County Sets Milestones Before Paying New World
2/19/15 – Following a visit from two New World executives, Dodge County is taking further action in ensuring that the issues with its records management system are resolved. Dodge County officials have drawn up a ‘Letter of Understanding’ that it plans to send to New World within the next week. New World is the records management system that is intended to connect law enforcement officers throughout the county and is used both in squad cars for background checks, writing citations, and GPS and back in the office for administrative purposes. The letter provides New World with six milestones that must be reached before the county will release any of the near $100,000 in funds for which the company has billed the county in maintenance fees. Information Technology Director Ruth Otto says the milestones were determined by prioritizing what all needed fixing with the New World. The first milestone involves the successful implement of a service pack update that is said to address eleven of the system’s current issues. The next four involve the fixing of all issues in a certain area of the county’s New World. The sixth milestone is triggered when a Civil Process module that addresses a wide array of issues is completely implemented. The county plans to release ten percent of the desired funds upon the completion of each of the first five milestones and the other fifty percent when the sixth target is reached. In addition, Otto says that Dodge County is also seeking a reimbursement of $14,000 that was paid as part of last year’s agreement where the promised services were not delivered.
Fire Destroys Home Near Campbellsport
2/19/15 – Fire destroyed a home near Campbellsport early this morning. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Sergeant Paul Rottscholl says the County’s Dispatch Center got a call at 2:16am about a fire at the Jane Johnson residence on Timberland Drive in the Town of Ashford. Sergeant Rottscholl says Johnson’s nephew, who lives with her, noticed the fire first. He woke up and saw a glow coming from the garage and found the garage was on fire. He woke his aunt up and they fled the residence. The blaze destroyed the home and garage. The Red Cross is assisting the family. No injuries were reported. Rottscholl says there’s nothing suspicious about the fire, but the cause is being investigated by the Campbellsport Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office. Assisting at the scene were fire departments from the Town of Fond du Lac, Eden, Lomira, Brownsville, Theresa, Kohlsville, Boltonville, Beachwood, and the Campbellsport Ambulance.
Salt Supplies Holding Strong after Milder Winter
2/19/15 – As the winter continues to move along, remaining salt quantities are looking good for Dodge County. That’s according to Highway Commissioner Brian Field who says this winter’s milder temperatures have allowed the county to still hold approximately 50% of its supply from the start of the season. Field has noted that a number of factors have contributed to salt conservation this year including a vehicle recalibration that made them more efficient in applying salt as well as a training that all of the truck’s drivers received on how to conserve supplies. Equipment has also been added to the trucks to wet salt before application to reduce the amount that is needed on a given area. Field says that this year’s ability to conserve salt is a nice change of pace from the last two years where extreme weather conditions caused significant overdraws of funds to keep the roads clean. Just this week, the Dodge County Board approved the transfer of over $265,000 from its general fund to cover that snow and ice control budget shortfall from 2014.
Waupun Man Arraigned On Molestation Charge
2/19/15 – A Waupun man entered a “not guilty” plea at arraignment yesterday to charges that he had an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Corey Teachout is facing a single count of Second Degree Sexual Assault of a Child. According to the criminal complaint, the victim told investigators that she was with the 26-year-old five times last fall. She said they are dating and love each other and she does not want him to go to prison. Teachout allegedly admitted contact with the teen, telling police that she originally said that she was 16-years-old. If convicted, the charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
Michigan Man Sentenced In Waupun-Area Police Chase
2/19/15 – The 21-year-old Bark River, Michigan man who crashed in a ditch near Brandon following a high-speed pursuit last September has been sentenced to three years of probation. Fourwinds Charging Hawk pled no contest yesterday in Fond du Lac County Court to a fleeing charge. Waupun Police say he was doing 60 miles per hour down Main Street when an officer tried to pull him over last September 10th. He headed north on Highway 49 towards Brandon. Brandon Police and Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s joined the pursuit and he crashed after turning on Liner Road.
Beaver Dam Chamber Warning Of Phone Scam
2/19/15 – The Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce is warning the public about a phone scam from someone claiming to be working with the Chamber. The Chamber’s Kraig Kasten says the organization recently received word from a member saying that a fast-talking salesperson contacted them by phone. The caller reportedly said something about them passing an inspection and working with the chamber on the next step to work with their foundation manager. They then attempted to pass the call off to another fast talking salesperson. At that point, the Chamber member hung up the phone after realizing it was a scam. Kasten says, as a friendly reminder, the Chamber has only a few people that they work closely with and 99-percent of them are local. He says they will always tell member businesses well in advance if someone from outside the area will be contacting them.
