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Smith Jailed For OWI Injury, Faces Sex Charges

12/20/10 - A Beaver Dam woman will spend 100 days in jail for a drunk-driving accident that injured one person. Nicole A. Smith pleaded “no contest” on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of Causing Injury While Operating Under the Influence and had two other charges dismissed. Smith rear-ended a car in May that had slowed to enter a driveway on County Trunk W in the Town of Oak Grove. The 35-year-old had been taking the prescription drug Valium and had a blood alcohol level that was over the legal limit for driving at of point one-two (.12). In addition to 100 days in jail with Huber privileges, Smith had her license revoked for 18 months followed by 18 months with an ignition interlock device on her vehicle.

Smith will be back in court later this week on a felony charge that she exposed a minor to sexual activity. According to the criminal complaint, a high school age child allegedly used a cell phone to film Smith and another man engaging in sex on Thanksgiving Day. The cell phone was found at school and was taken as evidence. Smith told investigators the incident was a practical joke that is getting blown of out of proportion. A signature bond was set at $5000 earlier this month and Smith will be back in Dodge County court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison on the felony count plus another nine months on a bail jumping charge.

Chamber Warns Members of Scam

12/20/10 - The Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce is warning local chamber members of a possible scam. Executive Director Phil Fritsche says members have reported getting an unsolicited call from a company called “Paychecks.” The caller identifies themselves as a new chamber member and says they are contacting all chamber members to see how they do payroll and how they can help their fellow chamber members. Fritsche says “Paychecks” is not a chamber member, he is not aware of such a company. Fritsche says if member organizations are looking for tax and accounting services there are plenty of local company’s. He says you should contact the Chamber of Commerce for more information. Fritsche also says their website has a search feature that allows anyone to search for members by name.

Four Snowmobile-Related Injuries Reported Friday

12/20/10 - Four injuries were reported in three separate accidents involving snowmobiles Friday night. It happened within a four-hour period, starting just after 8pm when 21-year-old Daniel Wirth of Hartford crossed in front of the path of an eastbound passenger car on Highway 60. Wirth sustained serious injuries and was taken by helicopter to Froedtert Hospital. The 24-year-old Watertown man driving car was also injured and was taken to Hartford Hospital. About an hour later, 42-year-old Michael Steiner flipped his snowmobile on Fox Lake. Steiner had a leg injury and was treated and transported by Fox Lake EMS. The third snowmobile accident was reported to the Dodge County Sheriffs Department just before midnight by officials with Hartford Hospital. 29-year-old Ryan Dunn of Hartford sought treatment after reportedly striking a well pipe on private property in the Town of Rubicon.

Fox Lake Man Arrested For OWI, With Minors

12/20/10 - The Wisconsin State Patrol says a Fox Lake man was drunk when he was arrested Saturday night with two small children in the car. A trooper stopped a 2000 Dodge Durango on Highway 41 in Fond du Lac County just after 7pm for unsafe lane deviation. The 27-year-old driver was taken into custody while minor’s, ages four and six, were taken to the Fond du Lac State Patrol Headquarters, where they were picked-up by a family member.

DOJ Fine Collections Up

12/20/10 - The U-S Justice Department is collecting a lot more money from violators in criminal and civil cases. Ninety-four U-S attorney’s offices around the country took in almost six-point-seven billion dollars in penalty revenues in the last fiscal year. That’s up 45-percent from the previous year. In Wisconsin, U-S Attorney John Vaudreuil of Madison said his office collected four-million-dollars in criminal fines last year – and another two-point-eight million in civil penalties. That money stemmed from cases in the western half of Wisconsin, which includes Columbia and Jefferson counties. Vaudreuil said the collections are more important than ever due to the state of the economy – and he said those who try to profit from illegal activities will continue to be held accountable. The large collection increase was attributed to some large criminal restitutions, and major health care fraud cases. The western Wisconsin office also took in one-point-seven million dollars worth of forfeiture money and property seized in things like drug cases. Part of that money goes to local authorities.

Oshkosh Corp Secures $513M Contract

12/20/10 - The Oshkosh Corporation said Friday that the Army has ordered 513-million-dollars worth of Medium Tactical Vehicles. The National Guard will use them to transport soldiers, supplies, and equipment in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Just over two-thousand trucks and 16-hundred-50 trailers will be made in the latest order. They’ll start being delivered in November of 2011. The new order is part of a five-year contract for Oshkosh to build the vehicles and provide training-and-support services until the end of 2014.

