Top Stories December 13th

Beaver Dam Man Charged In OWI Fatality

12/13/11 - A Beaver Dam man accused of killing his girlfriend in a drunken driving rollover accident had a signature bond set at $5000 yesterday. 20-year-old Guadalupe Rodriguez Jr. is charged with two counts of Homicide By Intoxicated Use of a Vehicle. The accident occurred in the early morning hours of November 29, 2010, right in front of the Beaver Dam Middle School. Witnesses say Rodriguez was driving 90 miles-an-hour as he headed southbound on North Spring Street, which has a posted speed limit of 25mph. He reportedly went through the Mackie Street stop light, lost control around the curve and struck some small trees before rolling over; his Honda Civic came to rest on its roof. Neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt. When first responders found his passenger, 22-year-old Diamond Avalos, she was already dead. Rodriguez was ejected and flighted to UW Hospital in Madison. He is now a quadriplegic. Authorities say his blood alcohol level – six hours after the accident – was point-zero-six (.06) and there was allegedly marijuana in his system. If convicted, the charges carry a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.

Police Investigate Theft of Copper from MEC

12/13/11 - Authorities are investigating the theft of just more than 9,500 pounds of copper from the Mayville Engineering Company in Mayville. It was reported on December 5th. According to police records, the copper was stolen in the early nighttime hours of December 3rd and is worth about $48,000. Police believe someone forcibly entered the plant and used a company forklift to load the copper onto a truck. Surveillance video at the business is still being reviewed. The plant, located on Horicon Street, is the same one that was targeted twice last year. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Mayville Police Department.

Job Outlook Includes Modest Growth Trend

12/13/11 - Wisconsin's job outlook for the first three months of next year will be about the same as this fall, as a modest growth trend continues. That's according to the quarterly survey of employers by Milwaukee's Manpower Incorporated. The numbers of Wisconsin firms expecting to hire new people is about eight-percent higher than those expecting layoffs. That's about the same trend as during the current October-through-December period -- and it's three-percent higher than the national outlook. Manpower says 14-percent of the 18-thousand U-S firms it surveys expect to add workers from January-through-March. Nine-percent expect layoffs. Seventy-percent said there will be no change. But the numbers of companies not sure about their hiring plans rose sharply, from three-percent in the last two quarters to seven-percent for early next year. Manpower says it reflects uncertainty in the U-S economy. But overall, the firm says the hiring outlook is the most promising since 2008, before the meltdown of the financial services industry.

Beaver Dam Laying Groundwork For New Business Park

12/13/11 - The Beaver Dam Operations Committee last night signed-off on an expansion of the city’s sanitary sewer service area. The city is in the process of building a third business park with around 200 acres of land on the north side of town that is currently in the township. Consulting Engineer Mike Laue with MSA Professional Services says, as part of the process, Beaver Dam has to gain DNR approval to run sewer lines to the property. Last night’s action forwards the matter to the common council for approval. The DNR will have to sign off on the final version, but they’ve already approved early drafts and Laue says state officials have already deemed early versions “favorable.”

Senate Committee Will Hold Hearing on Abortion Bill

12/13/11 - The Wisconsin Senate's Health Committee will hold a public hearing today on a bill that seeks to make it harder for women to get abortions. Republican Mary Lazich of New Berlin sponsored the measure. Women who receive drugs to induce abortions would be required to have a doctor perform a physical exam first -- and the doctor must be in the room with her when the drugs are administered. It would be a felony to break that law. Also, women who seek abortions would have to talk privately with their doctors to assure that they're making the decisions on their own -- and they're not being influenced by others.

Childs: Schedule Change a Positive So Far

12/13/11 - A big schedule change in the Waupun School District this fall has been a positive says Superintendent Don Childs. On 32 Wednesday’s this year classes are starting 90-minutes later than normal so as to allow the teaching staff an opportunity to get together on a frequent basis to develop and learn strategies to deal with not only kids struggling to learn but also those that are excelling in the classroom. Childs says the teachers are starting to grasp the concept and learning to work together to advance their students learning. Childs says the worry that students would cause issues in the community because of the late starts has not materialized. He says a large number of the students are participating in the before school programs being offered by the district on those late start days.

Circus Without an Elephant?

12/13/11 - What's a circus without an elephant? Folks in the Madison area could soon find out, because a Dane County Board committee is scheduled to vote tonight on a proposal to ban elephant performances. Supervisor Matt Veldran proposed the ban. He says elephants don't belong in a traveling show because it's not possible to house them humanely. And he said Madison's zoo decided 11 years ago not to have an elephant because humane housing could not be provided. If the measure passes, it could mean the end of the Zor Shrine Circus show in Madison each February. The Shriners have not commented. Veldran is getting a lot of support for his measure. It has 15 co-sponsors, just three votes short of the 19 needed for passage. Dane County is not the only one considering a ban on performing elephants. It was proposed in Congress last month by Virginia House Democrat James Moran

Sheboygan Council Suspends Proceedings to Remove Ryan

12/13/11 - The Sheboygan City Council has suspended its proceedings that could have led to the removal of Mayor Bob Ryan. The aldermen met privately for an hour last night, before voting 11-to-nothing as a Committee-of-the-Whole to suspend its review of two formal complaints against Ryan. During the review, the mayor's opponents successfully petitioned for a recall election -- and a primary is set for January 17th. None of the Council members explained why they suspended their investigation. Attorney Joseph Voelkner, who's advising the Council, says he'll issue a statement today. The proceedings could have led to a quasi-judicial hearing on the removal of Ryan, who's been criticized for three major alcohol-related episodes in the first two-and-a-half years of a four-year term that's scheduled to expire in April of 2013.

Universities Buying up .XXX Domains

12/13/11 - Wisconsin universities are among the first to buy Web addresses in the new pornographic section of the Internet. But don't waste your time looking for them. The schools are keeping the sites blank so others cannot use them for things which are less than wholesome. The general public started buying domains last week in the new "Dot-X-X-X" section of the Internet. The University of Michigan bought 21 domains, and U-W Madison said it bought slightly less than that. Patricia Dickinson said it's most concerned about preventing dirty versions of its most popular sites, like the U-W Badgers' athletic site. Each name cost the school around 200-dollars to reserve. But Dickinson says it's worth it, because it could prevent expensive legal battles later on. U-W Milwaukee spokesman Tom Luljak said his school also took the same steps to quote, "protect our brand from the X-X-X domains." Marquette has not bought any domains yet. But they say they're monitoring the Web to see how the school's brands are used.