Top Stories, July 29th

Jury Finds Waupun Man Guilty of Child Abuse

7/29/10 - A Dodge County jury found a Waupun man guilty Tuesday of burning a young child with a lit cigarette. After six hours of deliberation, the two-day trial ended with Daniel Bryan convicted of felony Child Abuse. The 8-year-old was burned last July as punishment for kicking Bryan during horseplay. The boy first told his mother that he got the injury from a fall out of a wagon, but later said the defendant blew on the end of his lit cigarette until it got “cherry red” then extinguished it on the boy’s right elbow. At trial, the boy switched his story back to a wagon fall. Dodge County District Attorney Bill Bedker countered with testimony from Dr. Barbara Knox, a child abuse expert from UW Children’s Hospital Madison, who examined photographs of the boy’s elbow injury and determined that the injury was definitely consistent with a cigarette burn. Bedker said that in light of the change in the boy’s story, Dr. Knox’s medical testimony was crucial. Bedker says the boy was naturally trying to protect the defendant but Dr. Knox is one of the foremost child abuse experts in the country and she said that this was a hold-on cigarette burn injury. The 34-year-old is free on bail pending a sentencing hearing which will be held within 90 days. Bryan faces up to eight years in prison.

Juveniles Charged With Shed Fire

7/29/10 - Columbus authorities say a fire that destroyed a large shed Tuesday night was started by two juveniles. Lieutenant Dennis Weiner says a witness identified the kids, who both later admitted being in the building and starting the fire. Weiner says the 13-year-old and 10-year-old were in the shed on North Ludington just before 9pm, lighting matches and sticking the hot tips into sheets of Styrofoam insulation. The two then lit some balled up plastic, which turned into a fiery liquid and spread quickly. They were not able to put out the flames and quickly exited the building. Weiner says the two walked downtown and watched as emergency responders headed to the fire. A witness provided a very specific description of the younger suspect, which led them to the older child. The shed is owned R&R Construction of Columbus and was filled with construction materials, building supplies and two antique vehicles. The building and its contents were a total loss. Both juveniles are being referred to Columbia County Juvenile Court on one count each of Negligent Handling of Burning Materials and Criminal Trespass. Additional charges are possible.

Horicon Adds Stop Sign Near John Deere

7/29/10 - Horicon Mayor Jim Grigg cast the tie-breaking vote this week to turn a one-way stop into a three-way stop at one of the busier intersections in the city. Citing years of complaints from residents about the speed and noise of trucks coming and going from John Deere, the city approved the placement of stops signs going north and south at the intersection of Vine Street and East Maple Street. Prior to the vote a number of John Deere employees spoke against the placement saying the stopping and starting of the trucks would create more noise and possibly damage Vine Street, which was just resurfaced. Congestion during shift changes was also mentioned.

Kennedy on Flooding

7/29/10 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy told the Operations Committee this week that the city is fortunate to have come through the recent round of rains with minimal problems. He says when you get a lot of rain in a short amount of time, there is going to be localized flooding. Less than a half dozen streets were identified as having traditional flooding problems. The mayor says a flooded street is an inconvenience that eventually goes away but officials will do everything that can be done to deal with issue. He says the job of the city is to eliminate flood damage to private property and prioritize repairs and upgrades as time and money allows. The recently implemented Storm Water Utility was mentioned as a new way to help fund flood-control projects in the future.

Madison Street Guard Rail Update

7/29/10 - City officials in Beaver Dam plan to discuss the safety of the guard rails on the Madison Street Bridge later this year. A woman drove her vehicle off the bridge and into the river below on Sunday, the latest of several such accidents. Operations Committee Chair Laine Meyer says if there was a true problem it would have been addressed as part of yearly inspections by the DOT. He says though it could always be better. The city is also trying to see if designs that are currently in the works for the Center Street Bridge can be integrated into a redesign of the Madison Street Bridge, which Meyer says could save a fair amount of design dollars. In the meantime, Director of Facilities David Stoiser says the damaged guard rail is being repaired. He says they plan on staggering the posts of the guardrail so that they don’t keep getting replaced on the same section of repaired concrete. The matter is expected to be revisited when city officials begin work on next year’s budget.

White Hired As Associate Principal

7/29/10- The Beaver Dam School Board approved the hiring of a new associate high school principal this week. Superintendent Steve Vessey says Nicole White will join Bill Greymont and Mary Klawitter as associates to new principal Mark DiStefano. White was most recently in the Cambria-Friesland School District and Vessey says much of her work will involve getting the upperclassmen ready for post-secondary education and implementing the districts initiatives to improve AP and ACT test scores.

Business Break-In Reported

7/29/10 - Authorities are investigating a vandalism report at a Town of Beaver Dam business. According to the Dodge County Sheriff Department, an employee at Don Cigelske Transmission reported that a window at the Madison Street businesses had been broken Monday night or Tuesday morning. Nothing was missing from inside. There were also four customer vehicles that were broken into. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department or the anonymous We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

Bankruptcy Filings Up

7/29/10 - The number of Wisconsinites filing for bankruptcy keeps growing. Just over 16-thousand bankruptcy petitions were filed in federal courts in the first half of this year. That’s 16-percent more than the same period a year ago, when just under 14-thousand claimed bankruptcy. Eighty-two percent of the new cases were filed under Chapter-Seven – which lets individuals wipe out consumer debts like medical bills and credit card balances. The increase in Wisconsin bankruptcies was slightly higher than the national trend. The American Bankruptcy Institute said consumer filings rose 14-percent from January-through-June. The institute blames rising consumer debts, lower savings rates, high unemployment, and the recent housing slump.