Top Stories, January 8th

Fire Damages Exterior of Juneau Home

1/8/12 - Fire caused minor damage to the outside of a home in Juneau Saturday morning. Fire Chief Curt Ninmann says the call from the 3300-block of East Oak came into Dodge County dispatch at 5:20am. Two deputies were the first on scene and they were able to knock down flames on the back porch with a fire extinguisher. When firefighters arrived a short time later they checked to see if the flames extended into the flat roof of the porch and the walls of the home. Fire spreads more quickly through an older home but Ninmann says they found nothing more and the damage was contained to the outside porch and flat roof. Around 20 firefighters were on scene for two hours. There were no injuries and Ninmann says they have yet to determine what caused the fire.

Carol’s Tours Hearing Postponed

1/8/12 - Those who lost out on a vacation because of the closure of Carol’s Tours will have to wait to see if the state has enough evidence to order a trial against the owner of the shuttered Beaver Dam travel agency. Deborah Paul had a preliminary hearing scheduled for this coming Thursday, but that hearing has been postponed because Paul’s defense attorney has been ordered to active duty in the military beginning today until January 20. Paul now has a hearing scheduled on the morning of February 13. It’s the second time her preliminary hearing has been delayed. Carol’s Tours shut down in January of 2008 leaving around 200 people without vacations. The 56-year-old Paul is charged with two counts of Theft in a Business Setting. Her office manager, 46-year-old Lisa Hopper is accused of embezzling $90,000 from the business. The two will be tried separately. Hopper’s February 3rd arraignment hearing remains on the calendar. Both women face a total of 20 years in prison, if they are convicted.

Police Union Critical Of Municipal Governments

1/8/12 - Wisconsin’s police union says local governments are blackmailing officers, by making their health insurance almost unaffordable unless they start paying toward their pensions. Police-and-fire unions were exempt from the 2011 state law which virtually ended collective bargaining for other public unions. But lawmakers added an item to the state budget which stopped giving officers a say on the design of their health insurance. And Jim Palmer of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association tells the Associated Press that cities have used that measure to create exorbitant deductibles, if local police chapters don’t agree to pay toward their pensions. Local officials say they’re just using the tools lawmakers gave them to manage their city budgets, and make up for large cuts in state aid. Dan Thompson of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities says cities are also trying to avoid tensions between unions that are exempt from the bargaining limits and those that are not. Thompson told the A-P quote, “We wanted all municipal employees to be treated alike.” And “legislators simply understood the argument that having two separate health care plans isn’t the right way to run City Hall.”

Higher Than Planned Numbers For Home Weatherization

1/8/12 - Over 30-thousand homes were weatherized in Wisconsin since the start of 2009. And according to U-S Energy Secretary Steven Chu, about a-thousand more homes than expected were weatherized under the federal stimulus package. Almost 22-thousand houses received stimulus funding, using 141-million dollars given to Wisconsin to make older homes more energy-efficient – as well as those owned by low-income families. The Energy Department said the stimulus work created about 400 jobs in the Badger State. And Madison House Democrat Tammy Baldwin said the program was vital in helping cut energy bills. Chu said about five-million dollars from Wisconsin’s original stimulus grant is left over. Wisconsin had the nation’s eighth-highest number of homes weatherized by the funding. Some states never spent their share, which caused Congress to reduce its funding for the current fiscal year. The state was expecting to get around eight-million dollars in weatherization funds. It’s getting six-and-a-half million instead.

Flynn Vows To Reduce Crime

1/8/12 - Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn points to the reduction in crime over the last four years as he is sworn-in to a second term. Flynn took over the position in 2008 when Chief Nan Hegerty retired. Flynn said Milwaukee had averaged 127 people murdered each year for two decades. In the four years since he assumed the job as chief of police the average number has fallen to 81 per year. Flynn also pointed out that property and violent crime victim numbers are down by near 18 thousand. He did acknowledge a increase in response times during the period. Flynn was sworn-in Friday.

Steer Stalls Cedarburg Students Safely Inside

1/8/12 - It was a first-hand lesson in animal behavior. Students at Webster Transitional School in Cedarburg were locked down in their classrooms yesterday when a steer from a local farm got loose. The students weren’t allowed outside for 10 to 15 minutes as the animal had wandered onto their campus. Mike Halloran’s farm is about a mile from the school. The steer was called “feisty” by witnesses. It was herded into a trailer, then returned to its home.

Assault Charges Dropped Against Polk County Man

1/8/12 - Polk County prosecutors in Polk County say they plan to drop charges against a man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl. In charges filed in December, District Attorney Dan Steffen says the man from Turtle Lake was accused of assaulting the girl at her home. However, GPS information from a handicapped transportation service the man worked for later proved he never left his route on the day of the alleged assault. Steffen says finding out an alleged victim was not telling the truth is about the worst situation you can imagine as a prosecutor. He says there is no doubt now that the accusations were false. Steffen says his office will do everything possible to clear the man’s name, including having the case dismissed and expunged from all databases so there’s no “cloud on his history.”

Appeals Court Supports Megna Fees

1/8/12 - A state appeals court says attorney Vince Megna should get paid for the time he spent preparing an argument for the legal fees he should get in a vehicle lemon law case. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez ruled in 2010 that Megna should get nothing for five days of court hearings, in which he and Chrysler argued the amount of legal fees for Megna in settling the original lawsuit. Gary and Sandra Zimmerman filed the suit in 2006 over a Chrysler mini-van. The settlement called for the couple to get 10-thousand dollars plus the van. But the two sides couldn’t agree on Megna’s legal fees. He asked for over 27-thousand dollars, while Chrysler offered to pay eight-thousand. They agreed to let the judge decide. And Ramirez awarded over 23-thousand-dollars without anything extra for the abnormally long time it took to litigate the fees. The appellate court said the amount of the judge’s award showed that some type of litigation fee for Megna was reasonable. The case now goes back to Ramirez’s court to determine the new fees.

Most All Of Nativity Scene Stolen

1/8/12 - Manitowoc County authorities are looking for somebody who stole almost an entire nativity scene on Christmas Eve, leaving only the baby Jesus behind. Sheriff’s deputies released a report about the incident this week. They said a Whitelaw resident reported the theft on Christmas Day. Plastic figures of Mary, Joseph, a cradle, and plastic candles were all stolen – and only the baby was left inside the manger. Deputies said they couldn’t find the items in the immediate area – and they don’t have any suspects.