Top Stories January 18th

Pair of Serious Accidents on Highway 33

1/18/12 - Slippery roads are said to have played a role in an accident that sent a 79-year-old Mayville man to the hospital. It happened a couple miles outside of Horicon just before 4pm on Highway 33 near North Grove Road. According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, Ralph Smith was driving west when he lost control of his truck and it spun over the centerline and went into the ditch where it overturned and struck a utility pole. Smith had to be extricated from the vehicle and was taken to Beaver Dam Community Hospital before being flown by MedFlight to UW-Hospital in Madison. Authorities say the highway was snow covered and slippery at the time of the crash.

Meanwhile, a head-on collision sent two Horicon men to the hospital early this morning. It also happened on Highway 33 near Fairfield Road just before 3am. According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, 47-year-old Kevin Lucht was driving his truck east when he crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a car driven by 18-year-old Davis Kiefer. Both drivers were hospitalized. Authorities say their investigation is ongoing but they don’t believe road conditions were a factor in the crash.

Burnett Man Accused of Obstructing Death Investigation

1/18/12 - A Burnett man is accused of obstructing a death investigation. Shane Teletzke was reportedly at the Grandview Motel in Beaver Dam on the morning 26-year-old Aliecia Nichols died in a suspected heroin overdose. According to the criminal complaint, Teletzke was flushing unknown contraband down the toilet when officers arrived on scene. A blue powdery substance was reportedly uncovered from the toilet and a water sample was taken before it completely dissolved. When asked about the flushed items, Teletzke reportedly said (quote) “stuff no one needed to see anyway.” The 24-year-old told investigators that Nichols called Teletzke to her motel room at 5am because she was feeling ill. Police were called around 9:30am to reports of a “pulse-less non-breather.” Nichols was pronounced dead a short time later at the Beaver Dam Community Hospital. He says the two fell asleep. Teletzke is also charged with felony drug possession after he was searched and officers allegedly found a bag of marijuana. He is also charged with two counts of felony bail jumping. Teletzke was out on bond after being arrested for felony drug possession in Dane County last November. A signature bond was set at $1000 and a preliminary hearing is on the calendar next month. His Dodge County charges carry a penalty of up to 16-years in prison, if he is convicted. The Nichols death remains under investigation and authorities say additional charges are possible.

Murder Suspect Found Dead In Green Lake County

1/18/12 - A Hustisford woman accused of injuring one child and killing another while she was babysitting was found dead Monday at a residence in Green Lake County. Renee Kuehl (keel) was charged with three felonies, including First Degree Reckless Homicide and Child Abuse Intentionally Causing Great Bodily Harm. The 49-year-old was accused of inflicting fatal trauma on a 22-month-old boy who fell down the stairs while she was babysitting in 2007. The incident was ruled an accident but when a two-year-old girl who Kuehl was babysitting suffered similar injuries two years later, doctors took another look and determined that the fatal injuries were not accidental. In a press release, Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg expressed sympathy to the Kuehl family and said her (quote) ”untimely death means that now the truth about these cases will never be heard.” Green Lake County Coroner Darlene Strey says an autopsy conducted Tuesday in Madison confirmed that foul play is not suspected.

Standoff Suspect Turns Himself In

1/17/12 - A Fox Lake man accused of sparking a standoff with authorities last month has turned himself into police. Brandon Babcock was allegedly involved in a domestic incident on the 200 block of Rosedale Avenue. A woman left the residence but Babcock remained inside. While no weapons were involved in the domestic altercation it was believed there were weapons available to the man inside and some nearby residents were evacuated. After several hours, Nehls says it was necessary to decide if they would escalate the situation by using tear gas into the home for voluntary compliance or employ “dynamic entry” by the Dodge County SWAT Team. The sheriff says after consulting with law enforcement on scene he made the determination to “disengage” and attempt to take the suspect into custody at some point in the future or through a summons from the Dodge County District Attorneys office. An arrest warrant was issued Monday and Babcock turned himself in this morning. The 23-year-old is facing is formally charged of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Recall Petitions Submitted

1/17/12 - Petitions were filed Tuesday to order recall elections against six Republican state politicians. Lori Compas, who heads the campaign against Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, stood on the steps of the Government Accountability Board offices and announced she had 20-thousand-600 signatures. That's almost four-thousand more than the 16-thousand-742 valid signatures required to put the Juneau Republican up for election this summer. Compas said a lot of people have asked her if she'll run against Fitzgerald. She remains undecided. Fitzgerald says that he's been "overwhelmed" with support since the recall drive began. He said his fellow Republicans balanced a "massive" budget deficit without raising taxes or laying off state employees. He also said quote, "We gave power back to school districts and municipalities which allowed them to prioritize their spending and avoid mass layoffs." And he said his chamber passed over a dozen job-creation bills to lay the foundation for the state's economy to recover.

