News – April 3, 2016

Mayville Mayoral Candidates Discuss Employee Compensation

4/3/16 – Mayville’s mayoral candidates disagree on employee compensation.  Last fall, the common council approved a 3-percent average pay raise for city employees.  They also increased the family health insurance premium from 5-percent to 10-percent and added a $1,000 deductible per family.  Alderman Joe Hohmann believes employee compensation is in a good place and fears further cuts would affect their ability to keep good employees.  Alderman Rob Boelk says voted against the changes since employees are making less money than they did in 2015.  Hohmann and Boelk are vying to replace one-term Mayor Bob Redeker who chose not to seek re-election.

 

To listen to the entire Mayville mayoral debate or hear our interviews with candidates in contested races for Dodge County Board and the city of Beaver Dam alderman, click the link below:

 

http://www.wxroradio.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=53631

 

Deadline Is Wednesday For Dodge County Judicial Vacancy

 

4/3/16 – Wednesday is the deadline for those interested in filling a judicial vacancy in Dodge County Circuit Court. Judge John Storck announced his retirement last month effective October 7, which is exactly 22-years to the day that he was first sworn-in. In addition to Dodge County Circuit Court, Storck also spent six years as the chief judge in the eleven-county Sixth Judicial Administrative District and serves as the judge overseeing Dodge County’s Alcohol and Drug court. Those interested in being appointed by the governor to the vacancy are asked to submit a cover letter, resume, references, two writing samples and a judicial application no later than the close of business on Wednesday. The new appointee, should he or she choose to run, would be up for election in April 2017. Additional contact information is on our website wbevradio.com.

 

For more information:

Judicial Application: found on Governor Walker’s website:  www.walker.wi.gov.

(Select the Judicial Application button, after clicking “Apply to Serve” at the right-hand side of the page)

Complete application materials should be submitted via email to the following: govjudicialappointments@wisconsin.gov

All application materials for this judicial appointment must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 6, 2016.  Following submission, you will receive an email confirming that we have received your application, and describing the general process for the appointment.  

Potential applicants with questions about the process should email their questions to govjudicialappointments@wisconsin.gov.  If you need to speak with someone immediately, you may contact Jennifer Roades at 608-266-1212.

 

Unemployment Rates Up In South-Central Wisconsin

 

4/3/16 – Unemployment rates increased in our local counties in February even though the statewide rate did not change.  The Department of Workforce Development says Wisconsin’s 4.6% unemployment in February was the same rate as January and three-tenths below February’s national rate.  Dodge County’s 5.4% in February was up three-tenths from January but down three-tenths from February 2015.  In February, Columbia County reported 5.2%, Fond du Lac County 4.9%, and Washington County 4.2%; all up three-tenths of a percent from January.  Jefferson County was up four-tenths in February to 5.5%.  Green Lake County once again had our listening area’s highest unemployment rate in February at 8%.  That is after reporting 6.9% in January.  In February, Dane County again had the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.6% while Bayfield County was the highest at 10.8%.

 

Lifestar EMS, WMH Working To Better Community Health

 

4/3/16 – Lifestar EMS and Waupun Memorial Hospital will be collaborating on some efforts to enhance community health. The first comes up on Tuesday, April 12th at 12:30pm at the Waupun Senior Center where free blood pressure screenings and an educational presentation will be put on. The second is a visit to Rock River Intermediate School in Waupun on Thursday, May 5th. Safety tips will be shared with students and an interactive ambulance call will be staged.  The purpose of the joint effort is to create a community outreach program that is aimed at prevention.

 

New Community Home Open In Fox Lake

 

4/3/16 – A new community living facility is open in Fox Lake.  Anchor Communities is offering residence to seniors and adults in need of extra care at 209 Forest Street.  Services include 24-hour care, respite care, and hospice services.  The home has a total of 14 beds with ten single rooms and two double rooms.  There is also a dining room, kitchen, and sunroom.  For more information about the home, visit Anchor Communities’ website.

