Top Stories July 5th

4th of July Fire Destroys Two Buildings in Washington Co.


7/5/10 - Fire completely destroyed a barn and adjacent metal shed on Beaver Dam Road in the Town of Addison early yesterday morning. Washington County Sheriff’s officials say Allenton firefighters and firefighters from seven other departments were able to bring the fire under control in less than an hour. Officials say all of the items in the buildings, including some farm equipment and bales of hay, were a complete loss. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Piel Sentenced to Jail Time

7/5/10 - An 18-year-old Waupun man accused of taking items from cars and slashing some above-ground pools in both Dodge and Fond du Lac Counties will spend at least 120 days in jail. Justin Piel was sentenced in Dodge County Court to the jail term, 40 hours of community service and will have to make restitution. He and 19-year-old Aaron Baley of Beaver Dam committed the crimes last year. Baley got 10 days in jail and 40 hours of community service. Piel still has to be sentenced in Fond du Lac County Court on charges stemming from the crimes. (KFIZ, Fond du Lac)

Knaup Charged with 2007 Break-in

7/5/10 - A former Beaver Dam man has been charged with an April 2007 break-in. Timothy Knaup faces two counts of Burglary and Theft along with a misdemeanor count of Intentionally Pointing A Firearm. The 47-year-old is accused of breaking into a home on the 100 block of Edgevale Circle. The home owner reportedly came home and interrupted the burglar, who was armed with a small handgun. He ordered the homeowner at gunpoint to go into a different room, and fled the residence. In a separate case, Knaup was sentenced to five years in prison last year for pointing a loaded gun at police officers who were called to his residence by a child who feared for her mother’s safety. A 7-year-old girl called 9-1-1 to report that her father was going crazy and that he might kill her mother. Officers safely removed the child and then located Knaup in the basement, with a beer in one hand and a loaded 22-caliber handgun in the other. After refusing to surrender the weapon, which was cocked, officers deployed their Tazer gun and took him into custody. As of result of that felony conviction, his DNA was collected. The State Crime Lab recently connected that DNA to evidence left at the scene of the burglary. The case had been filed under the name “John Doe” but Timothy Knaup is now scheduled to make an initial appearance tomorrow in Dodge County court.

Statewide Smoking Ban Takes Effect Today

7/5/10 - Starting today, smokers have to take their habit outside. A new state law banning indoor smoking goes into effect. Stadiums like Lambeau Field are covered under the ban despite the wide sky overhead. Veterans who fought for the rights of others say it isn't fair that they can no longer light up in the veteran’s home at King. That home is responding by designating several outdoor smoking areas. The change is not as big a deal as it would have been 10 years ago. The number of adults who smoke has dropped 17 percent since then. Many Wisconsin cities have had bans in place for years, including Janesville, Kenosha and Madison. Wisconsin is the 28th state to put a comprehensive ban in place.

Kind: Reform Bill Will Protect Consumers

7/5/10 - Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind says the Wall Street reform bill passed by the House will protect consumers from bankers who have behaved like they are in a casino. Kind says those banking officials jeopardized the nation's economy by using complex derivatives. When Republican minority leader John Boehner of Ohio said the bill was like "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon," Kind said it was a "big ant." For now, the bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate. Democrat Russ Feingold has said he will vote against it because it does too little to correct abuses in the financial sector. Kind says the country can't wait for a perfect bill.

Changes Coming to School Funding System

7/5/10 - It will be awhile before you find out what the proposed changes in Wisconsin’s school funding system mean to you. But Beaver Dam Business Services Director Andrew Sarnow thinks it will be a positive for districts. Sarnow believes the plan recently unveiled by State Superintendent Tony Evers plan will address four issues with the current funding system, including making it more fair as well as more sustainable for the future. The current system funds state aid strictly on the property values of the particular district. Sarnow says there are a number of other avenues the state could take to fund schools, including possibly using sales or income taxes to supplement the current property taxes. Legislators have been scrambling to find out what the changes would mean to each of the school systems in their districts. But Fiscal Bureau director Bob Lang says the analysis won’t be done until Evers provides some more details. The superintendent says he wants to generate public discussion about the matter, and then fill in the details in the budget proposal he’ll give to the governor’s office next fall.

Middle School Principal Charged with Possession of Child Porn

7/5/10 - Investigators say a former principal at Olson Middle School in Juneau County has acknowledged having an addiction to pornography. Thomas Reisenauer was charged with 11 counts of possession of child porn last week. An Internet filter on school computers tipped off officials who confronted. The Mauston School District had placed Reisenauer on administrative leave last March. He resigned in April. Police say the illegal pictures had been downloaded from the Internet and they did not involve any of the students at Olson Middle School.

Death Investigation in Beloit

7/5/10 - Beloit police are investigating the deaths of two people found in a car. Just after midnight Sunday, officers were called to the area on a report of gunshots. Inside the car they found the bodies of 27 year old Cortez Johnson and 24 year old Latoya Payton, both from Beloit. Autopsies will be conducted today to gather evidence in the crime.

Autopsy Scheduled for Inmate

7/5/10 - The Dane County Medical Examiner will do an autopsy for an inmate who died Saturday. The Juneau County Sheriff's Office reports Andy Hanson was found unresponsive in his cell early Thursday morning. He was taken to Hess Memorial Hospital, then transferred by Med Flight to UW Hospital. He died midday Saturday. The Sheriff's office says foul play is not suspected in the death though a thorough investigation is continuing.

DNR to Offer Wolf Alert Service

7/5/10 - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is offering a wolf alert service to people with pets -- or those interested in tracking wolf activity. The state's hunting dog training season opened last week and runs through August 31st. The alerts will come by e-mail if you sign up. You will be notified of wolf attacks on hunting dogs or pets. A link to a map of the attacks seen and details will be included. The DNR says wolves can have several rendezvous sites in the summer -- and they will defend them if hunting dogs come too near.

Police: Man Assaulted by Person with a Machete

7/5/10 - Two Rivers police say it looks like a 34 year old assault victim was hit by a person wielding a machete on sword. The emergency call came in Saturday morning at about 4 a.m. Officers say they found the victim on a nearby porch covered in blood. The man's name hasn't been released, but police are looking for more information about the attack. They say he had large cuts in his head, shoulders and arms that are consistent with a sword or machete.

Jury Returns Not Guilty Verdict in Dog Hanging Case

7/5/10 - Circumstantial evidence wasn't enough for the jury. It took only two hours of deliberations to clear a 21 year old Sheboygan man of hanging a dog by its collar. James DeGroff's DNA had been found on the dog's collar, but an investigation that took nine months never produced any direct evidence linking him to the crime. DeGroff's attorney says his client's DNA was on the collar because he had stayed overnight at the dog owner's house. The attorney says there were two additional DNA samples on that collar.