans in secret last year. The judges said the two Milwaukee Assembly districts were the only ones to violate the requirement that the districts be of relatively equal population according to each 10-year Census – and that communities-of-interest be considered. The court said the two districts violated the federal Voting Rights Act, by making it less likely that large Hispanic populations would be able to elect at least one of their own members to Madison. State law requires the Legislature to complete the redistricting process. But the federal judges said they knew it would be virtually impossible for lawmakers to do that, given the current two-party split in the Senate.
Bus Driver Arrested on Suspicion of Drunk Driving
3/28/12 - A school bus driver for the West Bend district has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Police stopped the bus with two dozen students onboard Monday as it arrived at West Bend East Side High School. Driver Terrance Habram was taken into custody. He was also allegedly in possession of narcotics. Police report two students on the bus had called their parents to tell them Habram was driving erratically. Those parents called police, who were quick to respond.
Mega Millions at $476M
3/28/12 - Wisconsinites will have a chance to win the biggest lottery jackpot in U-S history on Friday night. The Mega Millions jackpot is now 476-million-dollars, after nobody won the top prize of 363-million last night. Forty-seven players around the country won the quarter-million dollar second prize, but none were from Wisconsin. Friday’s jackpot surpasses the previous record lottery prize of 390-million-dollars in a Mega Millions’ drawing on March sixth of 2007. It was the largest in the world at the time, and it was split by two winners – truck driver Eddie Nabors of Georgia and building contractors Harold and Elaine Messner of New Jersey. Friday’s cash option is just over 341-million dollars for a single winner who takes the entire prize now instead of in yearly installments. No Wisconsin player has won the Mega Millions’ jackpot since the state lottery began offering the game in February of 2010.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Top Stories March 27th
Waupun Mayoral Candidates Appear on WBEV
3/27/12 - The two candidates challenging Waupun Mayor Jodi Steger were critical of the city’s decision to provide bonus’s to city workers last year. Todd Snow says he was perturbed that his tax dollars were used to give bonuses to employees making six figures during one of the worst recessions the county’s ever had. Challenger Jay Graff also raised the issue during our conversation yesterday saying he was not against giving employee bonuses but found the decision to award the bonuses in closed session “unethical.” Steger defended the unanimous council decision, which did not require her vote, saying the one-time expenditure of $14,500 was the most cost-effective way to reward hard-working employees without incurring annual costs.
Juneau Mayor Candidates On WBEV Today
3/27/12 - The candidates running for mayor in the city of Juneau will be our guests on WBEV’s Community Comment this afternoon. We welcome incumbent mayor Ron Bosak to the studio at 12:35pm. In our second segment, we’ll hear from Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld.
DCSO Responds To Three Rollovers In Eight Hours
3/27/12 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department responded to three rollover crashes in less than eight hours Monday. Two of the rollovers involved semi tractor trailers but the most serious involved a speeding car running from authorities. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says that incident started in Washington County just after 1pm when deputies there attempted to pull over a motor vehicle near Highway 41 and County Highway K. The driver fled northbound at a high rate of speed and attempted to exit Highway 41 at Highway 28 in the Town of Theresa, failed to negotiate the curve and lost control of the vehicle which overturned several times coming to rest on its top. There were two men inside the vehicle, both in the 30’s. One was transported to by ambulance to a West Bend hospital the other was transported by Flight-For-Life to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. The Dodge County Sheriffs Department is assisting the Washington County Sheriffs Department in their investigation.
Early Monday morning, just before sunrise, the Dodge County Sheriffs Department responded to a semi rollover on Highway 41 in the Town of Lomira. The driver was hauling apples and decided at the last minute to exit at the wayside but his abrupt action coupled with the weight of the load tipped the trailer. There were no injuries. The other semi-rollover happened just before noon in the Town of Beaver Dam on Highway G near Canary Road. The driver suffered a medical condition. He was not seriously injured but was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital. The semi was hauling pizza’s which, like the apples, stayed contained in the trailer.
Child Molester Allegedly Found With Underage Girls
3/27/12 - Just a few weeks after entering into a plea agreement for forcibly molesting several young girls, a Fox Lake man has been arrested again for being in the company of underage girls. On March 6, Derick Van Beek pleaded “no contest” to two counts of Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of 16 and had four similar felonies dismissed but read into the record. The offenses are said to have occurred in the spring and summer of 2010 and involved four different girls who were between the ages of 13 and 15-years-old. In one case, the victim says she tried to push Van Beek off of her. In another incident, the criminal complaint states that the victim resisted but Van Beek pushed her down, held her with his hands so that she could not get up and forced himself on her. The 22-year-old was also said to be controlling, forcing the girls to delete all male contacts from their cell phones and delete their social networking profiles. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered and Van Beek has a sentencing hearing scheduled on April 30. He faces a maximum 80 year prison sentence. Van Beek was out on a $5000 cash bond awaiting sentencing when he was pulled over Sunday by a Dodge County Sheriffs Deputy on routine patrol. As a condition of bond, Van Beek is prohibited from having contact with females under the age of 18. Authorities say he was in the company of two girls, ages 13 and 14. The girls were allegedly friends of his adult male passenger who reportedly did not have a driver’s license and Van Beek was just doing them a favor by driving them to a friend’s house. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls issued a statement saying Van Beek has apparently not learned a thing and he (quote) “hopes the courts will require forfeiture of his cash bond and remember this at his upcoming sentencing.” Van Beek is now charged with four felony counts of Bail Jumping.
Beaver Dam Man Enters Plea To Amended Charges
3/27/12 - A Beaver Dam man who molested a preschool-age child has entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors. Joseph R. Evans was charged felony First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of 12 but pled to an amended charge of Physical Abuse of a Child. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was a friend of the family and Evans fondled her last March. The child came home and complained to her mother about Evans. When questioned by trained investigators, the child said the inappropriate contact had occurred (quote) “lots of times.” The 23-year-old said the two had been wrestling and any inappropriate contact was accidental and outside the clothes. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered and a sentencing hearing is scheduled in May.
Rindfleisch Among Employee Records Subpoenaed
3/27/12 - Prosecutors in the John Doe probe against former Milwaukee County Walker aides have subpoenaed personnel records from seven ex-county employees. The Journal Sentinel says they include Walker’s former spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin and deputy spokesman Jon Myhre. Prosecutors are also looking into the personnel files of Kelly Rindfleisch of Columbus along with Darlene Wink and Tim Russell – who have been charged with various crimes as a result of the John Doe probe. And prosecutors have reportedly subpoenaed records of ex-Walker aides Cindy Archer and Tom Nardelli – who have not been charged. No reasons have been given for the review. The paper said Rindfleisch was quoted in a computer chat room as saying that McLaughlin was “highlighting all the mistakes in the press releases that the campaign does.” That was around the time that Walker ran for governor in 2010, but it did not clarify McLaughlin’s alleged role. Rindfleisch is charged with doing campaign work on county time. Wink has struck a plea deal on a similar allegation. Russell is accused of embezzling 21-thousand dollars from an annual event for veterans.
GAB Predicts 1.5M Voter Turnout
3/27/12 - Election officials say they expect a little over one-third of Wisconsin voters to take part in next week’s presidential primary election. That would have about one and a half million people casting ballots and it’s about the same turnout seen in the 2008 primary. The state’s top elections official, Kevin Kennedy, says this year’s contested race between four high-profile Republicans should create that kind of traffic at the polls. Four years ago the Democrat campaign between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton boosted the number of voters participating.
GOP Focus On Wisconsin
3/27/12 - Three of the four Republican presidential candidates will appear at a forum in Waukesha on Saturday, just three days before the state’s primary. Front-runner Mitt Romney, second-place Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich are all scheduled to attend the forum. It’s put on by the Wisconsin Faith-and-Freedom Coalition. The other G-O-P White House hopeful, Ron Paul, will speak at a town hall meeting on Thursday night at U-W Madison. Gingrich and his wife Callista – who’s from western Wisconsin – will speak at a rally on Thursday night at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Then on Friday, the Gingriches will appear at Kroll’s West Restaurant near Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. Santorum was the first White House candidate to campaign in Wisconsin. He made five appearances during the weekend along a line from Racine to Green Bay. And Santorum has two more appearances planned Tuesday in Janesville and Beaver Dam.
Biden Visiting Badger State Thursday
3/27/12 - Vice President Joe Biden will make sure the Republican race doesn’t grab all the political headlines in Wisconsin this week. President Obama’s re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee will hold a joint fund-raising luncheon in Milwaukee on Thursday in which Biden will speak. It comes just five days before the Wisconsin primary – and the four G-O-P presidential hopefuls are making numerous appearances in the Badger State throughout the week.
One In Five Filing Paper Returns
3/27/12 - Only about one-of-every-five Wisconsinites will file their state income tax returns on paper this year. And that has taken a lot of pressure off the tax-checkers at the state Revenue Department. A decade ago, only 25-percent of Wisconsin taxpayers used the state’s free E-File system. That figure has jumped to 80-percent so far this year. State Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler says about half of the three-million individual tax returns have been filed to Madison – and the average refund so far is around 680-dollars. Taxpayers have two extra days to file this year. That’s because April 15th is on a Sunday. And the 16th is Emancipation Day, a federal holiday in Washington D-C. So both your federal and state returns must be postmarked or sent electronically by midnight on Tuesday, April 17th.
Horicon Among New Crop Of Bird Cities
3/27/12 - Wisconsin now has 50 “Bird Cities.” The Milwaukee Audubon Society recently gave the designation to 11 more communities –Horicon, Oconomowoc, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Plover, Wausau, Oconto, Bayfield and Fond du Lac. Marquette County was also named, along with a joint “Bird City” honor for neighboring communities Sauk City and Prairie du Sac. Beaver Dam was given the honor earlier this year. The “Bird City” designation goes to places that improve bird habitat, reduce hazards, manage wooded properties, and teaches residents about birds.
Prescribed Burns Planned On Marsh
3/27/12 - Don’t be alarmed if you see large clouds of smoke in the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in the next couple weeks. Officials say there will be a series of prescribed burns throughout the spring. It’s estimated that around 2,500 to 3,000 acres of the 22,000-acre cattail marsh will undergo prescribed burns this year. The burns serve several purposes, which include stimulating the growth of native prairie grasses and also removing weeds and invasive species of trees and shrubs.
Sensenbrenner Drops In On Reeseville Fish Fry
3/27/12 - Attendees at a fish fry in Reeseville were surprised on Friday by a guest who happened to just drop in. Veteran Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls told a parishioner of Holy Family Church that he and his assistant were on their way home from Madison, saw a sign for the supper on Highway 60, and they thought they’d just stop in and grab a bite.
3/27/12 - The two candidates challenging Waupun Mayor Jodi Steger were critical of the city’s decision to provide bonus’s to city workers last year. Todd Snow says he was perturbed that his tax dollars were used to give bonuses to employees making six figures during one of the worst recessions the county’s ever had. Challenger Jay Graff also raised the issue during our conversation yesterday saying he was not against giving employee bonuses but found the decision to award the bonuses in closed session “unethical.” Steger defended the unanimous council decision, which did not require her vote, saying the one-time expenditure of $14,500 was the most cost-effective way to reward hard-working employees without incurring annual costs.
