Top Stories May 16th

Senior Expo Today

5/16/12 - The 2012 Senior Expo gets underway this morning at the Heritage Village Mall in Beaver Dam.  The annual event is now in its 16^th year and the theme is “Never to Old to Play.” Karla Jensen with the Active Adult Resource Council says the vendors represent a wide variety of businesses and organizations with an emphasis on those 55 and older. There will also be food, bingo, prizes, antique appraisals and music provided by the Beaver Dam High School’s Jazz Band and SWAZZ. The Senior Expo will be at the Heritage Village Mall from 9am until 3pm.

Walker Reveals Own Job Figures, Barrett Skeptical

5/16/12 - Governor Scott Walker’s administration released its own figures yesterday showing that Wisconsin gained 23-thousand public-and-private jobs during 2011. Democrat Tom Barrett’s campaign immediately slammed the report. They said the Republican Walker is highlighting normally-obscure data so he can look good to the voters just 20 days before Walker’s recall election. The numbers come from actual employer surveys. And state officials say they’re more accurate than the normal monthly short-term job figures which will come out tomorrow. That report will say Wisconsin lost 34-thousand jobs last year. The state Workforce Development agency was planning to release its survey results tomorrow, along with the rest of the monthly jobs’ report. But department secretary Reggie Newson gave the positive numbers yesterday to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He said employers need the data to make more informed decisions about hiring. The federal government uses it to make long-term adjustments to each state’s monthly numbers. And the Journal Sentinel says it’s highly unusual for a state to publicize the raw quarterly figures in advance of a final federal report that’s not due out until the end of June. Phil Walzak of the Barrett campaign says Walker’s people are trying to fix months of public relations damage caused by poor job reports. And Walzak says the governor is now slamming monthly figures which he doesn’t hesitate to highlight when those numbers are positive – which they were for the first couple months of this year.

$850,000 Fix for Smell at Justice Facility

5/16/12 - A solution to a bad smell at the Justice Facility in Juneau was approved by the Dodge County Board last night. The smell, which employees first noticed last year, is the result of pipes corroding and allowing sewer gases into areas where people are working. The total cost to fix the problem could go as high as $850,000. There was no money budgeted for the project, so as part of the resolution, the county will transfer funds from their general fund to a construction account. Work will start in early June, and the project will be completed by the end of July, with all the work being done at night while no one is in the facility.

Firefighter Enters into Plea Agreement

5/16/12 - A Reeseville firefighter has entered into an agreement with prosecutors over his role in the attempted cover-up of a car accident. Nicholas J. Gay was placed on deferred prosecution Tuesday for two misdemeanor charges of Failure to Report a Crime and Obstructing an Officer. The court withheld a finding of guilt and the 31-year-old Gay will avoid a criminal record if he stays out of trouble for the next year. The charges were issued following a February 2011 accident involving Brodie McIntosh. The 26-year-old McIntosh is charged with Reckless Driving and Hit and Run, Causing Great Bodily Harm for an accident in the Town of Lowell. According to the criminal complaint, McIntosh dropped a cigarette while driving 93mph on County G, leaned down to pick it up and put the car in the ditch. His passenger sustained a head injury. Gay received a private call from McIntosh while off-duty and drove the passenger away from the scene. Gay is said to have enlisted 38-year-old Rhonda Gibson, who is the coordinator of the Lowell-Reeseville First Responders. Gibson allegedly drove McIntosh away from the scene to his mother’s tavern in Waterloo. Attorneys for Gibson have asked a judge to dismiss a felony charge of Hit and Run, as a Party to a Crime and misdemeanor Failure to Report a Crime. When questioned, Gibson allegedly said she should have contacted authorities. McIntosh will be arraigned next Wednesday.

Waste Hauler Says Paperwork Issue Cause Over-Spread

5/16/12 - A waste hauler whose violation triggered a controversy in the state D-N-R denies that his company over-spread human waste on farm fields. Todd Stair of Herr Environmental in Oconomowoc told a town board in Jefferson County this week that his firm made a paperwork mistake – and it was not an over-application problem that resulted in five citations and a 43-hundred-dollar fine. The case became controversial after it was learned that top D-N-R official Scott Gunderson asked local district attorneys to fine Herr Environmental last year, instead of referring the case to the Justice Department. Investigators said the over-spreading almost contaminated neighboring water wells – and had the case gone to the attorney general, the penalty could have been 10 times as high. Yesterday, the D-N-R’s Laurel Steffes disputed Herr Environmental’s claim of a paperwork error. She told the Wisconsin State Journal there was a clear violation of waste spreading laws – and local D-A’s upheld all five citations. Democrats have asked the Assembly and Senate natural resources’ panels to investigate. A clerk says the Assembly committee is considering it.

Officials Stressing Safety When Riding ATV’s

5/16/12 - An all-terrain vehicle accident in Jefferson County this weekend has the DNR reminding the public to practice safety while operating ATV’s. 30-year-old Alan Johnson of Loganville died on Sunday, one day after crashing of his ATV near Fort Atkinson.  It was the third ATV fatality this month, not counting a 24-year-old Dodge County man who was seriously injured when his ATV rolled over on May 9.  DNR Conservation Warden and ATV Safety Specialist Gary Eddy encourages riders to take a safety certification course. Eddy also says all riders should always wear a helmet and protective clothing, travel at appropriate speeds, and never ride while drinking or taking drugs. Sixteen people died in ATV crashes last year in Wisconsin.

Hostess Hoping to Emerge from Bankruptcy

5/16/12 - Hostess Brands says it hopes to emerge from Chapter-11 bankruptcy as a growing company with a strong future. And despite recent reports, the firm says it is not planning 184 layoffs in Wisconsin. The company said it mailed conditional notices to all 18,500 of its employees around the country, stating that a sale or a “wind down” is possible in the future. And Hostess said it was just fulfilling its government requirements by issuing the employee notices. In Wisconsin, Hostess told state workforce development officials that plants in nine cities could face cut-backs or shut-downs – but the firm says it’s not in the cards for now. The Wisconsin plants to be possibly affected are in Brookfield, Greenfield, Madison, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, De Pere, Oshkosh, and Sheboygan.

Search for New UW-Madison Chancellor to Begin this Fall

5/16/12 - A national search will begin this fall for the new chancellor at the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus in Madison. U-W System President Kevin Reilly said Tuesday he will form a search-and-screen committee to find the new person. Former chancellor David Ward has been serving on an interim basis since last June, when Biddy Martin left to become the new president of Amherst College in Massachusetts. Ward’s interim appointment was supposed to last for a year – but it was soon extended for two years, until the summer of 2013. Reilly said the search panel would have members from all parts of the campus and community, in line with the U-W’s commitment to shared governance. Reilly said the panel would recommend a slate of finalists to him and a special Board of Regents’ committee, which will then hold public forums and job interviews. The full Board will make the final appointment.

Project Will Shutoff Water in Watertown

5/16/12 - Watertown officials are notifying residents in certain parts of the city that their water will be turned off early Thursday morning.  Dorner Construction will be doing water valve repair work on Second, Fourth and Main streets. Water service will be shut off around 2am with digging starting approximately one hour later.  Customers affected by the shut-off have been notified either in person or by door tag.  If you live or have a business in this area, officials are asking you to plan accordingly. Barring any complications water should be back on around 8:00am.  Traffic will be down to one lane on Main Street; Second and Fourth streets will re-routed as needed.