Governor Scott Walker, meanwhile, says that he’ll campaign on his record, and he expects voters to stand by him in the recall election that appears likely this summer. United Wisconsin – which conducted the two-month petition drive on behalf of Democrats and labor unions – said it turned in over one-million signatures. They need 540-thousand valid signatures to force the Republican Walker to stand in a recall election after he will have served about a year-and-a-half of his four-year term. Walker issued a statement that his state budget and his measure to virtually end public union bargaining were needed to control spending, keep taxes in check, and balance the budget while avoiding state employee layoffs.

Petitioners also said they filed 305-thousand more signatures than they needed to force a recall vote against Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and more than the required numbers were submitted against fellow Republican senators Terry Moulton, Van Wanggaard, and Pam Galloway. The state Government Accountability Board says it will need more than two months and new petition-reading software to check for invalid petition signatures. The Board plans to go to court this week to seek an extension of the normal 31-day review process – and it will ask that all the elections be held on the same day.

Dem’s Leaning Toward Barrett

1/18/12 - Wisconsin voters apparently want a rematch between Governor Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. The firm of Public Policy Polling says Barrett leads former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk 46-to-27 percent if they're the only two candidates in a Democratic primary. If Barrett runs only against former Congressman Dave Obey, Barrett would lead 43-to-28 percent. And if there are four candidates in a Democratic primary, Barrett would have 26-percent, compared to 22-percent for Falk, 21-percent for Obey, and 11-percent for Janesville Senate Democrat Tim Cullen. The Public Policy poll interviewed people most likely to vote in a Democratic party. About 60-percent of those people were Democrats -- but 11-percent were Republicans, and 30-percent were independents.

DC Board Approves Purchase of Land

1/17/12 - The Dodge County Board took the first steps last night towards constructing a new radio communications tower in the southeast portion of the county by purchasing about 1.75-acres in the town of Ashippun. Though it’s contingent on approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Association, the board approved a resolution that will allow the county to purchase the Cleveland Road parcel for a total cost of about $57,000. Emergency Management Director Joe Meagher says radio communications in that part of the county are almost non-existent and that impacts the response time of fire departments and other law enforcement agencies. If they are approved by the FCC and FAA they hope to go to bid in February and want to have the tower up before new federal regulations go into place next January. The total budget for the project is around $700,000.


BDUSD Science Partnership Grant Renewed

1/17/12 - A partnership grant between the Beaver Dam School District and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh has been renewed by the Department of Public Instruction. The $145,000 grants is part of $1.7-million statewide being used to help teachers become better at teaching math and science in their classrooms. For Beaver Dam and UW-Oshkosh the focus is on teaching science, and Superintendent Steve Vessey says the program results over the first few years have been very encouraging. Other local districts, like Cambria-Friesland, Fall River and Randolph, and Watertown are also part of partnerships with other higher learning institutions.

Senate Approves New Guidelines For NRB

1/18/12 - The Wisconsin Senate voted 23-to-9 Tuesday in favor of new qualifications to serve on the state Natural Resources Board. The bill is designed to have more sporting enthusiasts represented on the D-N-R’s policy-setting panel. Under the measure, three of the seven board members must have owned hunting, fishing, or trapping licenses for seven-of-the-10 years before they’re appointed. And one board member must come from the agricultural sector. The Assembly approved the same changes last October, so the bill now goes to Governor Scott Walker.

Senate Approves Open Enrollment Changes

1/18/12 - The Senate approved changes Tuesday in the open enrollment law, also known as the public school choice program. The bill would give parents more time to seek enrollments for their kids outside their home districts – and the home districts would have to share details with the other school systems about discipline problems. Supporters say the bill would give a second chance to youngsters struggling in their home districts. Opponents fear the bill would harm schools by reducing their enrollments while places like virtual schools benefit. The package has been amended a couple times, and the Senate sent the bill back to the Assembly on a voice vote.