Top Stories, December 21st

Dodge County Supervisors Opt For Concealed Carry

12/21/11 - Concealed weapons will be allowed inside Dodge County buildings if you have the proper permit. That’s after the board of supervisors last night voted down a resolution that would have banned them from county buildings and land. Prior to the vote several supervisors spoke in opposition of the resolution with a number citing the erosion of people’s rights and the fact that right now someone could walk into a county building with a weapon not concealed and it would be legal. At the beginning of the meeting more than a dozen letters sent to the board by community members were read aloud, and a majority of them were in favor of the ban. The conceal carry law went into effect last month and already the department of Justice is reporting well over 50,000 people have applied for the permit needed to carry a concealed weapon.

Ready Ready to Retire From Board

12/21/11 - The longest serving elected official in Wisconsin history won’t be running again next spring. Joe Ready, who has served on the Dodge County Board for 57-years, submitted his declaration of non-candidacy papers with the county clerk’s office yesterday. The 93-year-old Ready is a lifelong Dodge County resident and has served the Watertown area on the both the county board and the city council. Ready is one of five supervisors who won’t be running for another term. The others include Ken Neumann, Ed Qualmann, Dean Fuller and Dean Becker.

Wal-Mart Donates $50K To Green Valley

12/21/11 - The Wal-Mart Foundation has made a $50,000 donation to Green Valley Enterprises. The Beaver Dam non-profit serves the developmentally disabled in the Dodge County area and will use the money for their Communities at Work Program. Green Valley’s Kristin Hanson says they be hiring a full-time employee to look for new jobs in the area, help with employer education and hire job coaches that would be able to work with workers on job sites. Jim Jansen, who is the General Manager of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and also sits on the Foundations State Giving Program committee, says he was glad to be able to award such a large grant in his home community to help with workforce training.

Walker Reverses Cuts To Rape, Child Porn Grants

12/21/11 - Governor Scott Walker has changed his mind about cutting services for sexual assault victims and efforts to fight child pornography. The Republican Walker decided to preserve 294-thousand-dollars to help sexual assault victims, and 45-thousand to fight child porn. The Justice Department spear-heads both efforts, and Attorney General J-B Van Hollen praised Walker for reversing budget cuts that affect crisis response services for rape victims. Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the Justice Department will have to find 45-thousand-dollars in other spending cuts in order to preserve the child porn crackdown – but it would not have to worry about 294-thousand for rape victim services. Local domestic violence officials we spoke with were happy to hear about the restored funding even if they don’t know exactly quite yet what affect it will have on their 2012 budget. Jamie Kratz-Gullickson with People Against Violent Environments in Beaver Dam says her organization was looking at a 42.5% cut in a grant that funds its Sexual Assault Victim Advocate. Kratz-Gullickson says it is her understanding that the governor was able to restore 5% of the funding – which is what he would control by executive order – which means they may only be looking at a 37.5% cut in their sexual assault grant.

Turbines Turning At Glacier Hills

12/21/11 - The wheels are turning today at Wisconsin's largest wind energy farm. We Energies has announced the opening of the Glacier Hills Wind Park on the Columbia County town of Randolph and Scott. Ninety high-tech windmills are spread across 17-thousand acres of farm land. They're expected to produce 162 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power 45-thousand homes over the course of a year. We Energies says the final cost will be less than the 364-million dollars authorized by the state Public Service Commission. We Energies serves the southern and eastern half of Dodge County and also runs an 88-turbine wind farm in Fond du Lac County. The company is also working on a bio-mass plant in Rothschild, south of Wausau. When that's done, We Energies says it will meet a state standard for providing eight-percent of its power from renewable sources by 2015.

Associated Bank Confirms Branch Closures

12/21/11 - Associated Bank has confirmed the locations of 20 branches that will close by the middle of next spring. Associated – the largest bank that’s based in Wisconsin – first announced the closings last week, but it did not give locations. A downtown Milwaukee branch is among those scheduled to shut down, along with two in Madison. A third branch in Madison closed last Thursday because the store it was in shut its doors. Most closures are in Wisconsin, but a few are in Minnesota and Illinois. Associated said each affected branch is within two miles of another location. About 200 employees are affected, but at least some are expected to get other jobs within the Associated chain, which is based in Green Bay. The local branches in Beaver Dam, Watertown and Columbus will not be affected by the closures.

Harley Plant Seeks Volunteer Layoffs

12/21/11 - Three Harley-Davidson plants in the Milwaukee area have sent notices to workers giving them until Friday to accept temporary layoffs. If they reject the offer, they could be fired under a settlement reached between the company and the union last September. That deal included the elimination of 250 positions. About 26 percent of the company’s workforce would be filled by seasonal, temporary employees.

