Top Stories July 12th

Search Continues For Beaver Dam Stabbing Suspects

7/12/11 - Authorities continue their search for the men responsible for beating and stabbing a Beaver Dam teen early Sunday morning. It happened near the corner of Madison and West Mill Streets. Police Chief Ronald Smith says the teen was not only stabbed but also punched and struck several times with baseball bats. Witnesses say there were as many as 20 males wearing white t-shirts involved in the assault. The juvenile was taken to the Beaver Dam Community Hospital for treatment. The suspects fled on foot traveling eastbound on West Mill Street. Deputies saw three individuals matching that description and one of them ran but was later taken into custody at gunpoint. It was allegedly the victim’s older brother who was out on bond at the time. As a condition of his bond he was ordered not to have violent contact with anyone. The older brother has been formally charged with misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct, Obstructing a Police Officer and Bail Jumping. The criminal complaint does not indicate how the brother was involved in the altercation but authorities did say he’s not a suspect in the stabbing. Anyone with information about the stabbing is asked to contact the Beaver Dam Police Department.

Lomira Man Gets Jail In Drunken Hit and Run

7/12/11 - A Lomira man will spend a year in jail for running another man off the road in a drunken rage. Shane Vis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of OWI Causing Injury and Hit and Run and had a felony charge of Second Degree Reckless Endangerment and two other misdemeanors dismissed but read into the record. According to the criminal complaint, Vis confronted the victim in the parking lot of his girlfriend’s apartment and blocked his car from leaving. The victim maneuvered onto Main Street and Vis followed at a high rate of speed; 70mph in a 35 mile-an-hour zone. Vis rammed the victim’s vehicle from behind after a high-speed chase through Lomira and the victim spun-out into the ditch. Vis denied to authorities that he was chasing the victim but told arresting officers he was (quote) “pretty drunk” and said his reaction time “wasn’t the greatest.” In addition to a year behind bars, the 21-year-old was placed on probation for two years, had his license revoked for one year and was ordered to pay over $4000 in fines and court costs and another $1300 in restitution.

Portage Man Charged With Mayville Burglary

7/12/11 - A Portage man told police he was just trying to do a favor for a friend, now he is facing felony Burglary charges. 28-year-old James Earl Dickinson II is accused of breaking into a Mayville apartment on Sunday. The occupant awoke at 4pm in the afternoon after hearing someone inside the apartment and says he saw Dickinson run from unit. He also saw another man outside with a large facial tattoo run from the scene. Based on that description, Mayville police arrested the tattooed man walking down Main Street and then found Dickinson at a nearby park. According to the criminal complaint, he took the blame for the burglary and said he was doing a favor for a girl by trying to get her vehicle title back from the victim. Dickinson faces a maximum 12-and-a-half year prison sentence if he’s convicted. A signature bond was set at $1000 yesterday and a preliminary hearing is set for next month.

Democratic Primaries Today

7/12/11 - The head of the state Democratic Party is upset that at least some Republicans are trying to get their fake Democrats to win today’s state Senate recall primaries. The G-O-P has said all along that it only put up the fake Democrats to keep the real Democrats busy with primaries – so the six Republican Senate incumbents who would have been up today will get an extra month to campaign. But state Democratic chairman Mike Tate says he’s heard of last-minute calls in three Senate districts urging people to vote against the real Democrats today. He called it a “sneaky, dirty trick” and quote, “It shows how low the Republicans will stoop to keep their control on power.” Tate also called it an “absolute abuse” of the voters’ trust. The Democratic leader was confident that all six of his party’s candidates would win today – and Republicans are wasting their time trying to disrupt the Democratic primaries. The only communities in our area heading to the polls today will be those in the 18th District, which includes the Dodge County portion of Waupun. Polls are open until 8pm.