Juneau Mayor Candidates On WBEV Today
3/27/12 - The candidates running for mayor in the city of Juneau will be our guests on WBEV’s Community Comment this afternoon. We welcome incumbent mayor Ron Bosak to the studio at 12:35pm. In our second segment, we’ll hear from Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld.
DCSO Responds To Three Rollovers In Eight Hours
3/27/12 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department responded to three rollover crashes in less than eight hours Monday. Two of the rollovers involved semi tractor trailers but the most serious involved a speeding car running from authorities. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says that incident started in Washington County just after 1pm when deputies there attempted to pull over a motor vehicle near Highway 41 and County Highway K. The driver fled northbound at a high rate of speed and attempted to exit Highway 41 at Highway 28 in the Town of Theresa, failed to negotiate the curve and lost control of the vehicle which overturned several times coming to rest on its top. There were two men inside the vehicle, both in the 30’s. One was transported to by ambulance to a West Bend hospital the other was transported by Flight-For-Life to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. The Dodge County Sheriffs Department is assisting the Washington County Sheriffs Department in their investigation.
Early Monday morning, just before sunrise, the Dodge County Sheriffs Department responded to a semi rollover on Highway 41 in the Town of Lomira. The driver was hauling apples and decided at the last minute to exit at the wayside but his abrupt action coupled with the weight of the load tipped the trailer. There were no injuries. The other semi-rollover happened just before noon in the Town of Beaver Dam on Highway G near Canary Road. The driver suffered a medical condition. He was not seriously injured but was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital. The semi was hauling pizza’s which, like the apples, stayed contained in the trailer.
Child Molester Allegedly Found With Underage Girls
3/27/12 - Just a few weeks after entering into a plea agreement for forcibly molesting several young girls, a Fox Lake man has been arrested again for being in the company of underage girls. On March 6, Derick Van Beek pleaded “no contest” to two counts of Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of 16 and had four similar felonies dismissed but read into the record. The offenses are said to have occurred in the spring and summer of 2010 and involved four different girls who were between the ages of 13 and 15-years-old. In one case, the victim says she tried to push Van Beek off of her. In another incident, the criminal complaint states that the victim resisted but Van Beek pushed her down, held her with his hands so that she could not get up and forced himself on her. The 22-year-old was also said to be controlling, forcing the girls to delete all male contacts from their cell phones and delete their social networking profiles. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered and Van Beek has a sentencing hearing scheduled on April 30. He faces a maximum 80 year prison sentence. Van Beek was out on a $5000 cash bond awaiting sentencing when he was pulled over Sunday by a Dodge County Sheriffs Deputy on routine patrol. As a condition of bond, Van Beek is prohibited from having contact with females under the age of 18. Authorities say he was in the company of two girls, ages 13 and 14. The girls were allegedly friends of his adult male passenger who reportedly did not have a driver’s license and Van Beek was just doing them a favor by driving them to a friend’s house. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls issued a statement saying Van Beek has apparently not learned a thing and he (quote) “hopes the courts will require forfeiture of his cash bond and remember this at his upcoming sentencing.” Van Beek is now charged with four felony counts of Bail Jumping.
Beaver Dam Man Enters Plea To Amended Charges
3/27/12 - A Beaver Dam man who molested a preschool-age child has entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors. Joseph R. Evans was charged felony First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of 12 but pled to an amended charge of Physical Abuse of a Child. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was a friend of the family and Evans fondled her last March. The child came home and complained to her mother about Evans. When questioned by trained investigators, the child said the inappropriate contact had occurred (quote) “lots of times.” The 23-year-old said the two had been wrestling and any inappropriate contact was accidental and outside the clothes. A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered and a sentencing hearing is scheduled in May.
Rindfleisch Among Employee Records Subpoenaed
3/27/12 - Prosecutors in the John Doe probe against former Milwaukee County Walker aides have subpoenaed personnel records from seven ex-county employees. The Journal Sentinel says they include Walker’s former spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin and deputy spokesman Jon Myhre. Prosecutors are also looking into the personnel files of Kelly Rindfleisch of Columbus along with Darlene Wink and Tim Russell – who have been charged with various crimes as a result of the John Doe probe. And prosecutors have reportedly subpoenaed records of ex-Walker aides Cindy Archer and Tom Nardelli – who have not been charged. No reasons have been given for the review. The paper said Rindfleisch was quoted in a computer chat room as saying that McLaughlin was “highlighting all the mistakes in the press releases that the campaign does.” That was around the time that Walker ran for governor in 2010, but it did not clarify McLaughlin’s alleged role. Rindfleisch is charged with doing campaign work on county time. Wink has struck a plea deal on a similar allegation. Russell is accused of embezzling 21-thousand dollars from an annual event for veterans.
GAB Predicts 1.5M Voter Turnout
3/27/12 - Election officials say they expect a little over one-third of Wisconsin voters to take part in next week’s presidential primary election. That would have about one and a half million people casting ballots and it’s about the same turnout seen in the 2008 primary. The state’s top elections official, Kevin Kennedy, says this year’s contested race between four high-profile Republicans should create that kind of traffic at the polls. Four years ago the Democrat campaign between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton boosted the number of voters participating.
GOP Focus On Wisconsin
3/27/12 - Three of the four Republican presidential candidates will appear at a forum in Waukesha on Saturday, just three days before the state’s primary. Front-runner Mitt Romney, second-place Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich are all scheduled to attend the forum. It’s put on by the Wisconsin Faith-and-Freedom Coalition. The other G-O-P White House hopeful, Ron Paul, will speak at a town hall meeting on Thursday night at U-W Madison. Gingrich and his wife Callista – who’s from western Wisconsin – will speak at a rally on Thursday night at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Then on Friday, the Gingriches will appear at Kroll’s West Restaurant near Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. Santorum was the first White House candidate to campaign in Wisconsin. He made five appearances during the weekend along a line from Racine to Green Bay. And Santorum has two more appearances planned Tuesday in Janesville and Beaver Dam.
Biden Visiting Badger State Thursday
3/27/12 - Vice President Joe Biden will make sure the Republican race doesn’t grab all the political headlines in Wisconsin this week. President Obama’s re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee will hold a joint fund-raising luncheon in Milwaukee on Thursday in which Biden will speak. It comes just five days before the Wisconsin primary – and the four G-O-P presidential hopefuls are making numerous appearances in the Badger State throughout the week.
One In Five Filing Paper Returns
3/27/12 - Only about one-of-every-five Wisconsinites will file their state income tax returns on paper this year. And that has taken a lot of pressure off the tax-checkers at the state Revenue Department. A decade ago, only 25-percent of Wisconsin taxpayers used the state’s free E-File system. That figure has jumped to 80-percent so far this year. State Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler says about half of the three-million individual tax returns have been filed to Madison – and the average refund so far is around 680-dollars. Taxpayers have two extra days to file this year. That’s because April 15th is on a Sunday. And the 16th is Emancipation Day, a federal holiday in Washington D-C. So both your federal and state returns must be postmarked or sent electronically by midnight on Tuesday, April 17th.
Horicon Among New Crop Of Bird Cities
3/27/12 - Wisconsin now has 50 “Bird Cities.” The Milwaukee Audubon Society recently gave the designation to 11 more communities –Horicon, Oconomowoc, Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, Plover, Wausau, Oconto, Bayfield and Fond du Lac. Marquette County was also named, along with a joint “Bird City” honor for neighboring communities Sauk City and Prairie du Sac. Beaver Dam was given the honor earlier this year. The “Bird City” designation goes to places that improve bird habitat, reduce hazards, manage wooded properties, and teaches residents about birds.
Prescribed Burns Planned On Marsh
3/27/12 - Don’t be alarmed if you see large clouds of smoke in the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in the next couple weeks. Officials say there will be a series of prescribed burns throughout the spring. It’s estimated that around 2,500 to 3,000 acres of the 22,000-acre cattail marsh will undergo prescribed burns this year. The burns serve several purposes, which include stimulating the growth of native prairie grasses and also removing weeds and invasive species of trees and shrubs.
Sensenbrenner Drops In On Reeseville Fish Fry
3/27/12 - Attendees at a fish fry in Reeseville were surprised on Friday by a guest who happened to just drop in. Veteran Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Menomonee Falls told a parishioner of Holy Family Church that he and his assistant were on their way home from Madison, saw a sign for the supper on Highway 60, and they thought they’d just stop in and grab a bite.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Top Stories March 26th
Local Mayoral Candidates on WBEV This Week
3/26/12 - On Community Comment this week will be hearing from local mayoral candidates in contested races on next week’s ballot. On today’s program we welcome Waupun incumbent Mayor Jodi Steger along with her challengers Todd Snow and Jay Graff. Tomorrow we turn our focus to the city of Juneau where incumbent Mayor Ron Bosak is being challenged by Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld. In Horicon, there are two candidates appearing on the ballot and three declared write-in candidates. On Wednesday, we will be speaking with write-in candidates Paul Moxham and Alderman Steve Neitzel. Thomas “Toby” Anfinson is invited but has not yet confirmed. On Thursday, we welcome ballot candidate Craig Reiger. Craig Muenchow is invited but has not yet confirmed. Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy is up for re-election to a third term next month but is facing no opposition. He will join us on Friday as part of his regular monthly appearance. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM beginning at 12:35pm.
Santorum Coming to Beaver Dam
3/26/12 - GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum addressed a crowd of over 300 people at Ledgeview Lanes in Fond du Lac Sunday afternoon. Fresh off a victory in the Louisiana primary Santorum talked about Obamacare's failure, jobs, doing something about gasoline prices and took pokes at Mitt Romney. Santorum urged those attending to be "Game Changers" and help him win the Wisconsin primary and the Presidential Race.
While Santorum’s rally in Fond du Lac went on without a hitch, that wasn’t the case in Racine. He told a large crowd last night that Romney is quote, “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.” And when he tried to clarify the remark later, Santorum used a profanity to reporters and told one to quote, “Quit distorting my words.” When reporters questioned him further, he said he only meant to criticize Romney’s health care record as governor of Massachusetts. Romney spokesman Ryan Williams was at the Racine rally and said Santorum was “panicking in the final stages of his campaign.” Williams said he sees conservatives gathering around Romney and quote, “He’s rattled by the backlash caused by his suggestion that keeping Barack Obama would be better than electing a Republican.” Santorum said that last week and later took it back. Santorum will be making an appearance in Beaver Dam tomorrow. According to his campaign website, he’ll be at the Beaver Dam Elks Lodge around 11:30 tomorrow morning.
