Top Stories December 12th

Storm Hits Wisconsin Hard


12/12/10 - Heavy snow and windy conditions caused power outages throughout Wisconsin, including in the Fall River area where nearly 2300 customers were without electricity for about an hour and half last night. This morning we are still under a Blizzard Warning through 6pm tonight, though the snow is beginning to taper off. Many area roads are snow covered and slippery, and Chuck Bernhard with the Dodge County Highway Department says the wind is also causing some issues in terms of drifting. Sheriff Todd Nehls is telling residents not to go out unless they have to, as the snow and windy conditions are causing near whiteout conditions in some areas of the county. He said his department has had to rescue people from their cars after they got stuck, while the wind is causing snow drifts a foot deep on some roads.

Meanwhile, heavy snow to the north of us has caused a stretch of I-94 between Tomah and Eau Claire to be shut down. Some places are reporting more than 18-inches of snow have fallen. We haven’t seen those types of accumulations here, but as of about 1-am, the National Weather Service reported 7-inches of snow had fallen in Beaver Dam, while Lomira had about 8-inches as of 10-pm last night. Hartford had 10-inches as of 5:45 this morning, and meteorologists say we could get an additional 1-2 inches today. We are also expecting wind gusts of 35 to 45-miles per hour that could lead to some roads becoming impassable. And while the snow will move out today, the temperature will drop significantly tonight, and we’ll struggle to reach double digits over the next two days.

Contracts Might Not Get Approved

12/12/10 - If Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature lose as many as two votes, passing union contracts for state workers won't happen. A vote is possible Wednesday. Democrats want to approve the deals during this week's possible lame duck session -- before Republicans assume control next month. Supporters say the current deals include more than 100 million dollars in concessions, no raises and they point out that the state workers have been without a contract for a year and a half. Committee hearings on the question will start Tuesday. As of late last week, at least three assembly Democrats told reporters they still needed some time to decide whether they would vote to approve or not.

Leaders React to Walker’s Comments on State Employee Unions

12/12/10 - Incoming legislative leaders react to the governor-elect’s tough talk toward state employee unions. Governor-elect Scott Walker suggested in Milwaukee earlier this week that he’d consider decertifying state employee unions if he can’t get concessions on health care and pension contributions. State representative Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon says he thinks there is a growing concern nationwide about the divide between the public sector and private sector employees and its something that needs to be discussed. His brother, state Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, however says decertification is not something he’s had any serious conversations about and that he thought Walker was saying that everything is on the table.

Officer Cleared in Monona Shooting

12/12/10 - No charges will be filed against a Monona police officer who shot a robbery suspect to death last week. Daniel Thomas had taken a 63 year old man hostage and was trying to get money from his account at the UW Credit Union. Thomas was shot to death as he rammed the SUV he was driving into a vehicle behind him, then into a squad car. The Dane County District Attorney's office says deadly force was called for to stop Thomas when he began using the vehicle as a deadly weapon. Inside the credit union, a teller recognized the hostage as a regular customer and mouthed the words, "Are you OK?" When the the hostage shook his head no, the teller began to slow the transaction and alerted a manager -- who called 9-1-1.

DNR Looking for Input on New Power Line

12/12/10 - The Department of Natural Resources is taking public input on plans for a power line in southwestern Wisconsin. That work could harm some rare turtles. American Transmission Company wants to do some maintenance work next month near Woodman Lake in Grant County. The Blanding's turtle lives in the area and the DNR has classified the turtle as threatened. The company has scheduled the work for this winter to avoid as many accident turtle deaths as possible, but the chance can't be eliminated.

Gray Wolves Could Be Moved Off Protected List

12/12/10 - The federal government says it will release details of its plans to remove gray wolves in the Great Lakes region from the endangered species list next spring. The final decision on the wolves’ status could be made by the end of the 2011. Scientists say the wolves have made a strong comeback in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, after being near extinction at one point. The government has tried to remove the wolf from federal protection three times in the last seven years. Each time a court challenge has stopped it.

Housing Numbers Misleading

12/12/10 - Realtors say the latest numbers on sales of existing homes are misleading because tax credits drove a strong surge last fall. Sales in metro Milwaukee were off more than 43 percent last month, compared to November 2009. Buyers were rushing to take advantage of the federal tax credit then because it was to expire at the end of that month. Those credits wound up being extended by Congress to the end of April of this year. A more realistic way to measure home sales is by year-to-date numbers, according to realtors. Sales for the first 11 months of this year are running about 14 and a half percent behind 2009.

First Results of CWD Tests Revealed

12/12/10 - The first results of chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin are being released. Many of the results are coming from Ashland and Bayfield Counties because of the concern that CWD might spread to far northern Wisconsin. But so far, all 143 deer tested show no signs of CWD. A false positive test of a deer shot on a Bayfield County deer farm made it appear CWD had jumped from south central Wisconsin to the far north. A final test showed no chronic wasting disease but the Department of Natural Resources went ahead with plans to collect deer samples from hunters. Almost 200 samples were taken from a 10-mile radius around Ashland. The first results have come up negative, with sampling from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Madison to go on through January.