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.