Top Stories, April 20

Beaver Dam Holds Organizational Meeting

4/20/11 - The Beaver Dam Common Council held their organizational meeting last night. Seven alderpersons were sworn in last night, all from odd numbered wards. Mick Fischer, who previously served on the council in the 1980’s, was seated as the new alderman in the city’s fifth ward. Fischer will serve on the city’s Administrative Committee and will also sit on the Community Development Committee. There were no other changes on either of the city’s two standing committees with Alderman Don Neuert staying on as Chair of the Administrative Committee and Alderman Laine Meyer returning as Operations Committee Chairman. Alderman Jon Litscher was unanimously re-elected as Council President. Mayor Tom Kennedy read from a prepared statement:

“As alderpersons, and those here that are leaders of our workforce, please appreciate as I also do as mayor, that our positions are a “means”, and not an “end”. We must all realize we have the opportunity to be challenged in achieving the success needed in our positions. With that said, I feel it’s always important to keep our expectations clear and achievable.

“We will continue the effort to help each other make Beaver Dam and its surrounding area a place everyone wants to call home. With safe streets and neighborhoods, the ideal place to raise your children with hopes that some day they have the opportunity to return back to Beaver Dam like my children have for a great place to work, start a business, or just visit.

“I sincerely believe that our city government and municipal services here in Beaver Dam consists of the finest group of alderpersons, department heads and employees that any community should desire. With confidence we will all continue to go forward in this same spirit together all in the best interest of our community.”

Pictured: back row, left to right: Robert Ballweg, Laine Meyer, Glen Link, Jon Litscher, Mick Fischer. Front, left to right: Lisa Davidson, Donna Fuhrman.

More Recall Petitions Filed

4/20/11 - Wisconsin Democrats filed petitions Tuesday to force a recall election against a fourth state Senate Republican. Graeme Zielinski of the state Democratic Party said the number of signatures from Sheila Harsdorf’s district in the River Falls area is way more than the 16-thousand required. The party in Madison has been coordinating the statewide effort, to try and gain the three seats they need to take back control of the Senate now instead of in 2012. But Zielinski cited a quote, “grassroots effort by home-grown volunteers who were fed up with Sheila Harsdorf and her unholy alliance with the Governor Scott Walker.” The Harsdorf campaign said the effort is being driven by special interest groups from out-of-state – and they promise to check the petitions to see if there are enough valid signatures. Harsdorf has been in the Senate for just over a decade. She’s the fourth Republican target of recall petitions which have been filed. Luther Olsen, Dan Kapanke, and Randy Hopper are the others. Petitions against Olsen were filed Monday. Organizers plan to file petitions this week against the first Democratic target, Jim Holperin. Sixteen senators were singled out for their actions involving the bill to limit public employee union bargaining.

$4.5M Spent On Supreme Court Race

4/20/11 - Special interests spent four-and-a-half million dollars to try-and-get their brand of justice from the State Supreme Court in this month’s election. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said Tuesday that two-point-seven million dollars was spent on behalf of conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser – and one-point-eight million went for challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. According to the official canvasses, Prosser won by 73-hundred votes with a million-and-a-half cast – and a recount is possible. If Prosser loses, the court loses its conservative majority. About 40-percent of the special interest money for Prosser, or one-point-one million dollars, was spent by the Wisconsin Manufacturers-and-Commerce group. Almost all the outside money for Kloppenburg came from the liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee. Both candidates received 400-thousand-dollars in tax funding for the primary and general elections under a new state law designed to keep special interests away. The funding is in jeopardy under Republican Governor Scott Walker’s state budget. The Democracy Campaign said the total amount spent on the Supreme Court race was five-point-four million dollars – more than a half-million short of the record set in 2008, when Michael Gableman unseated incumbent Louis Butler.

No Injuries In Columbus School Bus Collision

4/20/11 - There were no injuries reported when a car and school bus collided Tuesday afternoon in Columbus. Columbus Fire Captain Jared Fox says the accident occurred just after 3:30pm at the intersection of South Main Street and West Prairie. There were about two dozen students on the bus at the time. The intersection was closed down for about 45 minutes.

BD Bulk Pick-Up Begins Monday

4/20/11 - Bulk garbage pick-up for Beaver Dam residents begins next Monday. Director of Facilities David Stoiser has announced that bulk pick-up will begin Monday, May 2 and continue through Friday, May 6 for residents who receive city-provided waste collection services from Veolia. Stoiser says the collection regulations are the same as in the past. Bulk waste can be placed on the curb no sooner than 24 hours prior to each collection and by 7am on the day of pick-up. Bulk waste is defined as, but not limited to, furniture, wooden doors and windows and rolled carpet, not exceeding 4’ to 6’ in length. No metal items like bed springs, doors, windows, appliances and pipes will be collected. Also, they do not accept bundled or loose piles of lumber or building materials; those items must be broken down and placed in the weekly collection cart. The next bulk pick-up will be the first waste collection day of November.

Haywards After 10pm Music Ban Unconstitutional

4/20/11 - A city ordinance in Hayward that banned outdoor music after 10-at-night has been ruled unconstitutional. Attorney Glenn Stoddard calls it a victory for live music. He represents Molly Scheer, whose wine bar was raided while a band was performing outside her establishment two nights after the late-night music ban was adopted in September of 2007. Stoddard says local governments can limit decibel levels in general – but it cannot ban one particular type of sound like music. He says music is protected as free speech under the First Amendment – but that doesn’t stop communities from limiting both outdoor and indoor music. Meanwhile, Hayward taxpayers might be left on the hook for compensation. Stoddard says a trial is set for late September on a claim for lost profits and damage to Scheer’s reputation. The city has not commented.