Waupun Police Search For Missing Teen
3/13/10 - The Waupun Police Department is looking for a 13-year-old girl who is considered to be endangered. Natacia Lynn Owens was last seen April 9. Authorities do not believe she was abducted. Owens is a white female with brown hair and brown eyes, five feet three inches tall, 155 pounds last seen wearing black jeans, a black sweat shirt with white stripes, white tennis shoes and a pendant that says “Hope, Faith.” She may be in need of medical attention. State and local law enforcement agencies have been notified along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Waupun Police Department at 324-7911.
Train Victim IDed
3/13/10 - Authorities have identified the man killed when he was hit by a train Saturday afternoon in the Town of Theresa as 45-year-old Robert Koepsel of Jackson. Dodge County Sheriff’s Captain Molly Soblewski says Koepsel and 41-year-old Steven Charles were walking on the tracks to access a fishing location when they heard the train. They turned around and headed back to the pedestrian crossing. However, realizing they were not going to make it back in time Charles jumped off the tracks and landed safely in a marshy area below. When deputy’s arrived on scene they found Koepsel on the other side of the tracks where he was pronounced dead by the Medical Examiner. The investigation into the incident continues.
Annual Conservation Congress Held
4/13/10 - Close to 50-people attended the Wisconsin Conservation Congress annual meeting in Horicon last night. Topics during the meeting, which was held jointly with the DNR’s Spring Hearings, ranged from how the DNR Secretary is appointed, the troubling decrease in young hunters, and the well publicized controversy over the deer heard size. Dodge County Delegation Chair Dale Maas says our area was one of only two deer management zones where the over winter population goal was reduced. Maas also questioned how the DNR Secretary is appointed. In the past the position was filled by the Natural Resources Board. However, most recently that job has fallen to the Governor something Maas says could lead to the current situation in which the Secretary doesn’t have a wildlife management background. A discussion about a lack of youth hunters also drew attention at the meeting with Maas saying the future of conservation relies upon getting younger people involved. A couple of the 96 advisory questions those in attendance voted on included adding another 2-years to the age range for youth hunting turkey and deer from its current level of 10-year-olds to 15-year-olds. The results from last night’s voting will be passed on to the Natural Resources Board with the possibility of them being voted on by the Legislature later this year.
Columbus School Board Approves Staff Reductions
4/13/10 - Columbus School Board President Jerry Gaska told the Board last night that he felt the Administration had done their job in proposing a balanced budget with $308 thousand dollars in staff reductions for the 2010-2011 school year. Gaska said cuts being made did not signal the end of any particular program and that proposed reductions had been evenly distributed across school disciplines during his nine years on the Board. The major reductions passed by board were in Middle School and High School Special Ed, Social Studies and Music. Exact reduction amounts could be changed by retirements or state aid totals before next October.
WI Tax Burden No Longer in Top 5
4/13/10 - All three major candidates for Wisconsin governor now say they won’t raise taxes in next year’s state budget. And both top Republican hopefuls – Scott Walker and Mark Neumann – both promise to cut taxes as soon as possible and never raise taxes during their terms. The only major Democrat in the race, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, limits his pledge only to next year’s budget and says the G-O-P promises to cut taxes are unrealistic. All three also vowed to cut state spending, but would not say where. Their comments were in response to a Journal Sentinel report from Sunday which said Wisconsin’s total tax burden has dropped from the five-highest in the nation to 14th. But the report also said middle class homeowners were squeezed more than any other state, mainly because they pay a much higher share of property taxes than they used to. Barrett says he’d love to cut taxes, but he says the total tax burden compared to income is the smallest since 1961. And he says the state cannot afford tax cuts since the next budget could start with more than a two-billion-dollar deficit. Walker says he’d cut spending by out-sourcing some state government services – just like he did as Milwaukee County’s Executive. Neumann says one way to cut spending is to reduce state mandates on local governments and schools.
Annual Conservation Congress Held
4/13/10 - Close to 50-people attended the Wisconsin Conservation Congress annual meeting in Horicon last night. Topics during the meeting, which was held jointly with the DNR’s Spring Hearings, ranged from how the DNR Secretary is appointed, the troubling decrease in young hunters, and the well publicized controversy over the deer heard size. Dodge County Delegation Chair Dale Maas says our area was one of only two deer management zones where the over winter population goal was reduced. Maas also questioned how the DNR Secretary is appointed. In the past the position was filled by the Natural Resources Board. However, most recently that job has fallen to the Governor something Maas says could lead to the current situation in which the Secretary doesn’t have a wildlife management background. A discussion about a lack of youth hunters also drew attention at the meeting with Maas saying the future of conservation relies upon getting younger people involved. A couple of the 96 advisory questions those in attendance voted on included adding another 2-years to the age range for youth hunting turkey and deer from its current level of 10-year-olds to 15-year-olds. The results from last night’s voting will be passed on to the Natural Resources Board with the possibility of them being voted on by the Legislature later this year.
