Top Stories, November 11th

Annual Veterans Day Tribute This Afternoon on WBEV

11/11/09 - WBEV is observing Veterans Day today with an extended Community Comment, broadcast live from the Beaver Dam American Legion Hall. WBEV’s John Moser and the Legion’s Bob Frankenstein will co-host. Veterans from Dodge County are invited to share their stories and experiences in serving and fighting for this country. This special, Veterans Day, extended edition of Community Comment begins at 12:35pm.

Dodge County Board Approves 2010 Budget

11/11/09 - The Dodge County Board approved the 2010 budget Tuesday afternoon. The 3% cap on property tax levy increases means the county was able to raise their total levy by about $930,000 for a total of $31.9 million. The tax rate for 2010 is $5.21 per $1000 of assessed value, up 13 cents or 2.5% from this year. A person whose property is valued at $150,000 will pay about $780 for the county portion of their tax bill.

Board Moves Forward With New Clearview Design

11/11/09 - Design plans are moving forward for the possible upgrade of the Clearview Long Term Care and Rehabilitation Facility. That’s after the county board authorized $750,000 to allow their architectural firms to complete the design process for a new structure on the current site of the Clearview South Building. The new 201,000 square foot building has an intial cost estimate of 44.5-million dollars but with interest the total could exceed 65-million dollars. The preliminary financial plan would be to use about 45-million-dollars in sales tax revenue and cover the interest payments using internal revenue, in an effort to avoid increasing the tax levy. Officials hope to complete the design process by March of next year. At that point the project will be brought back in front of the full county board for possible action.

No Increase Possible For Waupun Tax Rate

11/11/09 - Waupun residents could see a 2010 tax bill that’s lower than the one they got last year. The Common Council last night reviewed the numbers in committee following their public hearing. Because of the tight economy, City Administrator Ed Madere says the council is considering alleviating the tax burden on residents by passing along a zero percent increase over last year, even though state statute would allow them to increase the tax rate by 3%. In order to balance the $7 million budget, the city would be taking just over $200,000 from the general fund. Waupun will levy for just over $2.3 million. If approved without change, the tax rate for Dodge County residents will be $6.19, four cents lower than the 2009 rate. Fond du Lac County residents will see a 14 cent decrease to $6.34. The Common Council will consider adopting the budget at their November 24 meeting. Madere says tax bills should arrive on residents doorsteps on Christmas Eve.

Fort Hood Investigation Continues

11/11/09 - The Pentagon denies missing an opportunity to prevent last week's shooting massacre at Fort Hood. A senior defense official denies another agency's claim that a Pentagon investigator had rejected the need to look into shooting suspect Nidal Hasan. The investigator reportedly discovered that Hasan and Muslim radical Anwar al-Awlaki were merely working on a research paper on the effects of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. But al-Awlaki was said to use his personal Web site to encourage Muslims to kill U-S troops in the Middle East. The prayer leader had high praise for Hasan on Monday. But by yesterday, al-Awlaki's Web site had been taken down - possibly by computer hackers. Two of the 13 soldiers killed in last week's attack were from Wisconsin, along with four of the 29 injured. And Hasan had been training with a Madison-based medical unit which still plans to go to Afghanistan in January.

At a memorial service at Fort Hood yesterday, President Obama gave personal stories about those killed in last Thursday's shootings. He said Army Sergeant Amy Krueger of Kiel was planning to take on Osama bin Laden by herself - and when her mother said she couldn't do it, Krueger said "Watch me." Obama said Captain Russell Saeger of Mount Pleasant helped veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder - and he served so he could help soldiers return to civilian life. Governor Jim Doyle attended yesterday's service along with U-S Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and House members Tammy Baldwin of Madison and Tom Petri of Fond du Lac.

Man Mugged in Milwaukee, Robbers Return Wallet After Realizing He's a Veteran

11/11/09 - Even criminals know enough to thank veterans for whatever freedom they have. In Milwaukee, a 21-year-old Army reservist was mugged early yesterday -- but when one of the four robbers saw the Army I-D in his wallet, they returned everything but his keys and let him go. The reservist is a student at U-W Milwaukee and was walking home from work about 1:15 in the morning when the four men jumped out from between two houses and started working him over. But when they learned he was a soldier, he told the Associated Press that one of the robbers actually thanked him for his service and apologized - and the group leader gave him a fist bump as they parted ways. The wallet had 16-dollars. Police said the victim's story was credible. They said the four robbers also mugged two other people around that time. They're still on the loose.

MEC Secures Funding

11/11/09 - MEC has secured a $40 million dollar line of credit for its Beaver Dam expansion. Mayville Engineering Company CEO Bob Kamphuis says the company recently secured the credit agreement with JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. MEC’s Phoenix Coaters division is currently constructing a new 300,000 square foot facility in Beaver Dam which will house a state-of-the-art paint line. At a time when many business large and small are having a difficult time securing credit to expand, or even maintain, Kamphuis says MEC will be able to confidently move forward with expanding market opportunities. The expected completion date of the expansion is June 1.

