Top Stories October 19th

Cellar License Suspended for 30 Non-Consecutive Days


10/19/10 - The Beaver Dam Common Council last night approved a 30-day liquor license suspension for the Cellar after police say they responded to four fights there in five months. The resolution was amended on the council floor so that it will be 30 non-consecutive days spread out over two months. Five alderpersons voted against the suspension, many because it included a closure from yesterday, before the agreement was even approved. Alderman Robert Ballweg had a problem with that, but also took issue with the fact that the tavern’s point total was reduced to zero with last night’s action, which he says contradicts the ordinance. The suspension is the first one since the city enacted a demerit point system adopted last year to identify problem establishments and take action under state statute. Alderman Don Neuert chaired the committee that drafted the point system. He says he was pleased with the outcome because the council sent a message to other tavern’s without bankrupting the offender. Neuert also says the demerit point system should be revisited with the city’s next police chief to address any shortcomings. Cellar Manager David Dionysius says if the city had notified him that he was adding up points – which is required under the ordinance – then he might have been able to address some of the problems earlier. He also says it is unfair that some establishments are assessed points for fights while others are not. The Cellar will be closed on ten consecutive Mondays and Tuesday’s, along with four Saturday’s, three Sundays, two Thursdays and one Wednesday. Dionysius says his business will be able to survive the suspension, but it will be tough.

Common Council Sells Berm

10/19/10 - The Beaver Dam Common Council last night approved a plan to sell a berm at a nominal price to property owners near the new industrial park. The city installed the berm in 2008 during construction of the Lakeside Business Park off Highway 33 and Industrial Drive as part of a plan to shield the neighboring property owners in the Shady Oaks Estates. Maintenance issues had both sides questioning who should take care of the berm. The berm was originally seeded with maintenance-free wild prairie plants but they were mostly washed out after the heavy rains of ’08. Development Corp Vice President Trent Campbell says that led unforeseen issues, with noxious weeds mixed in with wildflowers, complaints from some property owners to mow the weeds, then complaints from the other property owners after the wildflowers were cut. The property owners then organized and worked with the city to find a solution. As part of the plan, the city will deed over the small parcel of the berm to the individual property owners. The $40,000 in TIF funds that were set aside for landscaping will now be directed to the property owners who will use it to plant wildflowers, minus the legal fees incurred by surveying the land. The Parks Department will no longer be burdened with the upkeep and the city will also have a little bit more taxable property. Campbell says it’s a win-win with the city ridding itself of a liability and future costs while the property owners take control of their own fate. There are 14 property owners abutting the berm and one opted out of the purchase so a neighbor instead purchased that parcel.

Bryan Sentenced For Child Abuse

10/19/10 - A Waupun man was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for burning a young child with a lit cigarette. In July, a Dodge County jury convicted Daniel Bryan of felony Child Abuse. The child was burned last year 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. Former 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 at the time that in light of the change in the boy’s story, Dr. Knox’s medical testimony was crucial. Bedker said 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 35-year-old was also sentenced to two years of extended supervision and ordered to undergo anger management counseling.

We Energies Says Heating Bills Lower

10/19/10 - Wisconsin’s largest natural gas provider says winter heating bills will drop for the third straight year, if the mild weather trend holds up. We Energies, which serves the southern half off Dodge County, says customers will pay 595-to-601-dollars to heat their homes if we get a repeat of last year’s mild winter – when folks paid about 25-dollars more. But if temperatures drop to normal, We Energies says heating bills will go up slightly, to just over 650-dollars for the six months starting November first. Either way, it’s a huge discount from a few years ago – when heating bills were above 800-dollars for four straight winters. But wholesale costs have taken a big drop since then – and Brian Manthey of We Energies says they’re lower than a year ago. Officials with Wisconsin Power-and-Light, which serves about 22,000 customers in Dodge County, say its natural gas customers will pay about the same as last year, if we get normal temperatures.

No Increase for Horicon School District Taxes

10/19/10 - Residents in the Horicon School District will not see an increase in their property taxes. The school board approved their $12.8-million budget last night with a mill rate of $9.99, the same as the current budget. That means a homeowner with a property worth $125,000 would pay nearly $1,250 for the school portion of their tax bill. The proposed budget passed on a 3-1 vote.

Poll: Walker with 9 Point Lead

10/19/10 - A major Wisconsin poll has Republican Scott Walker with a nine-point lead over Democrat Tom Barrett in the governor’s race. The Saint Norbert College-Wisconsin Public Radio poll has Walker with a 50-to-41-percent lead. Only six-percent were undecided, and 86-percent said it was not likely they’ll change their minds in the two weeks before the election. Just over 400 likely voters were surveyed last Tuesday through Friday. The poll has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus five percentage points. Both Walker and Barrett have highlighted their plans to create jobs. And a quarter of those in the Saint Norbert poll said jobs-and-the-economy determined who they’ll vote for.

AG Doesn’t Expect to Find Major Problems with Foreclosures

10/19/10 - Wisconsin’s attorney general does not expect to find major problems with the way foreclosures are handled in the state. J-B Van Hollen’s office is taking part in a national probe into allegations that banks signed foreclosure documents without ever reviewing them. But Van Hollen does not believe it’s a widespread problem in Wisconsin, because foreclosures are normally well-documented by the time they go through the court system. U-W Whitewater professor Russ Kashian agrees. He said Wisconsin did not have the build-up of cases that Nevada, California, and Florida had. Kashian says the paperwork is probably sound in Wisconsin – and if it’s not, it should be looked into. Bank-of-America recently halted foreclosures nationwide after reports that many home seizures were approved without the necessary reviews.