Top Stories, January 5th

April Election Takes Shape: Municipal Election Filings

1/5/11 - There is one contested race on the Beaver Dam Common Council. Incumbent Fifth Ward Alderman Aaron Onsrud is seeking a third term and is facing opposition, from former alderman Mick Fisher. All other incumbents in odd numbered wards are running without declared opposition.

Two candidates are vying for one open seat on the Mayville City Council while there is nobody running for two other openings. All three incumbents filed non-candidacy papers. In Ward Three, Paul Pogrant and Michael Schmidt are seeking the seat currently held by Al Voss. The Ward One and Ward Five seats held by Scott Mastalish and E. Jay Gering will have no candidates printed on the ballot.

Potential candidates in Fox Lake’s Third Ward have until Thursday to file nomination papers as incumbent Jan Okrasinski failed to file non-candidacy papers by the December deadline and hasn’t submitted nomination papers. Incumbent John Mund is running unopposed for his First Ward seat and incumbent Robert Jenswold faces no opposition in seeking what would be his first full term.

In Juneau, only one of the three incumbents is seeking another term. Jason Buske is running unopposed for his Ward One Seat. Roxanne Buss and John Burgbacher are seeking the Ward Two seat being vacated by John Schuster. There are no declared candidates for the Ward Three Seat currently held by Clarence “Butch” Chase.

City of Columbus elective offices will see more continuity than change in 2011. The candidacy papers turned in by yesterday’s filing deadline show no contested races for Mayor or City Council. After five years of one term Mayors, Bob Link will be running unopposed for his second term. City Council candidates will include incumbents Roger Sneath in the 1st District and Dave Bomkamp in the 2nd District. With Council Member Bill Bruns NOT running, Larry Herzog will be the lone candidate for the open 3rd District Council seat.

In Waupun, newcomers Julie Nickel and April Cox are competing in District One. Dale Schmidt chose not to seek re-election. Incumbent District Three Alderman Matthew Hickman and District Five Alderman Michael Johnson are running unopposed.

In Horicon, Ward One Alderwoman Susan Hady and Ward Two Alderman Jack Flouro are running again and face no opposition. There is nobody running for the Ward Three seat being vacated by Nathan Anfinson.

Milwaukee Archdiocese Files Chapter 11

1/5/11 - The Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese announced yesterday that it is filing for Chapter-11 bankruptcy. The church is being sued millions by those who say they’ve been molested by priests – and the archdiocese says those lawsuits have left it with claims that exceed its means. Archbishop Jerome Listecki says there are two reasons the church is seeking bankruptcy protection – to compensate victims and their survivors, and to let the church continue its mission. The Milwaukee Archdiocese serves Catholics in 10 counties in southeast Wisconsin, including Dodge, Washington and Fond du Lac counties. The church is accused of fraud in more than a dozen pending lawsuits – for allegedly moving pedophile priests to other parishes without saying anything about their behavior.

New Fee Structure For Police and Fire Services

1/5/11 - Fees will be charged for the first time for some police and fire services following action by the Beaver Dam PFC last night. City residents will now have to pay $100 for responding to an ambulance call with no transport. Chief Alan Mannel says the fee could apply to funeral home body removals but is for the more common lift assist calls where an incapacitated person needs to be picked up from the floor. The $100 lift assist fee will be charged beginning with the fourth ambulance response in a rolling 12-month period. The Fire Department also start charging $500 for vehicle crashes that require a hazard assessment and mitigation. Mannel says the Fire Department is now charging $250 for a fire prevention plan review for new construction or significantly remodeled dwellings. Homes and businesses with faulty fire alarms that malfunction and call out the fire department will now pay $500 for each occurrence, after the third false alarm in a 12-month period. The PFC also approved the implementation of a $10 fee in the Police Department for work-related fingerprinting services.

Police Now Collecting Racial Data

1/5/11 - Traffic stops will take a little bit longer as police are now tasked with collecting information on the race of those inside the vehicle. With the start of the New Year, all of Wisconsin’s law enforcement agencies must record the race of every driver they stop, and send the information to a data-base in Madison. Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls says the state’s Office of Justice Assistance will use the data to determine if drivers are being stopped just because of their race. A report is due out within a year-and-a-half. Besides race, officers must list the reasons-and-outcomes of their traffic stops – and why vehicle searches are conducted. Passengers will also be asked about race. Nehls says a traffic stop that might have taken two or three minutes might take four or five minutes now. Because the additional questions will increase the length of a traffic stop, Nehls is concerned that the new, unfunded mandate could lead to fewer traffic stops, as officers might be less likely to stop a car that might have otherwise gotten a simple warning. The sheriff says he does not believe that racial profiling is a problem is Dodge County. The changes are the result of a political compromise at the State Capitol. For years, Milwaukee lawmakers opposed stopping drivers just for seat-belt violations, for fear of racial profiling. But two years ago, those lawmakers agreed to accept the so-called “primary enforcement” in exchange for the statewide racial data. The tougher seat-belt law was then put in the current state budget. It took effect in July of 2009.

BD Woman Charged With Embezzlement

1/5/11 - A Beaver Dam woman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a former employer. Mary A. Frechette is charged with felony Theft for allegedly stealing $4600 from a Beaver Dam Kwik Trip. According to the criminal complaint, the 44-year-old was falsifying cigarette refunds and pocketing the money. Management discovered the shortfall with inventory software and then reviewed video surveillance before connecting it to Frechette, who could spend up to three-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.

Fitzgerald on Special Session

1/5/11 - Wisconsin senators officially opened their special session Tuesday on improving the state’s economy. But nothing else will happen until at least Thursday when the Senate is scheduled to reconvene. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon says he’ll open his chambers session today – and committees will start considering Governor Scott Walker’s various economic measures next week. Fitzgerald expects some of the bills to pass his house by mid-January and most should be on Walker’s desk by the end of February – which is when the Republican governor hopes to complete his action on the economy. Walker wants to provide new tax breaks, revamp the Commerce Department, and take other steps toward creating a quarter-million jobs in the state over the next four years.

Outsiders Spend $19M On November Election

1/5/11 - A watchdog group said outsiders spent 19-million-dollars to get you to vote a certain way last November. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said Tuesday that 10-million dollars in outside spending was meant to benefit Republicans – and nine-million was supposed to help the Democrats. The liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee spent five-point-four million dollars, mainly to try-and-get Democrat Tom Barrett elected as governor. The Republican Governors’ Association spent the second-most at five-million, mainly to help Scott Walker take control of the governor’s office. According to the Democracy Campaign, 30 independent groups filed reports with the state – and they spent 10-million dollars on the elections for governor-and-lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the state Legislature. Today’s report estimates that 10 other groups spent around nine-million. They took out “issue ads” which praised-or-slammed a candidate’s stand on a certain issue but did not say who to vote for. Those groups did not have to report their expenses or the sources of their money.

Cheese Production Up Slightly

1/5/11 - Wisconsin cheese-makers were busier in November than they were a year ago – but not by much. Cheese production in the Badger State was four-tenths-of-one-percent higher than the previous year, at just over 217-million pounds. But Wisconsin’s increase was virtually nil compared to the national hike of six-percent for November, and 10-and-a-half percent in California – the number-two cheese producer behind Wisconsin. The Badger State’s output of Italian cheeses was up by just over four-percent. American cheeses were down by five-point-seven percent – and Wisconsin’s Cheddar production was down eight-point-seven percent from the same month in 2009. Third-place Idaho saw its total cheese out-put rise by two-point-three percent. New York was up six-percent, and New Mexico had a whopping 23-percent increase.