Top Stories March 8th

Van Beek Pleads Out In Multiple Rape Cases

3/8/12 - A Fox Lake man who raped several young teenage girls has entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors. 22-year-old Derick B. 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. He 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 at the end of next month. He faces a maximum 80 year prison sentence.

Clerks Get Update on Voter ID Law

3/9/12 - Wisconsin’s local election clerks received guidance yesterday on how to proceed, after a judge temporarily halted the state’s voter I-D law on Tuesday. Officials say only the photo I-D provisions of the law are affected. That means voters still have to follow new time limits for voting absentee – and they still must live at their present addresses for 28 days instead of the previous 10. They say voters no longer have to submit copies of their photo I-D’s to get absentee ballots. But those requests must still be made in writing. Attorney General J-B Van Hollen said yesterday he would appeal this week’s ruling from Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan. The judge issued a temporary injunction that strikes down the photo I-D mandate for voting, at least until a trial can be held in mid-April on a lawsuit which seeks to kill the new voting law for good.

Alcohol and Marijuana in Philbin’s System the Night He Died

3/9/12 - New toxicology test results show that Michael Philbin was drunk and had marijuana in his system when he fell into the Fox River and drowned. The 21-year-old Ripon College student was the son of former Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. He was visiting friends at U-W Oshkosh when he walked alone on the Fox River and fell through the ice two months ago today. Oshkosh Police said his blood alcohol level at the time was more than twice the legal limit for driving, and he smoked marijuana at some point that night. The death was ruled an accident. Joe Philbin said that if somebody had been with his son, the death could have been avoided. And his family hopes the incident reminds everyone to drink in moderation, and avoid illegal drugs.

New Home for Human Services and Health Department?

3/9/12 - The Human Services and Health Department in Dodge County could soon have a new home. A committee that studied the possible uses for the soon-to-be empty Clearview North building in Juneau is expected to recommend moving the department to that location. Officials say the cost of remodeling the facility into an office building is projected at $6.2-million. They plan to borrow $3-million and pay the rest from their general fund. Construction could begin in October after the last residents move into the new Clearview Long-term Care and Rehabilitation Facility across the street. The project is expected to take about a year to complete. Currently the department is spread out over three buildings and the renovation would bring them all under one roof. A portion of facility would continue to serve as a Community Based Residential Facility. Committee members will give a presentation to the full county board next week.

Homeland Security Arrests Former Dodge County Man

3/8/12 - Homeland Security has arrested a former Dodge County man for violating a deferred prosecution agreement. The Sheriff’s Department says Liam Hrothgar Standish, former Daniel Standish, was taken into custody Tuesday at JFK International Airport in New York. Standish was originally arrested in late December of 2008 for attempting to strangle his wife, who was only able to escape by jumping out of a second floor window. He entered into the deferred prosecution agreement in July of 2009. This past August, authorities were able to determine that he had violated the conditions of his agreement by leaving the country and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The Sheriff’s Department received a call Tuesday night that Border Patrol agents had taken him into custody after getting off a flight from Germany. Sheriff Todd Nehls called it a great example of interagency cooperation that stretched across the country.

Holcomb Enters Into Deferred Prosecution Agreement

3/9/12 - A Watertown man charged in a violent domestic incident will avoid a felony record if he stays out of trouble while on probation for the next two years. Floyd Holcomb Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor Domestic Battery and Domestic Disorderly Conduct as a Repeat offender. He was placed on deferred prosecution for also pleading guilty to felony Second Degree Sexual Assault. According to the criminal complaint, the 25-year-old broke into his girlfriend’s apartment in January and the two had a violent exchange. The next day, Holcomb was violent again but also tried to rape the woman with young children nearby.

Warrant Issued After Burglary Suspect Misses Trial

3/9/12 - A Dodge County judge issued a bench warrant Wednesday for a Lodi man accused of burglary who failed to appear to a jury trial. 28-year-old James Earl Dickinson II is accused of breaking into a Mayville apartment last July. The occupant awoke at 4pm in the afternoon after hearing someone inside the apartment and says he saw Dickinson run from unit. He also saw another man outside with a large facial tattoo run from the scene. Based on that description, Mayville police arrested the tattooed man walking down Main Street and then found Dickinson at a nearby park. According to the criminal complaint, Dickinson took the blame for the burglary and said he was doing a favor for a girl by trying to get her vehicle title back from the victim. Dickinson faces a maximum 12-and-a-half year prison sentence if he’s convicted. The judge revoked his bond for failure to appear and Dickinson will have to forfeit $2500.

