Top Stories, December 30th

Oconomowoc Man Killed In Train Versus Truck Wreck

12/30/11 - An Oconomowoc man was killed yesterday when his pick-up truck was struck by a train near Ixonia. According to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, 44-year-old Michael J. Dragan drove down a private driveway off Highway 16 when he crossed railroad tracks and was struck by a westbound Amtrak passenger train. Dragan was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson County Coroner. Nobody on the train was injured. The accident occurred at 4:42pm and the tracks were closed for just under four hours. The Ixonia Fire Department and EMS assisted at the scene and the accident remains under investigation by the Jefferson County Crash Investigating Team.

Search Resumes For Missing Man Near Jefferson

12/30/11 - Recovery operations resume today in Jefferson County for a man who stopped to help a motorist early Thursday morning and fell off a bridge into the Rock River. Deputies responded to reports of a vehicle crash on the State Highway 26 Bridge north of Jefferson just before 5am. Upon arrival, deputies learned that 33-year-old Tyler Prichard stopped to assist the driver and fell off the bridge into the river. Sheriff Paul Milbrath says Pritchard and the car driver had moved to the side of the road to avoid other traffic – and he swung one of his legs over the side of the bridge and fell. Officials said he might not have realized he was over a current of open water. Rescuers searched almost 12 hours before suspending the effort for the day. They plan to expand their search down-river.

Fire Damages Trenton Town Hall

12/30/11 - Fire caused minor damage at the Trenton Town Hall Thursday morning. Waupun Fire Chief Jeff Berry says town employees tried to open a garage door in the shop area just before 11am, noticed it was not working and then discovered smoke when they investigated the malfunction. Berry says firefighters cut out a section of the metal roof above a furnace pipe to extinguish the flames, which were contained to a ten-foot area and did not spread into the roof of the structure. The cause is believed to be related to the heating unit. Damage is estimated at around $10,000. There were no injuries. Waupun received mutual aid from Fox Lake and Burnett. Crews were on scene for about two-and-a-half hours.

Jalapeño Peppers Not an Effective Deicing Agent

12/30/11 - If sand and salt don’t cut through the ice, maybe jalapeño peppers? A semi rolled over on Highway 151 near Columbus just after 5am yesterday, spilling its spicy cargo all over the icy highway: 30-thousand pounds of jalapeño peppers in total. Nehls says if the towing company that is contracted to recover the vehicle didn’t have enough labor to clear the peppers, he would have offered inmate labor to clean-up said-jalapeño’s for a fee. If it came to that, Nehls said they would have been serving jalapeño’s in the county jail for years to come.

Beaver Dam Man Sentenced For Sixth OWI

12/30/11 - A Beaver Dam man will spend 28 months in prison for his sixth drunken driving offense. Timothy Thibault entered a “no contest” plea to felony Operating While Intoxicated and had a second felony dismissed. Thibault crossed the center line on North Spring Street in August, almost striking a squad car near Winn Terrace and forcing the officer to swerve out of the way. The 53-year-old told the officer that he dropped his lighter and was reaching down to retrieve it. His breath test was over the legal limit for driving at point-one-one. In addition to 28 months behind bars, Thibault will spend three years on extended supervision without a driver’s license.

Suspected Owl Thief Pleads Innocent

12/30/11 - An 18-year-old man has pleaded innocent to stealing a popular owl from a wildlife rehab center in Oconomowoc last month. Dilan White of Dousman entered his pleas in Waukesha County Thursday to charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor criminal damage. White and 18-year-old Matthew Kuhlemeyer of Dousman allegedly broke into a cage at the Wildlife-in-Need Center on November 12th and took Dakota, a grey-horned owl. Officials said Dakota flew away from the teens, and lost 30-percent of his body weight while he was missing for almost a month. Kuhlemeyer asked that his case be dropped. Attorney Dan Fay said a cage does not fit the legal definition of burglary, because it's not a building or dwelling as the law describes. But the state argues that a cage is indeed a structure. A hearing on the issue was set for today. But it's been delayed until January 13th so the defense can review the state's response. White's attorney says his client will not ask that his charges be dropped because of that issue. White is due back in court February 13th.

Five Longtime Sheriffs Department Employees Retire

12/30/11 - Five longtime members of the Dodge County Sheriffs Department are retiring with the New Year, taking with them a combined 151 years of service. Lieutenant Douglas Ninmann started at the department in 1984 and served his 27-year career within the Patrol Division. Captain Molly Soblewski is retiring as head of the Patrol Division after starting in the Communications Center and working her way up; she also served as Dodge County Emergency Manager and Jail Administrator. Debbie Werner-Lindert served 23 years in the Patrol Division as the Administrative Assistant. Detective Robert Neuman served the county for over 32 years. He started as a patrolman and will retire as the most senior of the department’s investigators. Corrections Corporal Mike Harmsen is retiring after serving for over 41 years. Sheriff Todd Nehls says he has been developing a deep bench for this day and he hopes to promote from within. The department is currently going thru the process of exams, interviews and promotions to fill the voids created by the retirements.

