News – February 8, 2019

(Juneau) An operational analysis of the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office is underway. The county board’s Executive Committee yesterday received a project overview from the Matrix Consulting Group of California on their evaluation of budgeting, staffing and financial procedures including revenue generated from housing federal prisoners. A team of five has already conducted interviews with around 70 people like managers, department heads and the sheriff. Future work includes anonymous employee surveys, data collection on workload and service levels, and input from county stakeholders. The 20-week review should be complete by the end of June, with a final report presented to the county board in August.

(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Fire Department had its second-highest-ever call volume in 2018. There were 2874 total calls last year, 162 more than the previous year. In 2016, Beaver Dam reported its highest year with 2909 service calls. There were 341 fire calls last year up from 328 in 2017. Again, 2016 had the highest number of fire calls with 357. Emergency Medical Service calls totaled 1975, which is 15 more than the previous year. In both 2015 and 2016, there were over 2000 EMS calls.

(Lodi) A jury in Columbia County has found a Poynette man guilty of poisoning a dog. Trent Hebel was convicted of Mistreatment of Animals and Stalking in the killing of Gander, a four-year-old Golden Retriever who died in May of 2015 in the Village of Arlington. Columbia County investigators say they found a suspicious container and food with rat poison-tainted meat in a fenced-in yard. No word yet on the sentencing date for the 28-year-old.

(Beaver Dam) A Republican-authored “middle-class” tax cut has passed the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. Representative Mark Born supports a plan that pays for a tax cut out of a state surplus. The Beaver Dam Republican is part of the majority that advanced the legislation over the objections of Democrats like Senator LaTonya Johnson, who noted Governor Tony Evers has his own tax cut plan. Evers would do it by capping a tax credit for manufacturers. The GOP bill passed on a party line vote and is set for action in the full Assembly next week.

(Madison) The University of Wisconsin System reports nearly 37-thousand students at all levels graduated during the 2017-2018 academic year. That’s a new record for the system, 13 percent more than 10 years ago.  More than 49-hundred students of color are double the number who graduated a decade ago.  System President Ray Cross says the positive numbers show faculty and staff are going a “great job helping students progress toward a degree.”

(Beaver Dam) The window is now open to get the names of area servicemen and women engraved in marble at the Beaver Dam Veterans Memorial by spring. There are currently around 1400 names on the monument at Oakwood Cemetery, which was dedicated in 2004. The cost is $200 and the application process requires verification of service with discharge papers, photos or testimony from fellow vets. The deadline is April 29 to get the names engraved in time for Beaver Dam’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony. Contact information can be found with this news story at DailyDodge.com.

(Beaver Dam) Five service clubs from the Beaver Dam High School are banding together tonight to support the United Way of Dodge County. Members from the FFA, the National Honor Society, Student Council, DECA and the Beaver Dam Key Club are working together for the fundraising event Pasta With a Purpose, tonight (Friday) from 5pm to 7pm at the high school cafeteria.