Columbus School Board Approves Staff Reductions
4/13/10 - Columbus School Board President Jerry Gaska told the Board last night that he felt the Administration had done their job in proposing a balanced budget with $308 thousand dollars in staff reductions for the 2010-2011 school year. Gaska said cuts being made did not signal the end of any particular program and that proposed reductions had been evenly distributed across school disciplines during his nine years on the Board. The major reductions passed by board were in Middle School and High School Special Ed, Social Studies and Music. Exact reduction amounts could be changed by retirements or state aid totals before next October.
WI Tax Burden No Longer in Top 5
4/13/10 - All three major candidates for Wisconsin governor now say they won’t raise taxes in next year’s state budget. And both top Republican hopefuls – Scott Walker and Mark Neumann – both promise to cut taxes as soon as possible and never raise taxes during their terms. The only major Democrat in the race, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, limits his pledge only to next year’s budget and says the G-O-P promises to cut taxes are unrealistic. All three also vowed to cut state spending, but would not say where. Their comments were in response to a Journal Sentinel report from Sunday which said Wisconsin’s total tax burden has dropped from the five-highest in the nation to 14th. But the report also said middle class homeowners were squeezed more than any other state, mainly because they pay a much higher share of property taxes than they used to. Barrett says he’d love to cut taxes, but he says the total tax burden compared to income is the smallest since 1961. And he says the state cannot afford tax cuts since the next budget could start with more than a two-billion-dollar deficit. Walker says he’d cut spending by out-sourcing some state government services – just like he did as Milwaukee County’s Executive. Neumann says one way to cut spending is to reduce state mandates on local governments and schools.
Plans Underway For Record-Setting Halloween Horse Parade
4/13/10 - The Dodge County Boots and Saddle Club is planning another Halloween Horse Parade this year. The Club’s Rob Kocinski obtained preliminary approval of the parade route from the Beaver Dam Operations Committee last night to host the event on Halloween, in the hours before trick-or-treating would start. He says momentum has been building since the Club held the first Halloween Parade in 2008, which included 200 horses stretching over three miles in length. Three times that many horses are planned for this year, and Kocinski says if they reach the goals, they would be contacting the Guinness Book Of World Records. The money that is raised will benefit the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation of North Dakota, the poorest reservation in the country. Parade organizers will soon be meeting with the Department of Public Works, Police and Fire officials and members of the Operations Committee to iron out the parade route, which currently crosses 47 city intersections. The Halloween Horse Parade is scheduled for October 31 beginning at 12:30pm.
Written Sidewalk Policy In The Works
4/13/10 - The Beaver Dam Operations Committee last night asked the city engineer to draft a written policy for sidewalk installation, specifically as it relates to property owners seeking to complete the work themselves. The issue came up during a recent public hearing when members of a church requested that their parishioners, who are also professional concrete workers, perform the installation work. The church council later retracted the request, but the Operations Committee felt the policy needed to be clarified. Engineering Coordinator Ritchie Piltz says unwritten policy has always allowed property owners to have the work done themselves as long as the sidewalk is completed to the appropriate specifications by the time the city advertises for bid. That whole process could take up to a year. Piltz says the issue seldom comes up anyway because it’s typically not cost-effective to hire a private contractor. The written policy is expected to state that all requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Current policy already requires that sidewalks be installed with all new construction or reconstruction.
BDAAA Phone-A-Thon Tonight
4/13/10 - You might be getting a phone call tonight from the Beaver Dam Area Arts Association. Executive Director Karla Jensen says volunteers with the non-profit will be conducting a patron drive this evening. Admission to the Seippel Arts Center is free, and Jensen says hundreds of out of town guests and area residents utilize the Center without ever being asked to provide financial support. She hopes the phone-a-thon will motivate those who enjoy art in the Dodge County area to make a contribution so the Arts Association can regain their financial footing. Jensen says without community support, there are several opportunities for youth, families and seniors that could potentially disappear. Select residents in Dodge and Columbia Counties and the surrounding area will be getting phone calls from the Arts Association tonight between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. It’s the only phone-a-thon currently scheduled for the Arts Association, but Jensen says anyone could be a patron member year round by contacting the Seippel Homestead and Center for the Arts.
Vote Today On Text Messaging Ban
4/13/10 - The Wisconsin Senate could take a final vote Tuesday on banning text-messaging while driving. The Senate approved a ban last fall, but the Assembly voted in January to adopt higher fines for texting behind-the-wheel – and senators are now being asked to go along with them. The Assembly bill would create fines of 100-to-400-dollars for a first offense, and up to 800-dollars for second or subsequent offenses within a year. The Assembly bill also bans e-mailing behind-the-wheel – but unlike the earlier Senate ban, it does allow drivers to text if they’re parked or pulled over. Last month, the Senate Transportation Committee deadlocked on the Assembly measure. But the panel’s chairman let the bill advance to the Senate floor anyway. Lawmakers only have nine more days to pass dozens of bill that are still pending. Those which don’t pass are dead at least until next year.
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