Top Stories, February 25th

Common Council To Consider New Police Station

2/25/10 - The Beaver Dam Common Council will decide on Monday whether or not to move forward with building a brand-new $5.1 million police station. During a joint meeting of the city’s two standing committees last night, members of the Administrative Committee unanimously approved to recommend the five-year Capital Improvements Plan to the full council, in two parts. One vote would be to authorize the construction of the police station and the other vote would be for all the other projects. The council will eventually have to decide if they should lock into historically low interest rates now and borrow the money needed for the police department all at once, or just borrow the $925,000 that will be needed to move forward on the project this year and the remaining $3.5 million at a future date. The proposed CIP also includes construction of a new DPW storage facility at a cost of $60,000 and engineering or construction work for about a dozen street projects. In addition, $600,000 would be allocated to either replace the dam gate on Beaver Dam Lake or to undertake a downtown storm sewer diversion project which is intended to reduce flooding in portions of the downtown area; a final decision on that is contingent on grant funding. There is no funding anywhere in the five-year plan to help with a new senior center. The Common Council meets Monday evening at 8pm in City Hall.

Crescio Arraigned on OWI Homicide Charges

2/25/10 - A Randolph man accused of killing a passenger in a drunken driving rollover was in Dodge County court yesterday for an arraignment hearing. Anthony Crescio stood mute and the court entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf to charges of Homicide by Intoxicated use of a Vehicle. The 22-year-old was driving on Highway 73 early on the morning of December 19 when his vehicle left the roadway and rolled over, killing 22-year-old Dustin Vredeveld. EMS personnel had to extract Crescio from the back window of the vehicle. Soon after, they found Vredeveld still strapped into the passenger seat. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Crescio reportedly told authorities that a third person had been driving the vehicle, but according to the complaint, they were unable to find any evidence to support that claim. Court records show that Crescio was convicted twice of OWI and his license was revoked at the time of the accident. In addition to the homicide charge, he has been charged with Knowingly Operating a Motor Vehicle after Revocation Causing Death, which is a misdemeanor. Crescio is currently free after posting a $50,000 cash bond. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Zubke Enters “Not Guilty” Plea To Wife Poisoning Charges

2/25/10 - A Watertown man entered a “not guilty” plea yesterday to charges that he poisoned his wife with weed killer. Peter Zubke is charged with a felony count of Placing Objects in Edibles, Domestic Abuse for allegedly slipping the herbicide into her soda and coffee over a three to four week period ending in mid-June. The victim says she became suspicious because her soda looked like dishwater soap, was “very sudsy” and tasted “bitter.” Home brewed coffee was said to be “foggy” and store-bought coffee tasted like bleach or chemicals. She also found a bottle weed killer under her kitchen sink and while her husband does lawn work for a living, she noted that he never used that particular type of poison and typically kept herbicides in the garage. The 54-year-old Zubke denied the allegations and told investigators instead that his wife has a “bad tongue” and does not have very good taste buds. According to the criminal complaint, he told his wife he was trying to dilute the chemicals in the coffee pot before spraying the weed killer outside their home. He reportedly said he must have forgotten to clean out the coffee pot. Toxicology tests from the State Crime Lab confirm the chemicals found in the coffee and soda were the same ones found in the bottle of weed killer kept under the kitchen sink. If convicted, the felony charge carries a maximum sentence of three and-a-half years in prison. A motion hearing is scheduled late next month.

Jobs Coming To Mayville

2/25/10 - Up to 100 new jobs will be added at a plant in Mayville over the next year. Tab Products recently said it’s buying the Ames Safety Envelope Company, and will move its production from Somerville, Massachusetts. The deal is expected to be closed sometime next month, with 75-to-100 jobs being moved to Tab’s plant in Mayville. The Ames Company makes specialty folders for the health care industry. Tab Products says the new acquisition will increase its presence in the health care market. Ames will keep its sales office in the Boston area.

Columbus Interviewing Engineering Firms

2/25/10 - The final four Engineering firms vying for a seven year contract with Columbus are wrapping up their interviews today with city officials. Ten firms responded to the Request for Proposals (RFPs) issued by the City and the Water & Light Dept. Columbus faces major Capital Improvement projects such as regionalization of their wastewater system and the James Street project. Administrator Boyd Kraemer said hiring a City Engineer for a short term or single project was NOT the way to go. Interview committee recommendations will be brought to a Joint Meeting of the Council and Water & Light Commission in early March.

January Foreclosures Hold Steady in Dodge County

2/25/10 - Foreclosures in Dodge County held steady for the first month of 2010 when compared to the same time period in 2009. According the website foreclosurealarm.com, there were 42 foreclosures in both January of ’09 and last month. The same pattern held true in other area counties as well. Fond du Lac County had 33 foreclosures last month up one from a year ago. Columbia County was also up one foreclosure to 26, while Washington County actually saw a decrease of four to 38 foreclosures last month. The only area county that saw a big difference between ’09 and 2010 was Jefferson, where there were 44 foreclosures last month as compared to just 30 during the same time period last year.

Beaver Dam Actors Take Madison By Storm

2/25/10 - Four stars of Beaver Dam community theater and high school productions have found success in Madison community theater. Bryce Muenchow, Chris Hughes, Trevor Kastein and Brian Tuel have secured the lead roles in the “Broadway Madison” production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Muenchow, who directed last year’s Beaver Dam Area Community Theater summer show “Peter Pan,” told us on WBEV’s Community Comment recently that their success in the state’s capital is directly related to experience they picked-up in their hometown. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has four performances scheduled from 10pm Thursday night through midnight Saturday at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Madison. Tickets are $15. The four promise that those who trek from Beaver Dam to Madison will not be disappointed. More information is available at: www.brownpapertickets.com or www.orpheumtheater.net.