Top Stories January 13th

Winter Storm Blankets Wisconsin

1/13/12 - Most of Wisconsin got 3-to-6 inches of snow yesterday and last night. But over two-feet of lake effect snow hit parts of Iron County near Lake Superior. According to the National Weather Service, Gile had 29 inches as of two o’clock this morning – and it was still coming down. Six inches fell there in a five-hour period, and there was lots of blowing and drifting. Montreal in Iron County had 16 inches as of six o’clock. Hurley had 10 inches by the middle of last night. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, the south and the Fox Valley seemed to be the hardest hit, with 3-to-4 inch totals reported in most other parts of the Badger State. By 8pm last night Beaver Dam had 5.5-inches, while West Bend picked up 4.5-inches. A couple miles south of Watertown got 4-inches, and a weather spotter near Oconomowoc reported 6-inches had fallen there. And while the snow has moved out some bitter cold wind chills are being seen this morning. At 6am it was 15-degrees in Beaver Dam, but it felt more like 6-degrees with wind chill. Brownsville had 17-degrees, but with winds gusting to 20-miles an hour it felt more like 5-above. And in Columbus it was 15-degrees with a wind chill of just 1-degree above zero.

Meanwhile, as is usually the case with the first major storm of the season, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department and other local authorities were dealing with accidents and runoffs for most of the day yesterday. According to department records, from the time the snow began yesterday around 8am there were three accidents with injuries, eight other accidents, and more than 20-runoffs. One of the accidents occurred just before 10-am on Highway 26 at Horn Road. Authorities say a 24-year-old man lost control of his vehicle and struck a culvert. He was taken to the hospital by Watertown EMS. The other significant accident reported by authorities happened at Highway 151 and 33 in Beaver Dam just before noon. A disabled semi was parked on the off-ramp, and a vehicle driven by a 20-year-old woman struck it from behind. She was also taken to the hospital.

BD Crews Working to Clear City Streets

1/13/11 - Snowplows in Beaver Dam began salting and scraping city streets at 2am this morning. Director of Facilities David Stoiser says his 13-man crew worked until 6pm last night and then took a breather to prepare for the morning rush. Two other DPW employees are assigned to clearing sidewalks on municipal properties and Parks Department workers tend to city parking lots.

Reminder to Shovel Your Sidewalk

1/13/11 - The Beaver Dam Department of Public Works is reminding residents to shovel their snow. Director David Stoiser says that city ordinance requires that any snow or ice accumulations on public sidewalk fronting private properties must be removed each time it snows. Stoiser says ice accumulations that cannot be removed must be treated with a deicing or abrasive agent. Violation results in the city removing the snow or treating the ice with costs assessed against the property owner. Repeat violations are referred to the Police Department for possible citations. Small quantities of rock salt and sand-salt mixture are available to city residents only at the Public Works Building on South Center Street.

Winter Parking Rules in Effect in BD

1/13/11 - With yesterday’s snowfall, winter parking rules in Beaver Dam are officially in effect. Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy says the parking prohibition begins with the first significant snowfall. No parking is allowed on city streets between 2am and 6am, so that the Department of Public Works can clear the snow. Citations will be issued for violations and begin at $20 if the ticket is paid within 24 hours. Once the enforcement has been initiated, the parking ban will remain in effect unless it is announced that the ban has been temporarily or permanently lifted.

BD Man Faces Stalking Charges

1/13/12 - A Beaver Dam man is facing stalking charges after allegedly threatening his former boss after being fired. 41-year-old John Eggert made his initial appearance this week on charges of stalking and disorderly conduct, use of a dangerous weapon. According to prosecutors, Eggert was fired in December and he allegedly told co-workers that if he got access to a gun he would start at the front desk and work his way down. The criminal complaint states Eggert was fired for calling the manager several names during an argument, and he told the manager she would regret firing him. Police met with Eggert and he denied making any threats. However, earlier this month the manager told police that Eggert again had threatened her after being denied unemployment benefits. Prosecutors say Eggert continued to contact the manager even after police told him not to. He’s due back in court next month.

Prisoner Facing Additional Time After Kicking Officer

1/13/12 - A prisoner at the Fox Lake Correctional Institution could face an additional six years in prison after allegedly kicking a correctional officer this past fall. 26-year-old Darnell Brown has been charged with battery by prisoner after kicking the officer in the shin. Prosecutors say Brown allegedly kicked the officer several times in October and make threats to other members of the staff. He due in court later this month.

Fitzgerald Says Recall Filing Deadline Should Be Today

1/13/12 - Wisconsin’s Senate majority leader says those who are trying to recall him and four other Republicans should be forced to turn in their petitions today instead of Tuesday. Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau filed a complaint yesterday with the Government Accountability Board. He said today should be the filing deadline because it’s the 60th day after the recall campaigns were kicked off on November 15th. But the Justice Department issued a memo this week saying the clock didn’t start until November 16th, the day after the recall committees registered. That means signatures can be collected tomorrow and filed on the next business day – which is Tuesday, since state offices are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday. In Fitzgerald’s case, the extra day might allow recall organizers to get enough signatures to force an election. They need 16-thousand-742. They had around 16-thousand as of Wednesday, and organizer Lori Compas has asked volunteers from other recall efforts to knock on doors in Fitzgerald’s district today and tomorrow to get signatures. The Board expects a million-and-a-half signatures to be filed to try and force recall elections against Governor Scott Walker and the other Republicans.

Bill to Make Signing More Than One Recall Petition a Crime Moves Forward

1/13/12 - A Wisconsin Senate panel has endorsed two bills which make it a crime to sign recall petitions more than once, and to offer money or gifts to get people to sign. G-O-P lawmakers sponsored both measures. The elections committee vote 4-to-1 yesterday to recommend a criminal misdemeanor charge for those who sign recall petitions multiple times. The maximum penalties would be six months in jail and a one-thousand-dollar fine. The second bill was endorsed 5-to-nothing. It would prohibit people from offering anything of value in exchange for recall signatures. Violators could be charged with felonies, with maximum penalties of three-and-a-half years in prison and 10-thousand-dollar fines. It’s already against the law to offer anything of value to get people to sign nominating petitions or to vote or not vote in regular elections. But there are no such prohibitions for recall efforts.

Good News for State and Local Government Retirees

1/13/12 - Retired state-and-local government workers got some good news yesterday. The State Investment Board said the largest fund which provides benefits to public retirees grew by one-point-four percent last year. All retirees get at least half their pensions from the Core Fund, which grew to 72-billion-dollars in assets by December 31st. Last year, about 35-thousand retirees chose to get at least part of their benefits from a more aggressive variable fund – and that pot dropped by three-percent last year, to around five-point-two billion dollars. We’re not sure yet how these figures will affect the size of the retirees’ pension checks for this year. That’s normally announced in February or March. Those investing in the Core Fund have seen their pension checks drop for three years in a row since the 2008 financial collapse. Benefits from the variable fund grew by 11-percent last year. State Investment Board director Keith Borzath says investors have quote, “tempered optimism” about what will happen in the New Year. The State Retirement Fund serves over 572-thousand state and local government and public school employees. The city and county of Milwaukee are not part of the state system, because they have their own.