Johnson Office Hours In Dodge County Tuesday

7/12/11 - A member of US Senator Ron Johnson’s staff will be in the area Tuesday. The mobile office hours are intended to allow constituents to meet with the Senator’s representatives to request assistance with a federal agency or address other federal matters. The staffer will be at the Waupun Public Library from 9am until 10:30am. Then from 11am until 12:30pm, office hours will be held at Beaver Dam City Hall. This afternoon, a member of Johnson’s staff will be at Horicon City Hall from 1pm to 2:30pm. Watertown City Hall is on tap for tomorrow (Wed) from 9am to 10:30am.

Dem’s Call On Walker To Reject Redistricting Plan

7/12/11 - The Wisconsin Assembly’s Democratic leader says Governor Scott Walker could go a long way toward restoring trust in state government, by rejecting new district lines favored by majority Republicans. Peter Barca wants the Republican Walker to come up with a more non-partisan approach to drawing new boundaries for the state’s congressional and legislative districts. Majority Republicans plan a public hearing on Wednesday, and a vote on the new maps a week from tomorrow. Barca says that if Walker doesn’t step in, there will be probably be a lawsuit if the G-O-P tries to ram through its version of redistricting – and federal judges will probably set the new boundaries, just like they’ve done for the last three decades. Critics say the Republicans are trying to get their maps approved before they risk losing control on the Senate in the recall elections over the next month. But Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder says the timeline is about the same now as it was in the 1980’s. Also, G-O-P Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon noted that a number of other states are finished with redistricting. Fitzgerald agrees there will probably be a court fight – and he’s not sure how much taxpayers will end up paying for the lawyers. The bill so far is around 300-thousand dollars.

Long Term Unemployed Clear Hurdle To Extension

7/12/11 - With only one “no” vote, a bill to give Wisconsin’s long-term unemployed an extra 13 weeks of benefits was endorsed today by two state legislative committees. The Senate labor panel voted unanimously for the measure – while the Assembly labor committee okayed it 8-to-1 with Delafield Republican Chris Kapenga voting no. The measure is expected to be taken up by the full Legislature next week. It allows the state to obtain 89-million dollars in federal stimulus money to extend maximum benefits for the long-term unemployed to 86 weeks. About 10-thousand Wisconsinites are expected to benefit. The state owes about one-and-a-half billion dollars to Washington, after it borrowed from the federal government to keep jobless benefits flowing during the recession. But the stimulus funding – totaling 89-million-dollars – does not have to be paid back. At a public hearing this morning, freshman Assembly Republican Mike Endsley of Sheboygan told what it was like for him to be unemployed – and he said it convinced him that the extra benefits are necessary. The state’s long-term unemployed lost their extended benefits in mid-April. The new money is expected to be retroactive to April 16th.

UW Proposes Maximum Tuition Increase

7/12/11 - As expected, University of Wisconsin officials are asking for the largest tuition increase allowed in the new state budget for this fall – five-and-a-half percent. The U-W Board of Regents will act on the proposed tuition hikes on Thursday. System President Kevin Reilly says the tuition hikes range from about 300-dollars at the Stevens Point and Green Bay campuses to 400-dollars at the system’s largest schools in Madison and Milwaukee. The same five-and-a-half percent tuition hike is planned for the two-year colleges. Those schools escaped an increase a year ago. But university officials say they don’t have much leeway this time. The entire U-W System must absorb a 250-million-dollar funding cut under the state budget passed by majority Republicans last month. About 182-thousand students attended classes last year at 13 four-year campuses and 13 two-year colleges.

Municipalities Spending Less, Borrowing More

7/12/11 - Wisconsin cities and villages have been spending less and borrowing more. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance issued a report Monday showing that the largest 238 municipalities reduced their spending by one-percent from 2008-to-’09. That’s the first such drop in over a decade. Meanwhile, cities and villages borrowed four-point-two percent more money over that period – the largest increase since 2005. Communities have had to deal with virtually no growth in state aid in recent years, plus state requirements to limit their property taxes. The Tax Alliance says those are two reasons they’re borrowing more and spreading out their bigger expenses. But the alliance says spending on police and other public safety items keep going up – and they’ve not been affected by the trend.