Top Stories, January 2nd

New Berlin Man IDed In Fatal Rock River Plunge

1/2/11 - A New Berlin man, killed after his car plunged into the Rock River in Mayville, has been identified. Authorities say speed and alcohol were a factor in the crash that killed 62-year-old Reed Wetzel Friday night. It happened just after 11:30pm on South Main Street/ State Highway 67 near the intersection with Ruedebush Street. Mayville Police Captain Chris MacNeill says Wetzel was the lone occupant of the car. He failed to negotiate a curve, vaulted into the river and landed upside down, pinning him underneath the water. A witness jumped into the river to help but was unable to free Wetzel. The Mayville Fire Department recovered the body shortly after midnight. Wetzel was not wearing a seatbelt. The accident is under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriffs Department Crash Investigation Team.

Badgers Fall Short At Rose Bowl

1/2/11 - TCU linebacker Tank Carder blocked a two-point conversion try, giving the Horned Frogs a 21-19 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin Saturday. The victory gave Texas Christian an undefeated season. Wisconsin had a chance to tie after Montee Ball scored a touchdown from four yards out with two minutes to go. The blocked pass ended Wisconsin's season with an 11-2 record. The Badgers won the statistical battle, but not the one on the scoreboard. Wisconsin pounded one of the nation's best defenses for 226 rushing yards. The Badgers outgained TCU 385 total yards to 301 and controlled the ball for 36 and a half minutes, to just 23 for the Frogs. It didn't matter. TCU finished 13-0 -- it's first unbeaten season since winning the national title in 1938. When Wisconsin's on-side kick attempt failed, the Badgers' fate was sealed. John Clay got Wisconsin's other touchdown on a short run in the first half. The loss completed a nightmare day for the Big Ten Conference in bowls where they lost all five games by a combined score of 204-102.

DNR Investigating Possible Cougar Attack

1/2/11 - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it needs more information before it decides if a cougar was responsible for killing a horse in Dane County. A worker at Freedom Stables in the Town of Deerfield found the horse dead last Wednesday afternoon with its throat ripped out. A veterinarian says the animal's major neck artery and airway were deeply cut. He says horses can sometimes cut themselves on machinery, but those cuts are not as deep as the one in this case. Owners of the stable report they found tracks nearby suggesting a big cat was on the property. The DNR says it is still looking for conclusive evidence to support that theory. A spokesman for the DNR says if a cougar had attacked the horse, it would probably have dragged it away to eat it. In this case, the horse went about 60 yards, then collapsed.

Lawmaker Offended By High Speed Bumper Sticker

1/2/11 - A key Republican lawmaker says he’s offended by a new bumper sticker from Democrats which shows a high-speed train coming out of Scott Walker’s head. The bumper sticker is offered on the State Democratic Party’s Web site. It shows a train coming out of the Governor-elect’s head with jagged red marks flying out of the front – and it has the phrase “High Speed Fail.” Incoming G-O-P finance chairman Robin Vos says the red marks resemble blood – and he calls the bumper sticker indecent. Democrats are still livid that the Republican Walker turned down millions of federal dollars for a new high-speed train from Milwaukee-to-Madison. And Vos says the party should stop offering the bumper sticker. But Democratic spokesman Graeme Zielinski said Vos’s complaint is laughable. He said Vos is a “partisan hack” who understands how the political game is played.

Top Ag Stories on 2010

1/2/11 - A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, says 2010’s top stories for farmers were the November elections, the animal welfare debate and an amazing growing season. Casey Langan says, “We had a great spring, we had a summer with hot weather and timely rains, a great harvest season. Just one for the record books.” Langan says the top ag stories of 2011 will be the political changes in both Wisconsin and Washington, which will come as the state works on their next budget and the U.S. Farm Bill is reworked. “We are going to see changes to the Farm Bill. If you can’t cut nutrition programs, and you don’t want to cut conservation programs, there’s not much left there but to cut some of those subsidy programs,” Langan predicts. Both the state and the feds will have to work around huge deficits, Langan notes. Dairy farmers can expect low prices for the first half of the new year, but they’re expected to rebound.

Milwaukee Man Wins Top Casino Prize

1/2/11 - This is the way you want to start a new year. A Milwaukee man has won 2-point-7 million dollars by hitting a jackpot at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. The winner says he wants to remain anonymous. He hit on a five-dollar slot machine last Thursday. That jackpot is the biggest handed out in the Milwaukee casino's 20-year run. Last year, another Milwaukee resident won just over two million on a slot machine at the casino.

Sentencing’s Loom In Potawatomi Scam

1/2/11 - Nine people have pleaded guilty to stealing 160-thousand dollars from Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Casino by rigging a bingo game. Employee Deandre Russell organized the scheme in 2005-and-’06, and he faces the most prison time. He’d get about two years under federal sentencing guidelines. Three former casino employees and six others received plea deals, and Federal Judge J-P Stadtmueller will decide their fates in coming months. According to prosecutors, Russell and the others rigged the Pick-Eight Bingo game, in which players pick eight numbers and win a jackpot if they’re among 20 numbers that are drawn. Players put carbon copies of their choices in a box, and they’re checked if a player claims to have a bingo. But under the scheme, Russell got players to write down numbers as they were drawn – and he and the other employees would then sneak a winning carbon into the box before a winner is confirmed. The purported winners shared their money with Russell. Casino spokesman Ryan Amundson says new safeguards are in place to prevent such cheating from happening again.

Janesville Posts OWI Offenders on Web

1/2/11 - Janesville police say if you keep getting convicted of operating while intoxicated, you may find your picture and information on a website. Chief Dave Moore says the number of chronic drunk drivers in Rock County is staggering, with over 1,000 offenders who have at least four. In Janesville alone, there are 391. Moore says a new website recently launched by the city may convince many violators to behave more responsibly. It features an interactive map that will list the mug shots, names, and addresses of those convicted of five or more OWI offenses. Moore says violators currently live with a great deal of anonymity in the community, making it easier for them to go on drinking and driving without the public knowing the danger around them. He says the site will allow the public to know who these people are and hopefully report them if they see a possible offense. Moore says they had wanted to list those with a least four offenses, but the sheer number of violators fitting that criteria made it impractical at this time. The effort is being called “Project Sober Streets” and Moore hopes it will convince others to avoid getting behind the wheel after drinking.

Soldier Sues Former Employer Over Deployment

1/2/11 - A Colorado National Guard officer has filed a federal lawsuit, accusing Black River Memorial Hospital of firing him because he was deployed overseas. David Merritt was an emergency room doctor at the hospital and a major in the National Guard. He says he told hospital officials he might be re-deployed -- and two months later Merritt says he was escorted from the building. He says he got a letter saying he'd been fired without cause. Merritt's lawsuit was filed last week. It asks for reinstatement, back pay and damages.

SC Johnson Sells Kiwi Shoes Division

1/2/11- Wisconsin-based SC Johnson announces it is buying Sara Lee Corporation's shoe-care business. Purchase price was set at 328 million dollars. Among the brands SC Johnson is buying is the long-running Kiwi shoe products name. The deal is expected to close by the middle of this year. Sara Lee is a food and consumer products maker which is selling off several of its non-food units for a tighter focus. In two previous deals the company sold its cleaning products division and its body care and European detergent segments. Total price for all recent sales is almost two billion dollars for Sara Lee.