Common Council To Consider Hiring Lead Removal Contractor
3/14/10 - The Beaver Dam Common Council Monday night will consider hiring a company to remove lead from the municipal building. Facilities Supervisor John Neumann told city officials in committee last week that lead dust has been spreading throughout the building from the police department’s basement firing range. He says the grounds had never before been tested for lead and when the results came back, they were “staggering.” Tom Demerse with Green Bay Lead says when the firing range was constructed over 50 years ago standards were less stringent. The council will consider entering into an environmental services agreement with Green Bay Lead for remediation work at the municipal building at a cost not to exceed $33,500. Work would begin in mid-April and take about a week to complete. Lead contamination is not expected to be an issue after the clean-up because the police department will be switching to lead-free ammunition. Also tomorrow, the mayor is expected to appoint committee members to a city police department facility planning committee. At their last meeting, the council approved plans to move forward with the construction of a brand-new $5.1 million dollar police station at the site of the former YMCA property on Park Avenue. The committee would consist of the Facilities Director, Operations Committee Chair, the Deputy Police Chief, a Detective and the mayor. The Beaver Dam Common Council meets at 8pm in City Hall.
Kennedy To Open Doors Tuesday
3/14/10 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy will hold another one of his regular open door meetings on Tuesday. Kennedy says city residents are invited to meet with him, one-on-one, without appointment on the first and third Tuesday of every month. He says it is important that constituents have the opportunity to speak with him the day after each regular meeting of the common council. The meetings are held in Room 109 on the first floor of City Hall from 10am until noon. Kennedy says he also make himself available for private meetings by appointment by contacting the mayor office.
Law Enforcement Supports Drug Database
3/14/10 - Several Wisconsin law enforcement agencies stand behind a proposal at the Capitol which would create a statewide prescription drug database. Wisconsin is one of only 10 states which don't have one. State Controlled Substances Board member Darold Treffert says states with that kind of monitoring have seen faked prescription cases drop by 30 percent. The DEA reports deaths from prescription drug overdoses now out-number deaths from heroin and cocaine combined. State Representative Gary Sherman says he introduced the legislation after he heard from a coalition of law enforcement officials, tribal leaders and medical professionals in Ashland and Bayfield counties.
Legionnaire’s At Aurora St Luke’s
3/14/10 - Officials at Aurora St. Luke's South Shore Hospital in Cudahy say they haven't identified the source of an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease. Eight patients at the Milwaukee-area hospital have been diagnosed with the disease in the last month. None has died and all are receiving treatment or have completed treatment. Legionnaire's disease is a form of pneumonia. A water-borne bacteria causes Legionnaire's. A hospital spokesman says all water sources in the hospital have been tested and treated -- and the health department has cleared the facility of any health threat.
Increase Expected In E-Filing Tax Returns
3/14/10 - In 2009, about 70-percent of all Wisconsin tax returns were done using e-file. The state is expecting even more this year. Department of Revenue Secretary Roger Ervin says there hoping to see about four or five percent growth this year. So far, Ervin says, almost a million state tax returns have come through Wisconsin’s electronic filing system. Ervin says e-file remains a quick option for many taxpayers, and it can also speed up the time it takes to get your refund. An estimated 170 thousand paper returns have been filed so far this year. Ervin thinks those numbers will continue to drop in the coming years as more tax services begin to move online. He says online filing options for property and sales taxes are likely the next big move.
TRIO Funding Holds Steady
3/14/10 - To make the United States the world leader on college graduates by 2020, thousands of low-income, first-generation and disabled students will have to seek higher education. Kimberly Jones is Director of Congressional Affairs for the Council for Opportunity in Education. Jones says their program TRIO does just that, but has been level-funded in the President’s proposed budget for 2011. She equates this to a funding cut because it costs more to do business every year. And, that means there aren’t as many slots available to applicants who qualify. At its peak the program served roughly 870 thousand students in 2006 -- compared to the most recent figures of 830,000 students. Of those, 14 thousand are from Wisconsin.
Marshland Principal Posts Failing Students List
3/14/10 - The principal at Marshfield Middle School says he was trying to motivate failing students -- but now he says he regrets his actions. Dave Schoepke acknowledges he may have broken the law when he posted a list of students who had failing grades. Schoepke says he hoped posting the list would lead the students to turn in their missing assignments, so they could raise their grades enough to attend a dance last Friday. He says he took the list down when he got complaints. The principal says he discussed the matter with Marshfield Schools Superintendent and he will use a different motivational approach in the future.
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