Top Stories, January 21st

Fire At Sensient Flavors

1/21/12 - Crews from three departments and the Dodge County Hazmat Team responded to a fire Friday night at Sensient Flavors. Juneau Fire Chief Curt Ninmann says the structure fire at 330 South Mill Street was reported at 7:45pm. The blaze started in an oil heater dryer, was brought under control within 35 minutes and was contained to a mechanical room. Ninmann says oil and water run-off in the building was handled by the plant’s internal wastewater treatment facility, with the remaining run-off from fire fighting operations outside the building was controlled by the Dodge County HAZMAT team. A private contractor was contacted to dispose of the waste run-off. The Juneau Fire Department was assisted by Clyman Fire Department and Horicon Fire Department.

Philbin Takes Dolphins Head Coaching Job

1/21/12 - Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin has been named head coach for the Miami Dolphins. Philbin earned the head coaching job just two weeks after his son died and one week after the Packers were knocked out of the NFL playoffs. Philbin first interviewed for the Dolphin job January 7th. His son Michael’s body was found the next day. Philbin has coached with the Packers since 2003 and has been offensive coordinator since 2007. He got the job after Miami’s first choice, Jeff Fisher, turned the team down to become head coach of the St. Louis Rams. The Dolphins are coming off three straight losing seasons – something that hadn’t happened for nearly 50 years. The team hasn’t reached the Super Bowl in 27 years.

Alcohol Suspected In Early Morning Runoffs

1/21/12 - Authorities in Dodge County responded to numerous runoffs throughout the day yesterday and at least personal injury accident. There were three runoffs reported Saturday morning between 3:15am and 4am and all three may have been alcohol-related. The first runoff happened on Highway 68 in the Town of Trenton. Two passengers were sitting in the back seat after the driver had apparently taken off on foot and was later apprehended. A 24-year-old Beaver Dam woman was transported to the hospital for a legal blood draw. Five minutes later, deputies were called to a car in a ditch on Woodland Road in the Town of Herman. A 49-year-old man was cited for his first OWI with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit. A half-hour later, another runoff this time on Highway 175 in the Town of Theresa, where a truck was trying to pull a van out of the ditch. A 64-year-old Theresa man, who owned both vehicles, had a blood alcohol level that was just over the legal limit for driving.

Dahmer Tipster To Be Sentenced Monday

1/21/12 - A man who admitted throwing another man to his death off a bridge in downtown Milwaukee was sentenced Friday to four years in prison. 45-year-old Timothy Carr of Milwaukee must also spend five years under extended supervision. Police said he and Tracy Edwards threw 43-year-old Johnny Jordan into the Milwaukee River where he drowned. It happened last July while the three were arguing. Carr jumped in to try and save Jordan – but it was too late, and police pulled the two out of the water. Carr pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment. Edwards – who’s known for leading Milwaukee Police to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 1991 – will have his case settled on Monday. He struck a plea deal on his charges.

Milwaukee Man Gets Life In Random Shooting

1/21/12 - An 18-year-old Milwaukee man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the random murder of a teenage girl 13 months ago. A judge refused Friday to give Marcus Evans any chance for a supervised release. He was carrying a shotgun he had just pointed at his mother when he spotted 17-year-old Jonoshia Alexander on December 15th of 2010. Evans didn’t know the girl, but he forced her into an alley where he shot her twice in the head. Alexander was walking home from a north side Milwaukee bus stop, on her way home from a high school dance practice. According to the Journal Sentinel, Evans was born with cocaine in his system to a schizo-phrenic father and a mother with bi-polar disorder. When he was 15, Evans shot and wounded a cousin, and was given 14 months in juvenile detention. He killed Alexander six months after he left the institution.

BDPD Investigating Tavern Theft

1/21/12 - The Beaver Dam Police Department is investigating the theft of money from a local tavern. Owners with Dino’s Bar and Grill on 400 South Center Street reported to police Thursday morning that someone had stolen three bags of money sometime after closing. Anyone with information should contact the Beaver Dam Police Department.

Officials: ‘Clearview On-Time, On-Budget’

1/21/12 - Dodge County officials say the renovation of the new Clearview Long-term Care and Rehabilitation facility in Juneau is on time and on budget. The construction is currently in Phase Two of the $44.5-million project, with most of the outside work completed by the end of 2011. When it’s done, the state-of-the-art facility will have 236 beds. Currently there are 110 residents living in the newest portion of the building that was part of Phase One and completed last summer, while the remaining residents are still being housed in the older building. Officials are planning a dedication ceremony on June 30, which would be two-years to the day that ground was broken. It’s expected that all residents will be moved in by mid-August. Clearview serves the county’s aging population as well as those with behavioral and mental health issues and also has one of only three brain injury rehabilitation centers in the state.

Columbus Council To Consider Liquor License Request

1/21/12 - The “Doo Drop Inn Bar and Grill” passed an initial Columbus liquor license hearing this week. Applicant Roger Kennedy plans to rent – with an option to buy – the former Fireman’s Tap building at James and Water streets. Kennedy says he plans to operate the downtown building as a Bar and Grill. The Fireman’s Tap closed its’ doors in 2006 and the building has remained vacant. The City Council will vote on approving the Class B beer & liquor license on February 7th.

Columbus Sleigh Rally A Go

1/21/12 - The current snowy weather has been helpful for the Columbus “Sleigh Rally and Festival” planned for February 11 at Fireman’s Park. The City and the Wisconsin Horse Council have been planning the winter event. Festival Coordinator Melanie Lichtfield told the City Council this week that registrations for the event continue to come in. Horse show competition and sleigh rides are planned for the outside events. Planners are also including a chili cook off, model horse show, cake walk and cookie decorating inside the Park Pavilion.

Gableman Refusing To Recuse Himself

1/21/12 - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman says he won’t recuse himself from three cases. One of them is an attempt to reopen last year’s decision allowing the governor’s controversial collective bargaining law to go into effect. Attorneys involved in the cases asked Gableman to step aside because parties on the other side of the lawsuit had been represented by the firm which defended Gableman against an ethics violation. The justice wasn’t billed for the legal services. Gableman cited Supreme Court decisions in similar cases and comments by Chief Justice John Roberts about withdrawal decisions. The full Supreme Court could still force Gableman off the cases.

Wetlands Bill Heading To Senate

1/21/12 - A bill that could make it easier to build on Wisconsin wetlands is on its way to the state Senate. Four Republicans voted yes, and three Democrats voted no when the Senate Natural Resources Committee endorsed the measure. The chief sponsor, panel chairman Neal Kedzie of Elkhorn, calls the changes an improvement over the D-N-R’s present policy – which puts a major burden on developers to have little-or-no net damage to wetlands. The bill would make a number of changes in the process of getting state permits to fill in wetlands. They include the preparing of a mitigation plan in which developers would either have to create new wetlands, pay the D-N-R to support its efforts to restore wetlands, or buy credits from groups that have restored wetlands. The bill’s supporters say builders would get new ways to prove that they can offset damage to valuable wetlands. But conservation groups fear that it would open the door to more losses of wetlands, claiming that mitigation would be the prime choice. They also accused Kedzie of trying to ram the bill through – something Kedzie denied. He says he’s just trying to open up some options, and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association supports the bill. Business, home-building, and road-building groups are also behind it. Wetlands are valuable for soaking up water and preventing floods. The D-N-R says about half of Wisconsin’s wetlands have been lost to agriculture and construction over the last 150 years.