Inmate Arraigned In Triple Assault

3/8/12 - A Waupun Correctional inmate accused of assaulting three corrections officials last October entered a “not guilty” plea at arraignment yesterday. 23-year-old Adam Myers of Van Dyne is charged with three felony counts of Battery by a Prisoner. According to the criminal complaint, Myers was in a prison cafeteria yelling at other inmates. He was asked to stop and allegedly stood up and poked the guard who told him to be quiet in the chest. Other officers came to the guard’s aid but Myers refused to be handcuffed. Three guards were injured in the scuffle. Myers has court activity on the calendar again next month.

Van Hollen To Appeal Voter ID Ruling

3/8/12 - Attorney General J-B Van Hollen said Wednesday that he’ll appeal a judge’s ruling that temporarily halted Wisconsin’s controversial voter I-D law. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan said yesterday that groups for Hispanics and African-Americans are likely to win their lawsuit which seeks to strike down the voting law. And the judge put the law on hold until a trial on the lawsuit can be held April 16th. Flanagan said the plaintiffs have a case in claiming that the law hurts the voting rights of the poor, elderly, and minorities because it’s harder for them to get acceptable I-D’s. But Van Hollen says it’s proper for voters to prove who they are. And for those without I-D’s, he said the law quote, “makes accommodations to reduce any potential burden” in obtaining them. For now, at least, the judge’s order removes the requirement that voters show photo I-D’s and sign poll books in Wisconsin’s presidential primary on April third. The state G-O-P says the entire case is tainted, because Judge Flanagan signed a petition to recall Governor Scott Walker last November. Walker signed the voter I-D mandate into law earlier last year.

Wind Energy Farm Standards In Limbo

3/8/12 - Wisconsin will continue to be without standards for locating wind energy farms, at least until next year. The Public Service Commission adopted uniform standards in 2010, complete with setback requirements from homes-and-farms. But the Legislature’s rules committee suspended the rules a year ago. And majority Senate Republicans scheduled a vote Thursday on a bill to uphold the suspension and order new rules. But De Pere Republican Frank Lasee pulled back the measure, saying it didn’t have enough votes to pass – and it was referred to a committee on a 17-16 party line vote with all Democrats voting no. The former rules were suspended after Republican Governor Scott Walker had said he wanted wind turbines to be further away than what the P-S-C wanted. Walker never got his wish, and the state has been without wind-farm regulations since then. Wind energy developers say they need statewide standards, so can local governments can stop adopting a hodge-podge of inconsistent rules. Some developers have moved elsewhere, where the regulatory climate is more predictable. Also today, senators voted to declare December 12th as Aaron Rodgers’ Day. The Assembly passed the same measure last month. It names 12-12-of-2012 in honor of Number-12 – the N-F-L’s most valuable player from 2011 who helped the Packers win Super Bowl-45 a year ago.

151 Bypass Construction Resumes Today

3/8/12 - Construction is set to resume on the Beaver Dam Highway 151 bypass today (Thursday). Officials with Lunda Construction say counter-directional traffic will start in the southbound lanes so work can be done in the northbound lanes. That pattern will shift in July for reconstruction of the southbound lanes. In addition, Prospect Avenue will be closed between Eilbes Avenue and Jacob Gassen’s Way beginning Thursday for removal and reconstruction of the Highway 151 Bridge. The state project is scheduled to be completed in June of 2013. The city of Beaver Dam is reconstructing Prospect Avenue at the same time as the state project. Prospect from Keller Boulevard to Eilbes will see new curb and gutter, driveway aprons, street lighting and concrete sidewalk where none currently exists. A public hearing for the city project to receive input on the improvements will be held on Monday at City Hall beginning at 6:30pm.

WBEV 1430AM Heard In Finland

3/8/12 - WBEV may not be streaming on the World Wide Web just yet, but that does not mean that we don’t have listeners around the world. We were contacted this week by Jarmo Patala and Vesa Rinkinen of Finland who tell us they picked up WBEV’s signal at 14-hundred 30 kilohertz on December 27 at 2am Central Standard Time. They said in an email that at the top of the hour there were several stations on 1430 but luckily our announcer, who if you listen closely is Rick Armon, made it through the interference. Jarmo and Vesa describe themselves as radio enthusiasts from Southern Finland who travel up to the northernmost province of Lapland every winter because the area is ideal for catching long distance AM radio signals. The duo used a Microtelecom SDR communications receiver connected to a half mile long wire antenna.