Home Sales Up In County, State

11/11/09 - Wisconsin home sales are going up. The state’s Realtors Association is reporting a five-point-eight percent increase in existing home sales from July-through-September, compared to the same time a year ago. That’s the first quarterly sales gain since the recession started at the end of 2007. Dodge County saw a 38% increase this third quarter with 158 homes sales compared to 114 last quarter. Columbia County is up 6% after 140 homes sold in the third quarter this year compared to 132 last year. Jefferson County is up 14% with 176 homes sold this quarter compared to 154. Chairman John Flor of the Wisconsin Realtors Association says we’re finally seeing signs of recovery in the housing market. It’s due mainly to relatively-low mortgage rates and the federal $8000 stimulus tax credit for first-time home buyers. Congress has extended the tax credit through next April and allowed all home buyers to have it. Flor says it will benefit the economy as well as home buyers in the Badger State. Wisconsin Realtors says they sold almost 16-thousand existing homes from July through September.
Realtors also said the statewide median home price dropped by 6.3% percent over the past year, to an average of 148,000. Dodge County dropped 10% with average home prices at $115,700 this year compared to $129,100 in the third quarter of last year. Jefferson County is down 3.3% to $157,500. Columbia County is down 8.6% to $146,200. Association president William Malkasian said the decrease was not the result of sellers reducing their prices. He says it’s actually due to the fact that more lower-priced homes have been sold.

BDF Calls For Service Up

11/11/09 - Calls for service to the Beaver Dam Fire Department this year are on pace to exceed the number of calls for service they had for 2008. There have been 1334 EMS calls as of Tuesday, which is about two dozen calls less than all of last year. Those numbers do not include revenue-generating interfacility transports, which is the program started by former Fire Chief George Sheets in June of 2007. There have been 457 interfacility transports so far this year, which is on pace with last years numbers that had topped 500 by the end of November. There have been 207 fire calls this year, compared to 272 in all of 2008, and 240 in 2007.

Columbus PFC Reviewing Police Chief Applications

11/11/09 - The five-member Columbus Police and Fire Commission have a big job at hand.The City received over 20 applications for the Police Chief’s job by the October 31st deadline. Better than 40 per cent of the applications were received back from the fifty packets sent out to inquiring prospects. PFC President Ed Schellin said that each commissioner is wading through reams of application materials including resumes, certifications and completed questionnaires. Once the candidates for Chief have been selected they will all have to pass a series of background checks and interviews. Schellin said it will take some time to complete processing the large amount of applications. The impending Holiday season will also slow down the candidate interviews and background checks. It has been almost two years since the last permanent Police Chief, Gerald Sallmann, announced his retirement.

Horicon Considers Officer Fate Tonight

11/11/09 - The Horicon City Council has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday night that could determine the fate of one of the city’s police officers. Bill Pansier has been suspended with pay since late August. That’s after Acting Police Chief Adrian Bump field a complaint that included 15-charges against him, most of which stem from a conference in Green Bay. Pansier attended the conference on the city’s dime but Bump alleges Pansier never attended any of the seminars and other portions of the conference. The Horicon Police and Fire Commission were expected to continue evidentiary hearings on the matter yesterday but the city attorney instead issued a memo that said the council would consider a negotiated settlement in closed session on Wednesday.

State Economy Still another Year from Recovery

11/11/09 - It might another year before the state's economy fully recovers. That's according to Wisconsin's latest forecast released yesterday by the Revenue Department. Officials say job losses will continue at least through March of next year, with total employment to drop by three-point-eight percent for all of 2009. The growth in personal incomes will also be lower - but revenue officials say it would have been worse without the federal stimulus package. They expect a bigger growth in incomes next year, and even larger growth in 2011.

WI Unemployment Fund Faces Big Debt

11/11/09 - The fund that pays Wisconsin's unemployment benefits will be two-point-eight billion dollars in debt by the end of 2011. And to help avoid that, the state's largest business group suggests making laid-off employees wait a week before getting their first benefits checks. It means those without jobs for less than a week would get nothing - and Jim Buchen of the Wisconsin Manufacturers-and-Commerce said it would save 80-million-dollars a year. Jobless benefits are funded by business taxes. And Buchen told the Assembly's Labor Committee yesterday that up to a quarter-billion-dollars a year in higher unemployment taxes and lower benefits would be needed to bring the fund to solvency. State unemployment compensation administrator Hal Bergen said 36 states have some kind of waiting period before jobless workers get benefits. But Dennis Penkalski of the U-C advisory council says he won't accept a delay - because those out of work are hurting more than any other time.

Innocent Pleases Entered for Rep. Wood

11/11/09 - Innocent pleas were entered yesterday in one of three counties where State Representative Jeff Wood faces O-W-I charges. Wood is currently getting treatment in Saint Cloud Minnesota. His attorney stood mute on the phone, while a judge in Monroe County entered innocent pleas to misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated and bail jumping. A hearing is set for November 30th in Sparta to hear pre-trial requests in that case. Wood, an independent from Chippewa Falls, was arrested last month in Tomah. He's also due in court December ninth in Marathon County, where he was arrested in September for driving while intoxicated.

Barret Decision on Governor's Race Expected Soon

11/11/09 - We should know by the end of the week whether Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is in-or-out of the Wisconsin governor's race. The chairman of Barrett's mayoral campaign, Steve Chernoff, says he knows an announcement will come in the next few days - but he still doesn't believe Barrett has finalized his decision. Democratic Governor Jim Doyle is stepping down after next year - and Congressman Ron Kind and Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton have decided not to try replacing Doyle. Democrats from the White House on down have been leaning on Barrett to run. But with four kids in Milwaukee schools, Barrett hesitates to uproot his family. And Chernoff confirms that Barrett is thinking about keeping his home in Milwaukee and working there a few days each week if he chooses to run and he wins.

State Legislators Want Walker Rally Looked Into

11/11/09 - Two Democratic legislators want to know if Republican Scott Walker broke the law, when his campaign for governor held a recent event at U-W Stevens Point. Representatives Marlin Schneider of Wisconsin Rapids and Amy Sue Vruwink of Milladore have asked the Government Accountability Board to look into the matter. The event was held November second by the Walker campaign, and a local news report called it a "fund-raising rally." Schneider and Vruwink want to know if it broke the state law against campaign fund-raising in government buildings.