Top Stories December 17th

Name of Victim Released

12/17/11 - Dodge County authorities have released the name of the Beaver Dam man killed early yesterday (Fr) morning in a one vehicle accident. 49-year-old Donald L. Schmucki rolled his vehicle on Highway G near the Beaver Dam Conservation Club just before 3:45 a-m. Authorities say his vehicle drifted off the road and he over-corrected, entered the ditch sideways and overturned. Schmucki was thrown from the car and became pinned underneath. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic Fatalities Down in 2011

12/17/11 - Overall traffic fatalities in Wisconsin are down this year compared to 2010 and one of the reasons is a drop in the number of motorcycle fatalities. Officials say there have been 85 so far this year compared to 104 at this point last year. Greg Patzer with the Wisconsin DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Safety believes public education and driver awareness are playing an important role in the decline. He says the DOT’s transportable high-end Rider Education Facility has appeared at about 40 public events across the state this year, helping riders and non-riders learn more about highway safety and sharing the road. This was the first full year of operation for THE REF — a 40-foot mobile training facility that provides motorcycle riders and non-riders an inter-active environment to help motorists better understand some of the unique challenges of motorcycling.

Out of State Money Playing Big Role in Recall

12/17/11 - The Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says at one time getting 10 percent of campaign funding from out of state would have brought on comments. Now, out-of-state money is making up almost half of the funding for and against the current recall effort targeting the governor. Documents released by the state of Wisconsin yesterday showed nearly 60 percent of the donations and almost 30 percent of the 1-point-2 million dollars raised by Democrats came from outside Wisconsin.

Windels Enters Guilty Plea

12/17/11 - A Dane County woman who admitted making death threats to 15 Wisconsin state senators has a chance to be cleared of any conviction. 27-year-old Katherine Windels has entered a guilty plea to making a bomb threat. But Circuit Judge Julie Genovese placed Windels in a program for first offenders – and if she stays clean and follows the terms, her charge will be dropped. The judge said Windels does not have a prior criminal record, and she suffers from anxiety and depression as noted by mental health professionals. One of those experts, Jennifer Branks, wrote that she’s convinced Windels never intended to truly threaten or disturb anyone. Windels admitted e-mailing Republican senators on March ninth, the night they approved the bill that virtually eliminates collective bargaining by most public employee unions. Among the legislators: State Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau. Windels told lawmakers they’d be shot-in-the-head, and bombs had been planted around their homes and vehicles.

Tyson Meats Being Recalled

12/17/11 - Wisconsin is one of 16 states where Tyson Fresh Meats, Incorporated, is recalling ground beef products. More than 40 thousand pounds of meat are included in the recall. A routine test by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service discovered the presence of E. coli. The recall involves 10-pound chubs of chuck fine ground beef 80/20, packed in cases of eight chubs. No reports of illness connected to the product have been received to this point.
(NOTE: Consumer questions are being referred to the company at 866-328-3156.)

Petri to Hold Town Hall Meetings

12/17/11 - Congressman Tom Petri has scheduled a series of Town Meetings in our area next month. The Republican from Fond du Lac says the meetings are way for him to connect with his constituents. Petri, who represents the Sixth Congressional District, will be at the Watertown Senior and Community Center in the early afternoon of January 5th. Then, on January 7th, he’ll travel to the Waupun Public Library in the late morning hours. Petri is scheduled to make ten other stops in his district.

Paper Company Selling 80,000 Acres of Land

12/17/11 - Wausau Paper expects to finalize a deal to sell more than 80 thousand acres of timberland in northern Wisconsin for nearly 43 million dollars. The company says it is selling to two companies. The Lyme Timber Company and the Forestland Group manage timberland across the country. Wausau had announced plans to sell the rest of its timberlands last fall. Wausau says it will use the proceeds to finance expansion of its profitable tissue division in Kentucky.

Associated to Close 21 Branches, None Locally

12/17/11 - Green Bay-based Associated Bank reports it plans to close 21 of its branches in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The bank has declined to identify the locations to be shut down but calls placed to local branches indicated that none of the closures would affect the Dodge County area. The bank says most of the branches to be closed are within two miles of another branch, calling the move a question of efficiency. Associated reports it has seen its over-the-year revenue slip a little bit, but it still has assets of 22 billion dollars and a total of 270 branches.

New Lawsuit Filed Against Voter ID Law

12/17/11 - A third lawsuit challenging the state’s new voter photo ID law has been filed in Dane County on constitutional grounds. The Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP and the Hispanic rights group Voces de la Frontera are the plaintiffs. Their argument is that the law violates the right to vote under the Wisconsin constitution. Backers of the law which passed the Legislature this year have said it will survive court challenges. The requirement for voters to show photo identification at the polls takes effect with the February election.

Edwards Pleads Guilty

12/17/11 - Tracy Edwards is expected to plead guilty to first-degree recklessly endangering safety when he makes a court appearance next month. Edwards is the man who led police to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 1991. He later testified against Dahmer, who admitted killing 17 young men and boys. Edwards was accused last summer of throwing Johnny Jordan into a river from a downtown bridge last summer. A co-defendant, Timothy Carr, jumping into the river after Jordan and was rescued by police. Jordan drowned. Carr is to be sentenced January 20th, three days after the hearing for Edwards.

DNR Working to Allow Hunters to Keep Deer Stands Up Overnight

12/17/11 - The Natural Resources Board has told DNR staff to start working on rules to allow hunters to leave their tree stands on state-managed land overnight. The stands are allowed now, but the hunters have to remove them at the end of each day. The DNR had said in the past that allowing the stands to stay overnight would be more convenient for hunters, but could leave others with the thought that the hunters could stake-out areas – and that could start conflicts. To this point there is no timeline to have the scope statement completed.