Top Stories July 6th

Waupun Fire Caused by Spontaneous Combustion


7/6/10 - Authorities in Waupun say spontaneous combustion is thought to be the cause of a fire that damaged a home on the Fourth of July. It happened around 7:40 p.m. at home on Hawthorne Drive. The owner of the home, Dan Domask, told officials that they had been staining a deck and had taken the rags out of the garage and put them into a plastic garbage can next to the home. Fire Chief Jeff Berry says the heat generated from the sun beating on the garbage can caused the rags to spontaneously combust, setting the garbage can on fire which spread to the home. Firefighters were able to knock the flames down relatively quickly but the home suffered moderate damage and the garage was heavily damaged. The family was not home at the time of the fire and no one was injured.

Fire Damages Home in Washington County

7/6/10 - A second fire in as many days in Washington County has left two families without a home. It happened yesterday afternoon at a tri-level building in the Town of Addison just east of Highway 41. Officials say the fire on Cherokee Court apparently started in the garage around 2pm. The owners of the building, Robert and Dawne Riegler, were home at the time and got out safely, though Dawne was taken to the hospital for treatment of some minor burns. Another couple with a pair of young children also live in the building but were not there when the fire started. The fire destroyed, among other items, a boat, mini-van and compact car. Officials believe more than half the home was salvaged but it’s currently not livable. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The blaze was the second major fire in the town of Addison in the past 36-hours. Two buildings on a Beaver Dam Road farm were destroyed on Sunday.

Smoking Ban into Its Second Day

7/6/10 - It’s Day-Two of Wisconsin’s statewide work-place smoking ban – and taverns and restaurants are finding it awkward to adjust. Milwaukee bartender Caleb Rozina said he never got any directions on how to regulate it. His place was only open for three minutes yesterday before he had to tell a smoker to go outside. The law requires building owners to post no-smoking signs, ask smokers to go outside, and refuse to serve anyone who’s lighting up. Business violators will get warnings, and then face fines of up to 100-dollars-a-day. Health agencies are also involved in enforcement. Allison Miller of the American Cancer Society says her group hopes businesses will consider the new law an opportunity to appeal to a larger base of customers. Some bars hope higher food sales will off-set their possible loss of drinkers who light up. The law was passed over a year ago, and bartender Rozina says there’s nothing that can be done now. But in his words, “It’s ironic that the day after Independence Day, we get our freedoms revoked.” Wisconsin is the 28th to have a statewide public indoor smoking ban.

WI Residents Looking to Avoid Bankruptcy Try Another Option

7/6/10 - More of Wisconsin’s financially-squeezed residents are turning to a little-used option for relief that avoids bankruptcy. It’s called “Chapter 128,” the state’s debt amortization law. It’s been around since the 1930’s, and it’s generally been used for small business receiverships until individual debtors started using it in the last decade. Courts must approve them, but judges let attorneys and non-licensed trustees set up the details. Basically, a debtor chooses non-secured debts to consolidate – like credit card balances and past-due electric bills – and those payments are spread over three years, with a trustee’s or attorney’s fee added in. And it stops things like late fees and utility shut-offs.

Public Asked to Help Enforce Phosphorus Ban

7/6/10 - State officials say they'll count on the public to help enforce a new law that bans phosphorus from dish detergents. The law took effect at the start of July. It was proposed by outgoing Assembly Democrat Spencer Black of Madison, to keep phosphorus out of Wisconsin lakes where it can cause damage from algae. Brock Burgey of the Consumer Protection Bureau says officials will respond to complaints, and contact the offending dish-soap manufacturers. And inspectors could make surprise visits to stores if there are widespread violations. But Amber Meyer Smith of the group Clean Wisconsin does not expect an enforcement problem. That's because a dozen other states also ban phosphorus from dish detergents. And Meyer-Smith believes most soap-makers have already removed the chemical.

Children Found Safe After Amber Alert

7/6/10 - Three missing children who were the subject of a statewide Amber Alert were found safe yesterday in Kenosha County. Milwaukee Police and the State Patrol said the kids were thought to be in danger after being taken by their mother, 34-year-old Lavatta Smith. Police learned that the kids – a 9-year boy and two girls ages 4-and-7 – were missing while they investigated a garage fire Sunday night at their home on Milwaukee’s west side. Police Chief Ed Flynn said the house was un-inhabitable, with no food or clothes. Flynn said it was later learned that Smith might be mentally ill. The state Justice Department issued an Amber Alert yesterday for Smith and the missing kids. A motorist saw Smith’s vehicle and called 9-1-1, and the State Patrol stopped the car as it was heading north on Interstate-94 near Kenosha. Police said the children would be interviewed by detectives, and undergo mental evaluations. Smith was arrested as the subject of an Amber Alert, but no other details were available.

YMCA Demolition Gets Underway Today

7/6/10 - Crews today will begin to mobilize for the demolition of the old YMCA in Beaver Dam. That’s according to the schedule of Sun Prairie Sand and Gravel, who will begin capping utilities and removing fixtures this week. Hazmat abatement is planned for next week, followed by materials disposal. The demolition of concrete structure is planned to begin the week of July 26 and will be followed by backfilling of crushed concrete and supplemental fill. Grading of the site for drainage is planned for the week of August 4. The project is anticipated to be completed no later than August 11. Sun Prairie Sand and Gravel is being paid $140,000. A new $5.1 million police station is planned for property.

Army to Give DNR Land

7/6/10 - A ceremony will be held Friday at the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant near Baraboo. Governor Jim Doyle will be on hand, as the Army will give just over half of the 73-hundred-acre site to the state D-N-R. The state will use the land for recreational purposes, and to connect the nearby Devils Lake State Park to the Wisconsin River. But officials say no recreation will be allowed until the Army cleans up the site. The plant’s biggest and most polluted structures are still there. Critics say polluted groundwater continues to spread from the site, although the Army says it has spent a lot to get it under control. The military has spent about 120-million-dollars to prepare the land for other uses. The site used to be the Army’s biggest maker of ammunition. More than 10-thousand people worked there in World War Two. But in 1975, the plant shut down a couple years after the Vietnam War ended. The plant’s future was hotly debated – but it was decided a few years ago to split it up for non-military purposes. The Ho-Chunk Nation has about 15-hundred acres for raising bison and preserving rare plants. The U-S Dairy Forage Research Center has about 21-hundred acres where cattle are studied. Ellen Pierce of the D-N-R says the Army will forever be the responsible party for pollution, even if new problems turn up in the future.