News – February 29, 20165

Three Motorcyclists Arrested For OWI After Two Bikes Crash

 

2/29/16 – Two people were taken to the hospital after a two-motorcycle crash in the Town of Rubicon last night.  According to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, 29-year-old Nicholas Kadinger of Juneau was riding his motorcycle west bound on Grant Road near Highway P when he struck the parked motorcycle of 29-year-old Jeremy Strehlow of Juneau.  Neither was wearing a helmet, and both men were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.  Kadinger and Strehlow were arrested for driving impaired as was another motorcyclist who was nearby but not involved in the crash, 39-year-old Troy Emmrich of rural Juneau.

 

School Boards Balancing Building Upgrades With Consolidation Talks

 

2/29/16 – The Mayville School District has no plans to go to referendum for facility upgrades at this time.  That’s according to Superintendent Dr. Pat Antony who says a referendum would not be considered unless consolidation talks with the Horicon School District fall apart.  Mayville approached Horicon about consolidating last summer after Mayville’s voters shut down a $23,000,000 spring referendum.  At this month’s Horicon School Board meeting, multiple board members indicated they would no longer consider consolidation if Mayville goes to referendum.  Antony understands that viewpoint as she says spending money on the high school building before consolidation talks finish would be “putting the cart before the horse.”  Meanwhile, the Horicon School District recently voted to have a company perform an audit on both school buildings this spring to look for projects that could bring energy efficiency savings.  Horicon Superintendent Gary Berger says some projects could start as early as this summer.  Antony says she is not concerned about Horicon spending money on energy efficiency efforts since the aging buildings need to be maintained.  She also expects the projects would have a relatively small impact on the district’s mill rate.  Mayville and Horicon’s school boards have a joint meeting tonight at Horicon’s Van Brunt Elementary to discuss facility options.  That starts at 6pm.

 

Beaver Dam’s New Utilities Director On City Water Quality

 

2/29/16 – The incoming Director of Utilities recently explained to city leaders what sets Beaver Dam’s drinking water apart from other communities. Rob Minnema, who is currently the city’s  Water Utility Foreman, credits Beaver Dam’s good drinking water to the foresight of past city leaders in installing a lime-softening facility. There are only a few ground water lime-softening facilities in the state as most treat surface water. Minnema says Beaver Dam does not get its water from the lake as there is an ample supply of deep-well groundwater. He says the water is safe from the wells and all the water that is provided by the city gets treated at the lime-softening plant before it goes into the distribution system.  Minnema says lime-softening is considered one of the better forms of ground water treatment because it has a natural stabilization process. One of the primary benefits of the process is water quality. Most municipalities pump water directly from a well requiring the homeowner to treat it with softeners. Minnema estimates that around five-percent of the homes in Beaver Dam have a water-softening device. Another benefit of the lime-softening plant he says is low maintenance needs for the distribution system. Minnema is replacing Don Quarford for the top post in the Utility Department. Today is Quarford’s last day on the job.

 

Another Batch Of Fish To Be Released Into Beaver Dam Lake

 

2/29/16 – Another batch of fish will be released into the Beaver Dam Lake this spring.  During a recent appearance on WBEV’s Community Comment, Beaver Dam Lake Improvement Association President Bill Boettge said blue gill and northern pike will be part of this year’s fish stocking.  That is the process of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a body of water to either increase or create a population.  Boettge says this will help control the amount of invasive carp in the lake since northern pike eat carp and bluegills eat carp eggs.  Boettge says the Lake Improvement Association spends $20,000-$30,000 on fish stocking each year.  In addition to the association’s work, Boettge says the DNR will add roughly 250,000 walleye to the Beaver Dam Lake this spring as part of a statewide initiative.  Boettge says fish stocking is done to both accommodate local fishermen and encourage tourism.

 

Body Found On Shore Of Lake Butte des Morts

 

2/29/16 – The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office says an autopsy will be performed today on the body of a 50-year-old man found on the shore of Lake Butte des Morts.  Emergency responders were called to the scene in the township of Omro at around 8am Saturday.  Investigators say they do not suspect the death involves a criminal act.  The man’s name has not been released.

