Top Stories September 4th

Tempers Still Hot as Labor Day Approaches

9/4/11 - Months later, tempers are still running high, leading many Republican politicians to break with tradition and stay away from Labor Day holiday events like parades. Governor Scott Walker's spokesman says Walker will spend the day with his family, as he always does. Labor groups remain angry about Wisconsin's new law ending most collective bargaining rights for public employees. Two Republican state senators lost their jobs in recall elections due to the backlash. The Marathon County Labor Council originally tried to ban Republican lawmakers from Monday's parade, but it backed down when the Wausau mayor threatened to refuse to pay insurance costs and other expenses for the public event.

Trash Pick Up Delayed in BD

9/4/11 - Trash pick-up in Beaver Dam will be delayed by one day all week because of the Labor Day holiday. Director of Facilities David Stoiser says Veolia Environmental will collect Monday’s route on Tuesday, Tuesday’s route on Wednesday and that delay will continue throughout the week with Friday’s route being collected on Saturday. Brush collection, which takes place on the first trash collection day of the month, will also be delayed for those residents who did not already have brush collected at the beginning of the month last week. Monday’s brush will be collected on Tuesday and brush collection concludes with Wednesday’s brush route collected on Thursday. In addition, the Department of Public Works garage will be closed on Labor Day Monday.

Bicyclist Deaths Up from ‘10

9/4/11 - The number of bicyclists killed in Wisconsin in the first eight months of this year is the same the number who died in all of 2010. Officials said nine cyclists have died in crashes this year. Five were struck in the rear by motor vehicles. And four bicyclists died when they rode into the paths of cars-and-trucks. The most recently reported cycling death happened on August 19th in Kenosha. Police said 50-year-old Wayne Bricco was crossing a street in the path of a westbound car that hit him. Bricco died the day after the mishap. The nine cycling deaths in Wisconsin this year is more four more than in the first eight months of last year.

WEDC Still in Startup Process

9/4/11 - Wisconsin’s new Economic Development Corporation has been in place for almost two months. And it’s still in the process of getting started. The group is a public-and-private organization that replaced the state government’s Commerce Department. The agency’s director, Paul Jadin, tells the Wisconsin State Journal it’s more complicated than many people think. Four vice-president posts still need to be filled, along with top spots on the corporation’s new board. In the meantime, Jadin says the group is starting to do what the governor and Legislature wants it to do – attract new jobs, by being more flexible than the old bureaucratic system. So far, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has given out 34-million-dollars in grants for business projects that are supposed to create over 900 jobs. Jadin also says there’s plenty of oversight to help make the new office accountable to taxpayers. He says the agency should avoid pitfalls from similar efforts in other states. Michigan’s corporation awarded nine-million-dollars to a convicted embezzler last year. The agency in Texas was accused of a conflict, after giving 16-million-dollars to firms connected with supporters of Governor Rick Perry. And Indiana’s group was caught inflating its job numbers, and fighting efforts to open its records to taxpayers.

No Council Meeting, But BD Mayor Listening Sessions Will Go On

9/4/11 - Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy has listening sessions scheduled on Tuesday. Kennedy says city residents are invited to meet with him, one-on-one, without appointment on the first and third Tuesday of every month. He says it is important that constituents have the opportunity to speak with him the day after each regular meeting of the common council. The sessions will be held this week even though the council is taking a break for the Labor Day holiday. The meetings are held in Room 109 on the first floor of City Hall from 10am until noon and again from 5pm to 6pm. Kennedy also makes himself available for private meetings by appointment by contacting the mayor office.

Regents Plan to Meet to Discuss Cutting 51 Jobs

9/4/11 - The Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin system will consider a plan to cut 51 jobs at its meeting this coming week.  Actually, only eight system workers would be laid off.  The other positions are already vacant.  The plan would meet a requirement of the recently passed state budget to cut almost two and a half million dollars in administrative costs at the university system.  Anyone displaced would be given the opportunity to find new positions within the university system.  Most of the eliminated positions would be in the IT department.