Absentee Voting Ends Friday
3/26/12 - Wisconsinites have until this Friday to vote absentee in the state’s April 3 presidential primary and local elections. The early voting will be cut off after Friday under the requirements of the voter I-D law passed by Republicans last year. Only part of the law was struck down by two Dane County judges this month – the part that requires a valid photo I-D to get a ballot. And that could still go back in place, after the Justice Department filed new appeals last week. But other parts of the voter law are still in effect. Dodge County Clerk Karen Gibson says that includes an earlier end to absentee voting on the Friday before an election instead of the Monday before. Ballots sent by mail can still be postmarked by Election Day, but they have to arrive in the clerk’s office by four p-m the Friday after the election. Also, voters must still live at their present addresses 28 days instead of the previous 10 days. Proof of residency is still required to register, and having someone to vouch for you is not good enough anymore. Also, voters must still sign in at the polling places.
DCSO Joins Wisconsin VINE Program
3/26/12 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department has partnered with the Department of Justice in providing data to the Wisconsin VINE Network. It stands for “Victim Information & Notification Everyday” and Sheriff Todd Nehls says the resource allows crime victims and the public to access information about offenders who are in the custody of the sheriffs department. It also allows victims to receive automated notification if the status of the offender changes. Nehls says Wisconsin VINE is designed to empower and protect crime victims, improve public safety, and assist corrections, law enforcement and victim service providers. The service is anonymous and confidential. Those who register will be able to receive automated telephone calls and/or email notification when there is a change in the offender’s custody status. Registration can be done online or by calling a toll-free number. Contact information is on our website wbevradio.com. Call 1-888-944-8463 or visit the website at www.vinelink.com.
Columbus Police Interviewing Applicants For Auxiliary
3/26/12 - Columbus Police are adding extra personnel to their ranks for special events such as the 4th of July Festivities and the Horse and Carriage / Civil War History Celebration. Chief Dan Meister told the City Council recently that applicants for the Auxiliary positions have already been interviewed. The volunteer “auxiliary” officers will be trained for duties such as crowd and traffic control. The Council approved the plan for Auxiliary officers last year and recruiting has resulted in the first group of candidates.
Police Looking For Suspicious Near Fox Lake Playground
3/26/12 - Local authorities are looking for a suspicious man who was following children near a park in the Town of Fox Lake. Fox Lake police received a report Saturday night around 8:30pm of a man following two, eleven-year-old children from the playground to Cordelia Street. The man was the only occupant of a vehicle described as a tan BMW with spots on the window, possibly from tinting. Anyone with information should contact the Fox Lake Police Department.
Watertown Man Arrested For Exposing Himself
3/26/12 - A Watertown man was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly exposing himself. The 23-year-old was taken into custody while walking down the middle of Highway 67 near County Highway O in the Town of Oak Grove around 12:30am. He was taken to the Dodge County Jail on charges of Disorderly Conduct.
2010 Dodge County Fairest An Alice Finalist
3/26/12 - The 2010 Dodge County Fairest of the Fair is one of the finalists to be the state’s next Alice in Dairyland. Danielle Hammer of Beaver Dam is competing against five other finalists from Janesville, Oshkosh, Elk Mound, Green Bay and Lodi. The selection will be made in Grant County in mid-May with the one-year term promoting the state’s Ag Department beginning June 4. Marathon County’s Katie Wirkus is the current Alice in Dairyland. Her predecessor, Christine Lepple Lidner, was also from Beaver Dam.
Discover Dodge Launches Website, Guide
3/26/12 - The new local tourism agency Discover Dodge has officially launched its website and unveiled its annual Visitor’s Guide. Phil Fritsche with the 12-member board for Discover Dodge says the organization will promote every attraction and business in the county, regardless of their affiliation with the organization, at no charge. Fritsche says though there will be enhanced benefits for members. The website is www.discoverdodgecounty.com and the visitors guide is available at all Chamber offices in Dodge County, member businesses and also along the Highway 151 and I-94 corridors. A link to the online version of the Visitors Guide can be found here: http://issuu.com/ccvb2009/docs/discover_dodge_2012_web_version
3/26/12 - On Community Comment this week will be hearing from local mayoral candidates in contested races on next week’s ballot. On today’s program we welcome Waupun incumbent Mayor Jodi Steger along with her challengers Todd Snow and Jay Graff. Tomorrow we turn our focus to the city of Juneau where incumbent Mayor Ron Bosak is being challenged by Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Robert “Mac” Affeld. In Horicon, there are two candidates appearing on the ballot and three declared write-in candidates. On Wednesday, we will be speaking with write-in candidates Paul Moxham and Alderman Steve Neitzel. Thomas “Toby” Anfinson is invited but has not yet confirmed. On Thursday, we welcome ballot candidate Craig Reiger. Craig Muenchow is invited but has not yet confirmed. Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy is up for re-election to a third term next month but is facing no opposition. He will join us on Friday as part of his regular monthly appearance. Community Comment airs weekdays on WBEV 1430AM beginning at 12:35pm.
Santorum Coming to Beaver Dam
3/26/12 - GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum addressed a crowd of over 300 people at Ledgeview Lanes in Fond du Lac Sunday afternoon. Fresh off a victory in the Louisiana primary Santorum talked about Obamacare's failure, jobs, doing something about gasoline prices and took pokes at Mitt Romney. Santorum urged those attending to be "Game Changers" and help him win the Wisconsin primary and the Presidential Race.
While Santorum’s rally in Fond du Lac went on without a hitch, that wasn’t the case in Racine. He told a large crowd last night that Romney is quote, “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.” And when he tried to clarify the remark later, Santorum used a profanity to reporters and told one to quote, “Quit distorting my words.” When reporters questioned him further, he said he only meant to criticize Romney’s health care record as governor of Massachusetts. Romney spokesman Ryan Williams was at the Racine rally and said Santorum was “panicking in the final stages of his campaign.” Williams said he sees conservatives gathering around Romney and quote, “He’s rattled by the backlash caused by his suggestion that keeping Barack Obama would be better than electing a Republican.” Santorum said that last week and later took it back. Santorum will be making an appearance in Beaver Dam tomorrow. According to his campaign website, he’ll be at the Beaver Dam Elks Lodge around 11:30 tomorrow morning.
Absentee Voting Ends Friday
3/26/12 - Wisconsinites have until this Friday to vote absentee in the state’s April 3 presidential primary and local elections. The early voting will be cut off after Friday under the requirements of the voter I-D law passed by Republicans last year. Only part of the law was struck down by two Dane County judges this month – the part that requires a valid photo I-D to get a ballot. And that could still go back in place, after the Justice Department filed new appeals last week. But other parts of the voter law are still in effect. Dodge County Clerk Karen Gibson says that includes an earlier end to absentee voting on the Friday before an election instead of the Monday before. Ballots sent by mail can still be postmarked by Election Day, but they have to arrive in the clerk’s office by four p-m the Friday after the election. Also, voters must still live at their present addresses 28 days instead of the previous 10 days. Proof of residency is still required to register, and having someone to vouch for you is not good enough anymore. Also, voters must still sign in at the polling places.
DCSO Joins Wisconsin VINE Program
3/26/12 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department has partnered with the Department of Justice in providing data to the Wisconsin VINE Network. It stands for “Victim Information & Notification Everyday” and Sheriff Todd Nehls says the resource allows crime victims and the public to access information about offenders who are in the custody of the sheriffs department. It also allows victims to receive automated notification if the status of the offender changes. Nehls says Wisconsin VINE is designed to empower and protect crime victims, improve public safety, and assist corrections, law enforcement and victim service providers. The service is anonymous and confidential. Those who register will be able to receive automated telephone calls and/or email notification when there is a change in the offender’s custody status. Registration can be done online or by calling a toll-free number. Contact information is on our website wbevradio.com. Call 1-888-944-8463 or visit the website at www.vinelink.com.
Columbus Police Interviewing Applicants For Auxiliary
3/26/12 - Columbus Police are adding extra personnel to their ranks for special events such as the 4th of July Festivities and the Horse and Carriage / Civil War History Celebration. Chief Dan Meister told the City Council recently that applicants for the Auxiliary positions have already been interviewed. The volunteer “auxiliary” officers will be trained for duties such as crowd and traffic control. The Council approved the plan for Auxiliary officers last year and recruiting has resulted in the first group of candidates.
Police Looking For Suspicious Near Fox Lake Playground
3/26/12 - Local authorities are looking for a suspicious man who was following children near a park in the Town of Fox Lake. Fox Lake police received a report Saturday night around 8:30pm of a man following two, eleven-year-old children from the playground to Cordelia Street. The man was the only occupant of a vehicle described as a tan BMW with spots on the window, possibly from tinting. Anyone with information should contact the Fox Lake Police Department.
Watertown Man Arrested For Exposing Himself
3/26/12 - A Watertown man was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly exposing himself. The 23-year-old was taken into custody while walking down the middle of Highway 67 near County Highway O in the Town of Oak Grove around 12:30am. He was taken to the Dodge County Jail on charges of Disorderly Conduct.
2010 Dodge County Fairest An Alice Finalist
3/26/12 - The 2010 Dodge County Fairest of the Fair is one of the finalists to be the state’s next Alice in Dairyland. Danielle Hammer of Beaver Dam is competing against five other finalists from Janesville, Oshkosh, Elk Mound, Green Bay and Lodi. The selection will be made in Grant County in mid-May with the one-year term promoting the state’s Ag Department beginning June 4. Marathon County’s Katie Wirkus is the current Alice in Dairyland. Her predecessor, Christine Lepple Lidner, was also from Beaver Dam.
Discover Dodge Launches Website, Guide
3/26/12 - The new local tourism agency Discover Dodge has officially launched its website and unveiled its annual Visitor’s Guide. Phil Fritsche with the 12-member board for Discover Dodge says the organization will promote every attraction and business in the county, regardless of their affiliation with the organization, at no charge. Fritsche says though there will be enhanced benefits for members. The website is www.discoverdodgecounty.com and the visitors guide is available at all Chamber offices in Dodge County, member businesses and also along the Highway 151 and I-94 corridors. A link to the online version of the Visitors Guide can be found here: http://issuu.com/ccvb2009/docs/discover_dodge_2012_web_version
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Top Stories, March 25th
Wall of Fame Reservations Deadline Approaching
3/25/12 - Those wanting to attend the Beaver Dam School District’s Annual Wall of Fame Banquet on April 1 have until Friday to obtain tickets. This year’s Outstanding Alumni is Ray Kuehl, a 1952 graduate who has been a prominent figure in the dairy industry for 60 years. After attending UW-Madison, he started his own dairy cattle consulting business, eventually becoming a partner of American Genetics, where he served as a farm manager and marketed cow embryos around the world. Later in life, his career path led him to real estate and he even started his own auctioneer business. But Kuehl is perhaps best known in the farming community for his instrumental role in the creation of the World Dairy Expo, which is held annually in Madison. When it was announced that the U.S. National Dairy Cattle Show would be discontinued, Kuehl and a few other cattle breeders developed a plan to hold the show in Wisconsin. The Expo is now the largest dairy industry exposition in the nation. He was appointed by Governor Thompson to the World Dairy Center Authority, which found the sites for the new State Department of Agriculture and the World Dairy Center buildings in Madison. Kuehl brought state-wide attention to Dodge County’s dairy industry when he chaired the “Alice in Dairyland” competition, which was held in Beaver Dam in 1964. In submitting his application, Kuehl’ supporters said he is “very dedicated to the youth in the dairy cattle industry and has been instrumental in raising money to promote Agriculture to schools.” He frequently returns to Beaver Dam High School to encourage, inspire, and challenge young FFA members to set their goals high and respect others. Kuehl will be honored during this year’s 16th Annual Wall of Fame Banquet a week from Sunday. The deadline to make a reservation, once again, is this coming Friday.
