Top Stories, December 18th

Cudahy Man Killed In Washington County Wreck

12/18/11 - A Cudahy man was killed early Saturday morning after his vehicle collided with a semitrailer truck in Washington County. The crash happened just after 8am in the southbound lanes of Highway 41 in the Town of Wayne. According to the Washington County Sheriff's Department, the 78-year-old driver and three passengers were northbound when the car slipped and crossed into the southbound lanes near County Highway D and crashed into the semitrailer. The driver was flown to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. His 75-year-old wife and two other passengers were hospitalized. The truck driver is from Illinois and was not hurt. While sheriff's deputies were on scene investigating the fatal crash, a truck was involved in a rollover wreck nearby. The occupants of that truck were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Local Power Customers Spared Air Quality Costs

12/18/11 - Electric customers in the region will not pay their utility’s costs in complying with an air quality rule that’s being challenged in court. The State Public Service Commission told Wisconsin Power-and-Light, and its parent company Alliant Energy, that it cannot get 25-million dollars from customers, to comply with the Cross State Air Pollution Rule. Alliant Energy provides power to northwestern Dodge County. The rule seeks to reduce the flow of air pollution from Midwest utility smokestacks to eastern states that don’t use as much coal-generated power. The rule is supposed to take effect next month, but utilities have asked a federal court to strike it down. As a result, Wisconsin Power-and-Light was given permission to raise its revenues by only five-million dollars – or one-sixth of what it was seeking. The average residential customer will pay about 30-cents more each month.

Culvers Participating in BDHS Fundraiser

12/18/11 - The local Culver’s store is participating in a fundraiser to raise money for Generating a Green Future, a building project at the Beaver Dam High School. Organizer Mary Vogl-Rauscher is an advisor for the parent-and-student led fundraising group seeking to raise $75,000 for an Environmental Sciences Classroom which she says will provide hands-on experience for Beaver Dam students. Senior Stacy Rauscher says the agri-science classroom would replace an aging greenhouse but also provide lab space that 100% of students will be able to utilize. She says the building would allow for an emphasis on having a greener environment tomorrow but also allow students to focus on important skills that are needed to get a job today. Proceeds from the purchase of a certificate for a Culver’s Custard Cake will be directed to “Generating a Greener Future.” Beaver Dam FFA members will be selling a Culver’s Custard Cake certificates until tomorrow, December 19. For more information, contact Mary Vogl Rauscher, Generating a Greener Future Co-Advisor, at 887-7951 or email trauscher@charter.net to purchase a certificate. Pick up of the Culver’s Custard Cakes will be at Culver’s in Beaver Dam between December 20 and 24.

BDAAA Hosts Dad’s & Kids Shopping Day Today

12/18/11 - The Beaver Dam Area Arts Association has a special shopping day planned Sunday afternoon for dads who want to take their kids shopping. Executive Director Karla Jensen says today from 1pm to 4pm is Dad & Kids Day with special discounts, prize drawings and more. Jensen says the Holiday Gift Gallery is as much of an art show as it is a unique shopping experience. Jensen says organizers spent the summer scouting artwork across the state and this year’s holiday exhibit features dozens of Wisconsin artists in a variety of mediums. The Holiday Gift Gallery has extended hours through Christmas Eve with the Seippel Center open seven days a week. The Beaver Dam Area Arts Association is located inside the Seippel Homestead and Center for the Arts at 1605 North Spring Street, which is right next door to Culvers Restaurant, and is open through Christmas Eve.

FFRF Offers Its Own Nativity Scene

12/18/11 - The Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation says its display in the Wisconsin Capitol Rotunda is not meant to be offense. The anti-religious group says it thinks all religious displays should be removed from the Capitol. The alternative nativity scene is has erected includes a female “Baby Jesus,” and the Virgin Mary replaced by Venus. The display is the foundation’s way of responding to a nativity scene set up by the group Wisconsin Family Action. Its Three Wise Men are portrayed as Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Mark Twain.

Dahmer Whistleblower To Plead In Drowning Death

12/18/11 - Tracy Edwards – the man who led Milwaukee Police to Jeffrey Dahmer – is expected to plead guilty next month to causing a drowning death this summer. The 52-year-old Edwards had pleaded innocent to throwing Johnny Jordan off a downtown Milwaukee bridge in July. But on-line court records show that Edwards has a “projected guilty plea” scheduled at a hearing on January 17th. His attorney would not say anything about a possible plea deal. Edwards is currently charged with first-degree reckless endangerment. Prosecutors said Edwards and Timothy Carr threw Jordan into the Milwaukee River during an argument. Carr jumped into the river to try and save Jordan – but Jordan drowned, and Carr was rescued. He’s scheduled to be sentenced January 20th after he pleaded guilty. Edwards was 32 when he escaped Jeffrey Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment in 1991 and went to police. Edwards later testified against Dahmer, who admitted killing 17 young men and boys. Dahmer was murdered in prison.

Super Bowl Planners May Want To Double Check Reservation

12/18/11 - If you made a hotel reservation for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, you might want to see if it’s still good. A Green Bay area man said he was just told that his reservation was canceled – even though he made it back in February. Matt McGovern tells W-L-U-K T-V in Green Bay he was shocked to see that the Indianapolis Ramada was charging just 79-dollars a night for Super Bowl weekend. So he grabbed it. And 10 months later, the hotel told him it was canceled. As it turned out, a computer glitch allowed McGovern to book one of 18-thousand rooms the N-F-L reserved in 2008. He has game tickets, so that’s not a problem. But he doesn’t know why it took the hotel so long to let him know his room was canceled. The general manager at the site, Syed Gardezi, said he couldn’t explain it either. But to make things right, his hotel is honoring the room and the 79-dollar rate for McGovern and others who got stuck in the computer glitch. Gardezi says it’ll cost his hotel thousands to cover what the national chain wants him to charge. He says they’re looking for another solution. McGovern says other fans should check their hotels, so what happened to him doesn’t happen to them.

Beaver Dam Mayor Holds Listening Session on Tuesday

12/18/11 - 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 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.