News – October 23, 2016

Waupun Man Involved In Five-Vehicle Dane County Wreck

 

10/23/16 – A Waupun man was involved in five-vehicle weekend accident in Dane County that resulted in six injuries. The Wisconsin State Patrol says the incident occurred at 4:41am Saturday morning on Interstate 39-90 in Madison and two of the vehicles were semi-trucks. A 33-year-old Addison man was driving a semi that struck several vehicles that had slowed for bridge construction. That semi then traveled from the southbound lanes through the median into the northbound lanes where he struck another semi driven by a 62-year-old Waupun man. Neither semi driver sustained injuries. The trailer of the Waupun man’s semi-truck separated and overturned blocking a lane of traffic. There were three cars struck by the semi operated by the Addison man. Of the six injuries, the most serious was to a 40-year-old Eau Claire man. Four other people from Eau Claire, ranging in age from 15-to-60, sustained non-life-threatening injuries along with a 30-year-old Janesville man. The injured were all transported to Madison area hospitals. The accident remains under investigation.

 

Ten Departments Respond To Fond du Lac County Fire

 

10/23/16 – Ten fire departments responded to a fire at N4329 Vista Drive in the Town of Osceola Friday afternoon. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s officials say the fire started near the dryer in the house. Residents of the home were able to safely exit and no injuries were reported. The fire was reported shortly before 3 p.m. Fire Departments from Eden, Campbellsport, Mt. Calvary, St. Cloud, Town of Calumet, Town of Fond du Lac, Kewaskum, Greenbush, Cascade, Glenbeulah, and RIT Teams 1 & 2; along with Eden First responders, Mt. Calvary Ambulance, City of Fond du Lac Ambulance, and Mauthe Lake Rangers assisted at the scene.

 

Correctional Worker Facing Drug Smuggling Charge

 

10/23/16 – A former worker at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford admits she smuggled marijuana into the medium-security facility.  Stacy Lenorud could get up to five years in prison when she is sentenced next February.  The Mauston woman entered her guilty plea Friday.  She also admitted working with others to bring tobacco, porn and additional prohibited items into the prison, while acknowledging she had set with an inmate.

 

Beaver Dam Budget Deliberations Begin Monday

 

10/23/16 – City officials in Beaver Dam begin budget deliberations Monday night. The $15.6-million-dollar document includes a tax levy of $9.9-million dollars up $173-thousand dollars from last year. Officials will have to trim around $150-thousand dollars or risk losing $350-thousand dollars in state aid. The committee of the whole is meeting tomorrow evening at City Hall and has a second committee meeting planned next Monday in the event it is needed.

 

DPI Enrolls 34K In Tuition Subsidy

 

10/23/16 – The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has enrolled almost 34-thousand students in its private school tuition subsidy program.  The vouchers from the state are used to cover some or all of the costs of sending students to private schools, costing about 244-million dollars.  The money for new students comes through reduced aid to the public school district where the student lives.  Twenty-eight-thousand of the students live in Milwaukee.

 

Wisconsin Best State For Opportunities For Women

 

10/23/16 – Wisconsin is the 17th best state in the nation for giving women the opportunity to succeed. That’s according to the financial website 24/7 Wall Street. It found that Wisconsin has the nation’s sixth highest participation by three-to-four-year-olds in state funded prekindergarten programs, at a rate of 33-percent — and the survey’s analysts say it gives both fathers and mothers a better opportunity to have jobs. Also, the report says 25-percent of Wisconsin legislative seats are held by women, 22nd highest among the 50 states. However, Wisconsin has the 16th lowest percentage of management jobs held by women, at 38-percent — and the state has the 21st lowest percentage of female earnings compared to males in similar jobs, with women making 78 cents of every dollar a man makes.

 

Milk Production Increased From Last Year

 

10/23/16 – Wisconsin dairy farmers continue to do more with less. New U-S-D-A figures show that the Badger state increased its milk production by three-percent from one year ago, even though the numbers of dairy cows went down by two-thousand. Wisconsin made almost two-point-five billion pounds of milk in September, the 29th straight month that the output was higher than 12 months before. Wisconsin is the nation’s second largest milk producer behind California, which saw its production drop by one-tenth-of-one-percent in September to almost three-point-two billion pounds. Wisconsin had almost one-point-three-million dairy cows which put out an average of 19-hundred-10 pounds of milk apiece — 65 pounds more than in September of last year.

 

Ag Department Notes Loss Of Dairy Farms

 

10/23/16 – The state agriculture department says Wisconsin lost about 400 dairy farms in the past year, but an industry leader says the decline is small compared to recent years. Gordon Speirs, who heads the state’s Dairy Business Association, says the decline is among the lowest in recent memory — and he calls is “real victory” considering a big drop in milk prices that’s just starting to turn around. Also, Speirs says farmers don’t always have children interested in taking over their dairy operations once they retire. Wisconsin Public Radio says about 94-hundred dairy herds were active in Wisconsin as October first. That’s four-percent fewer than the previous year.

 

Herb Kohl Scholarship Available In More Places

 

10/23/16 – Applications for the 2017 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Excellence Scholarship can now be obtained in the principal’s office at Wisconsin public, religious, and independent high schools.  A total of 100 students will be chosen to receive $5,000 scholarships from among all applicants throughout the state. Applications are due on November 4th for public high school students and November 23rd for religious, independent, and homeschooled high school students. Applications are also available from the Wisconsin Parents Association, and at the kohleducation.org website.

 

Laffy Taffy Is Wisconsin’s Favorite Halloween Candy

 

10/23/16 – Wisconsin’s favorite Halloween candy is Laffy Taffy. That’s according to a national survey by Influenster, which asked 40-thousand Americans to name their Halloween “candy of choice.” Wisconsin is the only state that talks up Laffy Taffy, the sticky treat with jokes on the wrappers. The orange, yellow, and white candy corn was named the favorite in the largest numbers of states, with five. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups got the most votes nationwide for the top Halloween candy, along with Kit Kat and Butterfinger.