Top Stories, March 17th & 18th

St. Baldrick’s Day Observed At BDHS

3/18/10 - Good Karma Broadcasting's Pat Sullivan and Craig Warmbold joined over 40 people at the Beaver Dam High School yesterday in shaving their heads. It was part of the St. Baldrick's Day fundraiser for children's cancer research. Shavees included members of the community, school staff and students, both male and female... many of them senior girls with long beautiful hair who are just a few short months away from prom and graduation. Autumn Slosser, who raised the most money at nearly $2000, said she doesn't care what her hair looks like at graduation because the gown's are ugly anyway. Associate Principal Deb Lins said she would sport a fluorescent mohawk if students raised over $10,000,and she kept her word. The final numbers may come in closer to $20,000. St. Baldrick's Day started ten years ago as a way for a couple co-workers to raise $17,000 and since that time its spread to 50 states and 24 countries raising over $69 million.  You can see a photo montage of the day's events here.

Fox Lake Must Build Basin
 PFC Moves Forward With Police Chief Hiring
3/18/10 - “Fines will be substantial and it will be extremely painful for the City of Fox Lake.” That was the message from the Attorney Generals office during a joint meeting with the state DNR and representatives of Fox Lake yesterday. The city is under a court order to build an equalization basin in an effort to avoid bypassing the wastewater treatment plant during times of heavy water flow. However, the city council voted last month against accepting a bid to do the project citing, among other things, cost concerns. In its place the committee put together an alternative plan which was presented at the meeting yesterday. According to those in attendance, the state’s reaction to the plan was less than underwhelming, and they made it clear that unless the city complies with the court order fines in the thousands of dollars could be headed their way. In reaction to the news, city officials say they will attempt to resuscitate a bid from Town and Country to build the basin, which has an estimated cost of over a million dollars. If they are unable to do that they must restart the bidding process. The city is also holding out hope that they could still be awarded money from the Community Development Block Grant program, which would help in paying for the basin.

3/18/10 - The Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission are moving forward with finding a replacement for Police Chief Dale Boldt, who announced his retirement earlier this month. After formally accepting Boldt’s retirement last night, the Commission voted to ask the city’s Administrative Committee for money to hire firm to conduct the search. Boldt’s last day on the job will be May 16.

Nass Appears Before Special Committee

3/18/10 - One Wisconsin state lawmaker says state Representative Jeff Wood is actually lucky that all he faces is expulsion and criminal charges. Representative Steve Nass was appearing before the Special Committee on Ethics. That panel is considering a motion from Nass to expel Wood, after he was arrested three times in one year on suspicion of driving under the influence. One of those arrests was in Columbia County. During the hearing, Nass faced questions from attorney John Hyland, who is representing Wood. Hyland asked Nass why a lawmaker should be expelled when he’s only been charged with a crime, and not convicted. Nass says an expulsion does not require the same level of evidence that’s needed in criminal proceedings. He says videos taken during Wood’s arrests already exhibits poor conduct that should justify throwing him out of office. The Committee could vote on the expulsion resolution as early as next week.

Unemployment Back In Double Digits

3/18/10 - Unemployment is up in all 12 of Wisconsin’s metro areas and all 72 counties. According to the state workforce development agency, local jobless figures for January we up by over one percent in every county in our listening area. Forty-four (44) counties had rates above 10%. Dodge County among them, jumping from 9.2% to 10.6%. Columbia County was at 10.1%. Jefferson County was at 10.3%. Green Lake County 11.4%. Fond Du Lac and Washington County’s stayed below double digits at 9.9% and 9.3%, respectively. The Janesville metro area, which includes Beloit, continues to have the highest unadjusted jobless rate at 12.8%. Madison is the lowest with 6.3%. Rusk County in northwest Wisconsin had the highest unemployment among the 72 counties with 14.3%. Iron County was a close second at 13.8%. Beloit had the highest city jobless rate at 18.3%. Caledonia in Racine County had the lowest, at four-point-three. The state recently said Wisconsin gained 56-hundred jobs in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

DCB Chair Salary Unchanged

3/18/10 - The Dodge County Board chairman will continue to draw a $12,000 salary. Paul Marose and Eugene Wurtz were the only Supervisors that voted against maintaining the wages this week. Debate prior to the vote centered primarily on the great job that Russ Kottke has been doing in the position and the amount of time he spends above and beyond tending to county matters. Supervisor Robert Ballweg, who voted in favor of the resolution, made a point to clarify that the vote was for the position, not the person. An amendment by Supervisor Marose to reduce the salary to $8000 was defeated 29-6.

Columbus LED Grant Not A Done Deal

3/18/10 - The Columbus receipt of a Block Grant for L E D street lighting is NOT a done deal. A notification letter from the Wisconsin D. O. C. was the subject of concern at this week’s joint meeting of the Water and Light Commission and the City Council. Commissioners had reservations about a number of changes between the grant application and the stipulations in the letter. There were changes in the amount of the grant, an early project start time, questions on future maintenance costs and a lack of confirmation as to what part of the projects costs would be paid by the City. Acceptance of the $159 thousand dollar Columbus LED grant will be contingent on continued negotiations this week.