 

Watertown Water Department To Flush Hydrants

 

4/3/16 – Watertown residents are asked to mindful of water use over the next couple weeks.  The city’s Water Department will flush hydrants the weeks of April 5-8 and April 11-15.  Tuesday’s flushing will run from 5 am to 1 pm, with one crew starting on Main Street between 1st and 8th and a second crew starting on Hospital Drive.  Flushing through this Friday and next Monday through Friday will run from 7 am to 3 pm.  Customers are asked to refrain from using water during the flushing hours, especially doing laundry as rusty water could enter the home’s plumbing and stain the items being washed.  Residents are told to wait until 4 pm to do laundry and check the water color before starting.

 

Forum Will Address Proposed Buck Hunting Ban

 

4/3/16 – A public forum will be held April 19 on a proposal to ban all buck hunting this fall in Waupaca County. It would mean that only antlerless deer could be taken in one of the state’s most popular hunting spots during both the gun-and-bow seasons. The Waupaca County Deer Advisory Council projects the county will have more than 80 deer per square mile by this fall — four times the level in which the deer could hurt habitat and other wildlife. Critics say a buck hunting ban would cost small businesses a lot of tourist revenue, as hunters go elsewhere in search of big display racks — but the committee’s David Lindenstruth says it’s irresponsible to have such high numbers of deer. D-N-R staffers and the state Natural Resources Board would have to approve the county’s request.

 

Wisconsin Trumpeter Swan Population Growing

 

4/3/16 – The number of trumpeter swans in Wisconsin has grown rapidly over the past six years. The D-N-R now estimates almost 4,700 swans flying around the Badger State, way up from just 672 in 2010. The state re-introduced the trumpeter swan in the late 1980s, about 50 years after hunters killed off the final birds from that era. Now, they’re found in 27 counties, mostly in the northwest region.  D-N-R ecologist Sumner Matteson calls the restoration an “unprecedented success” — so much so that the D-N-R removed the trumpeter swan from the state’s endangered-and-threatened species lists in 2009.

 

Wisconsin Business Will Begin Building Navy Combat Ship

 

4/3/16 – Marinette Marine will soon begin to build its eleventh littoral combat ship for the U-S Navy. Lockheed Martin has been awarded $564,000,000 to construct another warship under a contract that started six years ago. The new boat is scheduled to be delivered in 2020. Marinette Marine has shipped out three similar vessels, and seven others are in various construction stages. A different version of the combat ship is also being built in Mobile, Alabama — and the Pentagon is reportedly pressuring the Navy to choose one model, which could end the Marinette program and eliminate thousands of jobs for the ship-builder and its suppliers.

 

Monthly Report Says Southeast WI Manufacturing On The Rise

 

4/3/16 – The manufacturing economy in southeast Wisconsin has grown for the third month in a row. That’s according to a monthly index released this week by Marquette University and the Milwaukee chapter of the Institute of Supply Chain Management. The seasonally-adjusted index for March is 57.8, up by 2.5 points from the previous month.  Anything over 50 indicates growing factory market conditions. The index has been above 50 for all but 11 of the last 31 months. According to one of the survey respondents, some factories are getting so many orders that their backlogs are their largest since 2007.

 

Mayville Teen Chosen For ‘Kids From Wisconsin’ Troupe

 

4/3/16 – A Mayville teen is part of the 2016 Kids From Wisconsin troupe. Kids from Wisconsin is comprised of 33 of the state’s most musically-gifted youth, who were chosen during auditions in February. The troupe is comprised of 20 singers/dancers and a 13-piece show band that tours the Midwest playing a two-hour fully-staged performance of classics from the 1950s through 80s, Motown, country, big band, Broadway and current Top 40 hits. This year is the 48th season of Kids From Wisconsin and the traveling ensemble includes young performers from 29 different communities. That includes Nathan Fink from Mayville, along with Hunter Fleiner from Rio, Emily Brewer from Fond du Lac and Dawson Redenius from Fort Atkinson. Their tour kicks off on June 22nd in West Allis, wraps up August 20 in Monona Grove and has stops along with way in Hartford, Oconomowoc, Fond du Lac, Illinois and at the Wisconsin State Fair. Fink will play his hometown show in Mayville at the high school on July 7. Learn more at http://www.kidsfromwisconsin.org/.