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.