Top Stories, February 18th

Business Booming At Sensient Flavors

2/18/12 - The Plant Manager of Sensient Flavors says a planned expansion of the company’s facility in Juneau comes at a time when the business is doing quite well. Sensient will be constructing a new $18 million dollar building on their Juneau campus beginning as early as April. Plant Manager Rick Janes told the Juneau Common Council this week that the new expansion is propelling the local facility to be a flagship for the whole company. The new addition will bolster Sensient’s flavors and fragrances division, allowing for increased capacity to produce yeast extract, an item that can be found in everything from crackers and soups to cancer drugs. Janes says companies are fighting for their product ever since the FDA started to encourage finished-product producers like Kraft and Nestle to reduce salt and fat intake. He says the yeast extract product made in Juneau fits the bill and companies are quote, “knocking down” their doors. The new facility should be operational by the end of the year.

Layoffs Begin Sunday At Cardinal Glass

2/18/12 - Cardinal Glass Industries reports it will lay off 53 workers at its Mazomanie plant effective Sunday. Cardinal Solar Technologies notified the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development with a filing last week. The plant makes tempered glass used in solar panels. It opened in 2009 to take glass made at the company’s factory in Portage and grind, drill and use heat to strengthen the glass. Cardinal blames “unforeseeable business circumstances” for the layoffs. Wisconsin law requires employers with 50 or more workers to give 60 days notice before any major layoffs or total shut downs.

Fitzgerald Says Mining Bill Votes Not There Yet

2/18/12 - A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau says there are no versions of a mining bill which would get 17 votes right now. Those 17 votes are needed for passage. Opponents of plans for an iron mine in northwestern Wisconsin packed a public meeting room at the Capitol yesterday. Republican Senator Dale Schultz of Richland Center says he and Democrat Bob Jauch of Poplar could have a compromise bill ready to go as soon as Monday. Gogebic Taconite wants to build a big open-pit iron mine in the Penokee Hills near Lake Superior. It could mean hundreds of jobs to a depressed area greatly in need of an economic boost. Opponents are worried about the impact of the mining on the pristine streams and forests in the region. Republicans want the job, but not all are on board with the measure which was being discussed Friday.

Judge Denies Walker Recall Review Extension

2/18/12 - A Dane County judge has rejected a request to give Governor Scott Walker’s people two more weeks to review signatures on recall petitions. The extension was denied Friday. Walker’s campaign had argued the possible recall election would not be significantly delayed by its request. The judge said no good cause for a delay was shown by the governor. He had already given the Walker campaign 30 days to review those petitions. It takes a little over 540 thousand signatures to bring on a recall election. Walker’s opponents say they collected more than a million.

Dem’s Shocked By Jensen Map Review

2/18/12 - A liberal group is criticizing state legislative Republicans after it was learned that they shared their re-districting maps with former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen before the maps were made public. But Jensen said he was not asked to give opinions about the maps themselves. Jensen is now a senior adviser for the American Federation for Children – which spends large amounts to try-and-elect Republicans, as well as those Democrats who support private school vouchers. Republican E-mails released by a federal court this week confirmed that Jensen received the new state legislative district maps three days before Democrats and the general public got to see them. Mike Browne of One Wisconsin Now said Republicans showed “stunning” audacity by involving the head of an outside issue campaign group in the re-drawing of legislative districts. In a deposition, Senate aide Tad Ottman said he contacted Jensen simply to identify people in the Hispanic community who could see how the maps would affect them – and how they’re represented in the Legislature. Jensen confirmed that intention Friday. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quote, “They weren’t interested in my opinion of the map.” A Milwaukee Hispanic group has filed suit to try-and-strike down the maps, saying they under-represent Latinos. A group of Democrats is also trying to toss out the new districts, which are required to reflect population changes in the Census every 10 years. A three-judge federal panel is scheduled to begin a trial Tuesday on the G-O-P’s maps – which critics say were designed to keep the current Republican majority in power for as long as possible in the next decade.

Dodge County Fair Counterfeiter Sentenced

2/18/12 - A Watertown woman who tried to pass counterfeit money at the Dodge County Fair will spend two months in jail. 30-year-old Patricia Cappetta and her husband Gerald Cappetta were arrested after getting off the Ferris wheel. According to the criminal complaint, Patricia attempted to exchange the fake $20 bills for ride tickets at several different ticket booths. Carnival employees rejected them each time but were able to provide a physical description of the couple. When questioned, authorities said their stories were “one-hundred miles apart.” Patricia said she got the bills from a gas station before they got to the fair while Gerald said they weren’t at a gas station. She changed her story to finding the money on the ground but he had already confessed to printing it on his home computer. The quality of the currency was said to be, “terrible.” Gerald Cappetta was previously sentenced to one-month in jail after pleading to amended charges. Patricia Cappetta pleaded “no contest” to amended charges of Theft, Obstructing and Disorderly Conduct. In addition to 60 days in jail with Huber privileges, she was placed on probation for two years, ordered to perform community service and pay restitution.

Beloit Official Pleads To Federal Embezzlement Charges

2/18/12 - Former Beloit public works supervisor Tom Kosier has pleaded guilty to federal charges of stealing city property and making unauthorized purchases. Kosier entered his plea in Madison federal court last week and his sentencing is scheduled for May 9th. He allegedly charged up to a million dollars when he bought lawn mowers, water heaters, furnaces and many other others. Federal agents arrested Kosier at a rented vacation home in Maui last August.

Denmark Business Owner Charged With Mail Fraud

2/18/12 - A Wisconsin business owner facing federal charges of arson, mail fraud and murder for hire makes a court appearance next week. Prosecutors say 32 year old Mathew Lemberger of Denmark wanted to collect on a 1-point-4 million dollar insurance policy covering his business. He’s accused of conspiring with two other people to set the business on fire, the offering to kill the wife of one of his helpers as compensation for his help. An attorney for Lemberger says he intends to plead not guilty when he makes his court appearance Tuesday.

Sparta Man Shot By Cops Out of Hospital

2/18/12 - A 19-year-old Sparta man is out of the hospital after being shot by police last month. Now, he has a court appearance scheduled for next week. Jacob Olsen was shot by Sparta Police Sergeant Booker Ferguson a month when he refused to drop his gun. Police had responded to a 9-1-1 hang up call at about 10 p.m. January 19th. When he was released from the hospital, Olsen was booked into the Monroe County Jail. He faces charges of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and intentionally pointing a firearm at a law enforcement officer. Olsen makes his first court appearance Monday. Prosecutors say additional charges are possible.

If you bought whole milk carrying the brand name “Castle Rock Organic Farms” and dated February 29th, you should throw it away. The Castle Rock Organic Plant in Osseo says the product may not be properly pasteurized. Testing by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection confirmed the possibility the pasteurization could be lacking. There have been no official reports of illness associated with the problem. The half-gallon and quart glass bottles would include a dairy plant number of 55-1951 on the side. The milk is believed to have been sold in this state, Minnesota and Illinois.

Baldwin Company Ramping Up Duesenberg Production

2/18/12 - It’s going to look just like the Duesenbergs built in the 1930s. A company has bought a building in Baldwin, Wisconsin, saying it intends to build the Duesenberg II there, starting this summer. The reproduction cars were also built between 1978 and 2000. The company is also planning to produce a motorcycle trike and eventually a modern luxury car in a couple of years. The building in Baldwin is more than 160 thousand square feet. Company bosses say they will start with 50 employees, growing to 250 in three years and may reach a work force of 400 in five years. Local officials say manufacturing jobs are especially welcome in St. Croix County and the rest of western Wisconsin.