Municipal Candidate Filings
1/7/15 – Tuesday was the deadline for municipal and school board candidate filings for the spring election. There is one contested aldermanic race in Beaver Dam but after the April election there could be three new faces. Incumbent Ward Three Alderman Glen Link is facing opposition from Jon Abfall; a third candidate had been collecting signatures but did not submit paperwork by yesterday’s deadline. David Hansen is running for the Ward One seat being vacated by Donna Fuhrman. And Kevin Burnett is the only person running for the Ward 13 seat being vacated by Laine Meyer. Former Juneau Mayor Ron Bosak is looking to get back into politics. Bosak threw his hat in the ring for alderman in the city’s Third Ward, challenging incumbent Ron Drezdon. Incumbent Ward One Alderman Jason Buske had previously filed non-candidacy but changed his mind and is running without opposition, along with Ward Two incumbent Cheryl Braun. There is no one on the ballot in the city of Fox Lake’s Third Ward where longtime Alderman Dan Bednarek chose not to seek re-election. Ward Two Alderman Andy Bath is also not returning and Robert “Sam” Jenswold will be on the ballot there. In Horicon, there is no one on the ballot in District Two where incumbent Alderman Keith Pahl filed non-candidacy. The other two incumbents in Horicon – Susan Hady and Donald Miller – are running without opposition. All incumbents in the cities of Waupun and Mayville are running without opposition. The Columbus Common Council will NOT see any changes in the 2015 spring election slate. Clerk Ann Donahue says that candidates have all turned in their papers for the April election. Incumbent Mayor Kelly Crombie, 1st District alderperson Aaron Adams, 2nd District alderperson Trina Reed and 3rd District Alderperson Michael Thom have all said they will be running for a second term. That means that the City will have NO Primary Election this year. Council member Trina Reed is the only appointed alderperson. Reed was appointed this past year to fill out the two-year term of Council member Dave Bomkamp.
School Board Candidacy Filings
1/7/15 – There will not be too many new faces on area school board seats after this spring’s elections. In Beaver Dam, the three incumbents, Gary Spielman, John Kraus Jr, and Marge Jorgensen have all filed papers and are running unopposed. Mayville’s two incumbents, John Westphal and James Congdon, are also unopposed after filing. There are three candidates running for the same number of seats in Dodgeland. Incumbents Neil Whiting and Jeffrey Caine have filed papers while newcomer Glenn Hoover filed papers for the seat occupied by Shawna Rennhack, who filed non-candidacy last month. In Horicon, four seats are up for election. For the trio of three-year terms, incumbents David Westimayer and Eric Krause-Emerick are running unopposed while James Ketchem is being opposed by newcomer Jeff Higgins. Incumbent Nathan Hodgson is looking to hold onto his two-year term as he will be opposed by Matthew Schultz. On the Columbus School Board, incumbents Bernard Conlin, Peter Fogarty and Loren Glasbrenner are all seeking re-election along with former school board member Bill Braun.
Interim President Named For MPTC
1/7/15 – An interim president has been named for Moraine Park Technical College. The MPTC District Board announced Tuesday that Bonnie Baerwald will assume the interim title immediately. She is currently the vice president of finance and administrative services at the college. Dr. Sheila Ruhland left to accept the presidency position at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington. She takes over that post in March.
Mannel Thanks Community For Fire Assistance
1/7/15 – This weekend’s commercial fire at the former Green Giant offices was a hot topic of conversation during last night’s Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission meeting. After providing the latest details on the blaze that had firefighters on scene for almost a full day, Chief Alan Mannel took a moment to say “kudos” to the men and women of his department along with the dozen agencies that provided mutual assistance. He says the mutual aid system that is in place worked extremely well. “They did a phenomenal job,” Mannel says adding that they are “rock stars.” He also praised the “generosity and thoughtfulness of the community” for donations of coffee and hot chocolate, hamburgers and pizza. “It was really awesome,” he says calling it a “bright spot on a cold, dark night…a good old-fashioned, small-town fire from days gone by.” The origin has been pinpointed but the cause may be under layers of ice that Mannel says won’t be uncovered until the next thaw.
Dodge County Sales Tax Numbers
1/7/15 – Dodge County’s sales tax remittance for 2014 totaled nearly $6,000,000. That amount is close to $650,000 more than 2013’s figure and is the highest amount brought in by the county in a calendar year since the inception of the half-a-percent sales tax. County Administrator Jim Mielke says that the reason for the increase is unknown, but he speculates that a variety of factors, including the improved economy, likely contributed. He notes that the county board had only budgeted for $4,200,000 in sales tax dollars to be brought in this past calendar year and says that the money is typically allocated for capital projects.
Change Coming Dodge County-Owned Properties
1/7/15 – The Dodge County Board will be making decisions on a pair of properties in the coming months. The first of which is the old MetalFab building located on Madison Street in Beaver Dam. The county had acquired the property over 19 years ago and has been leasing it to MacFab Metal Products since the start of 2006. County Administrator Jim Mielke says that the company held a liquidation auction last month and notes that the funds are being used to pay off the $53,000 in rent owed to the county through the time when MacFab moves out at the end of this month. He anticipates the county’s taxation committee to make a recommendation as to what the county should do with the property at some point this year. Mielke says that the second item involves a set of four vacant, undeveloped lots on the east side of Highway 33 for which the highway committee plans to seek bids. Mielke notes that there is no timeline for the sale of those lots, but he says that a notice and advertisement for the properties will be coming soon. He says that any sale of that land will need to be approved by the county board.
