Top Stories December 25th

Merry Christmas…Where’s the Snow?

12/25/11 - We’ve still got snow on the ground this morning but it’s unclear if we can call it a White Christmas. The National Weather Service says there must be at least an inch of snow on the ground to qualify as a White Christmas. Either way its clear there has been a lack of snow so far this winter and weather experts are blaming that on La Nina. They say it’s pushed the jet stream farther north and that’s one of the reasons snowfall has been far below normal through the fall and early winter for an area of the U.S. from New England to the Dakotas. In Minneapolis, golf courses were open this week. Many ski resorts are having to make snow to do their business. Snow totals in New England are running four to 14 inches below normal, while Montana’s mountain snow pack is about 30 percent below its average. In Beaver Dam, we’ve only had two or three “snow events” none of which has left more than a couple inches. And it looks like there is nothing in the near future that will change that.

Search Firm Will Seek Community Input

12/25/11 - The search firm hired by the Waupun School District to find a new superintendent has been instructed to solicit input from the community. SCF Educational Consultants is expected to bring a list of personal and professional characteristics back to the board that are important to the position of superintendent. According to district officials, the search firm will be holding two public forums on January 4th. The first will be at 3:45pm at Rock River Intermediate School followed by a 7pm session at the Junior/Senior High School. Those organizing the forums are asking that parents, staff and community members come and share their feelings on what is important to them in finding a new superintendent. The district hopes to have the new superintendent in place by July 1st. Interim Superintendent Don Childs has been in Waupun since July of last year after serving for several years in the Beaver Dam School District.

Walker Stops Planning for National Health Care Law

12/25/11 - Governor Scott Walker has ordered Wisconsin to stop planning for the national health care reform law until the Supreme Court decides whether the law will be dropped. The Republican Walker has opposed President Obama’s health package all along – but he’s just now halting the state’s plan to create its own exchange, where individuals and small businesses can select from a menu of insurance plans. States which don’t have their own plans in place by the start 2013 will get a uniform federal plan to follow starting in 2014. But the Supreme Court is expected to rule next summer on whether the Obama health plan is constitutional. And if it’s not struck down, Walker says the state will still have time to create its own exchange by the 2013 deadline. But Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Council on Children-and-Families disagrees. He says lawmakers wouldn’t have time – and the state would be quote, “ill-prepared” if the court keeps the Obama health law in place. Assembly Democrat Sandy Pasch of Whitefish Bay also criticized Walker’s decision, and says the governor is quote, “playing chicken with people’s health.” Senate Republican Frank Lasee of De Pere praised the governor’s action – but he says the state would have to give back a 38-million-dollar federal grant to help create the exchange. Lasee says the money has strings attached, and Walker has to give it back. Walker’s office says it’s looking into that matter.

WI Legislators Back Extended Payroll Tax Cut

12/25/11 - Wisconsin’s working people will not pay higher Social Security taxes come January. The U-S House and Senate both voted this week to extend the current payroll tax cut by two months, to buy more time for a long-term agreement. Both houses passed the measure on voice votes, despite some grumbling from Tea Party Republicans. Milwaukee House Democrat Gwen Moore tweeted that she was pleased 160-million Americans won’t see a tax hike, and over two-million people will not lose their unemployment benefits. Without the agreement, officials said the average employee would have had to pay an extra 20-dollars a week in Social Security taxes after the holidays – and jobless benefits would have been phased out for those out of work longer than six months. The extension came after G-O-P House leaders were the last to agree to it. Some Republicans demanded a full-year solution. Wausau area Republican Sean Duffy said he still favored a one-year payroll tax holiday – but for now, he said Wisconsin families should not pay more just because of what he called the “dysfunction in Washington D-C.” Sherwood House Republican Reid Ribble said he was tired of the partisan bickering over the issue. And he said some lawmakers lost sight of what’s important – keeping more money in people’s pockets.

