News – September 30, 2019

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam will not be getting a roundabout on North Spring Street at Woodland Drive. That’s according to Mayor Becky Glewen who disclosed Friday on WBEV’s Community Comment that the engineering would not work. She explained that the plan is to install stop lights. The stop signs were installed as part of an intergovernmental agreement with the neighboring township because of increased traffic from a new apartment complex opening up on the city portion of Woodland Drive. The question was prompted by a listener who called in to complain about the traffic backing-up from the stop signs. The intergovernmental agreement calls for the stop signs to be replaced in the next two years.

(Leeds) Columbia County authorities have identified the person killed in the Town of Leeds Friday night. Keith Wolf of rural Poynette was shot when he went to investigate a noise he heard coming from a basement. His wife called 911 around 9:20pm reporting the Bradley Road shooting. An autopsy was conducted yesterday and Columbia County Sheriff Roger Brandner says they are treating this incident as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities. Brandner says there is a reward for information that leads to an arrest.

(Waupun) The 66-year-old Kenosha man who murdered 18-year-old Berit Beck in Fond du Lac County in the summer of 1990 will have a drug possession conviction reviewed by the State’s Supreme Court this week. In 2015, when Dennis Brantner was booked into the county jail, he was searched and it turned up oxycodone pills in his boot. That led to a six year and seven-month sentence. He later received another ten years for killing the Sturtevant woman whose body was found near Waupun. Last January, an appeals court upheld the drug conviction.  The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday and issue a decision in several months.

(Madison) A seven-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries after he is struck by an ATV southeast of Madison Saturday.  The Dane County Sheriff’s Office says a 14-year-old was driving the ATV on a private property in the Town of Albion around 10pm when the accident occurred.  The child was flown to a hospital for treatment. An investigation continues.

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam police officers will receive help preparing wills and estate planning tomorrow. Alliant Energy is coordinating with the Wisconsin Wills for Heroes program to bring together first responders with attorneys, notaries and witnesses. The national Wisconsin Wills for Heroes program was started shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a show of support for the country’s first responders. The clinic will be held tomorrow from 9am to 3pm at the Alliant Energy Operations Center in Beaver Dam.

(Madison) Madison will be looking for a new police chief after a surprise announcement by Mike Koval. Chief Koval announced in his Sunday morning blog that he’d be stepping down from being the chief effective Monday morning and that it was an honor to serve Madison. Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway thanked Koval for his years of service to the city and that her office will be working with the Police and Fire Commission to find a new chief. Until then, Assistant Chief Vic Wahl will lead the department.

(Beaver Dam) The Moraine Park Technical College in Beaver Dam will be holding an upcoming career fair. Discover Moraine Park invites high school students, displaced workers, or people looking to change careers to their seminar. The event will be held on Wednesday October 23 between 4pm to 6pm at the Beaver Dam campus. The West Bend Campus will also hold the showcase on October 9 as well as the Fond du Lac campus on October 16.

(Beaver Dam) An upcoming exhibit at the Dodge County Center for the Arts will feature artwork from a longtime volunteer with the organization. Visitors will be able to see watercolor, acrylic, pastels and alcohol ink artwork from Judy Beyer. Several pieces of artwork from the book “My Story Wall,” which Beyer illustrated, will be on display during the exhibit. Beyer says the book helps those in reminiscent therapy. She says the book has spaces to jot down notes and images a person can hang on the wall to help them remember important moments and people. The exhibit runs through November 8th. Also beginning this Friday, is the Community Art Project where members of the community could utilize any art medium on a six-by-six-inch canvas.