Longtime Columbus City Attorney Rests His Case

12/21/11 - City Attorney Randy Lueders served at his last Columbus Common Council meeting last night. Lueders will be stepping down as the City Attorney on January 1, 2012 after 22 years of service. Lueders will remain on as Deputy Attorney for a six-month transition period. Paul Johnson, a Lathrop and Clark Attorney working out of Lodi, will become the new City Attorney the first of the new year.

Wold Sentenced To Life For Hit Man Murder

12/21/11 - A man who paid seven-thousand-dollars to have his ex-girlfriend killed so he could have sole custody of their child will spend the rest of his life in prison. Waukesha County Circuit Judge James Kieffer sentenced Darren Wold to life with no chance for a supervised release. He and Jack Johnson hired Justin Welch, who stabbed 39-year-old Kimberly Smith to death at her home in Oconomowoc in October of 2009. Johnson was recently given a life term with no chance at freedom. Welch will spend at least 52 years behind bars before he gets his first chance for a release at age 70. During a two-hour hearing yesterday (Tue), Wold never looked at the victim's family -- or at a slide show of Smith and her son. Smith's sister, Laurie Zanotti, told Wold quote, "You left us a lifetime of picking up your pieces." Wold proclaimed his innocence and said his recent trial was a witch hunt. Judge Kieffer asked Wold why he ignores the truth. The judge told him quote, "You lost it all because of your anger, hatred, and defiance." After he was convicted, Wold went on a hunger strike -- and Kieffer told Waukesha County authorities to feed him against his will. He has since resumed eating.

Milwaukee Man Accused of Running From Watertown Police

12/21/11 - A Milwaukee man is accused of running from Watertown police at a high rate of speed. Steven Bertram is charged with one felony count of Fleeing an Officer, which carries a maximum three-and-a-half year prison sentence, if he is convicted. According to the criminal complaint, an officer stopped the 21-year-old on the Highway 16 Bypass in October for speeding. When the officer informed Bertram that he had three warrants out for his arrest, Bertram allegedly stood silent for a moment, slowly put his hands on the ignition and “slammed his car into gear.” A one-mile chase followed that reportedly reached speeds of 85mph before the officer terminated the pursuit. A citation was sent to Bertram. A passenger in the vehicle later told police that Bertram said he didn’t know about the warrants and didn’t want to get arrested and lose his job. A signature bond was set at $1000 yesterday and a preliminary hearing is on the calendar next month.

Waupaca Man Pleads In Deer Slaughter Case

12/21/11 - A Waupaca man has pleaded no contest to slaughtering a half-dozen deer on a snowmobile almost three years ago. 25-year-old Nicholas Hermes is the second of three defendants to settle his charges in the nationally-publicized case. He faced up to 17 criminal, conservation, and ordinance violations at one time. But yesterday, Hermes was convicted in a plea bargain on three of his five original felony counts of animal mistreatment -- plus three misdemeanor hunting violations. Hermes is scheduled to be sentenced February 7th. Last month, 27-year-old Rori Kuenzi was sentenced to 11 years in prison, to be served at the same time as a 23-year term he's now serving for an unrelated traffic death. The other defendant, Kuenzi's brother Robby, is scheduled to go on trial in April. The deer slaughterings caused strong emotions throughout the country when they occurred in January of 2009 on a snowmobile trail in Waupaca County. The landowner closed the trail, causing riders to go for miles out of their way. Animal rights' groups were angered. And snowmobile groups condemned the killings and defended the integrity of their sport.

Oshkosh Drowning Victim Identified

12/21/11 - A 15-year-old boy who died after he fell through the ice on a quarry pond in Oshkosh was identified yesterday as Austin Werbelow. Police said he and another boy were walking on a pond behind Zillges Materials on Monday night when they fell through. One of the teens swam out of the water and went for help. But authorities said Werbelow was under water for up to an hour before rescuers pulled him out. He died a short time later at an Oshkosh hospital. Officials said the quarry pond was about 12-feet in the spot where the boys fell through the ice. Werbelow was a student at Oshkosh North High School.

College Student Appears For Meeting Teen

12/21/11 - Bond was set at 10-thousand-dollars yesterday for a Nebraska college student accused of taking a 13-year-old Lake Geneva girl, whose disappearance prompted a statewide Amber Alert. Authorities said 21-year-old Jacob Cambridge met the girl online and drove to Lake Geneva to meet her on Sunday. Her family reported her missing on Monday, and police found her with Cambridge at a motel room in Elkhorn about a half-hour after Monday night's Amber Alert. Walworth County prosecutors said the girl claimed to be 17, and Cambridge admitted having sexual contact with her -- something his attorney said was only an allegation. Cambridge is not charged with anything, but prosecutors expect to file a complaint before his next court appearance on January fifth.