Governor Staying Neutral on Effort to Get Rid of GAB

12/25/11 - Governor Walker says he’ll stay neutral on a proposal to get rid of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board. The Republican Walker told the A-P there’s no perfect system for running elections and enforcing ethics laws – but he says improvements can always be made in how the agency functions. Last week, G-O-P Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald suggested going back to the old Elections Board, with political party leaders serving as members – and an ethics board that critics said was too ineffective. Fitzgerald was reacting to the accountability board’s policy of not automatically striking fraudulent and duplicate recall signatures, leaving that job to those who challenge the petitions. Six retired judges serve on the accountability board. Its director says those members have much more experience in making impartial decisions than the old elections board members ever did. Lawmakers created the accountability board four years ago, after five legislators were charged with using their tax-funded offices as campaign machines to try and keep their parties in power.

Officer Cleared in Shooting

12/25/11 - Rock County’s district attorney said a police officer did not do anything wrong when he shot-and-killed a man last month near Beloit. Town of Beloit Sergeant Richard Felger shot 26-year-old Darryl Cooper during a gun battle outside Rex Lanes. Authorities said Felger was on patrol about 1:45 a-m on November sixth, when he heard gunshots from the parking lot. According to District Attorney David O’Leary, Cooper had shot-and-injured somebody in an earlier fight – and he later ran away from Sergeant Felger and fired shots at him. Felger shot Cooper as he returned the fire. Felger was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg, while Cooper died at a hospital. O’Leary said the officer was doing his duty – and he praised Felger for quote, “preventing further loss of life.”

Charges Not Expected in Eau Claire Accident

12/25/11 - The Eau Claire County sheriff said criminal charges are not expected against a 16-year-old girl who let a 14-year-old boy drive her family’s car in a fatal crash on Tuesday night. But Ron Cramer said it’s possible that the girl could get a couple of non-criminal citations. Three teens from the Eleva-Strum area were killed in the crash – McKenna Johnson, Marco Perez, and driver Austin Gable. Two other passengers were hurt. The 16-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy remain hospitalized. And Cramer says his deputies are waiting for clearance from medical personnel before they interview the two. The sheriff said the 16-year-old girl’s family gave her permission to drive the car – and Cramer says she might have broken state laws by letting an unlicensed person drive the car, and having more than one passenger in violation of the graduated driver licensing law for teens. He said those are the only two things investigators are looking at. The sheriff says he expects most of the legal activity to come from civil lawsuits. Meanwhile, the town of Washington Fire Department held stress de-briefing last night for emergency personnel who responded to the crash. It happened on a hilly road where drivers have been known to make cars airborne by speeding over hillcrests. Cramer says that if “hill jumping” was a cause of the crash, he and the sheriff in neighboring Trempealeau County will start a campaign to warn students and parents about the dangers of that behavior.

No Layoffs for MKE Sheriff’s…Yet

12/25/11 - A judge has blocked layoffs planned to start at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department December 31st. A temporary injunction will delay those layoffs for at least a month, until state and county hearings can be held. The sheriff’s office is dealing with deep budget cuts for next year. Some deputies retired, but about 40 were to be laid off. The deputies’ union sued, saying mistakes were made in singling out those to lose their jobs. Sheriff David Clark Junior has said the county budget is a train wreck.

Criminal Caught After Leaving Cell Phone at the Scene

12/25/11 - Here's a memo to criminals. If you don't want to get caught, don't leave your cell phone at the crime scene -- like a 21-year-old man did in Madison recently. Police said Lamar Crump Junior broke into an S-U-V December 11th at a Madison shopping mall, and he stole two guns and stereo speakers. As the owner checked the vehicle with a police officer, he found a cell-phone with a photo of his I-D card and some pictures of himself. Crump was arrested four days later at the same mall. Police said the stolen stereo equipment was hooked up in his van -- and the missing guns were found in his apartment. Crump is charged three counts of theft, two of them as felonies. He's in jail under a 900-dollar bond.