Santorum In Fond du Lac Today
3/25/12 - When Rick Santorum campaigns in Fond du Lac and Racine today, don’t be surprised if he brings his Etch-a-Sketch toy with him. He’s been using it to attack comments by one of Mitt Romney’s advisers, who said “everything changes” for Romney’s fall campaign – and it’s like shaking an Etch-a-Sketch and starting all over again. Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, said it’s more proof that Romney will say anything to get elected. And at an appearance in Texas, Santorum that if he’s not the nominee, Republicans may as well vote for Obama. It was his way of saying the former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to give voters a clear choice – and only Santorum can offer that choice. Otherwise, Santorum said quote, “We may as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch-a-Sketch candidate for the future.” Romney said he was disappointed that Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president a Republican. Newt Gingrich tweeted that any G-O-P nominee would be better than Obama. Romney is expected in Wisconsin this week. Gingrich hasn’t announced any plans yet. Ron Paul is also planning to visit Madison this week. The Republican White House hopeful has scheduled a town hall meeting on the U-W campus on Thursday. Santorum will visit the Ledgeview Bowling Lanes in Fond du Lac at 2:30pm, and Racine’s Roma Club at 6pm.
Romney Has Edge Among Republican Voters in WI
3/25/12 - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the favorite among Republican voters in Wisconsin. Rasmussen Reports says its most recent survey shows Romney favored by 46 percent of likely Republican voters in the state primary. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was the choice of 33 percent of the people responding. Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed far behind, neither getting more than eight percent. A whopping 84 percent of those questioned think Romney will be the eventual nominee and 59 percent said they think he would offer the strongest opposition for President Obama.
GOP Targets Falk and Barrett
3/25/12 - Tom Barrett has not said whether he’ll run for governor this spring. But that’s not stopping the Republican Governors Association from attacking Democrats Barrett and Kathleen Falk in a T-V ad. The R-G-A is running a 30-second ad throughout Wisconsin that attacks Barrett’s taxing-and-spending record as Milwaukee’s mayor, and Falk’s record when she was the Dane County executive. Falk declared her candidacy a few weeks ago in the expected recall election against Republican Governor Scott Walker. Barrett has said he’ll announce before the April third mayoral election whether he’ll try to win the governor’s office again. Barrett lost to Walker in the last gubernatorial contest in 2010. Two other Democrats have also said they’re running for governor – State Senator Kathleen Vinehout of Alma and Secretary-of-State Doug La Follette. The primary is tentatively set for May eighth, and the general election would take place June fifth.
BadgerCare Photo IDs ‘Impractical’
3/25/12 - State officials say it would be expensive – and maybe impractical – to put photos on the cards people use to get government benefits like food stamps and Badger-Care. The Health Services Department checked out the possible costs of having updated photo benefit cards, after reports of fraud surfaced last year. Food-Share recipients were reportedly selling fraudulent cards in Milwaukee County to others. Officials said it would cost anywhere from one-point-eight million dollars to seven-point-four million to create photo I-D’s for Food-Share recipients, depending on the approach that’s used. The cost to create photo I-D’s for Badger-Care patients is estimated at one-point-nine million dollars to six-point-three million. Officials say it would also cost almost five-million-dollars a year to keep the I-D system updated. And it could take over two years to get the new system going, since it would need both state-and-federal approvals. That’s because both governments cover the cost of the benefits. Assembly Republican John Nygren of Marinette asked for the cost estimates – and he’s still reviewing the report to see if it might be feasible to push for the photo I-D’s. But Sherri Tussler of Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force says fraud in Food-Share is minimal – and it doesn’t justify the cost of the new I-D’s. Other critics have said they would make it harder for legitimate recipients to get what they need – and the photo I-D’s might be against federal rules.
Oak Wilt Disease Surfacing Early In Wisconsin
3/25/12 - State natural resources officials say trees are being hit with oak-wilt disease about a month earlier than normal. Forest pathologist Kyoto Scanlon blames the unseasonably-warm weather this month. The D-N-R is encouraging homeowners to delay the pruning of oak trees from now until the end of July. That’s because any disturbance in red-oak trees can trigger an invasion of the oak-wilt fungus, and interrupt a tree’s nutrient-and-watering system. Sap beetles transfer the fungal disease from one tree to another – and it can pass through a root system as well. Oak wilt disease has killed tens-of-thousands of oak trees in Wisconsin. It’s a fatal disease unless it can be treated in time. Scanlon says there are fungicides that can fight oak wilt disease – but they’re expensive, and they must be administered by professionals. The disease has been found in most of Wisconsin except the far northern counties, and along Lake Michigan from Door to Sheboygan counties.
UW Professor Named To Federal DOT Panel
3/25/12 - A U-W Madison engineering professor has been named to a national transportation advisory panel. Federal D-O-T Secretary Ray LaHood announced Teresa Adams’ appointment yesterday to the Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Advisory Committee. The panel advises the nation’s transportation secretary on the study, creation, and adoption of intelligent people-moving systems. The group also makes recommendations on funding for research, and strategic planning measures. Adams heads the National Center for Freight-and-Infrastructure Research at Madison.
Minority Unemployment Focus Of New Task Force
3/25/12 - State officials have formed a new task force to try and reduce high minority unemployment in the Milwaukee area. Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson says the new group would look at current job training programs in the region. And it would recommend a focus on skills that prepare and connect minorities with job opportunities. Newson said the task force would especially deal with quote, “the unacceptably-high unemployment rate among black males.” A recent U-W Milwaukee study found that only 45-percent of working-age black men in the city had jobs. Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Milwaukee Assembly Democrat Elizabeth Coggs will co-chair the next group. Its membership is still being finalized, and it plans to start a series of public meetings in the next few weeks.
Officials Urges Helmut Usage
3/25/12 - The warmer weather this spring has motorcycle riders hitting Wisconsin roads, with state transportation officials reminding them to use their heads about safety. Motorcycling fatalities were down last year, but one state official points out that 92 percent of those killed weren’t wearing a helmet at the time. In the past that number has been closed to 65 percent. This is leading to a call to action by the DOT. Bikers are being urged to voluntarily strap on a helmet each time they ride.
Top Stories, March 24th
Hopper Not Guilty Of OWI
3/24/12 - A jury in Fond du Lac found former state Senate Republican Randy Hopper innocent Friday of first-time drunk driving. A six-member jury heard more than a day of testimony before returning its not-guilty verdict. His attorney said Hopper had three-and-a-half beers at the Green Bay Packers-Saint Louis Rams game on October 16th – and a motorist later called 9-1-1 after seeing his vehicle weaving on Highway 151 just north of Fond du Lac. He was arrested after he had pulled into a grocery store parking lot. Hopper testified that he felt the arresting sheriff’s deputy was quote, “out to get me.” That’s because Hopper had voted in favor of the law that virtually ended most public union bargaining. The defense said the arresting officer should have arranged for a blood test to determine a blood alcohol level that would stand up in court. Hopper did take a preliminary breath test – which is not admissible – and it was point-13, five hundredths above the legal limit for drunk driving. The arrest was made a couple months after Hopper and former Senate Republican Dan Kapanke were recalled for their votes on the union law.
Car Strikes House Following Collision
3/24/12 - Three minor injuries were reported after a two-car wreck that sent one vehicle into a house near the accident scene. It happened on County Trunk P at Highway 33 in the Town of Herman just after 4pm Friday. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says a minivan driven by a 45-year-old Oconomowoc man was traveling northbound on Highway P when it went through the Highway 33 stop sign and collided with a Ford Mustang operated by a Mayville woman. The minivan continued on a short distance before crashing into a nearby house, causing minor structural damage. The cause of the wreck is under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriffs Department Crash Investigation Team. Those injured were transported to Hartford Hospital.
Discover Dodge Unveils New Visitors Guide, Website
3/24/12 - A new organization promoting tourism in Dodge County has unveiled a new visitors guide and website. Discover Dodge was formed last fall to fill the void left by last year’s disbanding of the Dodge County Tourism Association and features a twelve member board comprised of representatives from the all around the county. Phil Fritsche with Discover Dodge says over 80 people attended their inaugural breakfast Friday in Iron Ridge. Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett was the keynote speaker at the first annual event along with Deputy Secretary Dave Fantle. Unlike the defunct Tourism Association, Discover Dodge will promote everyone in the county, regardless of their affiliation with the organization. Fritsche says there will be added benefits to being a member. The visitors guide is available at all Chamber offices in Dodge County along with member businesses and also along the Highway 151 and I-94 corridor.
A link to the online version of the Visitors Guide can be found here:
http://issuu.com/ccvb2009/docs/discover_dodge_2012_web_version
The Discover Dodge website is located at:
www.discoverdodgecounty.com
Beaver Dam Woman Finalist for Alice in Dairyland
3/24/12 - A Beaver Dam woman is among six finalists to be the 65th Alice in Dairyland. Danielle Hammer will graduate in May from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in agricultural business and minor in international studies. Hammer is the fifth generation on her family’s corn, soybean and wheat farm. She grew up active in 4-H and was selected as the Dodge County Fairest of the Fair in 2010. Other finalists include Ann Marie Ames of Janesville, Rachel Erickson of Oshkosh, Sarah Holm of Elk Mound, Amy Manske of Green Bay and Rochelle Ripp of Lodi. The finalists will spend the next month and a half preparing for the selection process May 17-19 in Grant County. During those three days, Alice in Dairyland finalists will complete an individual interview, writing exercise, media interviews, an impromptu question and answer session, an agribusiness tour talk and a finale speech. To become a finalist, the women submitted an application in January and completed a preliminary interview in February. The 65th Alice in Dairyland will begin her yearlong duties on June 4 as a full-time public relations employee of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Katie Wirkus of Athens is the current Alice in Dairyland. Her predecessor, Christine Lepple Lidner – the state’s 63rd Alice – was also from Beaver Dam.
