Top Stories August 24th

2009 Dodge County Fair Recap

Union Votes No on Contract Changes

8/24/09 - Mercury Marine of Fond du Lac says it could start moving jobs to Oklahoma by the end of the year, after union employees rejected contract concessions yesterday. The workers voted by what it called a wide margin against large pay cuts for new employees and those returning from layoffs. Company president Mark Schwabero said Mercury needed those concessions to avoid moving up to 850 factory jobs to a non-union plant in Stillwater Oklahoma. Now, he says it will take 2-to-3 years to move most-or-all the jobs, as the firm promises to honor the union’s current contract that expires in 2012. Chief negotiator Dan Longsine said the jobs would have moved anyway. Mercury Marine has made outboard motors in Wisconsin for almost three-fourths-of-a-century. Governor Jim Doyle says he’ll fight to keep Mercury Marine in Wisconsin, but the union and management would have to resolve their differences. Schwabero says the union has rejected the company’s last-and-best offer – and no further talks are planned. Oklahoma says it will pay Mercury’s moving expenses.

Late Blight Found in Potato Fields

8/24/09 - State officials say a fungus-like disease that has killed tomato plants this summer has spread to two potato fields in Portage and Columbia counties. The fungus is called “late blight.” And U-W Madison plant pathologist Amanda Gevens says the outbreaks are the first in Wisconsin in seven years. The state agriculture department says the affected potato crops have been quarantined and killed. But the agency has asked farmers to watch their crops carefully. And Duane Maatz of the state’s Potato and Vegetable Growers Association says they’ve been urging growers all summer to keep up with their fungicide spraying efforts. Late blight was first reported last month in home-and-organic tomato gardens in 10 southern and central Wisconsin counties. Officials have asked home gardeners to destroy all plants with the disease. State plant specialist Adrian Barta says it’s likely that the blight spread naturally into Wisconsin from the east or south. New York State had reports of tomato blight in early July, and the initial reports in Wisconsin came on July 29th.

Human Remains Found in Washington County

8/24/09 - Authorities are trying to identify human remains found in a wooded area in Germantown. Police said two people were looking for good hunting spots on Saturday when they saw the remains. Officers were not able to find them immediately. But once the hunters provided more information, the remains were picked up yesterday morning. It’s not known if they’re male or female. The Washington County medical examiners’ office will try to identify the remains, as well as the cause of death.

More Goats Go Missing in Dodge County

8/24/09 - Dodge County authorities are urging farmers to mark their goats, after six more animals were stolen recently. Over 100 goats were taken since late July from two farms in Dodge and Green Lake counties. The latest theft was reported last week in the town of Lowell. All the stolen goats were valued at over 32-thousand dollars. Dodge County Chief Deputy Blaine Lauersdorf says it’s a mystery that so many goats have been missing around the same time – and his officers do not have any leads. He said the most recent animals did not apparently have any markings. And Lauersdorf says it would be “very wise” for farmers to mark their goats so officers can identify them.

One Brother Pleads Guilty in Patrick Cudahy Fire

8/24/09 - One of the two brothers charged with causing the massive fire at the Patrick Cudahy meat plant has pleaded guilty to a felony. 23-year-old Joshua Popp entered his plea this morning in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. And there was no immediate word on what prosecutors would recommend for a sentence. Joshua Popp is due to be sentenced on October eighth. 25-year-old Kurtis Popp had his plea hearing put off until next Tuesday – and reports say he’s expected to plead guilty as well. Both were charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, and their lawyers have expressed regret about the incident. Prosecutors said Joshua Popp took a military flare when he served in the Marines – and his brother set it off at a family gathering on July fifth. It landed on top of the Cudahy meat plant, starting a fire that took three days to put out and caused 50-million dollars in damage.

Assembly Committee to Look Into Underage Drinking With Parents

8/24/09 - A state Assembly committee will hold a public hearing tomorrow on a bill to stop letting kids under 18 drink with their parents in taverns. Madison Democrat Terese Berceau is one of the bill’s main sponsors – and she chairs the Local Affairs Committee which will hold tomorrow’s hearing at the State Capitol. Berceau doesn’t agree with those who say it’s part of Wisconsin’s ethnic traditions to let children have a drink with their parents in bars-and-restaurants. Deb Burgess of the Marathon County Alcohol-and-Other-Drugs Partnership group says the bill sends a clear message that underage drinking is not okay. And she wished the bill would have included 18-to-20-year-olds as well. Central Wisconsin alcohol educator Shannon Young says brains develop until age 25. And she cites national figures which show that kids who drink before they’re 15 are four times more likely to become dependent on alcohol than those who start drinking at 21. A study from the U-W School of Medicine shows that 49-percent of all Wisconsin high school students drink. That’s the highest percentage in the country.

Authorities Giving Out More Tickets for Those Not Buckling Up

8/24/09 - You might not want to ignore those T-V announcements about buckling up. Wisconsin state troopers more than doubled the number of seat-belt tickets they gave out between June and July. The new state budget signed June 29th allows officers to stop motorists just for not buckling up – and they don’t have find another violation anymore. As a result, the State Patrol gave out 46-hundred seat belt tickets in July, up from about two-thousand in June. That includes about 800 passengers who were cited last month for not wearing seat belts, up from 400 in June. The fine is still 10-dollars, with no demerit points on your driver’s license.

Barrett and Kind are Top Democratic Candidates

8/24/09 - Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse appear to be the leading Democratic possibilities for governor next year. That’s according to Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice – who says Kind appears to be ready to run while Barrett is not enthusiastic, and would have to be convinced by party leaders. Bice quotes insiders in both parties as saying that Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton and State Senate Democrat Jon Erpenbach of Waunakee are in the second-tier of Democratic hopefuls. So far, Lawton is the only Democrat to say she’ll try to replace the retiring Governor Jim Doyle. Erpenbach is said to be mulling it over. Barrett returns to work this week after getting national acclaim for intervening in a domestic dispute outside the State Fair nine days ago – and getting beat up in the process. But Bice says Barrett, his wife, and his top aide are less than enthusiastic about him leaving his current job. Kind, meanwhile, would have to act quickly to get name recognition outside his western Wisconsin House district. Bice says the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants Kind to stay where he is. But Kind says the world doesn’t revolve around that group – and while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she would hate to lose him, she would not try to stop him from leaving to run for governor. Bice says if it comes down to Kind and Barrett, they might work out a deal to avoid a tough primary. Meanwhile, Bice says Republicans are licking their chops at the chance of winning Kind’s House seat. State Senator Dan Kapanke of La Crosse announced his bid for the House seat earlier this month.

Butler Forwarded as Crabb's Replacement

8/24/09 - Former State Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler has improved his chances of being elevated to the federal bench. U-S Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold have recommended Butler as one of three finalists for the federal judgeship now held by Barbara Crabb of Madison. Attorneys William Conley and David Jones, both of Madison, were also recommended as finalists to President Obama – who will make the final appointment. Crabb will assume a part-time senior status once her replacement is confirmed. Earlier this year, the senators also recommended Butler and Conley for another vacant federal judgeship in Madison. That one was held by Judge John Shabaz until he retired for good. Obama has not named a replacement for that post yet. The senators rejected three other candidates for Judge Crabb’s job – La Crosse County Circuit Judge Ramona Gonzalez, Madison attorney Stephen Meyer, and law professor Anuj Desai.