Top Stories, January 24th

Kamps Directing ‘Voices Through The Fence’

1/24/11 - It’s been ten years since Annette Kamps -- a founding member of the Beaver Dam Area Community Theater -- sat in the director’s chair, but she is back at the helm of a new and, what some may call, experimental production. “Voices Through The Fence” features the work of prisoners from the Fox Lake Correctional Institution and the John Burke Correctional Center in Waupun. It includes 40 pieces presented by five performers in a reader theater-type setting, connected musically by a lone harmonica player and also by Elwood Lee and the Blue Northern Express, who will be performing songs from Johnny Cash’s two prison albums. Kamps says the theatrical production grew out of a Beaver Dam Area Arts Association exhibit from two years ago that also featured the work of local prisoners. She says in addition to visual pieces, inmates also sent in written works. That prompted discussion between Kamps and prison educators on the variety of ways to bring greater understanding and awareness to the prison system. Kamps says in addition to entertainment, theater also has a responsibility to be socially-conscious. She says “Voices” is not meant as absolution for inmates but rather as an opportunity to assist in their rehabilitation as they transition from being behind bars to – hopefully – becoming productive members of society on the other side of the fence. The show will be on the stage of the Beaver Dam Community Theater on Friday, February 11 and Saturday, February 12 with show times at 7pm.

Vehicle Registrations Climbing

1/24/11 - If the roads seem a bit more crowded than ever before, there’s a reason for that. The number of vehicles registered in Wisconsin continues to climb, albeit slowly. That’s according to the Division of Motor Vehicles’ Linda Lewis says there have been more vehicles registered in Wisconsin than before. In 2010, that total was nearly 5.5 million, an increase of nearly 9,000 from this time last year. There are just over 2.3 million autos, 1.3 million vans and SUVs, and nearly 900,000 light trucks registered in Wisconsin. Lewis added there were also about 333,000 motorcycles registered. In addition, the number of low-speed vehicles registered in the state grew from 170 to 267 this year.

BDUSD Seeking Protective Order in Lawsuit

1/24/11 - A law firm is asking a judge to limit the types of questions lawyers for a woman suing the Beaver Dam School District can ask during a deposition on Tuesday. Last month, Cheryl Grulke filed an open records lawsuit against the district and Superintendent Steve Vessey in an effort to get the district to release documents that her attorney, Bob Shumaker, believes will show that she was harassed by former high school principal Don Patnode and two other employees while working in the schools main office. A court order in late December gave the district and Vessey until January 24 to turnover the requested records, and the district says it will comply. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Shumaker asked that at least one person from the district give pre-trial testimony on at least 20-different topics involving the suit. In response, the district's attorney, Lori Lubinsky, asked for a protective order limiting Shumaker to only ask questions directly related to the documents Grulke is requesting. Those questions include whether the documents she requested exist, whether such documents were produced, and if they weren't initially provided, why not. Lubinsky says the rest of the petition appears to be "a fishing expedition." She later added that Grulke cannot use the lawsuit as a vehicle to fuel her "unsupported assertion" of mismanagement of the human resources department under Vessey. Shumaker called the motion one of the more extraordinary things he'd seen during his 25-year career, saying "witnesses usually don't get to pick and choose which questions they want to answer, and I do not know why an exception should be made for Steve Vessey." A decision on the protective order is expected today, and the pre-trial deposition is slated for tomorrow.

Racial Data Collection Repeal Floated

1/24/11 - Two Republican state senators are asking their colleagues to sponsor a bill to repeal the law that makes police collect racial data from the people they stop. Mary Lazich of New Berlin and Van Wanggaard of Racine say they’ll seek support for the rest of the month. And if there’s enough, they’ll introduce the bill. Since January first, law enforcement has been required to get the ages, zip codes, genders, and ethnicities of every person in every vehicle they stop. The purpose is to discourage racial profiling – but law enforcement agencies have complained that there’s way too much paperwork. Sheriff’s deputies in Kenosha and Racine counties have stopped collecting it, saying most of the data is already on the citations they give drivers. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls, meanwhile, says his deputies will continue to collect the data as long as it is required but he says racial profiling is not much of an issue outside the state’s major metropolitan areas.

ALA Tobacco Report Card Grades Mixed

1/24/11 - A statewide public indoor smoking ban was not enough for Wisconsin to avoid poor grades in this year’s tobacco control report card by the American Lung Association. The Badger State received a grade of “A” for its smoke-free air since the ban took effect last July. But Wisconsin got “F” for a 55-percent drop in state funding for tobacco control programs in the last two-year state budget. And the state got an “F” for its overall efforts in helping Wisconsinites kick the habit. The state’s investment per smoker was just 94-cents – well below the federal recommendation of 10-and-a-half-dollars per smoker. But despite the lack of funds, the Lung Association praised the Badger State for a decline in teen smoking. The report said about 11-thousand fewer high school students were smoking last year than in 2008, and smoking among middle school youngsters was also down. Also, the Lung Association gave Wisconsin a grade of “B” for its cigarette tax – which is now just over two-and-a-half dollars a pack. It went up another 75-cents in the last state budget in 2009.

Petri Leads Charge Against Aviation Fees

1/24/11 - Congressman Tom Petri has been named the Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee. The Fond du Lac Republican, who represents Dodge County, says he is looking forward to a busy two years. As one of his first actions Petri, and 115 additional members of the House of Representatives, sent a letter to President Obama requesting that aviation user fees not be imposed to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The congressman says the current system of aviation excise taxes has proven to be a stable and efficient source of funding. Petri says the U.S. has the most vibrant general aviation community in the world and imposing user fees would have a huge impact in addition to being an administrative nightmare. Over the past four years, the House opposed similar efforts during consideration of the FAA reauthorization bills to impose user fees to fund modernization of the air traffic control system. In addition to the Aviation Subcommittee, Petri is also a member of the ‘Committee on Education and The Workforce’ where he has been assigned to the ‘Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education’ Subcommittee and the ‘Higher Education and the Workforce’ Subcommittee.