Holperin Not Seeking Re-Election
3/24/12 - A veteran of state government for about a quarter-century announced Friday that he would not run for re-election this fall. Jim Holperin of Conover, near Eagle River, issued a statement that he wanted to do other things – but didn’t say what they were. The Democrat did say he was glad for his years in service in the Legislature and as Wisconsin’s Tourism Secretary. The 61-year-old Holperin was first elected to the Assembly in 1982 and served for a decade. He was Jim Doyle’s first top tourist promoter for four years ending in 2007. And the following year, he was elected to the Senate for his only four-year term. He’s also been a legislative analyst in the Assembly and the Senate’s assistant chief clerk, and has held a number of private service and leadership posts. Holperin is the only Wisconsin legislator to survive two recall efforts against him – one in the early 1990’s for his support of federally-ordered Chippewa Indian treaty rights, and the other last year for leaving the Capitol for three weeks in a failed effort to stop the law that virtually ended public union bargaining. Assembly Republican Tom Tiffany of Hazelhurst, who ran against Holperin in the 2008 Senate election, says he’ll decide in a week whether he’ll seek the post this fall. Another name being mentioned is Assembly Republican Dan Meyer, who has said he’s leaving his current post this fall.
Falk Wants Undecided Barrett To Step Aside
3/24/12 - Kathleen Falk says Tom Barrett should step aside and support her Democratic candidacy for governor in the Walker recall election. Barrett lost to the Republican Walker in the last gubernatorial contest in 2010, and the Milwaukee mayor said he would announce soon whether he’ll go for a rematch. But on Friday, Falk said Barrett had his chance -- and she supported him in 2010, so he should support her this time. There are two other announced Democratic candidates in the gubernatorial recall contest – Secretary-of-State Doug La Follette and Alma Senator Kathleen Vinehout.
GAB Sues Clerks Over Overseas Ballots
3/24/12 - The Government Accountability Board says local clerks aren’t living up to their responsibilities and getting ballots to members of the military so they can vote. The federal government has decided to take the state of Wisconsin to court over the matter. The GAB says 65 municipal clerks sent the ballots out late. Another 347 never responded to requests from the GAB about when the ballots were mailed. The board admits it can’t do much to the clerks who missed the deadline – or the ones who didn’t respond. It says it simply doesn’t have the tools or the authority to force the clerks to comply. This is the second time the federal government has taken the state to court over this law.
Walker Signs Ag & Rec Bills
3/24/12 - Governor Scott Walker signed a bill Friday that tries to put more of an emphasis on farms and recreation in setting policies for the state D-N-R. The Republican Walker went to Grandad’s Bluff in La Crosse to sign seven nature-related bills. One of them would require at least one member of the Natural Resources Board to have an agricultural background. And at least three-of-the-seven members must have held fishing, hunting, or trapping licenses in at least seven-of-the-10 years before they were named to the panel. The changes were endorsed by large majorities in both houses. Opponents of the law called it a power grab for hunters and fishermen. They say the board is too heavily-weighted against those who advocate for recreational activities like bird-watching and hiking. They won’t actually take effect until 2017.
LAPD Looking Into Allegations Against Chadima
3/24/12 - Los Angeles police are apparently taking a closer look at former UW-Madison associate athletic director John Chadima and allegations of sexual assault. The LAPD became involved when a student worker accused Chadima of sexually assaulting him during a hotel party when the Badgers were in California for the Rose Bowl. Chadima was suspended shortly after that, then he resigned. Chadima revealed he is getting counseling for stress and alcohol after reports of similar allegations from two other men.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Top Stories March 23rd
Barn Destroyed by Fire in Columbus
3/23/12 - Fire destroyed a barn in Columbus overnight. It happened on Bristol Road and was called in by a passerby just after 10:30pm. When firefighters arrived on scene the barn was already fully engulfed. They were able to save the other buildings around it. No one was hurt but four goats died. An antique tractor was also lost. The barn was owned by Michael Choudoir. The Columbus Fire Department was assisted by three other departments along with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department. Crews were on scene for about four hours. An investigation into the cause continues.
Waupun Man Faces More Charges For Preying on Teens
3/23/12 - More felony charges have been filed against a Waupun man who authorities say continues to prey on young teenage girls. Alezander Ramirez was sentenced to a month in jail last December for forcing himself on a middle-school age child in August of 2010; he choked the girl during the assault and she complied out of fear during a second assault. Ramirez had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which means he would avoid a felony record if he stayed out of trouble. The 18-year-old was charged one week later for another alleged incident that occurred last October with a different underage girl who is even younger than his first victim. There was no force alleged in that second incident and yesterday (Th) Ramirez waived his right to a preliminary hearing on those charges. In addition, he was also charged yesterday with three felony counts of Bail Jumping. Authorities say he was engaged in sexual activity last December with another young teen victim then later stole a car and was found in the company of three young girls. Alezander is due back in court next month.
FLCI Inmate Accused of Escape
3/23/12 - An inmate from the Fox Lake Correctional Institution is accused of escaping from custody. Christopher Lacourciere was free for six days last November, after he disappeared from the prison’s work farm east of Waupun. The 29-year-old was spotted on Thanksgiving Day by a Dane County sheriff's deputy on routine patrol. Lacourciere is a registered sex offender and is serving a prison term for Third-Degree Sexual Assault. He is scheduled for release next February but could have up to six years added to that sentence if found guilty. Lacourciere was also previously convicted of seven burglaries and another Escape from Custody charge back in 2006. A judge will decide next month if there is enough evidence to order a trial.
Fleeing Suspect Waives Prelim
3/23/12 - A Minnesota man who allegedly led police on a traffic pursuit through two counties earlier this month has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Steven Persinger of St. James, Minnesota is charged with felony Fleeing an Officer and misdemeanor Obstruction. According to the criminal complaint, the 25-year-old is in the process of moving back to Wisconsin and was at his storage unit when he was observed by Randolph police, who say they found his being at a storage unit at 1am suspicious. Persinger was said to be agitated by the amount of time it took officers to verify that he had two outstanding Columbia County arrest warrants. When asked to get out of the vehicle, Persinger allegedly lit a cigarette and then took off going the speed limit and obeying other traffic laws until Fall River police popped his tires using road spikes. Authorities executed a high-risk traffic stop with guns drawn while Persinger remained on the phone until eventually surrendering without further incident. When informed that he had just possibly committed a felony, Persinger was reportedly surprised, saying when he (quote) “ran from police in Minnesota it was just a misdemeanor.” An arraignment hearing is on the calendar next month.
BD Woman Enters Plea To Child Neglect
3/23/12 - A Beaver Dam woman charged with felony Child Abuse entered into a plea agreement with Dodge County prosecutors Thursday. 41-year-old Michelle Clark pleaded “no contest” to amended charges of Child Neglect, Obstructing an Officer, Disorderly Conduct and Bail Jumping. Authorities arrested Clark after learning that she had been punching and kicking a young child. A teacher notified authorities in December of 2010 after the kid came to school with a bloody lip and with a scratched and red face. The child told investigators that Clark hits her a lot after she drinks, has punched her in the head, stomach and privates and says she once blacked-out after being struck in the head with a dumbbell. Clark denied the allegations and said the child had been acting up. Clark has already completed 73 days of inpatient treatment and was placed on two years probation.
No Charges In Apartment Crash
3/23/12 - No charges will be filed against a 65-year-old Beaver Dam man who crashed his pickup truck into a unit at the Spring Isle Apartment’s Wednesday night. Detective Ryan Klavekoske says is was purely an accident, as the driver hit the gas pedal by mistake, panicked and apparently pushed the accelerator even harder. The pick-up struck a ground-level apartment at 1258 Wayland Street. There was enough structural damage that both the downstairs and upstairs units are unlivable.
WCI Inmate Charged in Attack
3/23/12 - An inmate at Waupun Correctional is accused of biting prison personnel during a scuffle last December. Leighton Lindsey is charged with a felony count of Battery By Prisoner, which could add up to six years to his current sentence, if he is convicted. According to the criminal complaint, the 29-year-old was being escorted back to his cell when he spit on two corrections officers and bit one of them in the forearm, breaking the skin. Lindsey has a preliminary hearing on the calendar next month.
Fitzgerald Spokesman Running For Assembly
3/23/12 - A spokesman for Assembly Leader Jeff Fitzgerald is running for office this fall. John Jagler of Watertown announced his candidacy Thursday on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, where he used to work. Jagler will run as a Republican in the 37th district. He left the radio station just over a year ago to become Fitzgerald’s spokesman at the State Capitol. Jagler said he was at the speaker’s side when the Assembly passed its budget reforms and the law to virtually eliminate public union bargaining. And Jagler said he would run on that, saying it was quote, “putting fiscal sanity back in Wisconsin.” Jagler said he complained on the air for years that nothing gets done in politics – but this year, he said state lawmakers made a real difference, and he wants to quote, “continue that momentum but the protect the changes we’ve made.” Under the new legislative district maps approved last year, the current representative in the 37th District, Democrat Andy Jorgensen of Fort Atkinson, is now a part of the 33rd District.
Santorum Announces More Wisconsin Stops
3/23/12 - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has announced four more campaign stops in Wisconsin this weekend. It was announced last week that the former U-S senator from Pennsylvania would speak at a summit in Milwaukee on Saturday, put on by the Americans for Prosperity. Santorum’s campaign now says he will appear at a 3pm rally on Saturday at Lakeshore Lanes in Sheboygan. And he’ll make a 6pm appearance at the Ravine in Bellevue, near Green Bay. On Sunday, Santorum will visit the Ledgeview Bowling Lanes in Fond du Lac at 2:30pm, and Racine’s Roma Club at 6pm. Meanwhile, G-O-P Mitt Romney’s wife campaigned in Middleton and Milwaukee Thursday, saying her husband has the right skills to tackle the nation’s economy. State Senate Republican Alberta Darling, who co-chairs the Wisconsin Romney campaign, said the candidate would make several appearances in the Badger State next week. The state’s presidential primary is a week from next Tuesday.
Clintonville Rumbles Said To Be Minor Earthquakes
3/23/12 - The U-S Geological Survey said Thursday that a “swarm of minor earthquakes” most likely hit Clintonville since Sunday – and that apparently has been causing the thunderous booms and the shaking of homes. The government said a traveling portable array of equipment recorded an earthquake at 12:15 Tuesday morning, and it registered one-point-five on the Richter scale. Geophysicist Paul Caruso said booming noises have been known to occur around the times of earthquakes. And Rafael Abreu of the Geological Survey said a quake of that size would only be felt within about a five-mile radius of its epicenter. Abreu said it’s not 100-percent certain that the micro-earthquakes are actually what happened – but it’s not unheard of, and it has happened elsewhere around the country. Meanwhile, residents in Montello are reporting similar sounds. A rumble occurred around 5:30pm Wednesday night in Montello triggering calls, some described as a really bad train wreck. Montello is 80 miles away from Clintonville.
Wisconsin Adds 4K Private Sector Jobs In February
3/23/12 - Wisconsin added about four-thousand private sector jobs last month, while the state’s unemployment rate stayed the same as in January – six-point-nine percent. Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson announced the new figures. He said the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate continues to be the lowest since December of 2008. Almost 18-thousand private sector jobs have been added in the first two months of the year. The state announced a revised increase for January of 13-thousand-800 jobs – almost two-thousand fewer than the original number announced a month ago. About 43-hundred government jobs were added last month, mostly in state government agencies. Construction, professional services, and health care led the increase in private sector jobs. Manufacturing gained an estimated 600 jobs – while retail and hospitality jobs dropped last month. Once again, state officials pointed out that the initial monthly job numbers are not precise, because they represent quick surveys of just four-percent of employers.
