Top Stories, September 18th

Boat Crashes On Shore of Beaver Dam Lake

9/18/11 - Four injuries were reported after a boat crashed onto the shores of Beaver Dam Lake early Saturday morning. Beaver Dam Fire Captain Paul Hartl tells us that EMS arrived on scene around 1:30am. The boat crashed near Sunset Point Road in the Town of Beaver Dam making it as far on shore as the railroad tracks. Hartl says two people were transported by Beaver Dam EMS and their condition is not known at this time. Two others sought treatment on their own.

Lomira Woman Bound Over On Burglary Charge

9/18/11 - A Lomira woman will proceed to trial on charges that she stole money from the gas station where she had worked. Lisa Ann Anderson was bound over for trial during a preliminary hearing late last week. The 45-year-old is accused of using her work keys to enter a locked office and steal $230 in cash. Authorities reviewed video surveillance footage and management noted that the subject was similar to Anderson in clothing and mannerisms. They then reviewed footage of Anderson during a recent work shift and say she was wearing the same clothes. If convicted, the charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 12-and-a-half years. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for next month.

Fond du Lac Police Defend Release of Drunk Driver

9/18/11 - Fond du Lac Police said one of their officers did nothing wrong when he let an impaired driver go – and she was arrested an hour later in the next county for driving drunk. It happened late in the afternoon of September sixth. According to the Fond du Lac Reporter, Officer Matt Bobo stopped a 26-year-old Malone woman after reports that she was driving erratically, and hit a curb with two children in the car. Police Captain Steve Klein said Bobo saw no signs that she was drinking. He could not smell alcohol on the driver – and she did not have slurred speech or bloodshot eyes. So he cited the woman for inattentive driving and sent her on her way. Later, motorists on Highway 151 complained she was weaving and almost hit oncoming vehicles. And as soon as she drove into Calumet County, a sheriff’s deputy stopped her. She failed a sobriety test, and was then arrested. Klein said his officer monitored developments after he let her go – and he told Calumet County deputies about the incident in Fond du Lac. The woman faces a possible criminal charge of driving drunk with a passenger under 16.

Beaver Dam Man Arraigned For Sixth OWI

9/18/11 - A Beaver Dam man entered a “not guilty” plea to his sixth drunken driving offense during an arraignment hearing late last week in a Dodge County courtroom. Authorities say Timothy Thibault crossed the center line on North Spring Street earlier this month, almost striking a squad car near Winn Terrace and forcing the officer to swerve out of the way. The 52-year-old reportedly told the officer he dropped his lighter and was reaching down to retrieve it. His breath test was allegedly over the legal limit for driving at point-one-one.

Appeals Court Allows For Challenge of Pot Conviction

9/18/11 - A federal appeals court said a failed Hollywood screen writer should have been allowed to challenge a conviction for flying a half-million-dollars of marijuana into southern Wisconsin. Trevor Ryan of Ukiah California was sentenced to 65 months in a federal prison. That was after he struck a plea deal which convicted him for flying in 157-pounds of high-grade pot to the airport in Mineral Point. Ryan later asked that his conviction and sentence be dropped, but his request was denied. On Friday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said Ryan should have been given the chance to appeal. The judges ordered that testimony be heard on his arguments. Ryan told authorities he flew the marijuana into Wisconsin as a last-ditch effort to make money to produce a movie. His attorney said in 2009 that Ryan moved to L-A to make it big as a screen writer. But when he failed to sell scripts, he got depressed – and his self-pity led to his quote, “wrong and stupid decision” to sell marijuana in Wisconsin. Prosecutors said Ryan was simply motivated by greed.

Dr. Comfort CEO Sentenced To Federal Prison

9/18/11 - The founder of a Wisconsin company that sells special shoes and inserts for diabetics will have to spend a year and a day in federal prison. Rickey Kanter is the former CEO of Dr. Comfort. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges last April and was also fined 50 thousand dollars. He has agreed to pay a 27 million dollar civil fine for selling shoes that didn’t conform to Medicare requirements, even though they were sold to Medicare beneficiaries and the company was reimbursed with Medicare money. Kanter continued selling the shoes with non-complying parts after he was warned in 2006. He had founded Dr. Comfort in 2002 after Congress decided to let Medicare reimburse some diabetic patients when they bought therapeutic shoes and inserts.

Brown County Deputy ‘Justified’ In Student Tasing

9/18/11 - Brown County sheriff’s officials said a deputy was “reasonable and justified” to use a Taser stun gun on a student at Bay Port High School near Green Bay. Chief Deputy Todd Delain said school resource officer Jody Lemmens used the Taser on a 17-year-old boy who resisted arrested in a school conference room on Monday morning. Delain said school staff members confronted the youngster after he and another boy got into a dispute just outside the school. The student was arrested on possible charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. No one was seriously hurt in the incident. Lemmens is an 11-year veteran of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. Officials said it was the first time a Brown County officer legally used a Taser gun in a school.