 

Body Found In Florida IDed As Oshkosh Man

 

2/29/16 – A missing man found dead in a Florida lake is from the Oshkosh area. Orange County sheriff’s deputies say the body of 76-year-old William Robl of Pickett was found Saturday in Lake Beauclair near Orlando. He was missing since Wednesday, when he left a boat-ramp, and his craft was later found going in circles on the water with nobody on board. His family tells the Orlando Sentinel that Robl spent his winters in Florida after he retired as a cabinet maker and a volunteer fire-fighter.

 

DNR Working On Elk Herd Increase In Central Wisconsin

 

2/29/16 – Forty more elk have been trapped in Kentucky, in a second effort to create a sizable herd in west central Wisconsin. The state D-N-R says the newly-trapped animals will go through a quarantine before being moved to the Black River State Forest in Jackson County. Twenty-six elk were brought to the Black River Falls area last year, but eleven have died. It’s part of a long-running effort to re-introduce elk to Wsconsin, after numerous animals were moved into the Clam Lake area in Ashland County two decades ago.

 

Hundreds Attend Columbus DOT Reconstruction Meeting

 

2/29/16 – Hundreds of Columbus-area residents were on hand at a Department of Transportation public involvement meeting late last week to offer input to and ask questions about next year’s downtown reconstruction project. The latest plans were presented for the reconstruction of Highway 16 and 60 / James Street. Project Manager David Pilon says that seven years of planning will come to an end in spring of 2017 when actual construction begins. To accommodate daily through-town traffic during construction, the project will be done in two stages. The multimillion-dollar DOT project will include new pavement, bike and pedestrian accommodations, water main and sewer upgrades and new street lighting and traffic signal replacement.

 

Reeseville’s Gathering Source Moving To New Facility

 

2/29/16 – A Dodge County food pantry plans to move.  The Gathering Source in Reeseville recently received a land donation on the north end of Main Street and got zoning approval from the village board.  The pantry hopes to break ground on a 4,800 square foot building next year.  During a recent appearance on WBEV’s Community Comment, Executive Director Laurel Lunde says it will allow them to offer a kitchen for family cooking, a multi-purpose room for classes, and additional parking.  According to Lunde, Gathering Source also hopes to offer a daycare service in the new building.  She says the pantry needs more space to serve its growing clientele.  Lunde says there were 1,200 pantry visits in 2015, a 30% increase from the year prior.  Gathering Source currently rents its 1,800 square foot space on South Main Street.  That would close once the new building opens.  A kickoff fundraiser is planned for April 15 at the Juneau Community Center.  More information is available on the Gathering Source’s Facebook page.

 

Oscar’s Best Actor Has Wisconsin Ties

 

2/29/16 – An actor who went to high school in Wisconsin has received one of the top Academy Awards. Mark Rylance, who was born in Great Britain and went to the University School of Milwaukee, won the Best Supporting Actor award at Sunday night’s Oscars. He portrayed Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in the movie “Bridge of Spies.” Rylance beat out Kenosha native Mark Ruffalo, who was nominated for his role in “Spotlight,” and Marquette graduate Adam Stockhausen lost his bid for Oscars in back-to-back years as part of a creative team for “Mad Max, Fury Road.”

 

Bednarek Not Balancing City Budget With Powerball Winnings

 

2/29/16 – Fox Lake Mayor Tom Bednarek says while he will continue to lead the city, he will not use any of the $1-million dollars he won in the Powerball this month to balance the city budget. It was revealed Friday morning that Bednarek was the winner of the Saturday, February 20 drawing.  The announcement came at a press conference at Rechek’s Food Pride in Beaver Dam, the same store where the winning ticket was sold and the recipient of $20-thosuand dollars for selling the winning ticket.  Bednarek says he went to check his ticket after the drawing, and it told him to collect his money from the lottery office.  The clerk at the store told Bednarek the ticket must be worth at least $500 and then informed him it was seven figures when he scanned the ticket.  Bednarek says he plans to use the money to help his family, make a donation to his local community, and buy a new truck.