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.