(Columbus) A new fire station may be one of the issues before the next mayor of Columbus. Candidate Joe Hammer says the former Ford dealership on James Street was sold to the city at a reduced price because it would have been an ideal location. Hammer criticized a thoughtless city council decision to sell off a portion of that land, making it a less attractive site. Ian Gray says the need is there for a new fire station but says before city taxpayers shell out any money, a fire district should be formed to ensure that the five rural townships served by Columbus Fire are paying their fair share. You can hear our interviews with both candidates at DailyDodge.
(Beaver Dam) The two candidates for municipal judge in Beaver Dam share what their judicial philosophies would be if elected. Maryann Schacht says she would follow the law. Following the law is also Todd Snow’s priority, but he says any judge worthy of the bench has empathy for each person that walks into their courtroom. The multi-jurisdictional court handles municipal matters or traffic infractions for the cities of Beaver Dam, Mayville, and Waupun along with the town of Ashippun, Beaver Dam, Rubicon, and the village of Neosho. You can listen to interviews with both candidates at DailyDodge.com.
(Lomira) A father charged for his role in mistreating a child who died in Lomira over three years ago entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment hearing. Frank Pleester of Milwaukee reportedly knew that Jamie Hildebrandt was physically abusing the child but failed to act before she stepped on him in 2020 which resulted in the infant’s death. She said she forgot the child was on the floor. Pleester allegedly admitted in a text conversation with a relative of Hildebrandt’s that he knew she was neglecting the child. If convicted, the 36-year-old faces just over 18 years behind bars.
(Rubicon) Two men from Rubicon charged with possessing illicit content of children have made their initial appearances in court. James Frampton is facing 10 felony counts of Possession of Child Pornography. His brother, Markus Frampton, is facing one count of Child Pornography. A hard drive reportedly belonging to James contained multiple illegal images and videos. Authorities allegedly found an illegal video while searching Markus’ phone. The 46-year-old James is facing 250 years in prison while the 48-year-old Markus is facing 25 years. James had cash bond was set at $5,000, a $1,000 cash bond was set for Markus. Both have preliminary hearings in the coming weeks.
(Dodge County) Jobless claims in the region saw very little change in the month of February. The state Department of Workforce Development says the unemployment rate in Dodge County was 2.6-percent in the second month of 2023 which is up from the 2.5-percent the county saw in January. Last year, the number was 3-percent. Dodge county dropped three spots in the statewide unemployment ranking to 18th. Statewide unemployment numbers hit another record low last month. It was 2.7-percent, down from January’s 2.9-percent and beats the previous record low of 2.8-percent set in January through April of last year.
(Wisconsin) A new Marquette Law School survey finds diminishing approval of the US Supreme Court. The national survey finds 44-percent of adults approve of the job the Court is doing, 56-percent disapprove, a slight decline from January. Approval of the Court’s work hit a low of 38-percent in July 2022 and had risen gradually in every-other-month polling until this new poll. In all of these surveys since the middle of last year, approval has remained well below the 60-percent rate from July 2021. – WRN
