Top Stories October 6th

Feingold Visits Dodge County

10/6/09 - US Senator Russ Feingold held a listening session in Dodge County yesterday. Health care was a top concern from many in the audience. Some were concerned with the high costs of a system overhaul at a time of record unemployment and a social security system that is on the verge of becoming insolvent. Others were concerned about the inclusion of a public health option in the final package. One speaker asked Feingold if abortions would be provided under a new health care system. The Senator said it is currently illegal for the federal government to fund abortions and he doesn’t support a new health care package that would change that.

Fewer Students Than Expected in BD Schools

10/6/09 - The Beaver Dam School District has 30 fewer kids than administrators planned for leaving them about $100,000 less for operating expenses. That figure means the district’s 2009-2010 budget has a deficit of around $140,000, which they plan to plug by using money from their general fund balance. For taxpayers the development most likely means a decrease of a few cents from the proposed tax rate of $8.85 per $1,000 of assessed value. The board is expected to act on the proposed budget at their meeting later this month.

BD Budgets Advance To Administrative Committee

10/06/09 - All Beaver Dam department budgets are in the hands of the city’s Administrative Committee. That comes after the Operations Committee last night approved the forwarding of six budgets. Operations Committee Chair Laine Meyer says he was very pleased that all the department heads held to a requested three-percent maximum increase over last year. The Wastewater Utility budget had a decrease in spending of over one-percent from last year while the Engineering Budget had an eight-percent decrease. The Water Utility and Parks and Forestry budgets had a one-percent increase over last year while the Department of Public Works Budget was three-percent higher. The only budget coming in higher than three percent was for School Patrol and Crossing Guards which is $3.5 percent higher than last year. The program has a relatively small budget of $90,000 and three percent of the increase is personnel. The overage came because they budgeted $500 for supplies for the first time this year. Meyer says the city can no longer rely on donations from local service organizations to fund important safety equipment.

Short BD Council Meeting

10/06/09 - The Beaver Dam Common Council’s regular meeting at 8pm last night lasted all of nine minutes. There were no ordinances on the agenda and only two resolutions. A half-dozen bartenders have a beverage operator’s license today because of last night’s council action. However a resolution to give Walgreen’s a Class A liquor license was tabled so city officials can research how many licenses can be issued under city ordinance. Wording that the city can have only one liquor license per every 5000 residents was called into question by alderman Robert Ballweg in committee. City attorney Mary Ann Schacht says classifications for liquor licenses has changed since the ordinance was adopted and she is researching the matter.

Three Charged In Crime Spree

10/06/09 - Three Milwaukee-area residents have been formally changed in Dodge County court for burglarizing an Ashippun residence during a multi-county crime spree. 20-year-old Corey Shreeves, 25-year-old Sabrina Mauher and 29-year-old Danielle Zipter are each charged with a single count of burglary for allegedly breaking into the Town of Ashippun home in June. According to the criminal complaint, a witness saw three people taking items from a neighbors residence and putting them in a vehicle. The man called 911 and provided a description of the suspects and the vehicle. Within 25-minutes, a Dodge County Deputy confronted the burglars in the driveway of another resident in Washington County. That owner, a police officer, off-duty, was awaken by the burglars kicking in his door and he was in the process of calling 911 himself. The three have been changed in connection with numerous burglaries throughout southeast Wisconsin.

Another Furlough Day for State Workers Next Monday

10/6/09 - Next Monday is Columbus Day. And most state government employees will have the day off without pay. They’re required to take 16 furlough days in the two years ending in July of 2011, to help balance the current state budget. All but a dozen state offices and departments will closed next Monday – which is a holiday for federal workers. Those looking to renew their driver’s licenses or filing complaints of various kinds will either have to wait until Tuesday, or go on-line for services which are available. The main address for that is Wisconsin-Dot-Gov. State parks, forests, and trails will be open next Monday – along with the emergency management agency and veterans’ assistance centers.

Kindergarten to become Mandatory in WI

10/6/09 - Governor Jim Doyle will sign a bill today that requires Wisconsin kids to attend kindergarten daily – and not just when their parents feel like sending them. State officials said only 117 of last year’s first-graders had not been enrolled in kindergarten. But because it’s not mandatory, the bill’s supporters say many parents treat kindergarten like day care centers, sending the kids only when they want to. Teachers say it’s disruptive to their classes, and the new law will require mandatory attendance – just like in the other grades. It won’t take effect until the fall of 2011. And kindergarteners who are home-schooled can get exemptions – along with those in charter schools.

Neumann’s to be Sentenced Today

10/6/09 - A Wausau area couple will find out this afternoon how long their sentences will be for letting their diabetic daughter die while they prayed for help. Dale and Leilani Neumann were both convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in separate trials this summer. But they’ll be sentenced together in a proceeding that starts at 1:30 in Marathon County Circuit Court. Both face up to 25 years in prison, and they’re expected to appeal their convictions. The Neumanns prayed instead of calling a doctor to help their 11-year-old daughter Kara, who died on Easter Sunday of last year from complications of her diabetes.

GAB Fines Adding Up

10/6/09 - Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board has collected 28-thousand dollars in fines for various ethics and election law violations. The board was formed almost two years ago, when the previous ethics-and-elections’ offices were merged. Ethics official Jonathan Becker says the new agency has been tough on those who break campaign, lobbying, and ethics laws. The penalties included a fine for Assembly Republican Don Pridemore of Hartford and one of his aides, for putting out a campaign news release from their tax-funded office. Also, four legislative campaigns were fined for being late with their finance reports. And four campaign donors were tagged for giving more than the 10-thousand-dollar maximum during a two-year election period.

Curriculum Aims to Stop School Bullying

10/6/09 - A new statewide curriculum will be announced today to stop Wisconsin school kids from bullying each other. Sue Klang, the widow of murdered high school principal John Klang, will join state Superintendent Tony Evers and a coalition of school groups at a news conference today. There’s been a growing effort to address bullying in recent years, in the wake of a number of school tragedies caused by kids who said they were the victims of bullies. That includes Eric Hainstock, who shot Klang to death just over three years ago at Weston High School in Cazenovia. A few months later, three teens in Green Bay were planning to pull off a Columbine-style massacre – complete with guns and napalm – when another student heard about it and spoke up. At least one of those teens claimed to be bullied for years.