WXRO Radio

Community Members Remember Johnson

1/30/12 - A wreath laying ceremony for First Lieutenant David Johnson was held in Mayville on Friday. The 24-year-old Mayville-native was killed in Afghanistan last week by an Improvised Explosive Device. Mayor Jerry Moede told the crowd that Johnson was a good man and soldier, confident in what he was doing, and will be missed by many. The ceremony was held at Mayville’s new Veterans Memorial in Fireman’s Park. The brick structure with 17 granite panels currently has the names of 800 Mayville veterans. Mayville resident Dan Bell sat on the committee which raised $100,000 in just a few months last year to make the memorial a reality. Choking back a tear, Bell told us Johnson will be enshrined on the granite panels during their Memorial Day ceremony this May.

Copper Wire Theft a Booming Business

1/30/12 - There been news stories across the country about thieves targeting foreclosed homes for copper piping and this month in Beaver Dam there has been three reported cases. The most recent was reported last Thursday; a break-in at a vacant property on the 100 block of Curie Street and the only thing stolen was copper piping. Realtor Brian French has a listing on Park Avenue that was targeted earlier this month and he says they didn’t even use a pipe cutter, they just ripped the pipes out causing several hundred dollars in damage for $50 or $60 worth of copper. Police Detective Ryan Klavekoske says they are investigating and currently following up on credible leads. He is urging those with ties to vacant homes to keep on eye on them.

Lasee Drops Out of U.S. Senate Race

1/30/12 - The number of Republican candidates trying to replace Herb Kohl in the U.S. Senate is down to three. That’s after State Senator Frank Lasee dropped out of the race yesterday. The De Pere Republican said he and his wife Amy concluded that it's not the right time to run. Lasee thanked his supporters and asked voters to elect a quote, "real conservative" to the Senate this fall. A recent Marquette Law School poll showed that voters throughout Wisconsin were not nearly as familiar with Lasee as with the other four Senate candidates of both parties. Almost four-of-every-five voters surveyed did not know enough about Lasee to form an opinion, with the G-O-P primary seven-and-a-half months away. The three Republican’s still in the running include former Governor Tommy Thompson, State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon and former Congressman Mark Neumann. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is the only declared Democratic candidate.

3rd Annual Cabin Fever Fest a Big Success

1/30/12 - Hundreds filled Beaver Dam’s Crystal Lake Park Sunday for the third annual Cabin Fever Fest. Evonne Koeppen with the Beaver Dam Community Activities and Services Department says two days of light fluffy snow leading up to the event and terrific afternoon weather made the family-friendly outing the most successful yet. She estimates that 400 to 500 people were on the grounds enjoying ice skating and sledding, outdoor Dutch-oven cooking and ice fishing demonstrations, snow painting and tractor rides around the park. 15-year-old Zelia Edgar won the “Let It Snow” poetry contest held in conjunction with the Beaver Dam Area Arts Association. In addition to her trophy, the Beaver Dam home-schooler will be reading her poem to the city council and the mayor will be presenting her with his Youth Achievement Proclamation. Angie Vessey of Beaver Dam took home the Senior Center’s coveted Log Cabin Trophy for Best Chili. And hundreds of orange pink pong balls were dropped from the fire department’s ladder truck as part of the Second Annual Snowball Drop. Local Boy Scout Troop 724 scooped up the most ping pong balls and will get a free pool party at the AmericInn. Carson Theodozio of Beaver Dam found the winning ping pong ball worth a $250 cash…he was part of a group of boys that had teamed-up together and agreed to split the winnings seven ways. Video footage of the Snowball Drop is on our website.


Soldiers Still Waiting to be Paid

1/30/12 - Bureaucratic glitches and clerical errors are being blames for almost 80 Wisconsin National Guard soldiers not getting thousands of dollars they are owed for serving in Iraq. In some cases the money has been owed them for more than five years. The soldiers are members of the Wisconsin National Guard 1157th Transportation Company based in Oshkosh. When they got back from Iraq in 2007 they were due extra pay or leave days for serving multiple deployments. More than 90 of the 170 guardsmen and women were paid, but the rest didn’t get their money.

WI Farm Bureau Concerned About New Labor Laws

1/30/12 - The Wisconsin Farm Bureau says it is worried new agriculture labor laws affecting people under the age of 18 will make it hard to manage family farms. The proposal rule changes would significantly reduce the amount of farm work a young person can do legally. One of the proposed regulations would limit the operation of power-driven machines by youths 16 and older. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack supports the changes, pointing out that while only four percent of working youth are in the farm sector, 40 percent of fatalities among the working young people come while they are working on or around machines, equipment or facilities related to agriculture.

DNR Takes Over Management of Grey Wolf Population

1/30/12 - Starting this weekend, the Wisconsin DNR has more authority to manage the state’s grey wolf population. Those wolves are no longer considered a federally-endangered species. That cedes control back to the state, allowing a more balanced approach to the damage caused by the animals. The DNR says it is ready to issue permits to landowners who have been dealing with wolf attacks on livestock. Wolves which have been attacking or threatening livestock or pets can now be removed – if those landowners apply to the state. The most recent state estimates suggest there are about 800 wolves in the state of Wisconsin.

Convicted Killer May Help Authorities Find Missing Girl

1/30/12 - Authorities want to bring an convicted kidnapper to the Fox Valley to see if he can lead officers to the remains of Laurie Depies, who's been missing for almost 20 years. Larry Hall told officers where they could find Depies's body -- but they've found nothing. Now, Menasha town police lieutenant Mike Krueger tells the Appleton Post-Crescent his department is seeking federal-and-state approval to bring Hall to Wisconsin, in the hopes he can lead them to Depies's remains. The 48-year-old Hall is serving a life sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina. He has admitted kidnapping 39 women from 1980-through-'94, and he said Depies is among those who died. But he was convicted in one death -- that of 15-year-old Jessica Roach of Illinois in 1993. According to Krueger, Hall would like to resolve the case, especially for the Depies family. Depies vanished in August of 1992 from the parking lot of an apartment complex. She was heading to her boyfriend's place after work -- but she never made it to his apartment. Depies's mother, Mary Wagner, says she's skeptical about Hall's motives. But at this point, she's open to anything to get the case resolved.

Family Rescued from Lake After Car Crashes Through the Ice

1/30/12 - A 10-year-old child was among three people rescued after their car fell into open water on Shawano Lake in Shawano County. Officials said the vehicle sank into five-feet of water on Saturday night. All three people inside managed to climb to the roof of the vehicle, where authorities an airboat to rescue them. They escaped. Despite a recent cold spell, officials throughout Wisconsin are urging ice fishers and others to use extreme caution on the lakes. They say the mild winter has made ice conditions inconsistent. Also this weekend, a Madison man had his all-terrain vehicle and ice shanty fall into Lake Mendota in the Capital City. He did not fall in himself -- and he was not hurt.