Monday, March 23, 2009

Top Stories March 23rd

Fire Destroys Town of Alto Barn

3/23/09 - Six fire departments battled a fire in the Town of Alto this morning to no avail. Fond du Lac County Sheriff's officials say the barn Brian Bresser owned at W12480 Amity Road in Brandon was completely destroyed by the blaze. The fire also took the lives of 58 head of livestock and consumed the crops stored in the loft area. No one was hurt putting out the fire and the cause is not considered suspicious. The fire was reported to the Sheriff's Department just before 2 a.m. (KFIZ)

Two Fires in Dodge County Sunday

3/23/09 - Firefighters were called to a house fire in the Town of Ashippun late last night. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department says they were called out to a small fire at North 24-97 Highway 67 around 11. The fire was contained to the back side of the home. No word on how much damage was done to the home. Meanwhile, just after noon yesterday Columbus firefighters responded to a fire at West 119-50 Moriah Road in the town of Calamus. Officials say a controlled burn got out of control but they were able to extinguish it quickly.

Wisconsin and Marquette Lose in 2nd Round of NCAA’s

3/23/09 - March Madness moves on without a Wisconsin team. Marquette and the Badgers both lost yesterday in the second round of the N-C-A-A men’s basketball tournament. Sixth-seeded Marquette ended its season with a last-minute loss to number-three Missouri, 83-to-79 in the West Regional. And 12th-seeded Wisconsin lost its bid for a second straight upset, falling to number-four Xavier 60-to-49 in an East Regional. The Marquette loss helped all the one, two, and three seeds go undefeated in the first weekend for the first time ever. And thanks to Wisconsin’s loss, two regions – the East and the South – have their top-four seeds in the Sweet-16 for the first time since 1991.

UW Women’s Hockey Team Wins National Title

3/23/09 - The Wisconsin women’s hockey team won its third national crown in four years, after shutting out Mercyhurst 5-nothing yesterday in the N-C-A-A title game in Boston. Senior goal-tender Jessie Vetter – who won the Patty Kazmaier award this weekend as the nation’s top player – was named the tournament’s M-V-P. Vetter had 37 saves in posting her 39th career shut-out. Angie Keseley had a goal and two assists, as coach Mark Johnson’s Badgers capped off an N-C-A-A-best 34-2-and-5 season. They’ll be honored this evening in a welcome-home ceremony at the Kohl Center.

Citizens Police Academy Week 3: Drug Investigations and K9 Training

3/23/09 - The Beaver Dam Citizens Police Academy spent Week Three of training learning about drug investigations. In the first half of the class, the fourteen cadets heard about drug deals in city parking lots and undercover operations that shed light on the black market of local narcotics trafficking. And then in they went into the lab where they used a chemical reaction to determine if a green leafy substance was marijuana; it was. The second half of the evening was spent getting acquainted with the department’s canine unit. Beaver Dam Police officer Bill Linzenmeyer, the coordinator of the Academy, says the canine unit serves a vital function in the department. Nine-year-old Allie is more than a drug-dog; she is a utility dog, not only capable of identifying four different types of narcotics, but also useful in tracking down missing persons and trailing runaway suspects. Citizen Cadet Deborah Lins is the Associate Principal of the Beaver Dam High School. Lins has had first-hand experience with the occasional contraband check on campus, but she says it is invaluable to understand all the work that goes into equipping and maintaining all the personnel in the department. In the next class, the Citizens Police Academy will learn about OWI procedures. As part of the training, they will go through the procedures of conducting an actual traffic stop and they’ll be working with volunteers who are actually inebriated.


Gas Leaps Above $2 in BD

3/23/09 - After months of teetering on the edge, area gas prices jumped over two dollars this weekend. A number of stations in Beaver Dam had gas for $2.04, while a few still were selling at a $1.99. As of late Sunday, gas could still be had at a 1.94 in Appleton while some customers in Waterford were paying as much as $2.09 a gallon. Statewide, the average price is $2.02 up 12-cents over the past week but still nearly a 1.25-less than a year ago at this time.

DC Highway Department Finds a More Permanent Fix

3/23/09 - A new machine is making the job of filling potholes easier this spring for the Dodge County Highway Department. Commissioner Brian Field says the department rented a machine that allows for a more permanent patch job than in previous years. Field says in the past the county was unable to get any hot mix until the plant that made it opened in May. However, with the machine they rented they can turn cold mix into hot mix leading to the patch job being more permanent. And the machine could pay dividends over the next few weeks as potholes are popping up more frequently. Actually, the Highway Commission has posted a 10-ton weight limit on a number of county roadways. Because of the frost/thaw cycle and increased traffic due to the Highway 33 reconstruction the county is starting to experience damage and pavement failure. The limits are considered seasonal and will be lifted when its determined the thaw is complete. The roads include County Highway S from state Highway 26 to state Highway 67; County Highway E from County Highway S to the city of Horicon; County Highway E from County Highway R in Hustisford to County Highway S; and County Highway TW from County Highway S to state Highway 33.

Watertown Has First “Telestroke” Arrangement

3/23/09 - Stroke victims at the Watertown hospital now have a good chance of getting the drugs they need due to Wisconsin’s first “telestroke” arrangement. The Watertown Regional Medical Center will now be able to consult stroke specialists at the UW-Hospital through a web camera, and the Madison doctors will be able to view CAT scans and other tests in diagnosing patients. According to a doctor at the UW-Hospital the program could help more patients get the drugs or other treatment they need quicker than ever before.

$37M Coming to Wisconsin for Military Upgrades

3/23/09 - Wisconsin military instillations will get more than 37-million dollars as part of the economic stimulus package in an effort to restore and modernize their facilities. Senator Russ Feingold announced the dispersal of money and said the funding will help put Wisconsinites back to work while at the same time improving the states defense infrastructure. The money will pay for 29 individual projects at 13 facilities, including the Army National Guard post in West Bend. The Aviation Support Facility will get a light fixture upgrade at the cost of about $143,000 dollars. A majority of the 37-million-dollars will be spent at Fort McCoy where 14-million-dollars will be spent on renovations for the World War II-era barracks.

Three Fatal Accidents in Waukesha

3/23/09 - Waukesha County had three fatal traffic crashes during the weekend. A motorcyclist was killed late yesterday afternoon, when the bike hit an S-U-V in downtown Waukesha and got trapped underneath the vehicle. Also yesterday, a 43-year-old Waukesha man was killed when his motorcycle left County Trunk “D” in the town of Ottawa and hit several trees. Neither victim’s name was immediately released. On Saturday, 26-year-old Gerald Rutz of New Berlin died after his car went into a ditch and hit a tree. Investigators said it was going over a hundred miles an hour and went airborne on a hillcrest when it veered out of control. Officials said the car split in two and kept sliding on farmland before it came to rest.

Bill Would Allow for Payment Plans on Unpaid Fines

Low-income offenders for traffic and ordinance violations could keep their driver’s licenses while paying their fines, under a bill in the state Legislature. Governor Jim Doyle is likely to sign it, since his proposed state budget would allow all traffic fines to be paid in installments. Right now, licenses are suspended until those fines are paid but 150-thousnad people lost their licenses in 2007 with a majority coming from unpaid fines. This bill would give drivers one chance to follow a payment plan. And if they blow it, they’d lose the privilege. Doyle’s office says too many people cannot legally drive to work because they can’t pay their fines. But some opponents of the bill say paying fines is a personal responsibility – and they’re worried about the administrative costs of requiring installments. The Senate has passed it, and the Assembly will act on it tomorrow.


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