News – May 21, 2016

Preteen Killed On Motorized Bike In Neosho

 

5/21/16 – A 12-year-old boy was killed yesterday afternoon while riding a motorized dirt bike. The accident happened at 4pm in the Town of Rubicon, one mile east of the Village of Neosho. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office says a pickup truck operated by a 34-year-old Neosho man was westbound on County Highway NN and the bike was crossing the roadway near Tyler Road when the collision occurred. The preteen was pronounced dead at the scene; he was not wearing a helmet. The driver of the pickup was not injured. The name of the child will be released on Monday. The crash is under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the Crash Investigation Team.  Assisting at the scene were the Neosho First Responders and Fire Department, Hartford EMS and Fire Department, Flight for Life, DCERT, and the Sheriff’s Office Chaplain.

 

Beaver Dam Vigil To Remember Those Lost To Heroin

 

5/21/16 – A candlelight vigil will be held Saturday night in Beaver Dam to remember those who lost their lives to heroin. The gathering is organized by the Dodge County-based Community Awareness for Recovery Environment, or CARE. The non-profits president Wendy Borner was our guest this week on WBEV’s Community Comment. Borner says the vigil will include a message of hope from local religious leaders, a community message from the sheriff, personal stories and music, including a song written and performed by local musician Selah Castellano. Borner says the vigil will also include a video picture montage of those who have succumbed to addiction. The Community Candlelight Vigil for Loved Ones Lost To Substance Abuse will be held from 6pm to 8:30pm at the Girl Scout House which is located at 800 Denning Avenue at Beaver Dam’s Waterworks Park. Candles will be provided. More information on CARE can be found at: www.facebook.com/carefordodgecounty; Email: carefordodgecounty@gmail.com; Contact CARE at: PO Box 84, Beaver Dam, WI 53916.

 

Public Encouraged To Welcome Badger Honor Flight

 

5/21/16 – The public is invited to head to Madison tonight to greet veterans returning from a day in Washington D.C.  Badger Honor Flight has its second flight of the 2016 season today, taking area veterans to see their memorials in the nation’s capital at no cost to them.  Organizer Jim Bublitz says the Madison-based hub chartered a plane with 81 veterans that left Dane County this morning.  The veterans are spending the day touring various sites including Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Iwo Jima, World War II, Korean, Vietnam, and Air Force monuments.  Upon returning to Madison tonight, there will be a welcome home ceremony. Bublitz encourages people to arrive at the Dane County Regional Airport around 8pm; the flight should land around 9:15pm. The two remaining Badger Honor Flight dates this year are in the fall on September 24 and October 22.  Applications are available at badgerhonorflight.org.

 

MPTC Honors Employees, Graduation Today

 

5/21/16 – Moraine Park Technical College President Bonnie Baerwald says they are proud of all their employees and recently showed that appreciation during an event. She says a total of 68 former and current employees were honored. Baerwald says the 13 retirees put in a combined 272 years of service to Moraine Park. Meanwhile today is about students, the college is holding its commencement exercises at the Fond du Lac High School Field House. The keynote speaker is Gina Popp, president and CEO of wisnet.com.  Popp is a Marian University graduate but Baerwald wanted students to hear from a successful entrepreneur and someone who is also in the technology field. About 350 graduate candidates from all three MPTC campuses are expected to participate in today’s ceremony.

 

Former West Bend Administrator Bound Over For Solicitation

 

5/21/16 – Former West Bend City Administrator T-J Justice has been ordered to stand trial, after he waived a preliminary hearing Friday on charges from a sex sting. The 49-year-old Justice is scheduled to enter pleas June 9th to a pair of Washington County felony charges of child enticement and soliciting a child for prostitution. Prosecutors say a woman found messages on her 16-year-old daughter’s cellphone and told police. A police officer posed as the girl on the phone until Justice tried meeting her in Muskego on April 21st. The officer who allegedly posed as the girl then arrested him. Justice resigned a short time later as West Bend’s top administrative official.

 

Horicon Man Charged With Child Sexual Assault

 

5/21/16 – A Horicon man convicted of sexually assaulting a dog is now charged with molesting a child. Nicholas Bradley was charged yesterday in Dodge County court with Second Degree Sexual Assault of a Child. The incident alleged occurred in December. One month later, the 23-year-old was charged with misdemeanor Sexual Gratification of an Animal for assaulting his sister’s dog last September. For that, Bradley was placed on probation. The new charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, if he is convicted.

 

Columbus Man Arraigned For Seventh OWI

 

5/21/16 – A Columbus man will proceed to trial on charges of seventh offense Operating While Intoxicated. Michael Shumate waived his right to a preliminary hearing this week then stood mute at a subsequent arraignment hearing; the court entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf. The 56-year-old was pulled over in February by Columbus Police following a driving complaint from the public. His blood alcohol level was allegedly point-one-zero-eight. If convicted, Shumate faces over three years in prison.