State Jobs Website Has 33K Unfilled Positions

9/18/11 - Wisconsin’s largest job Web site has over 33-thousand available positions – but many are going unfilled. 27-thousand job seekers have resumes on the state government’s Web site, which is JobCenterOfWisconsin-Dot-Com. Jane Pawaserat of the state Workforce Development agency says some employers are not finding qualified workers for jobs like welders, advanced manufacturing work, and many health care positions. She says not enough people are trained in those fields – but another concern is that many people are not listing their skills on the Job-Center-of-Wisconsin Web site. Pawaserat says the site matches up employer needs and employee skills – and applicants get e-mails showing where they can apply. The agency is now requiring those getting unemployment benefits to post a resume on the site.

Milwaukee War Memorial Needs $5M in Repairs

9/18/11 - Officials say Milwaukee’s War Memorial Center needs more than five million dollars in repair work. The building has a problem with leaks that causes floors to buckle, creates a musty odor and threats an art collection worth three-quarters of a million dollars. Those details were in a county audit released Friday. The Milwaukee Art Museum gallery is housed in the building. High humidity is also a threat. With Milwaukee County facing a 55 million dollar shortfall in 2012, it says it is in no position to do any borrowing to pay for major projects like that over the next two years.

UWM Chancellor Appointment Extended

9/18/11 - U-W Madison’s interim chancellor might be serving longer than he expected. The Faculty Senate’s executive committee has asked that David Ward’s one-year appointment be lengthened to two years, so it expires in June of 2013. The committee says it would help if Ward could stay around, as a task force studies a possible re-structuring of the university system in 2013. Also, the U-W will have to deal with millions-of-dollars in state budget cuts over the next two years. The 73-year-old Ward was Madison’s chancellor from 1993-to-2000. And he was pulled out of semi-retirement after Biddy Martin left a few weeks ago. Ward has not said if he’d be interested in serving longer than a year. U-W System President Kevin Reilly says he’ll consider the request – and he’ll listen to various stake-holders to see who favors it and who’s against it. Brad Barham, who heads the Faculty Senate executive panel, said his group is not making a “big push” to keep Ward on. But given the challenges facing the school, he says an extension needs to be seriously considered.

Wisconsin Cow-Of-The-Year From Oxford

9/18/11 - Wisconsin’s Cow-of-the-Year is an 11-year-old Red-and-White milk producer from Oxford. Lavender Ruby Red-Rose is owned by Rosedale Genetics, and will be honored at World Dairy Expo in Madison on October third. She’s the only Red-and-White cow ever to win the Supreme Champion honors at the world expo. She was the grand champion in 2005-and-’07, and a reserve senior champion in 2004. Red-Rose has also won several other international awards, with a top one-year production record of over 52-thousand pounds of milk. The cow-of-the-year honor rotates among the seven major dairy breeds. Red-Rose was chosen by members of the Red-and-White Dairy Cattle Association.

Wausau Lobbies For Return of Badger State Games

9/18/11 - The visitors’ bureau in Wausau wants to bring back the Badger State Games. Darien Schaefer, head of the Wausau-Central Wisconsin Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, says his group plans to negotiate a purchase of the rights to the Games. The Wisconsin Sports Development Corporation of Madison said last month it would end the summer-and-winter Olympic-style sports festivals. The summer Games dated back a quarter-century – and officials cited declining participation and sponsorships for scrapping the amateur competitions. Schaefer said Friday that a “ramp-up in investment” would be needed. He said he had no idea what the rights to the Games would cost – but he said the festivals have value. Schaefer said the visitors’ bureau has created a sports authority to potentially operate the Badger State Games if they get the chance to do so. He also said his group was open to contracting with another city to host the summer events. Wausau and central Wisconsin hosted the Winter Games. The Madison area hosted the Summer Games until last year, when they moved to the Appleton area.

Health Officials Monitoring Possible Measles Outbreak

9/18/11 - Milwaukee health officials say they’ll know in the next week-or-two whether the city gets a full-blown measles outbreak. A child whose family moved to Milwaukee in August contracted the highly-contagious disease when he was in a refugee camp. Officials said this week that the boy and one other person were confirmed to have had the measles. The second person, an adult, contracted the disease in a Social Security office building on Milwaukee’s south side. It’s one of eight locations where the child was known to visit after contracting the measles. Milwaukee officials have had contact with over 500 people who in those eight buildings around the time the youngster was there. Up to four suspected cases earlier this week never materialized, but the health department is investigating several new ones.

Plenty of Motorcycles On Roadways This Month

9/18/11 - Don’t be surprised if you notice large numbers of motorcycles on Wisconsin roadways the next couple weekends. In the north-central part of the state, the annual Fall MDA Ride to Tomahawk continues through today (Sun). And then next Saturday is the annual “Riding to a Cure” event in Oconomowoc. The Wisconsin DOT’s Transportable High-End Rider Education Facility or “REF” is scheduled to appear at both events. Wisconsin motorcycle fatalities this year are down about 20 percent compared to last year. Still, 72 motorcyclists — 67 drivers and five passengers — have been killed in Wisconsin traffic crashes this year.