Another Large Turnout Fall River School Board Meeting
2/19/15 – The Fall River School Board had another crowd of over 50 district residents at Wednesday night’s monthly meeting. Since the annual meeting last fall, the board and administration have been facing a vocal group of elector’s questioning decisions made on long-term care insurance, teacher hires, the handling of scholarship funds and the superintendent’s salary. The administration has been asked to provide open record and budget audit information to the residents. This week’s primary run-off eliminated incumbent board candidate David Brozek from the April ballot. Current President Doug Lee will not be running for his seat on the school board. Four new candidates — Jason Freedman with 162 votes; Keith Miller with 151 votes; Sue Johnsrud with 127 votes and Phyllis Foulkes with 110 votes — will be on the April ballot vying for the two open seats on the six-member board.
Strobel Discusses Senate Primary Win
2/19/15 – Six months after losing to Glenn Grothman in the Republican primary for the Sixth Congressional District race, former State Representative Duey Stroebel is on the verge of claiming Grothman’s former Senate seat. On Tuesday, he got more than two-thirds of the vote in the Republican primary for the 20th State Senate District. Stroebel easily defeated Ozaukee County Board chairman Lee Schlenvogt and military veteran Tiffany Koehler. He says his run for Congress last year may have helped with name recognition, but each race is won on its own merit. Stroebel is unopposed in the April 7th general election, but says he will still be putting in campaign appearances waiting for the opportunity to be sworn in as a State Senator.
Obamacare Sign-Ups Up 58-Percent In Wisconsin
2/19/15 – The number of Wisconsinites who signed up for Obama-care is 58-percent higher than a year ago. Federal health officials said yesterday that almost 206-thousand Wisconsin residents either newly-enrolled for plans offered by the federal purchasing exchange — or renewed their existing coverage. The open enrollment period ended early Monday for coverage that begins in March. Just over 130-thousand Badger State residents received coverage from the Affordable Care Act in the first year of the exchanges. They included those not covered by private insurance, or by Badger-Care or other Medicaid programs.
Bill Introduced To End Prevailing Wage Law
2/19/15 – Private contractors for public works projects would no longer be guaranteed a prevailing wage, under a bill introduced today by Wisconsin Assembly Republicans. The measure has been referred to the Assembly’s labor committee. It would end a requirement that laborers, mechanics, truck drivers, and others who work on state-and-local highway and public works’ projects be paid the same amounts as similar projects. The purpose was to keep companies from holding wages artificially low, so they could under-bid competitors for government projects. Local governments are already barred from setting their own prevailing wages. The bill’s chief sponsor, Assembly Republican Rob Hutton of Brookfield, recently wrote that prevailing wage laws are essentially “wage fixing” — and those wages should be determined by the open market. A spokesman for Senate Democratic Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling calls the bill mis-guided, and it would hurt small businesses and working families.
Columbus Road Projects Begin Next Month
2/19/15 – The first of five Columbus area major highway repair projects could start as early as next month. The southern entrance to Columbus from Highway 151 is on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation list of construction projects for 2015. City Engineer Jason Lietha says DOT plans to improve the Highway 73 intersection near the new Enerpac Building and Columbus Community Hospital are all set to go as soon as weather permits. The other four multi-million dollar projects on Highways 16 and 60 through downtown Columbus are scheduled over the next four years.
Jefferson County 4-H Second In Meats Contest
2/19/15 -Arby’s may “have the meats,” but a Wisconsin 4-H team can say the same thing. A four-member team from Grant County has won the state 4-H Meats’ Contest. Matthew Walz, Ben Connolly, Dillin Meyer, Cody Adams, and coach Dennis Patterson will represent the Badger State at the national meat judging contest this fall in Kansas City. The state judges evaluated and ranked various entries of hams, beef, pork, and lamb carcasses — plus two retail-cut classes. The contestants also identified various cuts and processed meats, graded five beef carcasses, and completed a label-reading exercise. Jefferson County’s 4-H team placed second overall. A Marathon County team won the junior division. There were also numerous individual winners in the senior-and-junior divisions. The contest was held at the U-W Madison Meat Laboratory.
