Top Stories March 19th

Warm Weather to Continue

3/19/12 - Tomorrow is the first day of spring, but it already seems like summer in Wisconsin. Temperature records continued to be shattered yesterday, both for record highs and the warmest overnight lows for the date. The National Weather Service said a strong upper-level system brought clear, beautiful weather to most of the Badger State. For a fifth straight day Juneau broke its record high, as it hit 78-degrees at the airport. Madison and Wisconsin Rapids were the hot spots with 81. It was the warmest March 18th in 94 years in Wisconsin’s capital city. Eau Claire broke a 102-year-old heat record with 80. You can expect more record highs throughout the week, as things won’t really cool off until Friday. But there will be chances for showers and thunderstorms throughout the week. Rain is in the forecast tonight for western Wisconsin.

Car vs Train on Highway 151

3/19/12 - Witnesses say the driver sped up when he saw the train coming in Beaver Dam Saturday afternoon, but he didn’t quite make it. The car hit the front of the freight train. Luckily, nobody was injured. When sheriff’s deputies arrived they found all three occupants walking around at the scene of the crash on Highway 151. The investigation closed that stretch of highway for about two hours. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Dodge County Has First Fatal Traffic Accident

3/19/12 - Dodge County had its first fatal traffic accident of the year over the weekend. Sheriff’s officials say 45-year-old William Gruling of Dousman was killed when he stopped his vehicle in the northbound lane of State Highway 26 Friday afternoon and was hit from behind by a cargo truck. Gruling died at the scene. The truck driver, 65-year-old Richard Birkholz of Neenah, wasn’t injured. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Church Members Evacuated

3/19/12 - Members of the Harvest Church in Beaver Dam were evacuated yesterday morning. Officials with the Beaver Dam Fire Department say they got a call the Highway 33 church around 9:30 a-m. They say there were some electrical issues in a maintenance area, which resulted in some visible smoke. Crews were only one scene for about a half-hour and members were allowed back inside.

12% of Circuit Judges Signed Recall Petitions

3/19/12 - At least 29 Wisconsin circuit judges, including one in Dodge County, signed recall petitions against Governor Scott Walker -- and those who've commented say they've done nothing improper. Gannett's 10 Wisconsin newspapers checked a searchable database of Walker recall signers, and found that about 12-percent of county judges supported the effort to recall the Republican governor. That included Dodge County Judge Andrew Bissonnette. Several judges said they were just supporting the recall process, and not a particular party or candidate. Others said residents should have the right to vote again for governor. Former Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske said the judges were within their rights to sign the Walker recall petitions -- but it might show an appearance of partiality if they're called upon to settle cases involving the G-O-P or Governor Walker. Gannett did its survey after Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan issued a temporary injunction this month against the Walker-approved photo I-D law for voting -- and it was later learned that he signed a Walker recall petition. The state's Judicial Commission says it has had numerous requests to investigate Flanagan's action.

Groups Will Try to Recall Schultz and Jauch

3/19/12 - A conservative group says it will try to recall two state senators for their votes against mining. The Citizens for Responsible Government says its local organizations are moving forward with recall campaigns against Republican Dale Schultz of Richland Center and Democrat Bob Jauch of Poplar. Both helped reject a compromise version of a bill that would have sped up the state’s approval process for iron ore mines. It was the last straw for Gogebic Taconite, which scrapped its effort to open a new mine near Hurley in Iron and Ashland counties. In a statement this weekend, the C-R-G group said Schultz and Jauch both voted against quote, “a substantial number of jobs and other financial benefits to economically-devastated regions of northern Wisconsin.” Both senators have said they’re not against mining, but the legislative measures were not environmentally-responsible. C-R-G plans to say more about its recall intentions today.

Waupun and Police Union Reach Contract Agreement

3/19/12 - A compromise between the city of Waupun and the police union resulted in a two-year wage freeze for police personnel. The city council approved the deal last week. In exchange for the freeze, union members won’t have to contribute anything towards their pension. The agreement comes after a couple years of negotiations that were stalled when state legislators ended collective bargaining for most public employees as both sides want to see what impact it would have. The city initially asked for employee contributions to pension accounts and bigger contributions for heath insurance. The union responded by asking for a sizable wage increase. The attorney who helped the city in negotiations, Kyle Gulya, said the agreement made sense from an economic point of view.

WI Only State with 90% or Higher Grad Rate for Freshmen

3/19/12 - Wisconsin is the only state to have at least 90-percent of its high school freshmen graduate in four years. That’s according to a report that’s being presented today at a summit in Washington, put on by the “America’s Promise Alliance” – an advocacy group started by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. According to the new report, the nation’s graduation rate was 75-percent in 2009. That’s up three-and-a-half percent from 2001. But it’s well short of the 90-percent the group hopes to achieve by 2020. Only Wisconsin is at that point, but Vermont is close. The study also found 15-hundred-50 U-S schools that don’t graduate more than 60-percent of its students in four years. But that’s down by about 450 from 2002. The alliance calls those schools “drop-out factories.” But they don’t identify the individual schools, because states reported graduation rates in different ways until 2008 – when the Bush White House required uniform national reporting of education trends.

Agribusiness Dinner in Columbus Tomorrow

3/19/12 - The return of the Columbus Agribusiness Dinner this Tuesday proved important enough to change this week’s regular city council meeting. Council members will meet on Wednesday night this week in order to attend the event. Ag producers from Columbia, Dane, Dodge and Jefferson counties will be coming for the dinner, and to hear from Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Ben Brancel. The Ag Dinner will be held at the Kestrel Ridge Golf Club starting with a 6:00 pm reception.

Mega Millions Up to $241

3/19/12 - Tomorrow night's Mega Millions' jackpot is the fourth-highest since Wisconsin started playing the game 25-and-a-half months ago. The top prize is at 241-million-dollars, after nobody won the jackpot on Friday night.