Union Votes To Accept Contract Concessions

12/20/10 - Union workers at the Kohler Company are the latest to accept contract concessions in order to keep their jobs. Members of the United Auto Workers voted 62-to-38 percent yesterday to accept a five-year contract which freezes their wages. It also increases health costs, and pays new-and-temporary workers an average of 35-percent less. Kohler, a top maker of bathroom and kitchen fixtures, said the contract represented concessions on both sides. And spokesman Todd Weber said it would help Sheboygan County’s largest employer remain viable long into the future. The union’s leadership had recommended that the 22-hundred affected employees vote down the deal. Union president Dave Bergene said he believed their votes were based on how the contract affects them – and it was not an endorsement of management. Veteran worker John Keller said Kohler employees were getting quote, “plucked,” just like those at Harley-Davidson and Mercury Marine the past couple years. By accepting the pay freeze, the Kohler workers will get a pair of one-thousand-dollar bonuses over the next five years. Bergene said those bonuses probably swayed the vote, and future workers will pay the price. But C-E-O Herbert Kohler said the Sheboygan County operations would have kept shrinking had the contract been rejected. The county has lost one-fifth of its manufacturing jobs in the last three years.

Poverty On The Rise

12/20/10 - Poverty rates in most Wisconsin counties have gone up by over 10-percent since 2000. That’s according to the U-W Extension service, which found that there are 10 counties where at least 15-of-every-100 residents live below the poverty line. Menominee County – home of the Menominee Indian Reservation – has Wisconsin’s highest poverty rate at 28-point-nine percent. Sawyer County in the northwest is second at 19-point-six. Milwaukee and Forest counties are next at 18-percent. The others above 15-percent are Ashland, Burnett, Dunn, Florence, Rusk, and Vernon. Back in 2000, only two counties had poverty rates above 15-percent – Milwaukee and Menominee. The Milwaukee suburbs have the lowest poverty. Waukesha and Ozaukee counties are at four-point-one percent, and Washington County is at five-point-three. U-W Extension specialist Katherine Curtis says the numbers show that policy-makers should focus on several areas to improve economy – including living wages, health benefits, food security, and affordable housing. The Extension study compared poverty rates from the 2000 Census with those from a more recent Census survey that covered 2005-through-’09. Burnett County had the state’s largest increase in poverty in that time, jumping from nine-percent to 17. Bayfield County had the biggest drop by two-points to around 11-percent. Statewide, poverty rose almost two-and-a-half percent to 11-point-one.

School Boards Tackle Sweeping Changes

12/20/10 - A pair of local school boards will hear presentations tonight that could have a big impact on students. In Beaver Dam, high school administrators will present a plan to move from the current 4x4 block schedule to a modified block. The new plan would include different class lengths, year round math and foreign language, and fewer advisory periods. Also tonight, in Waupun, an ad-hoc committee will present their plan to reopen Fox Lake Elementary as a charter school. The building has been empty since the end of the 2008-2009 school year, when it was closed as a budget cutting measure by the district. Officials say the school will focus on agriculture and environmental studies, and reopening it would not have an impact on the district’s tax levy. The Beaver Dam meeting gets underway at 6:30 at the Educational Service Center, while Waupun will be holding their meeting in the lecture hall of Rock River Intermediate School.

Assessments Begin Today in Beaver Dam

12/20/10 - Property assessments in Beaver Dam begin Monday. Accurate Appraisal will revalue a quarter of the non-manufacturing properties in the city. City officials say in order to accomplish the inspections in a timely manner, it is important to give representatives with Accurate Appraisal ample opportunity to make a thorough inspection of your property. The assessment work is expected to take between two and three weeks to complete.

Kennedy Holds Listening Session

12/20/10 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy has listening sessions scheduled for Tuesday. Kennedy says city residents are invited to meet with him, one-on-one, without appointment on the first and third Tuesday of every month. He says it is important that constituents have the opportunity to speak with him the day after each regular meeting of the common council. The meetings are held in Room 109 on the first floor of City Hall from 10am until noon and again from 5pm to 6pm. Kennedy also makes himself available for private meetings by appointment by contacting the mayor office.