Executive Director Named At YMCA
3/24/09 - The YMCA of Dodge County has a new Executive Director. Jen Kruel was unanimously selected by the board of trustees to immediately assume the top spot. Kruel has been interim Director since the departure of Bill Bray late last year and had previously served as Associate Executive Director and Business Manager. Board President Ben Beal-Loeck says Kruel had the experience to make her the ideal candidate for the job. Kruel tells us it was a tremendous benefit for her to serve as interim director for the past few months, and now that she has been made permanent, she is extremely excited to move forward.
Horicon School Board Hears Liaison Request
3/24/09 - Horicon Police Chief Joe Adamson encouraged the school board last night to consider grant funding to hire a school liaison officer. Adamson says economic stimulus funds could be used to pay for the first three years of an entry-level position. The city and district would have to cover a minimum of one additional year, estimated at $70,000. PTO President Katie Schmidt says her organization specializes in fundraisers and they would work to come up with the school’s half of the money. There were some people in the audience who were against the plan. Judy Harned told the board the district can’t afford it and their main goal should be worrying how to fund teaching positions. The matter was not on the agenda for discussion last night. The application deadline is April 14.
Beaver Dam River Rising
3/24/09 - Over saturated ground and consistent rain over the past few days has led local rivers to rise. That’s according to the National Weather Service who says the Beaver Dam River is considered to be in action stage. However, the river is still more than a foot-and-a-half below flood stage. The National Weather Service says “action stage” is the stage at which some sort of action is taken for the river point. It may be flooding of secondary roads or just a "heads up" that the river is rising. Meanwhile, the Rock River in Watertown is still in its action stage but shows a decline over the past 24-hours. At Milford, the Crawfish River dropped below its flood stage last Friday but still remains in the action stage as well.
Dodgeland Superintendent Search Down to 8
3/24/09 - The number of candidates for the Superintendents position in the Dodgeland School District has been narrowed down to 8. Board Member Kathryn Zwieg says they were initially going to narrow the list down to six but they were told eight of the 25 who applied were very good candidates. The process will now move on the interview phase next month, which Zwieg says will involve board members, staff, and community members. Once the committees complete the interviews they’ll narrow the candidates down to two and the board will then vote one to take the place of Ron Vaughn, who resigned in January.
3/24/09 - The number of candidates for the Superintendents position in the Dodgeland School District has been narrowed down to 8. Board Member Kathryn Zwieg says they were initially going to narrow the list down to six but they were told eight of the 25 who applied were very good candidates. The process will now move on the interview phase next month, which Zwieg says will involve board members, staff, and community members. Once the committees complete the interviews they’ll narrow the candidates down to two and the board will then vote one to take the place of Ron Vaughn, who resigned in January.
Industrial Park Roads Green Lighted
3/24/09 - The Beaver Dam Operations Committee last night gave the go-ahead to engineers to seek bids for road construction in the new portion of the Industrial Drive Business Park. Mike Lau with MSA Professional Services estimates the cost of construction of Commercial Drive, which would connect to Highway 33, at $610,000. Additional plans to extend Green Valley Road from a current dead-end to Commercial Drive would start at $65,000, for a gravel roadway. The bulk of the money would come from the remaining funds generated by the business parks Tax Increment Finance District. If all goes according to plan, Lau says ground could be broken in early May.
Jackson Charged for OWI With Injuries
3/24/09 - A Fox Lake woman is accused of driving drunk and injuring another motorist in a head-on collision. 27-year-old Tricia L. Jackson was driving on her third OWI in January when authorities say she veered out of her lane on Wayland Street in Beaver Dam and struck the other vehicle. A 31-year-old man in that other vehicle sustained minor injuries. Authorities determined Jackson’s blood alcohol level was below the legal limit of point-zero-eight (.08) but, because she had previous convictions, she was charged for being above the prohibited concentration level of point-zero-two (.02). Jackson had a signature bond set at $500 and a return date scheduled for April 20.
Lawns Damaged in BD Drag Race
3/24/09 - Authorities in Beaver Dam are looking for the pick-up trucks that damaged several lawns while drag racing this weekend. The department received a call just before 2:30am early Saturday morning reporting that two trucks were racing down Charlton Street. Lawn damage was reported on the 100 and 200 blocks of Charlton, the 300 block of East Main Street, the 500 block of Burnett and along school property on McKinley Street. The suspect vehicle was described as a black Ford truck. Information should be directed to the anonymous We-Tip hotline at 800-78-CRIME, or by calling the Beaver Dam Police Department at 887-4614.
Wisconsin Actors Appeal To Doyle
3/24/09 - Two Wisconsin-born actors have asked Governor Jim Doyle not to trash the state’s tax credits for movie-and-T-V production. Jane Kacmarek, formerly of the Milwaukee area, and her husband Bradley Whitford from Madison wrote the governor and legislative leaders to ask that the credits be continued. Doyle omitted the one-year-old movie tax credits from his proposed state budget. He said taxpayers gave the producers of the film “Public Enemies” over four-and-a-half million dollars with not much of a economic return to show for it. But Kaczmarek and Whitford said one year is not enough time to judge the success of the incentive program. And they said Doyle’s alternative of a half-million-dollars in annual grants is not enough. Kaczmarek and Whitford said they’d love to film in their home state, but it won’t happen unless Doyle revives the tax credits. Kaczmarek is best known for playing the mother on the comedy “Malcolm in the Middle,” and Whitford starred on the White House drama “The West Wing.” A Doyle spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the letter.