Western WI Man Facing Charges for Threatening to Blow Up IRS Office

9/4/11 - A La Crosse man is scheduled to make a court appearance next Wednesday to face charges he threatened to blow up the IRS office.  Witnesses say 48 year old Paul Weber was pacing in the Internal Revenue Service office that afternoon, demanding to speak to an agent, while threatening to blow the building up.  After Weber said that, he evidently went to Congressman Ron Kind's office and demand to see him.  A staff member reportedly blocked Weber from Kind's office and pushed him out the door -- leading to more threats from Weber.  He has been charged with one felony and one misdemeanor over the alleged threats.

Woman With History of Child Abuse Back in Court

9/4/11 - A western Wisconsin woman is free on a signature bond, after being charged with neglecting the same daughter she was convicted of abusing 13 years ago. 36-year-old Elise Will and her 37-year-old husband Jeremee of Hammond both appeared in Saint Croix County Circuit Court Friday afternoon. They’re charged with felony child abandonment and misdemeanor child neglect, and both are due back in court Wednesday when the status of the case will be reviewed. Prosecutors said the teen was abused as a baby. She’s now 14 – and police said the couple locked her out of her house, made her sleep in an outdoor tent, and starved her for four days. Authorities didn’t learn about the alleged abuse until they were investigating the death of another child – the mother’s new baby daughter. That girl was six weeks old when she died July 23rd. Police are still waiting for medical reports in that case. The first autopsy reports did not turn up any trauma on the infant – but sheriff’s deputies are still investigating.

Man Gets 3-years for Selling Driver’s License

9/4/11 - A former Wisconsin DMV worker has been sentenced to three years in prison for selling drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.  Khue Xiong of Stevens Point allegedly worked with Eric Silva, finding illegal immigrants and offering them fraudulent licenses for a thousand dollars.  Xiong entered the DMV database to change their residency status.  Court records indicate more than 70 licenses were sold during a six month period in 2009 and 2010.  Six men were charged in the case.  Two of the suspects are still being sought.

Walker Orders Special Election

9/4/11 - Governor Scott Walker has ordered a special election for the state Assembly seat vacated by La Crosse Democrat Jennifer Shilling. If more than two candidates run from either party, a primary would take place October 11th. One finalist from each party will then square off in a general election on November eighth. Shilling held the Assembly seat for over a decade until she was elected to the Senate last month. Shilling unseated Republican Dan Kapanke in a recall vote. As of last week, three Democrats and no Republicans had filed preliminary paperwork with state officials to run for the vacant Assembly post – La Crosse School Board president Christine Clair, La Crosse County Board member Jill Billings, and arts center administrator David Krump. Other candidates were expected. But former representative and La Crosse Mayor John Medinger said he would not run for the seat – and neither would the city’s current mayor, Matt Harter.

Obama Administration Backs Off Tougher Ozone Standards

9/4/11 - The Obama White House is backing off from imposing tougher standards for ozone – an air pollutant that’s been a problem for years in southeast Wisconsin. The E-P-A announced the new standards in January of last year. The government said the new limits would down on hospitalizations and lost sick time at work. But businesses said it would put unnecessary costs on utility and factory smokestacks at a time when air quality was getting better. President Obama said today the administration would continue protecting the environment – but he also said it was important to cut regulatory burdens to help the economy recover. Most of Wisconsin’s lakeshore areas along Lake Michigan are in federal non-attainment zones, where development is restricted due to heavy ozone.

Black Bear Hunting Season Opens Wednesday

9/4/11 - Wisconsin’s hunting season for black bears opens on Wednesday. The D-N-R said just over nine-thousand permits were issued – and the harvest limit is the same as last year, at just over 52-hundred. The bear season runs through October 11th. This year, a hunter must leave a bear tooth and part of a rib when registering the animal. Officials say it will help with a two-year study of Wisconsin’s bear population, to determine if the state is setting appropriate quotas.