Top Stories, January 21st

Lomira HS Advances In Construction Competition

1/21/11 - Some high school students in Dodge County have advanced to the finals round in a nationwide construction competition. David Bannister with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers says the AEM Construction Challenge involves a series of regional rallies across the US and Canada that give students the chance to demonstrate their creative abilities and imagination by building structures related to transportation and water infrastructure. A total of 24 teams will compete in Las Vegas this March as part of the two final challenges. One challenge involves the construction of a vehicle that can maneuver treacherous terrain. The other is game show-style contest. Bannister says a column of water will build during the contest and the losing team will wind up getting drenched. AEM is an international trade group comprised of over 800 companies in the off-road equipment manufacturing industry. For more information, check out www.constructionchallenge.org or check them out on facebook.

Jazzy Jubilee Back To Three Day Event

1/21/11 - After a scaled-down event last year, the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee returns to its regular three-day format this May. Event Coordinator Julie Flemming says the economy and low-revenues from 2009 forced organizers to streamline the annual music festival, dedicated to the Fox Lake-native, into a one-day show last year. She says they made enough money to host a weekends worth of shows this time around. Instead of two primary locations though, musicians will be performing on one stage at a time this year. The event will again kick-off with a free show on the lawn of Mullins Drive-In and from there will move to the American Legion. The Bunny Berigan Memorial Band will be led by the Rev. Al Townsend with Bob Schulz and Bob Hirsh. In addition, Bunny’s nephew Kay Berigan of Milwaukee will be on hand trumpeting with his band. The Rhythm Aces and Talk of the Town round out the rest of the line-up. Also back this year: The Dodge County Antique Power Club and local historians are teaming up for wagon rides around the Fox Lake community, showing the childhood sites of Bunny’s life. In addition, there will be a Sunday morning service held at Bunny Berigan’s gravesite. The Jazz Jubilee will be held May 13 through the 15. More information is available at www.bunnyberiganjazzjubilee.com.

License Approved For Watertown Brew and View

1/21/11 - A Watertown movie theater will be selling beer and wine when the facility reopens in a few weeks. Towne Cinema, which has been closed since mid-December when the man renting it terminated his lease, has been granted a Class B malt only license and a Class C wine license. The new operator of the theatre, David Glazer, has two other theaters that have sold liquor and hasn’t had any police complaints. Prior to approving the licenses, Watertown Police Chief Tim Roets was in contact with authorities where the other two theaters are and he was able to confirm there were no-alcohol related calls. Glazer says the chance to sell beer and wine is vital in his type of business because more and more people are staying in and renting movies. When it reopens in February the theatre will play a mix of first-run films as well as independent movies and midnight cult favorites.

M & I Reports Ninth Quarterly Loss

1/21/11 - Wisconsin’s largest bank reported its ninth straight quarterly loss today – but the loss was only about half as much as a year ago. M-and-I Bank lost 133-million dollars, or 25-cents a share, from October-through-December. That’s much lower than the 260-million-dollar loss in the same period of 2009. The Milwaukee-based M-and-I reports fewer loan delinquencies for the sixth straight quarter. Non-performing loans were down 23-percent from the year before, and early-stage delinquencies were 20-percent less. C-E-O Mark Furlong said M-and-I’s financial results were quote, “substantially better” than the previous year, and the bank continues to make “steady progress in addressing credit challenges.” M-and-I lost 617-million-dollars for all of last year. As big as that was, it’s only about three-fourths of the total loss for 2009. M-and-I is in the process of being sold to the B-M-O Financial Group of Toronto, which also owns Harris Bank based in Chicago.

BDPD Releases December Stats

1/21/11 - The Beaver Dam Police Department has released crime statistics for the month of December. According to the activity report, there were seven burglaries reported last month; three involved forced entry. Four of the burglaries were on commercial property and the other three were residential. There were 19 general thefts reported. That resulted in a total of $9453 in stolen property, of which $112 was recovered. Beaver Dam police officers issued three citations for Operating While Intoxicated, and issued one citations for a liquor law violation. There were eight citations for Disorderly Conduct along with four domestic incidents, one child abuse offense and two sex offenses reported. Six reports of identity theft, forgery and fraud were filed. There were 46 adults arrested in December along with 16 minors. There were 50 traffic accidents in the city last month resulting in 11 injuries.

Health Savings Acct Tax Break Advances

1/21/11 - A plan to give a tax break for every job that a business creates in Wisconsin was endorsed Thursday by the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. All 12 Republicans on the panel voted yes – and all four Democrats voted no – to give a four-thousand-dollar tax deduction for each new job created by companies with less than five-million-dollars in annual sales. Those with higher sales would get a two-thousand-dollar deduction for each job they create. Assembly Republican John Nygren of Marinette said the goal is to put Wisconsinites to work – and not pick winners-and-losers in the process. The actual tax breaks would run between 92-and-316 dollars per job, according to each company’s tax rates and how they file. Federal taxes would eat up part of that. Democrats say the credit is relatively small – and they wonder whether it would really lead to more jobs. The Dems also questioned the expense of the tax break, at a time when the next state budget is three-billion-dollars in the hole.