Beaver Dam Piggly Wiggly Evacuated
2/10/14 – The Beaver Dam Piggly Wiggly was evacuated on Friday. That’s according to owner Daryl Schoenfeld who says most of the damage from burst pipe was limited to the liquor department, service desk and a few offices. The incident happened Friday afternoon around 3:30pm. Crews working on renovations to the store in the Park Village Shopping Center were replacing the façade and opened the roof to remove part of the structure. The cold air froze the pipe and that led to the store filling up with water from the sprinkler system. Schoenfeld says the water had been in the pipes so long it gave off an odor similar to diesel. Concerns over the smell led to the evacuation. The fire department gave the all clear and the store re-opened a couple hours later. Schoenfeld says, not counting lost revenue from being closed, there was minimal product damage. The general contractor is cooperating with cleanup costs. Also, Schoenfeld had to rent a carpet cleaner from his own store to clean-up the offices.
OWI Charges Pending In Mayville Pedestrian Injury
2/10/14 – A pedestrian struck Friday night by a suspected drunk driver in Mayville was walking on the sidewalk at the time. Police Sgt. Ryan Vossekuil says a 50-year-old Mayville man was westbound on Dayton Street at a high rate of speed around 10:45pm when he struck two parked cars. The vehicle then drove onto the sidewalk and hit the pedestrian before continuing westbound through the intersection of North Walnut Street. The driver eventually crashed into a snow bank. The pedestrian sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at the scene by Mayville EMS. The driver also sustained non-life-threatening injuries. He was arrested on felony charges of third offense Operating While Intoxicated.
Ninmann On TAD Grant
2/10/14 – Sheriff Pat Ninmann says the grant Dodge County is receiving to treat drug addiction in non-violent offenders will help reduce repeat criminal activity. Ninmann has been touring area municipalities since being named to the post a year ago. Last week, she told the Fox Lake City Council that the Treatments and Alternatives Diversion grant will allow non-violent offenders to work with the court system, prosecutors, law enforcement and human services – before the trial – to change behaviors. The first time an offender appears before a judge an assessment can be ordered to determine the type of addiction and the type of treatment needed. Ninmann says the studies show that if you get an offender treatment immediately, they are less likely to re-offend. The program should be up and running by July.
Bomb Squad Called Over Two Grenades
2/10/14 – West Bend Police Officers responded to a residence Sunday morning around 11am after a military style hand grenade was found in the personal items of a deceased individual. While police were investigating, they spoke with the deceased’s girlfriend who told police that she did not know anything about that grenade but said she had another grenade at her residence. The Milwaukee County Bomb Squad responded to both scenes and determined the grenades were former training devices and were both inert. The Bomb Squad removed the grenades and will be disposing of them. There were no injuries.
Vehicle Sales Dip
2/10/14 – Vehicle sales in the region last month were down compared to January of 2013. According to the industry tracking firm Reg-Trak of Waterloo, there were 211 car and light truck sales in Dodge County last month, compared to 290 during the same month last year. There were 172 sales reported in Columbia County in January, 30 less than a year ago. Jefferson County vehicle sales were unchanged from January-to-January with 167 sales both this year and last year.
BDCH Suspends Birth Announcements
2/10/14 – The Beaver Dam Community Hospital will no longer supply with media with birth information. That means the announcements will no longer be printed in the newspaper or broadcast on our radio station. Director of Inpatient Nursing Colette Smith says it is the hospital’s responsibility to provide the safest environment possible for newborns and their families. While the hospital has never had an infant abduction, Smith says safety is a top priority. Almost 300 babies have been abducted in the U-S over the last 31 years — including 132 from hospitals. In December, the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel stopped publishing birth announcements, after Meriter and Saint Mary’s hospitals stopped providing the information for safety reasons.
Website Addresses Tax Reform
2/10/14 – Wisconsin residents are getting their chance to sound off on tax reform. Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and state Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler has posted a Web site where folks can learn more about the issue, and give their ideas. Governor Scott Walker promised the Web site a few weeks ago, to help folks begin a conversation on what tax reform should look like in the next state budget for mid-2015. The Republican Walker promises a major tax change if he’s re-elected this fall. The idea generating the most discussion — and the most debate — is the most radical one that Walker has listed. It would eliminate the nation’s first state income tax, and boost sales taxes to run state government. Kleefisch says the new Web site will give everyday Wisconsinites a chance to complain about the taxes they dislike the most — and give ideas of what they’d like to see changed. The site also has Power-Point presentations and past news stories that provide information. Kleefisch and Chandler have been getting ideas mainly from business people at round-tables throughout the state. Suggestions have included reductions in property, income, and estate taxes — and ending the tax on retirement benefits. The address for the new Web site is TaxReform-Dot-Wi-Dot-Gov.
Bill Seeks To Eliminate Six-Person Juries
2/10/14 – The state Senate will act Tuesday on a bill to end six-person juries in misdemeanor criminal trials, unless a judge and both sides agree to it. The bill reflects a State Supreme Court decision from 1998, which said a law that provides six-person juries for misdemeanor cases goes against a constitutional requirement for 12-person juries. The state Assembly passed the measure last month.
Water Quality Forum Thursday in Juneau
2/10/14 – A water quality forum will be held this week in Juneau. Marc Bethke with the Dodge County Land Conservation Department says the forum is intended to provide a broad overview of water quality challenges and steps individuals can take to minimize the impacts on water quality. University of Wisconsin–Extension Natural Resource Educator Chad Cook will present both historical and current information on how human activity impacts surface water and ground water quality; he will also discuss activities that can help protect and improve water quality. Three other speakers representing agricultural land use, urban land use, and lakeshore property land use will also share “real-life” experiences of conservation practices and activities that they have undertaken on their own land to help protect and improve water quality. Dodge County farmers, lakeshore property owners and other citizens are invited and encouraged to attend. The water quality forum is scheduled for this Thursday from 1pm until 4pm in the ground floor auditorium of the Dodge County Administration Building in Juneau. The event is free and open to the public.
Discover Dodge Annual Breakfast Deadline Tuesday
2/10/14 – The deadline is tomorrow for those wanting to attend the annual breakfast for Discover Dodge. The local tourism agency will hold the breakfast next week Tuesday, February 18, at the Schauer Center in Hartford. The keynote speaker this year is David Spiegelberg, economic development specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. He will be providing a 2014 initiatives update. Last year’s Outstanding Volunteers will also be recognized at the annual meeting. The new 2014 Discover Dodge Guide will be available for pick-up after the meeting. Tickets are $15 and reservations are required.
Five Million Dollar Violin To Be Played Tonight
2/10/14 – About 620 people in suburban Milwaukee will hear a concert tonight with the now-famous Stradivarius violin that was stolen in a recent robbery. Milwaukee Symphony concert-master Frank Almond had tonight’s performance on his schedule for about a year. The 300-year-old Lipinski Stradivarius was stolen two weeks ago tonight — when robbers shot Almond with a stun gun and took the five-million dollar instrument. Milwaukee Police recovered it last week, and two men face charges in the heist. Almond will perform with the violin this evening at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, as part of his “Frankly Music” series. The auditorium has 620 seats. About 250 tickets to the classical chamber music performance were sold in a day-and-a-half last week, after it was learned that the stolen Stradivarius was recovered.
