Top Stories May 3rd

Portion of Highway 41 Closed Due to Rain

5/3/12 - Part of a busy four-lane expressway is closed between Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, because of the heavy rains that fell there overnight. Highway 41 is closed in both directions for a six-mile stretch between Highway 26 in Winnebago County and Highway “N” in Fond du Lac County. Over four-inches of rain fell in the area last night and early today. Nearby Green Lake recorded the most, with four-point-three-seven inches. And there’s more where that came from. The National Weather Service says more strong thunderstorms are in the forecast for later today – and rain is expected to continue on-and-off at least into the weekend.

BDFD Approved For New Pumper Truck

5/3/12 - The Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission approved the purchase of a new pumper truck last night. The department has tried for years to replace the dated 1977 model currently in use as a backup. The $590,000 expenditure was part of the most recent budget cycle. The commission approved a low bid from Pierce Manufacturing of Appleton at a cost of $561,000. Chief Alan Mannel says the full budgeted amount will still be needed to cover the costs of stocking the truck with the necessary equipment.  The new purchase will be dual purpose; built for use as a rescue pumper but also for agricultural and industrial responses. Such trucks are custom made and will not be delivered to the department until years end.

BDPD Charging For Processing Time In Records Requests

5/3/12 - The Beaver Dam Police Department is increasing the costs of open records requests that take several hours or days to process. The department established a fee schedule back in 2010 that covers things like photocopy and digital media costs related to the requests. Chief Ron Smith gained approval from the Police and Fire Commission last night that allows the department to fund time-consuming requests that drain department resources. At the advisement of the city attorney, Smith learned state statute permits charging for personnel hours spent processing a request. The extra costs will only be charged after the department spends more than $50 on an open records request and then it will be based on the lowest paid clerks hourly salary plus benefits.

Drug Drop In Columbus Friday Morning

5/3/12 - A prescription drug “take-back” will be held in Columbus Friday morning.  The Columbus Community Hospital is teaming up with the police department in holding the drug drop.  Organizers say take-back programs are aimed at reducing the amount of unused pharmaceuticals entering the water supply, and also reducing the amount of drugs available for theft or accidental poisoning. Medications should be brought in original containers with the personal identification blanked out or removed. Loose medications will also be accepted. There is no cost to dispose of the unused or expired over-the-counter and prescription medications. Hours tomorrow are 6am to 9am at the Columbus Community Hospital main entrance.

Dodge County Participating In Click It Or Ticket

5/3/12 - The Dodge County Sheriffs Department is among the law enforcement agencies in the state that will be participating in the annual spring “Click It Or Ticket” campaign. The effort begins on May 21 and is intended to get more Wisconsinites to buckle-up. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says officers will stop vehicles when they see either a driver or a passenger not wearing a shoulder harness. Last year’s two-week campaign resulted in 85-thousand convictions for not wearing seat-belts. It’s the second most common infraction behind speeding. Officials say 79-percent of Wisconsinites normally buckle-up – behind the national average of 85-percent. The campaign will run through June 3.

Marquette Poll: Barrett Leads Falk, Ties Walker

A new Marquette Law School poll gives Tom Barrett a 17-point lead over Kathleen Falk for next Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the governor’s recall election. Seven-hundred-five Wisconsinites were interviewed by phone from last Thursday through Sunday – and 38-percent of them favored Milwaukee Mayor Barrett to 21-percent for Falk, the former Dane County executive. 19-percent were undecided, over twice as many as those supporting the third-place Democrat, Doug La Follette with eight-percent. Kathleen Vinehout had six-percent. The poll also revealed a dead heat between Barrett and Republican Governor Scott Walker in the general recall election. Among likely voters, Barrett led Walker 48-47. And among all registered voters in the poll, Walker led Barrett 47-46. Poll director Charles Franklin said it’s as close of a tie as possible. In both instances, Falk was about six points behind Walker. That’s beyond the poll’s error margin of four-percent either way. Tuesday’s primary also includes fake Democrats which guarantee primaries for every race. Republicans did it so they wouldn’t risk an incumbent senator losing due to an expected high turnout for the Democratic gubernatorial primary. But 57-percent in the poll opposed the strategy. 46-percent said jobs are the top factor in choosing a candidate. Fifty-eight percent said they talked about politics with their families-and-friends at least once a week – but 29-percent said they stopped talking to somebody about politics due to disagreements about the recall or Governor Walker.

Walker Announces New Jobs at Spancrete

5/3/12 - Thirty new jobs are being added at Spancrete’s facility in Manitowoc. Governor Scott Walker’s office made the announcement Wednesday, but it did not say whether the firm would get state tax credits. Spancrete is based in Waukesha. It makes pre-cast concrete materials and versatile building materials. The company recently brought back the employees who were laid off earlier. And Spancrete plans to hire 30 new workers over the next 45 days to keep up with a higher workload that’s expected over the next few months.

Low Income Health Insurance Premiums Going Up

5/3/12 - Thousands of low-income Wisconsinites are about to get letters warning that their tax-funded health insurance will rise on July first. That’s after the federal government gave its final approval last week to the Walker administration’s plan to cut Medicaid costs. At a luncheon in Madison today, Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith said two notices would be sent to the affected clients. One gives general information about the premium hikes. The other letter will go out in mid-June, telling people exactly how much more they’ll have to pay. Smith said the rates hikes were about fairness. He said the federal government’s approval will allow premiums to be close to what families around the nation would have to pay under President Obama’s health reform law. Officials estimate that around 17-thousand people would either leave the state’s Badger-Care-Plus health care program, or be turned away. Robert Kraig of Wisconsin Citizen Action said those people will end up going to hospital emergency rooms. He said it would save the state government money, but it would result in a greater use of more expensive care for the un-insured.

Wisconsin Bats Not Yet Affected By Fungal Disease

5/3/12 - The state D-N-R has re-affirmed that Wisconsin has not been struck yet by a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats. Wildlife personnel recently surveyed over 100 places where bats hibernate during the winter, plus 114 other sites – and they’ve found no traces of white nose syndrome in Wisconsin’s bat population. That’s good news for us humans, because bats play a vital role in killing mosquitoes and other insects – thus reducing the risk that folks will get bug-borne illnesses like West Nile. Experts say white nose syndrome causes bats to wake up early during hibernation, and it depletes them of their energy reserves. Federal officials say the disease has killed almost seven-million bats in the eastern U-S and Canada. D-N-R biologist Paul White said last month that the closest reported white nose cases were in Missouri and Ontario. And while the state can try some management ideas, there’s no real way to stop the disease – and it will get to the Badger State eventually. White says more mosquito bites could be a tell-tale sign. U-W Madison scientists discovered last fall that a European fungus causes white nose syndrome. It was never spotted in the U-S until about six years ago.