Beaver Dam Red Kettle Campaign Sets New Record

12/30/11 - The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign in Beaver Dam had a record-setting year. Organizer Karl Nienhuis with the Beaver Dam Noon Kiwanis Club says the campaign brought in $40,460 - the highest total since the service club has coordinated the effort. That’s nearly $2000 more than last year. Just over $3800 was collected through the annual "Kettle Concert.” Nienhuis says it's not too late to participate in this year's campaign. Checks can be made to Salvation Army - Dodge County and bring it or mail it to American National Bank on Front Street in Beaver Dam c/o Jamie Henning, 115 Front St., Beaver Dam, WI 53916.

Two Sears, Kmart Stores in Wisconsin To Close

12/30/11 - Wisconsin fared better than many other states when Sears and K-Mart announced a preliminary list of 79 stores they plan to close. The list includes a K-Mart in Rice Lake and a Sears store in West Baraboo. But Wisconsin’s two closings are a lot fewer than the 11 that were on the list from Florida. Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia each have six closures. Minnesota, North Carolina, and Tennessee have four each. Sears and K-Mart merged in 2005, and they’ve gained about 60 additional stores since then for a total of 35-hundred-60 nationwide. A spokeswoman for the Sears Holding Company says each of the stores to be closed have about 40-to-80 employees. The firm said Tuesday it would shut down up to 125 stores nationwide to generate cash.

Dems Ask Feds To Halt Wisconsin & Southern Sale

12/30/11 - Five state Assembly Democrats have asked the federal government to wait for two months before approving a sale of the Wisconsin-and-Southern Railroad. Watco Transportation Services of Kansas was expected to take over the railroad this week. But the five Democrats say they want to know if service to shippers would be reduced in southern Wisconsin. And they want an investigation to determine if the sale was a political payback to railroad president William Gardner, who got two years' probation in July for exceeding campaign donation limits to Governor Scott Walker and other Wisconsin political figures. Watco recently denied any political motivation behind the sale. The U-S Surface Transportation Board was asked to hold up the Wisconsin-and-Southern sale by Assembly Democrats Brett Hulsey, Terese Berceau, and Kelda Helen Roys of Madison, Fred Clark of Baraboo, and Lou Molepske of Stevens Point.

Walker Clarifies Family Care Cap Lifting

12/30/11 - The governor's office says Scott Walker and the federal government were not talking about the same things, when they mentioned a lifting of the enrollment cap for Family Care. Walker said Wednesday he would ask lawmakers to end the limit on Family-Care enrollment, after providers showed him how to make it more efficient. But a letter from the federal government later surfaced, which ordered Wisconsin to drop its enrollment cap back on December 13th. Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the governor was talking about a temporary cap which he always intended to end -- while the federal government's letter referred to a permanent cap. And Werwie said the letter was the result of an "ongoing discussion" between state officials and Washington. Family Care helps seniors and the disabled stay out of nursing homes, with the goal of saving public health care dollars in the long run. Democrats have accused Walker of misrepresenting the matter -- and after the federal order surfaced, they called his news conference yesterday a sham.

Bi-Partisan Support For Unemployment Bill

12/30/11 - Governor Scott Walker says he'll support a bill to give unemployment benefits to those put out of work because of a strike that's beyond their control. The Republican governor asked the state's Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council to approve the change. The bill was introduced last month, after 156 employees at Manitowoc Cranes were laid off four days after 200 union machinists in the same plant went on strike. In a statement, Walker said it's "unacceptable" that people are denied jobless benefits through no fault of their own, because another part of their plant goes on strike. Walker said the company has indicated its support for the bill. Assembly Democrat Mark Pocan and Senate Democrat Bob Wirch introduced the measure on December 20th. Lawmakers of both parties are co-sponsoring the change.

Packers Jersey Shortage

12/30/11 - If you're looking for a Packers' jersey for the playoffs, you might want to act quickly. Retailers say their supplies are dwindling for the most popular numbers like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews. That's because Reebok will stop selling them next year, when Nike takes over in April. Also, store owners said Reebok provided fewer jerseys this year due to the N-F-L lockout. And Green Bay's popularity has something to do with the shortage. Brian Swallow of the on-line store Fanatics says sales of Packer merchandise are up 170-percent from last year -- just before the Pack won the Super Bowl. Also, Nike jerseys will be more expensive than the ones from Reebok. Mike Walters of the Jersey Store in Ashwaubenon says the cheapest Nike uniform top will cost 100-dollars, up from the current 75-dollars. And authentic jerseys will run for 250-dollars -- up to 75-dollars more than Reebok's authentic line.