Fitzgerald Supports Hearing Aid Bill
3/24/09 - Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald told us on WBEV’s Community Comment that he will support a bill making its way through the legislature that would require insurance companies to cover the costs of hearing aids and cochlear implants. The Republican from Horicon says several of his constituents in the Beaver Dam-area convinced him of the need. Fitzgerald says once you look at the costs to school districts associated with providing teachers aids for hearing impaired students, it only makes sense. An estimated 200 children are born in Wisconsin each year with some level of hearing impairment.
West Bend Woman Killed in Crash
3/24/09 - Washington County Sheriff's officials say 27-year-old Lori Chapman of West Bend was driving too fast for conditions when her car went off State Highway 144 early Monday morning and struck a tree. Chapman died at the scene. She was not wearing a seatbelt. She was the second person killed in a traffic accident in the County this year. (KFIZ)
Watertown Airport Getting Upgrades
3/24/09 - Governor Jim Doyle has approved more than 56-hundred-dollars for improvements at the Watertown Airport. The money will spend to replace the rotating beacon at the airport which Project Manger Craig Butler says will greatly enhance safety during night and low light conditions by making it easier for pilots to locate the airport from the air. The Governors action releases the state fund for the project, and the city of Watertown will contribute personnel and equipment to install the new unit. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Pfizer Incorporated Plans to Fight Ruling
3/24/09 - A drug maker says it will fight Wisconsin’s effort to get it to pay 225-million dollars for overcharging the state’s Medicaid programs. Attorney General J-B Van Hollen is seeking those damages, after a Madison jury ruled in the state’s favor last month against a subsidiary of Pfizer Incorporated. It was one of three dozen similar suits filed by former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager in 2004. She accused the firms of overcharging taxpayers for the medicines used in state programs like Badger Care and Senior Care. Pfizer still believes no damages are warranted. It says Van Hollen’s compensation request is excessive, and it plans to appeal the jury’s ruling. A court hearing on the damages is set for May 12th.
Cranes Back in Necedah
3/24/09 - Here’s another sure sign of spring. Eleven wild cranes have returned to their summer nesting spot at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. That’s where baby cranes are reared each summer before they fly as a group to Florida, and try to rebuild the population of the endangered species. Many cranes go back-and-forth on their own after their first years. The current flock now has 87 birds – including 14 that were led to Florida last fall. There’s only one other large flock of whooping cranes in this part of North America. It spends its winters in Texas, and its summers in Canada.
3/24/09 - Washington County Sheriff's officials say 27-year-old Lori Chapman of West Bend was driving too fast for conditions when her car went off State Highway 144 early Monday morning and struck a tree. Chapman died at the scene. She was not wearing a seatbelt. She was the second person killed in a traffic accident in the County this year. (KFIZ)
Watertown Airport Getting Upgrades
3/24/09 - Governor Jim Doyle has approved more than 56-hundred-dollars for improvements at the Watertown Airport. The money will spend to replace the rotating beacon at the airport which Project Manger Craig Butler says will greatly enhance safety during night and low light conditions by making it easier for pilots to locate the airport from the air. The Governors action releases the state fund for the project, and the city of Watertown will contribute personnel and equipment to install the new unit. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Pfizer Incorporated Plans to Fight Ruling
3/24/09 - A drug maker says it will fight Wisconsin’s effort to get it to pay 225-million dollars for overcharging the state’s Medicaid programs. Attorney General J-B Van Hollen is seeking those damages, after a Madison jury ruled in the state’s favor last month against a subsidiary of Pfizer Incorporated. It was one of three dozen similar suits filed by former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager in 2004. She accused the firms of overcharging taxpayers for the medicines used in state programs like Badger Care and Senior Care. Pfizer still believes no damages are warranted. It says Van Hollen’s compensation request is excessive, and it plans to appeal the jury’s ruling. A court hearing on the damages is set for May 12th.
Cranes Back in Necedah
3/24/09 - Here’s another sure sign of spring. Eleven wild cranes have returned to their summer nesting spot at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin. That’s where baby cranes are reared each summer before they fly as a group to Florida, and try to rebuild the population of the endangered species. Many cranes go back-and-forth on their own after their first years. The current flock now has 87 birds – including 14 that were led to Florida last fall. There’s only one other large flock of whooping cranes in this part of North America. It spends its winters in Texas, and its summers in Canada.
Candidates on Community Comment
3/24/09 - Over the next two weeks on our sister station 1430 WBEV, we'll be talking to the candidates in several of our area’s contested races on our Community Comment program. We begin Tuesday in Fox Lake, where the Waupun School District has voted to close down the elementary school. Incumbent school board member Percy Harper is looking to retain his seat against challenger Ron Paul. Wednesday, we look at the first of two contested aldermanic races in the city of Beaver Dam. In Ward 3, incumbent Glen Link faces challenger Kenneth Anderson. On Thursday, we’ll hear from Ward 1 incumbent Clancy Knaup and his opponent Donna Fuhrman. We’ll get all the details on the Horicon School funding referendum on Friday when we welcome Superintendent Gary Berger. Next week, we continue our coverage with Columbus mayoral candidates Bob Link and Peter Kaland. We round out our coverage with the Beaver Dam school board, where candidates Erin Broome, Robert Castro, Daniel Feuling, Gary Spielman, Del Yaroch and incumbent Marge Jorgensen are competing for three open seats.
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