Briggs & Stratton Announces Missouri Layoffs
3/23/12 - Milwaukee’s Briggs-and-Stratton says it will lay off 210 employees at a factory in Poplar Bluff Missouri that makes engines for outdoor power equipment. The plant itself will stay open. But Briggs said its small engine sales in Europe have gone down. And the firm had to assess its overall needs. The layoffs will take place on April 12th. Briggs first said in January that the Missouri plant might be affected by a reduction. Two years ago, the company closed its Jefferson and Watertown factories, leading to the loss of over 400 jobs.
3/23/12 - Fire destroyed a barn in Columbus overnight. It happened on Bristol Road and was called in by a passerby just after 10:30pm. When firefighters arrived on scene the barn was already fully engulfed. They were able to save the other buildings around it. No one was hurt but four goats died. An antique tractor was also lost. The barn was owned by Michael Choudoir. The Columbus Fire Department was assisted by three other departments along with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department. Crews were on scene for about four hours. An investigation into the cause continues.
Waupun Man Faces More Charges For Preying on Teens
3/23/12 - More felony charges have been filed against a Waupun man who authorities say continues to prey on young teenage girls. Alezander Ramirez was sentenced to a month in jail last December for forcing himself on a middle-school age child in August of 2010; he choked the girl during the assault and she complied out of fear during a second assault. Ramirez had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which means he would avoid a felony record if he stayed out of trouble. The 18-year-old was charged one week later for another alleged incident that occurred last October with a different underage girl who is even younger than his first victim. There was no force alleged in that second incident and yesterday (Th) Ramirez waived his right to a preliminary hearing on those charges. In addition, he was also charged yesterday with three felony counts of Bail Jumping. Authorities say he was engaged in sexual activity last December with another young teen victim then later stole a car and was found in the company of three young girls. Alezander is due back in court next month.
FLCI Inmate Accused of Escape
3/23/12 - An inmate from the Fox Lake Correctional Institution is accused of escaping from custody. Christopher Lacourciere was free for six days last November, after he disappeared from the prison’s work farm east of Waupun. The 29-year-old was spotted on Thanksgiving Day by a Dane County sheriff's deputy on routine patrol. Lacourciere is a registered sex offender and is serving a prison term for Third-Degree Sexual Assault. He is scheduled for release next February but could have up to six years added to that sentence if found guilty. Lacourciere was also previously convicted of seven burglaries and another Escape from Custody charge back in 2006. A judge will decide next month if there is enough evidence to order a trial.
Fleeing Suspect Waives Prelim
3/23/12 - A Minnesota man who allegedly led police on a traffic pursuit through two counties earlier this month has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Steven Persinger of St. James, Minnesota is charged with felony Fleeing an Officer and misdemeanor Obstruction. According to the criminal complaint, the 25-year-old is in the process of moving back to Wisconsin and was at his storage unit when he was observed by Randolph police, who say they found his being at a storage unit at 1am suspicious. Persinger was said to be agitated by the amount of time it took officers to verify that he had two outstanding Columbia County arrest warrants. When asked to get out of the vehicle, Persinger allegedly lit a cigarette and then took off going the speed limit and obeying other traffic laws until Fall River police popped his tires using road spikes. Authorities executed a high-risk traffic stop with guns drawn while Persinger remained on the phone until eventually surrendering without further incident. When informed that he had just possibly committed a felony, Persinger was reportedly surprised, saying when he (quote) “ran from police in Minnesota it was just a misdemeanor.” An arraignment hearing is on the calendar next month.
BD Woman Enters Plea To Child Neglect
3/23/12 - A Beaver Dam woman charged with felony Child Abuse entered into a plea agreement with Dodge County prosecutors Thursday. 41-year-old Michelle Clark pleaded “no contest” to amended charges of Child Neglect, Obstructing an Officer, Disorderly Conduct and Bail Jumping. Authorities arrested Clark after learning that she had been punching and kicking a young child. A teacher notified authorities in December of 2010 after the kid came to school with a bloody lip and with a scratched and red face. The child told investigators that Clark hits her a lot after she drinks, has punched her in the head, stomach and privates and says she once blacked-out after being struck in the head with a dumbbell. Clark denied the allegations and said the child had been acting up. Clark has already completed 73 days of inpatient treatment and was placed on two years probation.
No Charges In Apartment Crash
3/23/12 - No charges will be filed against a 65-year-old Beaver Dam man who crashed his pickup truck into a unit at the Spring Isle Apartment’s Wednesday night. Detective Ryan Klavekoske says is was purely an accident, as the driver hit the gas pedal by mistake, panicked and apparently pushed the accelerator even harder. The pick-up struck a ground-level apartment at 1258 Wayland Street. There was enough structural damage that both the downstairs and upstairs units are unlivable.
WCI Inmate Charged in Attack
3/23/12 - An inmate at Waupun Correctional is accused of biting prison personnel during a scuffle last December. Leighton Lindsey is charged with a felony count of Battery By Prisoner, which could add up to six years to his current sentence, if he is convicted. According to the criminal complaint, the 29-year-old was being escorted back to his cell when he spit on two corrections officers and bit one of them in the forearm, breaking the skin. Lindsey has a preliminary hearing on the calendar next month.
Fitzgerald Spokesman Running For Assembly
3/23/12 - A spokesman for Assembly Leader Jeff Fitzgerald is running for office this fall. John Jagler of Watertown announced his candidacy Thursday on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, where he used to work. Jagler will run as a Republican in the 37th district. He left the radio station just over a year ago to become Fitzgerald’s spokesman at the State Capitol. Jagler said he was at the speaker’s side when the Assembly passed its budget reforms and the law to virtually eliminate public union bargaining. And Jagler said he would run on that, saying it was quote, “putting fiscal sanity back in Wisconsin.” Jagler said he complained on the air for years that nothing gets done in politics – but this year, he said state lawmakers made a real difference, and he wants to quote, “continue that momentum but the protect the changes we’ve made.” Under the new legislative district maps approved last year, the current representative in the 37th District, Democrat Andy Jorgensen of Fort Atkinson, is now a part of the 33rd District.
Santorum Announces More Wisconsin Stops
3/23/12 - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has announced four more campaign stops in Wisconsin this weekend. It was announced last week that the former U-S senator from Pennsylvania would speak at a summit in Milwaukee on Saturday, put on by the Americans for Prosperity. Santorum’s campaign now says he will appear at a 3pm rally on Saturday at Lakeshore Lanes in Sheboygan. And he’ll make a 6pm appearance at the Ravine in Bellevue, near Green Bay. On Sunday, Santorum will visit the Ledgeview Bowling Lanes in Fond du Lac at 2:30pm, and Racine’s Roma Club at 6pm. Meanwhile, G-O-P Mitt Romney’s wife campaigned in Middleton and Milwaukee Thursday, saying her husband has the right skills to tackle the nation’s economy. State Senate Republican Alberta Darling, who co-chairs the Wisconsin Romney campaign, said the candidate would make several appearances in the Badger State next week. The state’s presidential primary is a week from next Tuesday.
Clintonville Rumbles Said To Be Minor Earthquakes
3/23/12 - The U-S Geological Survey said Thursday that a “swarm of minor earthquakes” most likely hit Clintonville since Sunday – and that apparently has been causing the thunderous booms and the shaking of homes. The government said a traveling portable array of equipment recorded an earthquake at 12:15 Tuesday morning, and it registered one-point-five on the Richter scale. Geophysicist Paul Caruso said booming noises have been known to occur around the times of earthquakes. And Rafael Abreu of the Geological Survey said a quake of that size would only be felt within about a five-mile radius of its epicenter. Abreu said it’s not 100-percent certain that the micro-earthquakes are actually what happened – but it’s not unheard of, and it has happened elsewhere around the country. Meanwhile, residents in Montello are reporting similar sounds. A rumble occurred around 5:30pm Wednesday night in Montello triggering calls, some described as a really bad train wreck. Montello is 80 miles away from Clintonville.
Wisconsin Adds 4K Private Sector Jobs In February
3/23/12 - Wisconsin added about four-thousand private sector jobs last month, while the state’s unemployment rate stayed the same as in January – six-point-nine percent. Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson announced the new figures. He said the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate continues to be the lowest since December of 2008. Almost 18-thousand private sector jobs have been added in the first two months of the year. The state announced a revised increase for January of 13-thousand-800 jobs – almost two-thousand fewer than the original number announced a month ago. About 43-hundred government jobs were added last month, mostly in state government agencies. Construction, professional services, and health care led the increase in private sector jobs. Manufacturing gained an estimated 600 jobs – while retail and hospitality jobs dropped last month. Once again, state officials pointed out that the initial monthly job numbers are not precise, because they represent quick surveys of just four-percent of employers.
Briggs & Stratton Announces Missouri Layoffs
3/23/12 - Milwaukee’s Briggs-and-Stratton says it will lay off 210 employees at a factory in Poplar Bluff Missouri that makes engines for outdoor power equipment. The plant itself will stay open. But Briggs said its small engine sales in Europe have gone down. And the firm had to assess its overall needs. The layoffs will take place on April 12th. Briggs first said in January that the Missouri plant might be affected by a reduction. Two years ago, the company closed its Jefferson and Watertown factories, leading to the loss of over 400 jobs.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Top Stories March 22nd
Truck Hits Apartment Building in BD
3/22/12 - A pickup truck crashed into an apartment complex in Beaver Dam early last night. It happened at the Spring Isle Apartment’s around 6pm. Fire department personnel say the driver of the pickup lost control of the vehicle and hit a lower apartment of the complex at 1258 Wayland Street. No one was injured, but the apartment that was hit - and the one above it - were not livable. Authorities haven’t said what caused the man to lose control of the vehicle. Their investigation is ongoing.
Committee to Recommend Going to Two Buildings
3/22/12 - A committee that’s studied the future of the facilities in the Columbus School District plans to recommend going from three buildings to two. The committee plans to ask the school board to draft a referendum for November that would send K through 5 students to a renovated building on the site of the current elementary school, and grades 6 through 12 to a new building. Superintendent Bryan Davis said the two-building option was the only one to receive a 100% consensus from the 40-member committee. Before putting together the referendum the school board plans to turn to the community for further input. Board President Liz O’Donnell said that a resident survey will be the first step toward developing the referendum. Under the plan, the current middle school and high school buildings would be sold or demolished.
Gas Prices Continue to Rise
3/22/12 - The average gas price in Wisconsin is at $3.96 today and rising. That’s according to the Wisconsin AAA. They say that’s up a cent over yesterday and 12-cents from a week ago. This morning you could still get it for $3.89 in Beaver Dam. Officials are expecting the price to jump over four-dollars on average in the near future. And they won’t peak until late next month or early May.