Kreier’s Arraigned

3/18/10 - A Clyman couple accused of not feeding a preteen in their care entered “not guilty” pleas during an arraignment hearing Wednesday. 45-year-old Kathryn Kreier is charged with Physical Abuse of a Child and 44-year-old Kenneth Kreier is charged with Failure To Act To Prevent Bodily Harm to a Child. According to the criminal complaint, refrigerators and cupboards in the home were locked for over a year. School officials were even prohibited from providing a hot lunch to the child, who was removed from the home in December of 2008 after a 20% loss in body weight. If convicted, Kenneth Kreier faces over twelve years in prison Kathryn could get up to 15 years.

County Approves Projects Totaling $54 Million

3/17/10 - The Dodge County Board yesterday approved plans to build $53 million worth of new construction. By a vote of 32-3, supervisors approved plans to move forward with a brand-new, 236-bed Clearview Long Term Care and Rehabilitation facility at a cost of $44.5 million. Clearview serves some of the county’s aging population as well as those with behavioral and mental health issues and also has one of only three brain injury rehabilitation centers in the state. The board also approved $8.4 million in upgrades to the Juneau Highway Department, albeit with seven dissenting votes. The project includes a maintenance and storage addition, new vehicle storage building and salt storage buildings, new fueling station and general clean-up. Some of the money to pay for Clearview will be generated from other counties that have residents at the facility, around $700,000. But the majority of the debt service for both Clearview and the High Department additions will come from the decades-old, half-percent sales tax. Supervisor Paul Marose voted against both projects because he says if sales tax revenue projections are wrong, the burden will shift to property taxes. The county has generated at least around $4 million in sales tax revenue for the past decade. For the next 20 years, roughly $2 million annually will be directed to these two projects. Construction on both projects will begin this summer and while some Clearview residents will be in a portion of new facility by the summer of next year, it will be the fall of 2012 before the entire project is complete.

BDHS Embraces St. Baldrick’s Day

3/17/10 - Beaver Dam High School Associate Principal Deb Lins will be sporting a fluorescent Mohawk today. The calendar may say St. Patrick’s Day, but communities around the world are also observing St. Baldrick’s Day, which is a fundraiser for children’s cancer research that was started 10 years ago and has since blossomed into an international event. High School teacher Carrie Ketchum says school staff and students, both male and female, have committed to raise funds and go under the razor. The fundraising goal for the high school was $5000, but Associate Principal Deb Lins took it one step further and said she would sport a fluorescent Mohawk if over $10,000 was raised. At last word, the high school has collected over $12,500. Lins will have to get a tattoo if the fundraising surpasses the $15,000 mark. The girls who donate will also be giving their hair to Locks-For-Love. WBEV-WXRO News Director Craig Warmbold is one of 42 people scheduled to be shaved this morning. The public is invite to watch the festivities, which take place on the high school campus between 10am and noon. Donation information is available at www.stbaldrick.org. To donate directly to the Beaver Dam High School fund, click on the “Find Events” tab.

Wyocena Couple Found Guilty Of Election Fraud

3/17/10 - If you own property in two communities, you cannot vote in both places in the same election. Louis and Janice Kwiatkowski learned that lesson, when a jury in Dane County found them guilty of felony election fraud. Officials said they cast absentee ballots for last April’s election in Wyocena, where they owned a summer home. And on Election Day, they cast ballots at their permanent home in the Dane County town of Blooming Grove. The statewide computerized voter list caught them voting a second time in Blooming Grove. At their trial Monday, Janice testified that the clerk in Wyocena never told them they couldn’t vote in both places. And she said the clerk agreed with her that the law had changed, to let them vote wherever they own property. The couple’s attorney said they never would have voted twice if they had gotten the correct information in Wyocena. But Wyocena clerk Almon Porter testified that he never suggested that the couple could vote a second time.

Arrest Made Following Violent Breaking and Entering

3/17/10 - Authorities are investigating an incident involving a man who kicked in a door and started a fight with the home owner. Dodge County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Kevin Hill says a suspect allegedly kicked in the door of a home on Burnett Ditch Road around 3:30am Tuesday morning. The home owner and the suspect, who knew each other, were involved in a struggle that resulted in the suspect being taken to the Beaver Dam hospital with minor injuries. Hill says the suspect that kicked in the door was alleging the home owner was involved in a crime that occurred 5 years ago. Charges against the suspect are pending and the case is still under investigation.

State Employee Numbers Below National Average

3/17/10 - Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance spokesman Todd Berry says there’s nothing particularly new about a report showing Wisconsin had 8.2 percent fewer state and local government employees per capita than the national average. That’s the good news. Berry says state workers in Wisconsin do have salary and benefit levels that are above average. The average salary for a Wisconsin state employee was $53,700, a little over four percent higher than the national average. In keeping with the state’s tradition of providing most services locally, over three-quarters of Wisconsin’s more than 283,000 public employees worked in local government.