Top Stories April 25th

Fire Damages a Home in Beaver Dam

4/25/11 - The siding of a home on Scott Street in Beaver Dam suffered significant damage when a fire broke out yesterday morning. Officials with the Beaver Dam Fire Department say neighbors noticed the flames around 10:20 a-m and attempted to put them out with a garden hose. When firefighters arrived on scene the flames had spread to the soffit but they were able to get the blaze under control. It’s believed the fire started in a garbage can where the homeowner had put hot coals from his grill the night before. No one was hurt, and the fire department cleared the scene within an hour. The home belongs to Donald Gabuthuler.

Gas Prices Up

4/25/11 - Gas prices in the state are up an average of 3-cents over the past week to $3.95 per gallon. That’s up $1.07 from last year and 37-cents from last month. In Beaver Dam, Waupun and Watertown a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.89. It’s $3.95 in Hartford and can be had for $3.87 in Fond du Lac. The high price in the state is $4.13 in Pleasant Prairie while the low price is $3.81 in Sheboygan. The national average is up 3-cents to $3.83. That’s an increase of 28-cents since last month and 98-cents higher than this day one year ago.

Board Gets First Look at Redistricting Plan

4/25/11 - Supervisors on the Dodge County Board would represent roughly 370 more people per district under a plan seen for the first time last week. Every ten years the county is redistricted based on census information. Making matters a bit more complicated for Dodge County is the fact the board eliminated four supervisor positions last year leaving them with 33. In the tentative plan, the district that covers the town of Hustisford has the most people at 2,821, while the district that makes up the town of Emmett would have the smallest population at 2,559. A public hearing on the new map will be held early next month and it’s possible the board could approve the final plan later in May.

Polls Shows Support for Wind Energy

4/25/11 - A poll of Wisconsin residents finds strong support for increasing the use of wind energy, even if doing so would raise electricity bills several dollars per month. The Wisconsin Public Radio poll was released Friday. It shows that 77 percent of respondents want to see the state invest more in wind energy. Reasons included decreasing the nation's reliance on foreign oil and helping the environment. A majority, 69 percent, wouldn't mind eight to 10 wind-energy machines being placed closed to where they live, and 79 percent favor placing the machines offshore in Lake Michigan. More than 80-percent of the current turbines in the state are in either Dodge or Fond du Lac Counties.

More Counties Looking at Sales Tax

4/25/11 - Ten of Wisconsin’s 72 counties do not have their own sales tax. But that could change, due to rising costs and big cuts in state aid that Governor Scott Walker put in his budget for the next two years. Officials in Kewaunee and Sheboygan counties both have large deficits next year – and a half-percent sales tax would more than wipe out those shortfalls. Some counties take pride in not having their own sales tax, and it won’t be popular to change that. But Mark O’Connell of the Wisconsin Counties Association said they might not have a choice, due to Walker’s state aid cuts in the face of rising fuel costs and employee wages. The state gave counties the option of having a sales tax to give property tax relief to homes and businesses. But a U-W Extension report from 1999 said almost all the counties kept the money for themselves. Some counties, like Wood, fought off the idea for years before giving in. The sales tax for every county that has one is a half-percent though several have an additional charge to help pay for Miller Park or Lambeau Field.

Walker, Doyle Both Claim Added Jobs

4/25/11 - Governor Scott Walker vows to create a quarter-million jobs in the next four years. And he’s reportedly counting 125 jobs his predecessor announced last December. The Republican Walker went to Eau Claire last week to announce a 625-thousand-dollar road-building grant at Curt Manufacturing, one of the nation’s largest makers of trailer-hitches and towing products. He said it would create 125 jobs. And as Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice reports, they’re the same 125 jobs Democrat Jim Doyle announced before he left office. Doyle’s former Commerce secretary, Aaron Olver, put a dig into Walker by saying it’s great to see him support one of the projects of the Doyle administration. Olver now works for the city of Madison. Curt Manufacturing is building a warehouse-and-logistics facility, and it promises to add the new jobs by 2014. Company president Curt Tambornino said he submitted an application for state assistance last summer, but he wouldn’t say which governor was primarily responsible for the new jobs. Walker’s Commerce secretary, Paul Jadin, admits that the previous administration had a hand in approving the grant. But Jadin said it wasn’t finalized until this year, after Walker took office – and he said it’s a company’s decision when to announce a grant. But Tambornino said it was Walker who initiated last week’s news conference.

Body Pulled from Lake Near Oshkosh

4/25/11 - A body pulled from a lake near Oshkosh was that of a snowmobiler missing since mid-March. Authorities said 44-year-old Shawn Talbot of Sullivan was seen by a fisherman Saturday afternoon on Lake Butte-des-Morts – and Winnebago County sheriff’s divers later pulled the body from the water. Witnesses saw Talbot drive his snowmobile into open water on March 13th. Rescue teams found the machine at the time – but they could not find Talbot’s body.

Activities and Services Guide on Doorsteps Today

4/25/11 - The 2011 Beaver Dam Community Activities and Services Summer Guide will be arriving on all city doorsteps today (Mon). The guide details all recreational activities, and includes club and sports schedules, lesson times, registration information and related costs. There is also a schedule of community events, the line-up for the “Concert in the Park” series, a complete list of park amenities and shelter and equipment rental costs, beach information and boat launch fees. Senior Center programs and activities are also included. The Summer Guide will be wrapped in the free Daily Citizen Shopper that is delivered to all Beaver Dam addresses and can also be obtained at the Senior Center and Recreation Building at 114 East Third Street.

Hutson Family Member Donates Recordings

4/25/11 - The nephew of Green Bay Packers great Don Hutson has donated a number of rare recordings from his uncle's radio program to the team's Hall of Fame. Steve Hutson of Mequon offered up three unusual vinyl-coated aluminum records. An audio engineer converted the recordings to digital MP3 files. The Packers Hall of Fame unveiled the donations Friday at Lambeau Field. Don Hutson played for Green Bay from 1935 to 1945. He hosted a radio program in the late 1940s. The recordings include his commentary of Packers football in 1949. They'll be added to the team Hall of Fame's archives of Packers history. Packers Hall of Fame archivist Tom Murphy says since the clips are digital they can be made available to members through an online archive and to fans as a digital download.