Clintonville Hires Engineering Firm
3/22/12 - Clintonville hired an engineering firm yesterday to try and explain the mysterious booms and ground-shaking that’s rocked the city. The Waukesha firm of Ruekert-and-Mielke will install four ground seismology monitors to see if there’s an epicenter. About 300 residents attended a public meeting last night to see what officials have been doing – and to offer their own ideas for what might be causing the rumbles. They mentioned possible temperature changes in the water supply – a drop in the water table – the forming of an underwater lake – even a connection to this week’s earthquake in Mexico. Officials have found no such things. Some residents swear that the Pigeon Falls fault line is close by. Clintonville Administrator Lisa Kuss says there’s no evidence of that either, but officials are asking the U-S Geological Survey if a fault line could be in the area. Geologists have said the booms are coming from up to 200-feet underground. No one’s been injured, but one homeowner said she’s getting cracks in her home’s foundation. The booms have mostly occurred late at night or in the early morning hours since Sunday evening. They were a novelty at first, but residents are literally getting tired of it. One said she’s staying at a relative’s house about 10-minutes away, just to get a good night’s sleep. Another resident talked about renting a motel room for the same reason.
No Charges Against Homeowner for Killing “Intruder”
3/22/12 - No charges will be filed against a homeowner in Slinger who shot-and-killed a 20-year-old man who ran into an enclosed porch to hide from the police. Washington County District Attorney Mark Bensen said the unidentified homeowner acted in self-defense under Wisconsin’s new “Castle Doctrine” law. It assumes that homeowners are justified when using deadly force against intruders. Bo Morrison of West Bend was among those scampering from a nearby underage drinking party the police raided on March third. Washington County prosecutors said Morrison tucked himself between a dresser and refrigerator in the homeowner’s porch. And when the resident asked him what he was doing there, Morrison stood up, raised a hand, and took a step toward the homeowner – and that’s when the owner shot him in the chest and told his wife to call 9-1-1. Authorities said the homeowner was the one who called police about the drinking party – and he had confronted a couple people in a car that was playing loud music.
Barrett Will Decide on Run for Governor Before April 3rd
3/22/12 - Milwaukee voters will know before Election Day whether-or-not their mayor plans to run for governor. Tom Barrett has token opposition in his bid for another term as mayor – and he’s been widely speculated as a possible Democratic challenger in the expected recall election against Governor Scott Walker. Barrett says he’ll announce before the April third mayoral election whether he’ll take the plunge. But he wants to wait until after the state Government Accountability Board decides whether enough valid petition signatures have been filed for the recall vote. That decision is due a week from tomorrow. A recall primary is tentatively set for May eighth, with the general election on June fifth. Barrett lost to Walker in the last gubernatorial contest in 2010.
Presidential Candidates Coming to WI
3/22/12 - With all the recall fever in Wisconsin, the state’s voters have hardly had time to focus on the April third presidential primary. But that will change today, when Ann Romney visits Middleton and Milwaukee. The wife of Republican candidate Mitt Romney will appear at a diner in each city. Romney’s main challenger, Rick Santorum, is due in Saturday for a conference in Milwaukee put on by the Americans for Prosperity. Recent polls show Santorum leading in Wisconsin. But Wisconsin G-O-P strategist Mark Graul – who’s not involved with either campaign – says Romney still has the edge.
Watertown Approves Compensation and Payroll Study
3/22/12 - Dodge County isn’t the only area governmental body that will be performing a compensation and payroll study for its employees. On the same night the county board approved hiring an outside firm to put together a study so did the Watertown City Council. For a cost of about $33,000 plus expenses the city is asking Springstead Inc. to evaluate most its departments. Like it is for the county, the state laws passed last year that virtual ended a version of collective bargaining with public employee unions is driving the study. Most of the unions that represented employees in the city didn’t recertify, meaning there is no one to negotiate with. The study is expected to take four to five months.
Gibson to Talk Voting on Community Comment
3/22/12 - Changes to voting rules have Wisconsin election clerks scrambling to inform the public in advance of the presidential primary and local elections on April 3rd. While the controversial voter ID law is tied up in the courts and won’t be in effect next month there are some changes if you want to vote absentee. Any registered voter wishing to vote absentee must complete a ballot application and return it to their municipal clerk’s office no later than 5pm on the Thursday before the election. You can find those applications online at the Dodge County website or the Government Accountability website. Also, voting absentee in person ends on the Friday prior to the election. There is no absentee voting over the weekend or the Monday before the election. Dodge County Clerk Karen Gibson will join us on our Community Comment program this afternoon to talk about absentee ballots and any other questions that listeners might have. The program will begin around 12:35pm.
3/22/12 - A pickup truck crashed into an apartment complex in Beaver Dam early last night. It happened at the Spring Isle Apartment’s around 6pm. Fire department personnel say the driver of the pickup lost control of the vehicle and hit a lower apartment of the complex at 1258 Wayland Street. No one was injured, but the apartment that was hit - and the one above it - were not livable. Authorities haven’t said what caused the man to lose control of the vehicle. Their investigation is ongoing.
Committee to Recommend Going to Two Buildings
3/22/12 - A committee that’s studied the future of the facilities in the Columbus School District plans to recommend going from three buildings to two. The committee plans to ask the school board to draft a referendum for November that would send K through 5 students to a renovated building on the site of the current elementary school, and grades 6 through 12 to a new building. Superintendent Bryan Davis said the two-building option was the only one to receive a 100% consensus from the 40-member committee. Before putting together the referendum the school board plans to turn to the community for further input. Board President Liz O’Donnell said that a resident survey will be the first step toward developing the referendum. Under the plan, the current middle school and high school buildings would be sold or demolished.
Gas Prices Continue to Rise
3/22/12 - The average gas price in Wisconsin is at $3.96 today and rising. That’s according to the Wisconsin AAA. They say that’s up a cent over yesterday and 12-cents from a week ago. This morning you could still get it for $3.89 in Beaver Dam. Officials are expecting the price to jump over four-dollars on average in the near future. And they won’t peak until late next month or early May.
Clintonville Hires Engineering Firm
3/22/12 - Clintonville hired an engineering firm yesterday to try and explain the mysterious booms and ground-shaking that’s rocked the city. The Waukesha firm of Ruekert-and-Mielke will install four ground seismology monitors to see if there’s an epicenter. About 300 residents attended a public meeting last night to see what officials have been doing – and to offer their own ideas for what might be causing the rumbles. They mentioned possible temperature changes in the water supply – a drop in the water table – the forming of an underwater lake – even a connection to this week’s earthquake in Mexico. Officials have found no such things. Some residents swear that the Pigeon Falls fault line is close by. Clintonville Administrator Lisa Kuss says there’s no evidence of that either, but officials are asking the U-S Geological Survey if a fault line could be in the area. Geologists have said the booms are coming from up to 200-feet underground. No one’s been injured, but one homeowner said she’s getting cracks in her home’s foundation. The booms have mostly occurred late at night or in the early morning hours since Sunday evening. They were a novelty at first, but residents are literally getting tired of it. One said she’s staying at a relative’s house about 10-minutes away, just to get a good night’s sleep. Another resident talked about renting a motel room for the same reason.
No Charges Against Homeowner for Killing “Intruder”
3/22/12 - No charges will be filed against a homeowner in Slinger who shot-and-killed a 20-year-old man who ran into an enclosed porch to hide from the police. Washington County District Attorney Mark Bensen said the unidentified homeowner acted in self-defense under Wisconsin’s new “Castle Doctrine” law. It assumes that homeowners are justified when using deadly force against intruders. Bo Morrison of West Bend was among those scampering from a nearby underage drinking party the police raided on March third. Washington County prosecutors said Morrison tucked himself between a dresser and refrigerator in the homeowner’s porch. And when the resident asked him what he was doing there, Morrison stood up, raised a hand, and took a step toward the homeowner – and that’s when the owner shot him in the chest and told his wife to call 9-1-1. Authorities said the homeowner was the one who called police about the drinking party – and he had confronted a couple people in a car that was playing loud music.
Barrett Will Decide on Run for Governor Before April 3rd
3/22/12 - Milwaukee voters will know before Election Day whether-or-not their mayor plans to run for governor. Tom Barrett has token opposition in his bid for another term as mayor – and he’s been widely speculated as a possible Democratic challenger in the expected recall election against Governor Scott Walker. Barrett says he’ll announce before the April third mayoral election whether he’ll take the plunge. But he wants to wait until after the state Government Accountability Board decides whether enough valid petition signatures have been filed for the recall vote. That decision is due a week from tomorrow. A recall primary is tentatively set for May eighth, with the general election on June fifth. Barrett lost to Walker in the last gubernatorial contest in 2010.
Presidential Candidates Coming to WI
3/22/12 - With all the recall fever in Wisconsin, the state’s voters have hardly had time to focus on the April third presidential primary. But that will change today, when Ann Romney visits Middleton and Milwaukee. The wife of Republican candidate Mitt Romney will appear at a diner in each city. Romney’s main challenger, Rick Santorum, is due in Saturday for a conference in Milwaukee put on by the Americans for Prosperity. Recent polls show Santorum leading in Wisconsin. But Wisconsin G-O-P strategist Mark Graul – who’s not involved with either campaign – says Romney still has the edge.
Watertown Approves Compensation and Payroll Study
3/22/12 - Dodge County isn’t the only area governmental body that will be performing a compensation and payroll study for its employees. On the same night the county board approved hiring an outside firm to put together a study so did the Watertown City Council. For a cost of about $33,000 plus expenses the city is asking Springstead Inc. to evaluate most its departments. Like it is for the county, the state laws passed last year that virtual ended a version of collective bargaining with public employee unions is driving the study. Most of the unions that represented employees in the city didn’t recertify, meaning there is no one to negotiate with. The study is expected to take four to five months.
Gibson to Talk Voting on Community Comment
3/22/12 - Changes to voting rules have Wisconsin election clerks scrambling to inform the public in advance of the presidential primary and local elections on April 3rd. While the controversial voter ID law is tied up in the courts and won’t be in effect next month there are some changes if you want to vote absentee. Any registered voter wishing to vote absentee must complete a ballot application and return it to their municipal clerk’s office no later than 5pm on the Thursday before the election. You can find those applications online at the Dodge County website or the Government Accountability website. Also, voting absentee in person ends on the Friday prior to the election. There is no absentee voting over the weekend or the Monday before the election. Dodge County Clerk Karen Gibson will join us on our Community Comment program this afternoon to talk about absentee ballots and any other questions that listeners might have. The program will begin around 12:35pm.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Top Stories March 21st
Kaiser Pleads ‘Not Guilty’
3/21/12 - The suspect in last July’s armed robbery of the Shell Travel Mart in Beaver Dam pleaded not guilty during arraignment yesterday. 32-year-old Josiah Kaiser is charged with Armed Robbery with the Threat of Force. Kaiser is accused of brandishing a handgun during the robbery and a firearm was among the items taken as evidence and sent to the State Crime Lab for investigation. Kaiser is still being held at the Dodge County Jail. He has a telephone conferencing schedule on the calendar for May.
