News – November 6, 2016

Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries

 

11/6/16 – Your weekend is one hour longer, as Daylight Saving Time ended at 2am this morning (Sunday). Wisconsin Emergency Management suggests that you use the extra time to make yourself and your home safer. Agency administrator Brian Satula says this week’s carbon monoxide poisonings of 17 people in Manitowoc should encourage you to get C-O detectors, and check them if you already have them. Satula says you should also check smoke detector batteries, and replace the units at least every ten years. He also says to have emergency kits with flashlights, radio, batteries, first aid kit, and enough food and bottled water to last three days.

 

Statewide Traffic Deaths Down In October

 

11/6/16 – Last month was the third safest October on Wisconsin roads since the end of World War Two.  According to the Department of Transportation, 43 traffic deaths were recorded in the Badger State last month.  That is three fewer than October 2015 and seven fewer than October’s five-year average.  In the first ten months of this year, Wisconsin had 484 traffic fatalities.  That number includes 70 motorcyclists, five motorcycle passengers, 36 pedestrians, and ten bicyclists.  Dodge County has seen ten road deaths in 2016 after having 11 last years. That does not include the death of a 90-year-old Mayville woman who died last Wednesday following a two-vehicle crash Monday in the Town of Leroy. Columbia County’s 18 traffic fatalities this year is sixth-highest in the state, down from fourth-highest at the end of September.  In 2016, Washington County has seen ten road deaths while Fond du Lac County has had eight, Jefferson County five, and Green Lake County one.

 

State To Pay $300K To Lincoln Hills Inmate

 

11/6/16 – The state of Wisconsin will pay a former inmate at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys 300-thousand dollars for an injury caused by a prison guard.  The guard slammed a door on the inmate’s foot, causing serious injuries.  Prison guard Jeff Butler was angry at the time and resigned shortly after the incident.  Witnesses said he didn’t know the inmate’s foot was still in the door.  The inmate, whose name hasn’t been released, had become disruptive and refused to go into his room.  The injury is one of many allegations made during an investigation into possible crimes at the juvenile facility over a two-year period.

 

Columbus Land Purchase Approved For Library Expansion

 

11/6/16 – The Columbus Library is one step closer to an expansion.  At its meeting this week, the city council approved the $270,000 purchase of the downtown property at 251 West James Street.  Mayor Kellie Crombie says the plan is to annex the building to provide additional space for library programs and offer a meeting area to groups that gather at the library.  One-hundred thousand dollars of the $250,000 cost is being covered by an anonymous donor.

 

Beaver Dam Council To Consider Tourism Commission Monday

 

11/6/16 – The Beaver Dam Common Council will discuss tourism when they meet for their regular meeting tomorrow night. According to the agenda, the council will vote on a resolution that would establish a collaboration agreement between the city and the Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce to provide tourism promotion and tourism development services. Wisconsin Act 55 requires municipalities to establish a tourism commission or similar entity by January 1. The council is also expected to consider a contract with the Dodge County Humane Society for stray animal services. Finally, the council will act on the mayor’s appointment to a vacancy on the Police and Fire Commission. Former PFC Chair Nancy Conley has been tabbed to fill the vacant seat created by this month’s resignation of Rodney Kreitzman. The Operations Committee meanwhile will have an opportunity to meet the city’s new Public Works Supervisor Kris Quandt. On the Administrative Committee agenda, discussion and recommendation concerning changes to the proposed 2017 budget. The committees meet at 7pm and the full council is at 8pm at the Municipal Building.

 

Waupun Deputy Chief Says Less People Applying For Police Jobs

 

11/6/16 – Waupun’s Deputy Police Chief says violence against police officers and the impact ACT 10 had on wages and benefits are reasons why they are seeing fewer people applying for openings in law enforcement. Scott Louden says they used to get a good number of applicants for an opening on their department. He says while they used to get 100 for an opening, now they get 30. The department currently has three openings on patrol with two people hired and going through field training for a couple of those positions.

 

DOT Giving Fond du Lac Jurisdiction Over Highway 45

 

11/6/16 – The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says the jurisdiction for Highway 45 in the City of Fond du Lac will soon shift to the city. Also, Highway 45 is being relocated. The city of Fond du Lac will be responsible for maintenance of Highway 45 between State Highway 23 and Highway 151 following completion of the Highway 151/County V interchange project. The roadway will then become a local street with local control. The DOT also released a map of what the relocation will look like. You can see it on the DOT website.

 

BDCH Earns “A” For Quality and Patient Safety

 

11/6/16 – Beaver Dam Community Hospital has earned its fourth consecutive ‘A’ rating for quality and patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, which rates how well hospitals protect patients from accidents, errors, injuries and infections. Of 2,600 hospitals nationwide, only 113 hospitals have earned ‘A’ grades every year since 2013. BDCH is also the first and only Wisconsin hospital to have received The Leapfrog Group’s prestigious Top Rural Hospital Award, earning that distinction each of the last two years. Hospital President and CEO Kim Miller says the ‘A’ grade is one of the most meaningful honors a hospital can achieve, and one of the most valuable indicators for patients looking for a safe place to receive care. The Hospital Safety Grade is calculated under the guidance of the nation’s leading patient safety experts using 30 measures of publicly available hospital data to assign A, B, C, D and F grades to more than 2,600 hospitals in the US each year. The grade is designed to give the public information they can use to protect themselves and their families.

 

Wisconsin Remains County’s Top Cheese Producer

 

11/6/16 – It’s been two years since Wisconsin made less cheese than the year before on a monthly basis, and it’s a big reason the state remains the country’s top cheese producer. The U-S-D-A says Wisconsin factories put out 259-million pounds of cheese in September. That’s three-point-three-percent more than in the same month the previous year — and it was the 24th consecutive year to year increase for the Badger State. In many of those months, Wisconsin’s increase was well above the nation as a whole — and in September, the state’s rise was more than twice the national jump of one-point-six percent. Wisconsin’s output of Cheddar and Italian cheeses were both up by around six-and-one-half-percent from the previous year — and 981-million pounds of cheese were made throughout the U-S in September.

 

Wisconsin Middle Of The Pack Of The Fattest

 

11/6/16 – A new survey ranks Wisconsin exactly in the middle of the “Fattest States in America.” The Washington financial website WalletHub looked at each state’s most recent rankings for obesity and unhealthy habits, plus food and fitness trends — and they rated Wisconsin 26th among the 50 states and Washington, D-C. The new ranking is roughly in line with a recent survey from the U-S Centers for Disease Control, which put Wisconsin at 21st for obesity. The C-D-C study said Wisconsinites have slimmed down a bit, with 30-point-seven percent of all adults as obese in 2015, down by one-half percent from the previous year — but the report still said one of every four Wisconsinites was overweight. In the WalletHub listing, Mississippi is the fattest state and Utah is the skinniest.

 

Winter Parking Restrictions Imminent In Beaver Dam

 

11/6/16 – Winter parking restrictions in Beaver Dam will go into effect with the first significant snowfall of the season. City ordinance allows for the enforcement period to begin on November 1 but Beaver Dam Mayor Tom Kennedy says enforcement will not begin until the snow plows come out. Once enacted, no parking will be allowed on city streets between 2am and 6am, so that the Department of Public Works can clear the snow. Citations will be issued for violations and begin at $20 if the ticket is paid within five days. Once the enforcement has been initiated, the parking ban will remain in effect until April 1 unless it is announced that the ban has been temporarily or permanently lifted. Kennedy says residents who need to apply for a $40 on-street parking permit should apply now so ensure they will have it when the snow starts to fall.