Top Stories August 25th

Authorities Looking for Witnesses of Fatal Accident


8/25/10 - The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the publics help with their investigation into a fatal motorcycle accident that killed a Beaver Dam man last Monday. 57-year-old Craig Conway of Beaver Dam died in the mishap, which occurred in the afternoon hours of August 16th on Highway 16 near Ixonia. According to their initial investigation authorities said a semi-truck made a “U”-turn in front of Conway’s motorcycle and the two collided. Now Sheriff Paul Milbrath is asking that vehicles following Conway’s bike and other witnesses come forward to help in their investigation. The driver of the truck, 39-year-old Jeremy Pearce of South Carolina, is charged with Homicide by Negligent Use of a Vehicle. He’s due in court for his preliminary hearing on Thursday.

Accountability at the Top of the List

8/25/10 - New Beaver Dam Superintendent Steve Vessey is touting accountability as he begins his first school year on the job. Vessey says first and foremost will be accountability in the classroom, where they’ve developed a data dashboard that will show the academic progress currently in the district, what the goals are, and a timeline to achieve those goals. That data will be published each year to show where the district is. He also says as Superintendent he intends to evaluate other administrators in the district every year, something that many say hasn’t been happening under former leadership. Vessey also intends to be accountable to the community and plans to do so by holding question and answer sessions at local establishments on a regular basis and doing a monthly radio program where the phone lines will be open to ask any questions the public may have. For more information on those events you can contact Vessey’s office. The first day of the new school year in Beaver Dam is next Wednesday.

Fox Lake Looking for Man Who Allegedly Assaulted Teens

8/25/10 - Authorities in Fox Lake are looking for a man that may have sexually assaulted numerous teenage girls. Police Chief Jim Rohr says they took a complaint about 10-days ago of a 13-year-old girl having been touched inappropriately by a 21-year-old man. Through their investigation it appears there may be other victims. Rohr says victims being targeted are girls between the age of 13 and 16. It’s believed the suspect is driving a blue or green Mustang. Anyone with information about the case or the suspect is asked to contact the Fox Lake Police Department.

Solutions Sought for Residents in Columbus

8/25/10 - Columbus residents along Second Ward Creek have lived with “high water” problems for years. Last night the City, and some of the home owners along the Creek, heard a report on a Storm Water Study underway to determine what can be done to prevent the wet basements, sandbagged yards, and property damage caused by heavy rains and flash flooding. The Columbus Council heard from City Engineer Jason Lietha who is conducting

a detailed topographical survey of Second Ward Creek and developing a hydrology model to find out causes of the frequent high water episodes. Property owners have attended Council meetings over the past two months with reports of property losses and theories on how to fix the high water problems. The process of talking to home owners along the Creek has already begun. The Council is hoping to receive a report on the Study in October. However, any major City and DNR fix is not likely to get underway till 2011.

Federal Funds for Stem Cell Research Withheld

8/25/10 - The federal government has withheld 70-million-dollars in upcoming grants for embryonic stem cell research in Wisconsin and elsewhere. That’s after Federal Judge Royce Lamberth ordered a halt to the funding on Monday. U-W Madison – the pioneer of embryonic research – gets about five-million federal dollars a year for its work. The Medical College of Wisconsin near Milwaukee gets up to three-million-dollars. Stephen Duncan of the Medical College says he has doctoral candidates working with embryonic stem cells that will have to be halted. And Duncan says some of Wisconsin’s top scientists could be stolen by states like California – where voters approved three-billion-dollars in state funds a couple years ago to become a worldwide leader in the field. Wisconsin Right-to-Life hailed the judge’s ruling, which the Justice Department says it will appeal.

Railroad Improvements in Dodge County

8/25/10 - The Union Pacific Railroad is improving 40-miles of tracks from Milwaukee to near Lebanon in Dodge County. The company said the first of two projects began last week, and will be finished in just over three months. The total cost is over nine-million dollars. Over 33-thousand new railroad ties are being installed. Almost 25 miles of rails are being replaced. And surfaces are being replaced at 57 crossings. The Union Pacific serves almost two dozen states in the western two-thirds of the U-S.

Credit Unions Struggle

8/25/10 - Six of the 10 largest credit unions in Wisconsin saw their net incomes go down in the first half of this year, compared to the same time in 2009. But all 10 finished in the black. And new state records show that some made money. The Royal Credit Union of Eau Claire had the biggest increase in net income on a percentage basis – 196-percent. The Community First Credit Union of Appleton had a 100-percent jump in its net income. The U-W Credit Union in Madison had the largest drop – from seven-point-eight million dollars the previous year to three-point-four-million for the last period. The Landmark Credit Union of New Berlin has regained its spot at the state’s largest facility, based on its total assets of over one-and-a-half billion dollars.

Fall River Among Schools Getting Funds

8/25/10 - The Fall River School District is among 48 public and private schools getting more than $750,000 in federal funds over the next two years for school breakfast programs. Grants range from $1,400 to $41,000 per school or district. Fall River will be getting over $19,000. St. Jerome School in Columbus is slated to receive $4500. Poynette will get just over $9300 while Waterloo is in line to receive $2500. Jon Janowski, Director of Advocacy for the Hunger Task Force, says the money is sorely needed as the economic downturn has more families qualifying for the reduced meal program. He says families that previously would not have considering taking part, are now signing up. Wisconsin still ranks near the bottom in terms of the number of qualified kids participating in school breakfast programs as well as the number of schools offering both school lunch and breakfast. However Janowski says the state has been “making gains” in the past ten years.

Mayville K9 Frankie Dies

8/25/10 - The Mayville Police Department has lost their K-9 dog. Frankie, who had been with the department since 2003, died on Saturday from an untreatable form of cancer that was diagnosed earlier this year. A visitation for Frankie is being held today from 11 a-m to 1 p-m at the Mayville Pavilion. Immediately following that a service will be held to honor Frankie’s service to the community. At the conclusion of the service, burial will take place at Rienzi Pet Cemetery in Fond du Lac. Officials say the public is invited to attend the visitation and ceremonies.

Mega Million Jackpot at $115M

8/25/10 - Nobody won the 115-million-dollar Mega Millions’ jackpot last night, so it goes up to 133-million for the next drawing on Friday night. No Wisconsin players won the quarter-million-dollar second prize, either. Friday night’s jackpot is the highest since April 20th. And it’s the 11th drawing for 100-million-dollars or more since the game started being played in Wisconsin in early February. Friday’s cash option is just over 92-million-dollars.