 

Beaver Dam Man Installed To Statewide Elks Post

 

5/21/16 – A Beaver Dam man was recently installed in a statewide position with the Wisconsin Elks.  Rob Radig officially took over as the association’s state president on May 1 at a ceremony in Green Bay.  Radig – a former Beaver Dam alderman – was elected last May and previously served as state vice president and state trustee.  He was on multiple statewide Elks committees including one that deals with drug awareness.  In his new post, Radig will head an association of 32 Wisconsin Elks lodges.  He will also lead the state’s delegation at July’s national Grand Lodge Convention.  Radig is the first person from Beaver Dam since 1968 to chair the statewide post.  Locally, Radig comes from Elks Lodge 1540 in Beaver Dam.  Twice he has served as their president, known as the Exalted Ruler.  The Elks are known for their volunteer work and charitable donations, including an annual Christmas food basket program that Radig chairs in Beaver Dam.

 

Dodge County Working On Historical Book

 

5/21/16 – A book documenting the history of Dodge County should be complete within the next couple months.  The county’s Land Resources and Parks Department is working on a historical reflection titled “It Happened Here.”  The first four chapters, covering things like early settlement, are already complete and available on the county’s website. Chapters on transportation, agriculture, government, and war should be available next month.  The final chapters are due out in July.  In addition to being uploaded online, hard copies of the book will be available at the Land Resources and Parks office in Juneau’s County Administration Building.

 

Waupun Fueling Facility Expanding

 

5/21/16A fueling facility in Waupun is expanding. Officials with Flint Hills Resources say the project at their Waupun fuel terminal more than doubles the loading capacity of the two-bay terminal with the addition of three new bays. Flint Hills supplies about a third of the gasoline and diesel used in Wisconsin. They are also adding a fifth loading bay at their Junction City terminal. The two projects are expected to add 27,000 barrels of product a day to central Wisconsin markets.

 

Popular Plant Sale Returns To Juneau

 

5/21/16 – A popular plant sale returns to Juneau this morning.  The Dodge County Master Gardeners are holding the event in the County Administration Building from 8am to 11am.  Gardener Carol Shirk says the plants sold come from the personal gardens of 65 of the group’s members, plus outside volunteers, who divide their perennials.  In addition to flowers and produce, Shirk says people can buy a 55 gallon rain barrel for $50.  She says it is a conservation method of using rain from a down spout to water plants.  Shirk says most plants range in price from $1 to $7.  Anyone with planting questions during this season is encouraged to call the master gardener’s hotline on Tuesday’s from 9 am to Noon or Thursday’s from 1 pm to 4pm at 920-386-3790.

 

More Wisconsinites Employed In April Than March

 

5/21/16 – Unemployment is down in Wisconsin. State officials report a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of four point four percent for April, down one tenth of a point from the previous month. The numbers of Wisconsinites who are either working or looking for jobs held steady last month, while 32-hundred fewer people were listed as unemployed compared to the previous month. Also, state officials say more than 35-thousand private sector jobs were added in Wisconsin during 2015, for a growth rate of one point five percent. We won’t know how the growth compares to other states until the U-S Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its latest quarterly job census on June eighth.

 

Court Rules Prosecutor Not A Public Employee

 

5/21/16 – The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that a prosecutor is not a public employee and can’t sue to block the release of files detailing an investigation into his conduct. Wisconsin’s open records law allows public employees to file lawsuits challenging decisions to release records mentioning them. But the Supreme Court ruled Friday that Vilas County District Attorney Albert Moustakis is an elected state official and doesn’t qualify as an employee. The case stems from a Lakeland Times request to the state Justice Department for records of any investigations into Moustakis. The agency said in court filings no allegations against Moustakis were ever substantiated but he still filed a lawsuit seeking to block the records’ release.

 

Eleven Apply To Replace Prosser On Supreme Court

 

5/21/16 – Eleven people have applied for Governor Scott Walker’s appointment to replace State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser. A judicial selection panel headed by former Milwaukee judge Michael Brennan will review the applications, which were submitted before a Thursday deadline. The candidates include Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, who lost a Supreme Court election in 2009 against then Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and is the father of Walker’s legal counsel Katie Ignatowski. Former Walker attorney Brian Hagedorn, who’s now an appeals judge, is also seeking the appointment along with appellate judges Thomas Hruz and Mark Gundrum and Madison lawyer Claude Covelli — who ran for the Supreme Court previously but pulled out before the election. Prosser will retire on July 31st, and his replacement will not have to stand for election until the spring of 2020.

 

Pregnancy Support Center Holding Open House

 

5/21/16 – An area non-profit is opening its doors to the public today.  The Pregnancy Support Center of Dodge County is holding its third annual spring open house.  Organization President Judy Johnson says the facility tour includes stops at the counseling rooms, supply closet, and conference room.  Johnson says there is also a plant sale and food to purchase.  All proceeds fund the center’s programs and advertising efforts to increase local awareness of the services offered.  The free open house runs from 10am-2pm.