Three To Be Honored At Beaver Dam Chamber Awards
1/7/15 – The Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce has announced its selection of Non-Profit, Citizen and Business of the Year. The 2015 Citizen of the Year is Rhonda Steiner who has been involved with a number of local organizations. The Non-Profit of the Year is the YMCA who recently established a new facility and is working on retiring the last of its debt from that project. The Business of the Year is Apache Stainless Equipment, a home-grown, employee-owned company here in Beaver Dam. The dinner where the winners will be honored will take place on Wednesday, January 28 from 5:15 pm to 7:30 pm at the Old Hickory Golf Club in Beaver Dam. Cost of attending is $28.00 per person, which must be submitted to the Chamber by Friday, January 16.
Legislative Time Limits Draw Criticism
1/7/15 – The state Assembly’s Democratic leader says he’s all in favor of time limits for floor debates — but the rules proposed by G-O-P Speaker Robin Vos are way too restrictive. Minority Leader Peter Barca told fellow Democrats in a caucus Tueday that he gave alternative proposals to the speaker — but he did not elaborate on them, and was not sure if Vos would be receptive to them. The Assembly will hold its first meeting of the new session Wednesday, and majority Republicans plan to formalize debate limits that began two years ago. In the last session, leaders agreed on an informal basis to limit each party’s debate to a half-hour per bill. The goal was to avoid the 2011 marathon in which Democrats kept a session for 61 hours in a futile protest of the Act-10 public union bargaining limits. The new measure keeps the 30-minute time limit, and it could go longer if both parties agree. Also, a member could table all pending amendments at one time — and limit debate to ten minutes on sending them back to a committee.
Transport Van Involved In Injury Accident
1/7/15 – Injuries were reported following a two vehicle accident in the Dodge County Town of Elba yesterday afternoon. According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department, one of the vehicles involved was an inmate transport van. It happened around 2:30pm on Highway 151 at Bethel Road. Patients were transported to Columbus and Beaver Dam hospitals.
Grothman Casts Vote For Boehner
1/7/15 – Wisconsin’s newest congressman will give House Speaker John Boehner the benefit of the doubt — at least for now. Campbellsport Republican Glenn Grothman cast his first vote on Capitol Hill Tuesday, when he joined the other four Wisconsin Republicans in re-electing the speaker. Twenty-five Republicans voted against Boehner. That’s an abnormally-high number — but political observers say the Ohio lawmaker will have a battle on his hands keeping conservatives in his corner on issues such as raising the federal debt ceiling, and U-S border security. The House voted 216-to-192 to keep Boehner in the speaker’s chair. Twenty-four G-O-P members selected others, and one voted “present.”
Walker Announced State of the State Address Date
1/7/15 – Governor Scott Walker will deliver his annual State-of-the-State address next Tuesday night. The date and time for it was announced yesterday. The Republican Walker will speak to a joint session of the Legislature and other state officials in the Assembly chamber at the State Capitol. Walker was sworn into his second four-year term on Monday. His annual message expects to spell out his vision for Wisconsin in general terms for the coming year. The speech begins at seven o’clock next Tuesday night.
Bradley Announces Re-Election
1/7/15 – Ann Walsh Bradley cited the need for diverse opinions on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as she announced her re-election bid in Wausau today. Bradley is seeking her third ten-year term on the state’s highest judicial panel. She was first elected in 1995, after serving for a decade as a Marathon County circuit judge. She’s running against Rock County judge James Daley, who has received conservative backing. Bradley is one of two liberals on the seven-member Supreme Court, along with four conservatives and a swing vote. In her re-election announcement, she said the Supreme Court needs different perspectives — and without them, in her words, “We undermine the public trust and confidence of a large segment of our population who will feel that their voices are not heard, and that their views can never be seen.” Bradley also said she’ll never stop working to defend individual rights — and to remain what she calls “a voice to keep government open, accessible, and accountable.” Her comments were made after we learned about two Republican bills that could shift the Supreme Court’s power more to the right. One bill would force liberal Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to leave, by setting a mandatory retirement age of 75 for justices. The other bill tries for a second time to let the justices pick their own chief, instead of giving it to the jurist with the longest seniority.
Nighttime Deer Hunting Ban Before Supreme Court
1/7/15 – State attorneys will ask the U-S Supreme Court today to preserve Wisconsin’s ban on night-time deer hunting. D-N-R lawyers will ask the justices to throw out a federal appeals court ruling from October. It ordered Madison District Judge Barbara Crabb to re-consider her 1991 decision which barred hunting after dark. The ruling was considered a victory for Chippewa Indians in northern Wisconsin who’ve been trying for years to be able to harvest deer at night. They filed suit in 2012 to seek a reversal of the night-time hunting ban — but Crabb said circumstances had not changed significantly since her original order 24 years ago. The federal appellate court disagreed. It disputed the state D-N-R’s contention that night-time hunting is unsafe. The court noted that Minnesota, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington State all allow tribal hunts at night, and the sport has become much safer in the years since Judge Crabb’s original rejection.
Madison Man Arrested After Dirty Dancing At Inauguration
1/7/15 – A 45-year-old Madison man faces possible criminal charges, for causing a fight on the dance floor at Governor Scott Walker’s inaugural ball on Monday night. Madison Police said the man was booked on possible counts of battery and fourth-degree sexual assault. He reportedly told officers he was “dirty dancing.” Police said he inappropriately touched a 44-year-old Onalaska woman, and then head-butted a 55-year-old Onalaska man who intervened to get the suspect to stop. A Madison police spokesman said the suspect insisted that the touching was consensual — but no witnesses would confirm it. The incident happened just before 10:30 on Monday night, the day Republican Governor Scott Walker was inaugurated to his second four-year term.
