News – April 2, 2021

(Madison) The candidates for State Superintendent of Public Instruction were our guests this week on WBEV’s Community Comment. The office is officially nonpartisan, but Republicans including former Governor Scott Walker, are supportive of former Brown Deer Superintendent Deb Kerr. Pecatonica Superintendent Jill Underly has the backing of Democrats, including former Governor Jim Doyle. The winner succeeds Carolyn Stanford Taylor. You can find our interviews with both candidates at DailyDodge.com.

(Hustisford) Voters in the Hustisford School District will see a referendum question on Tuesday’s ballot. The question seeks to exceed revenue limits by $300-thousand-dollars for each of the next three years to help cover operational costs. The focus would be maintaining current educational programing, support school security and technology as well as met district expenses. The 2020-21 mill rate is $9.58. If approved, the mill rate would be $10.43 per-one-thousand-dollars of assessed value.

(Fond du Lac) The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Dive Team and the DNR recovered a second body from Lake Winnebago yesterday (Thursday) in an area where two Fond du Lac men had disappeared while canoeing Monday evening. Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt says the body recovered Wednesday was identified as Dakota Goldapske and the victim recovered yesterday is presumed to be Michael Gohde.

(Fond du Lac) A Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputy and state trooper where dragged a short distance on Interstate 41 Thursday night as they tried to prevent a 43-year-old Milwaukee man from trying to drive away from the scene of a traffic stop in the Town of Byron. The man was a passenger in the car who moved over to the driver’s seat when the driver exited the vehicle to cooperate with officers. The deputy was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.

(Beaver Dam) Alliant Energy will be adding over 400 megawatts of solar to Wisconsin, including a 50-megawatt solar farm which is located in parts of the city and town of Beaver Dam and Town of Burnett. In addition, to the Beaver Dam project, the Springfield Solar project is also located in Dodge County and would total 100 megawatts. Once operational, the solar farms in Dodge County and four other communities will receive around $50-million-dollars in shared revenues over 30 years. The projects are expected to create more than 800 construction jobs.

(Calamus) A Madison man was sentenced to a year in jail with work release privileges yesterday (Thursday) for running from Dodge County deputies. Thirty-six-year-old Timothy Pritchett was pulled over for speeding last June near the Town of Calamus and fled at high speeds after deputies noticed an odor of marijuana and asked to search his vehicle.

(Juneau) A Beaver Dam man was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on probation for one year yesterday (Thursday) for failing to return to the Dodge County jail after a medical appointment. Matthew Haas failed to check-in at the Beaver Dam hospital’s emergency room last June. The 29-year-old said he was at the hospital the whole time.

(Wisconsin) Mask mandates are still on the books in much of Wisconsin, despite Wednesday’s state Supreme Court ruling. The high court struck down Governor Evers’ latest emergency order, including his statewide mask mandate. But local guidelines supersede state rules, and many communities around Wisconsin are keeping their mask orders and crowd limits in place.

(Fond du Lac) The Fond du Lac County Health Department is still recommending people wear face masks out in public during the pandemic. Department officials say practicing proven mitigation strategies such as social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing remain important while vaccination efforts are underway.

(Dodge County) Wisconsin health officials recorded three COVID deaths Thursday bringing that number to 6,625. Dodge County has 159 deaths with 71 active cases. A death was also reported in Fond du Lac County.

(Madison) Governor Tony Evers is dismissive, of a proposal from Assembly Republicans to siphon a billion dollars of federal stimulus funds into property tax rebates. He says it leaves out small businesses, many of which rent space.

(Madison) The Governor is promising to fix potholes as part of his state budget. Evers wants to spend two-billion dollars on transportation projects over the next two years. It is not clear how much money will be spent on fixing roads. Republican lawmakers say they will write the next state budget, not the governor.