Human Service and Health Department on the Move
3/21/12 - A building that’s housed Clearview Long-term Care and Rehabilitation residents since the 1960’s will be the new home for a Dodge County department. On a 35-2 vote - the county board approved a recommendation to move the Human Services and Health Department to the soon-to-be empty Clearview North building. The department is currently spread out over three buildings. The renovation will allow them to consolidate to one location. The projected cost of the remodel is $6-million and the county plans to borrow $3-million to help pay for it. Construction could begin in October and take about a year to complete.
Classification and Compensation Study Approved
3/21/12 - The Dodge County Board approved hiring a firm to conduct a classification and compensation study for county employees last night. The goal of the study is to establish some consistency in pay among employees performing similar jobs and also use data to pay county employees fairly when compared to the private sector. The $70,000 study will use purchased market data that will then by evaluated by Carlson Dettmann Consulting. Officials say the study is needed in the wake of Wisconsin Act 10, which ended a version of collective bargaining for most public employee unions. The county has contracts in place with six of their seven bargaining units until December 31st of this year - but none of the unions filed for recertification. For that reason officials say a wage structure is needed in place by the first day of 2013.
WI Primary Just 13-Days Away
3/21/12 - The Wisconsin primary is just 13 days away – and it could be the next major battle between G-O-P White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Both candidates are starting to plan appearances in the Badger State. And Santorum’s the first one due in on Saturday when the Americans for Prosperity holds a forum in Milwaukee that also features House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. The pro-Romney group “Restore Our Future” has been running two-million-dollars worth of T-V ads throughout Wisconsin, which slam Santorum’s voting record as a former U-S senator. Santorum has spent about 50-thousand dollars answering those ads. Louisiana’s primary is on Saturday, where Santorum’s been pushing the hardest. And then the focus shifts to April third when Wisconsin, Maryland, and Washington D-C have their primaries.
Rindfleisch in Court
3/21/12 - One of Governor Scott Walker’s top aides when he was the Milwaukee County executive pleaded innocent yesterday morning to four felony charges. 43-year-old Kelly Rindfleisch of Columbus is accused of working on Brett Davis’s failed campaign for lieutenant governor in 2010, during the hours she was supposed to be serving Walker as his deputy chief-of-staff. Rindfleisch is one of five Walker associates charged in a John Doe probe into Walker’s former Milwaukee County aides. Prosecutors said Rindfleisch knew she was breaking the law because of her past experience as a legislative aide during the State Capitol’ s illegal campaigning scandal a decade ago. But defense lawyer Franklyn Gimbel has said the assertion violates the woman’s right against self-incrimination – because she was under immunity while testifying about the caucus scandal. And he has asked that the current charges against Rindfleisch be dropped. Also, Gimbel has asked for a different location for the defendant’s trial. He recently said Rindfleisch should have been charged in Columbia County where she now lives, instead of Milwaukee where the alleged offenses took place. A 2007 law gives state officials the options of being tried in their home counties for government ethics charges.
Mock Accident in Waupun Today
3/21/12 - If you see a Med-Flight helicopter touching down in the parking lot of the Waupun High School this afternoon, don't be alarmed. As part of a student project, the school's west parking lot will be the scene of a mock accident. Organizers say the event will have first responders being dispatched, and they will treat it like a real accident. It's slated to get started around 1pm.
Break-In Under Investigation
3/21/12 - Authorities are investigating a break-in at AmeriGas in the town of Calamus. It was reported yesterday morning around 7am. Records show that a window was broken to gain access. The business was apparently ransacked and the safe was entered. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department.
Clintonville Mystery Continues
3/21/12 - A public meeting will be held tonight at Clintonville High School, where officials will share what they’ve learned about the mysterious rumblings and house rattling in that city. In the meantime, the Waupaca County community is considering the use of motion sensors to try and nail down the cause. Public Works Director Mike McCord calls it a “shallow ground disturbance” – just short of an earthquake, which seismologists say it’s not. Over 250 Clintonville residents complained to authorities about their shaking homes – mostly in the nighttime and early morning hours since Sunday evening. There have been no injuries, and no reports of building or street damage. McCord said he’s heard the rumbling a dozen times, both at home and in the city’s water building. When he’s outside, McCord says it sounds like a muffled boom. Inside, it sounds like a 50-pound weight dropped on a concrete floor. Others have described it as distant thunder and the sound of a jackhammer. The shaking homes were limited to Clintonville’s northeast side on Sunday night, but the trend spread to the south and west on Monday night. Utility lines were re-checked yesterday, and tests were done for leaks. McCord says officials are taking “extreme precautions” to try and keep city residents safe.
Mega Millions Up to $290M
3/21/12 - The Mega Millions’ jackpot has jumped to 290-million dollars for Friday, after nobody won the top prize last night. A ticket sold in Milwaukee was among 68 throughout the country to win a quarter-million-dollars, by matching all five regular numbers but not the Mega Ball. Friday’s jackpot has rolled over 16 times since it was 12-million on January 27th. It’s the third-highest prize since the Wisconsin Lottery started offering Mega Millions in February of 2010. Friday’s cash option is 205-million dollars for a single winner who takes the whole prize now instead of in annual installments. The next Powerball drawing is tonight. The jackpot in that game is at 70-million dollars.
3/21/12 - The suspect in last July’s armed robbery of the Shell Travel Mart in Beaver Dam pleaded not guilty during arraignment yesterday. 32-year-old Josiah Kaiser is charged with Armed Robbery with the Threat of Force. Kaiser is accused of brandishing a handgun during the robbery and a firearm was among the items taken as evidence and sent to the State Crime Lab for investigation. Kaiser is still being held at the Dodge County Jail. He has a telephone conferencing schedule on the calendar for May.
Human Service and Health Department on the Move
3/21/12 - A building that’s housed Clearview Long-term Care and Rehabilitation residents since the 1960’s will be the new home for a Dodge County department. On a 35-2 vote - the county board approved a recommendation to move the Human Services and Health Department to the soon-to-be empty Clearview North building. The department is currently spread out over three buildings. The renovation will allow them to consolidate to one location. The projected cost of the remodel is $6-million and the county plans to borrow $3-million to help pay for it. Construction could begin in October and take about a year to complete.
Classification and Compensation Study Approved
3/21/12 - The Dodge County Board approved hiring a firm to conduct a classification and compensation study for county employees last night. The goal of the study is to establish some consistency in pay among employees performing similar jobs and also use data to pay county employees fairly when compared to the private sector. The $70,000 study will use purchased market data that will then by evaluated by Carlson Dettmann Consulting. Officials say the study is needed in the wake of Wisconsin Act 10, which ended a version of collective bargaining for most public employee unions. The county has contracts in place with six of their seven bargaining units until December 31st of this year - but none of the unions filed for recertification. For that reason officials say a wage structure is needed in place by the first day of 2013.
WI Primary Just 13-Days Away
3/21/12 - The Wisconsin primary is just 13 days away – and it could be the next major battle between G-O-P White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Both candidates are starting to plan appearances in the Badger State. And Santorum’s the first one due in on Saturday when the Americans for Prosperity holds a forum in Milwaukee that also features House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. The pro-Romney group “Restore Our Future” has been running two-million-dollars worth of T-V ads throughout Wisconsin, which slam Santorum’s voting record as a former U-S senator. Santorum has spent about 50-thousand dollars answering those ads. Louisiana’s primary is on Saturday, where Santorum’s been pushing the hardest. And then the focus shifts to April third when Wisconsin, Maryland, and Washington D-C have their primaries.
Rindfleisch in Court
3/21/12 - One of Governor Scott Walker’s top aides when he was the Milwaukee County executive pleaded innocent yesterday morning to four felony charges. 43-year-old Kelly Rindfleisch of Columbus is accused of working on Brett Davis’s failed campaign for lieutenant governor in 2010, during the hours she was supposed to be serving Walker as his deputy chief-of-staff. Rindfleisch is one of five Walker associates charged in a John Doe probe into Walker’s former Milwaukee County aides. Prosecutors said Rindfleisch knew she was breaking the law because of her past experience as a legislative aide during the State Capitol’ s illegal campaigning scandal a decade ago. But defense lawyer Franklyn Gimbel has said the assertion violates the woman’s right against self-incrimination – because she was under immunity while testifying about the caucus scandal. And he has asked that the current charges against Rindfleisch be dropped. Also, Gimbel has asked for a different location for the defendant’s trial. He recently said Rindfleisch should have been charged in Columbia County where she now lives, instead of Milwaukee where the alleged offenses took place. A 2007 law gives state officials the options of being tried in their home counties for government ethics charges.
Mock Accident in Waupun Today
3/21/12 - If you see a Med-Flight helicopter touching down in the parking lot of the Waupun High School this afternoon, don't be alarmed. As part of a student project, the school's west parking lot will be the scene of a mock accident. Organizers say the event will have first responders being dispatched, and they will treat it like a real accident. It's slated to get started around 1pm.
Break-In Under Investigation
3/21/12 - Authorities are investigating a break-in at AmeriGas in the town of Calamus. It was reported yesterday morning around 7am. Records show that a window was broken to gain access. The business was apparently ransacked and the safe was entered. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department.
Clintonville Mystery Continues
3/21/12 - A public meeting will be held tonight at Clintonville High School, where officials will share what they’ve learned about the mysterious rumblings and house rattling in that city. In the meantime, the Waupaca County community is considering the use of motion sensors to try and nail down the cause. Public Works Director Mike McCord calls it a “shallow ground disturbance” – just short of an earthquake, which seismologists say it’s not. Over 250 Clintonville residents complained to authorities about their shaking homes – mostly in the nighttime and early morning hours since Sunday evening. There have been no injuries, and no reports of building or street damage. McCord said he’s heard the rumbling a dozen times, both at home and in the city’s water building. When he’s outside, McCord says it sounds like a muffled boom. Inside, it sounds like a 50-pound weight dropped on a concrete floor. Others have described it as distant thunder and the sound of a jackhammer. The shaking homes were limited to Clintonville’s northeast side on Sunday night, but the trend spread to the south and west on Monday night. Utility lines were re-checked yesterday, and tests were done for leaks. McCord says officials are taking “extreme precautions” to try and keep city residents safe.
Mega Millions Up to $290M
3/21/12 - The Mega Millions’ jackpot has jumped to 290-million dollars for Friday, after nobody won the top prize last night. A ticket sold in Milwaukee was among 68 throughout the country to win a quarter-million-dollars, by matching all five regular numbers but not the Mega Ball. Friday’s jackpot has rolled over 16 times since it was 12-million on January 27th. It’s the third-highest prize since the Wisconsin Lottery started offering Mega Millions in February of 2010. Friday’s cash option is 205-million dollars for a single winner who takes the whole prize now instead of in annual installments. The next Powerball drawing is tonight. The jackpot in that game is at 70-million dollars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
