Top Stories January 24th

Charter School Registration Numbers Encouraging

1/24/12 - Registration for the new charter school at the former Fox Lake Elementary building is off to a good start. Interim Waupun School District Superintendent Don Childs says that in the first three days of registration being open 42-students applied. Childs told us on WBEV’s Community Comment earlier this month that they would not be able to open the doors unless at least 50 students enroll. With the early enrollment numbers Child says it’s now more likely that they’ll have to go to a lottery system to decide which kids get in and which ones don’t. Families have until March 15th to register, and Childs says if there are more than 125-registrations all students will be put into the lottery. The acronym for the school is “SAGES” which stands for “School for AGriculture and Environmental Science.” Childs says the school will teach all subject areas, with a focus on agriculture and environmental studies, and with emphasis on hands-on field work and learning through project-based learning.

Home Sales Hold Steady in Dodge County

1/24/12 - The number of homes sold by Wisconsin Realtors went up slightly in 2011, while the median price dropped by 6.4%. The Realtors Association says that its members sold just over 51,500 existing houses in Wisconsin last year -- 120 more than in 2010. There were 745 homes sold in Dodge County, one more than in 2010. In Columbia County last year there were 522 homes sold, up 23 from the previous year. Jefferson County had 741 homes sold last year, and increase of 14. There were 20 less homes sold in Washington County in 2011 compared to the previous year, for a total of 1096. Realtors' board chairman Rob Keefe said home sales lagged from last January through June because the previous year's federal tax credits had expired. The median home sales price for the year was $132,000, that’s $9000 less than in 2010. Dodge County’s median price was down $18,000 over the two-year-period to $100,000. Columbia County price-tags dropped by $12,000 to $128,000. Jefferson County was down $10,000 to $140,000. Washington County saw median home prices drop by $5000 to $180,000. Realtors' C-E-O Mike Theo says it's still a buyer's market. He says the employment picture needs to improve if home sales are to keep growing but Theo said the recent drop in the jobless rate is a quote, "welcomed sign."

Juneau Residents Deal with Power Outage

1/24/12 - Electricity was out in the city of Juneau for a couple hours Monday. It started around 10:30am when a power pole snapped, downing transmission lines near the wastewater treatment plant. The southern part of the city was affected, mostly the business district. Nearly all of the service was restored by 12:30pm. The wastewater plant remained on a back-up generator until late afternoon as crews worked to fix the utility pole.

Digital Access Meeting in Columbia County

1/24/12 - The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has scheduled a public meeting this afternoon in Columbia County on plans to expand digital access in the south-central part of the state. People attending will be asked for their input on ways to fill gaps in broadband availability. The PSC says another goal for the meeting is to get public and private investment of time and money to extend broadband service to rural areas where face-to-face interaction is even more difficult, making the service more necessary. The meeting will start at 4:30pm at the Days Inn-Portage.

Police Investigating Burglary in Waupun

1/24/12 - Authorities in Waupun are investigating a burglary at Helen’s Kitchen. Waupun Police records show the break-in at the West Main Street business happened sometime early Sunday morning. It’s believed the subjects attempted to gain entry through the rear door but were unable to get in, so they broke the glass in the front window. The safe inside the business was opened and an unknown amount of money was taken. Police were notified of the break-in around 5 a-m. Anyone with information is asked to contact Waupun police.

Teens Should Avoid Felony Record

1/24/12 - Three area teens who were arrested after rifling through vehicles – or “car-shopping” as they called it – should be able to avoid a felony record. The trio was arrested in Randolph last March when they came across a brief case with $600 cash inside. One teen entered into a deferred prosecution agreement yesterday and will have the felony dropped if he stays out of trouble during the one-year probation. Two others previously pled to reduced misdemeanor charges and were also placed on probation. All three also ordered to pay restitution and perform community service.

Asboth Gets Two Months in Jail

1/24/12 - A former Beaver Dam man will spend at least two-months in jail for stealing from a family member. Cody Asboth of West Bend faced up to six years in prison on a felony charge but yesterday he pled to reduced misdemeanor charges of Theft. Authorities say the 19-year-old moved in with the family member in 2008 and in the years that followed stole as much as $10,000 in cash, a coin collection and jewelry. He pawned the items for around $2700. Asboth ordered to serve 150 days in the Dodge County Jail, but 90 days was stayed by the judge and the remainder will be served with Huber privileges so he can attend school.

Man Who Escaped Dahmer Gets 18-months in Prison

1/24/12 - The man who led Milwaukee Police to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in 1991 was sentenced to 18 months in prison today. Authorities said Tracy Edwards helped another man throw Johnny Jordan into the Milwaukee River last July. The 43-year-old Jordan drowned after the three men argued on a downtown Milwaukee bridge. The other defendant, 44-year-old Timothy Carr, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison. The 52-year-old Edwards pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aiding a felon, and he must spend two years under extended supervision when he leaves prison. Both sides asked Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet to give Edwards probation for lying to police about the incident. But the judge said Edwards deserved some prison time because at age 52, he should have known better. The judge also gave Edwards credit for 191 days he spent in jail since his arrest. He and Carr must also pay a combined 25-hundred dollars in restitution to Jordan's family. Edwards escaped from Dahmer's clutches in 1991, and led him to police. Dahmer later admitted killing 17 young men and boys before the killer was later murdered in prison.

Senators to Vote on Special Education Bill

1/24/12 - Wisconsin senators are expected to vote today (Tue) on a bill to limit seclusions and physical restraints of students. Advocates for children with special needs have been pushing for the measure, saying it's those youngsters who are most likely to be restrained or placed in time-out rooms due to outbursts. The bill prohibits certain restraints altogether, like those which don't protect children's heads. It gives procedures on when it's appropriate to restrain or seclude youngsters -- and the practices would have to be done by trained personnel with a goal to encourage positive behavior. The issue has been discussed nationally, but a similar bill in Congress has not gone anywhere. Also today, the state Senate is scheduled to vote on letting high schools hand out vocational diplomas based on credits for vocational-and-technical classes.

Big Contract Under Review

1/24/12 - Some lawmakers in South Dakota are grumbling after a Wisconsin company earned a five-million-dollar contract to recruit a-thousand new workers to that state. Governor Dennis Daugaard recently said that Milwaukee's Manpower Incorporated won a contract to get financial service and information technology workers to move to South Dakota -- along with factory and engineering workers. But two similar firms that in the state, Dakota Staffing and Careers Unlimited, said they were never aware that such a contract went up for bids. And lawmakers say they want more information before giving final approval to the idea. Policy adviser Kim Olson said the governor's office went beyond the legal process for seeking bids. Olson said the state did not have to publish a request for proposals in newspapers, but it did so anyway in November. Olson said the plan was posted on two Web sites, and 122 vendors who signed up for state contract notifications were alerted.

Alda Coming to Wisconsin to Help Train Actors

1/24/12 - Alan Alda will help train aspiring actors in southeast Wisconsin in 2013. The former "MASH" star will be the master teacher in next July's fellowship program at Ten Chimneys at Genesee Depot in Waukesha County. Ten Chimneys is the historic estate of theater legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The Ten Chimneys Foundation says Alda will focus on spontaneity during his week-long program. Broadway star Joel Grey will be this year's master teacher in July. Ten Chimneys is located in the town where Lunt was born. He died in 1977, and Fontanne died in 1983.