News 02.28.17
28 February 2017 News
One person is killed and another seriously injured following a one vehicle crash in Dodge County. The accident happened early Sunday morning on Highway D, near Zimmerman Drive, in the Town of Beaver Dam. A preliminary investigation shows a car was westbound on Highway D when it left the road, entered a ditch and struck a utility pole. The driver and passenger, both 27 years old from rural Beaver Dam, exited the vehicle and ran approximately a half mile to the home of the driver where one of the men died. The other man was transported to Beaver Dam Community Hospital. The names of the occupants are being withheld pending notification of family. The crash remains under investigation by the Dodge County Crash Investigation
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The sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago fizzled out at the end. The 16-day season ended Sunday on the fourth straight day without the harvest of a single fish on Lake Winnebago or on the upriver lakes of Butte des Morts, Winneconne and Poygan. And in the past week, only 10 sturgeon were registered. The second half of the season was hampered by a stretch of unseasonably warm weather that caused ice conditions to deteriorate rapidly, so few spearers ventured out. The season as a whole was fairly successful. Spearers harvested 847 sturgeon this year. That includes 552 from Lake Winnebago and 295 from the upriver lakes. That exceeds the 703 sturgeon taken last year.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent statistics reports show the number of dairy cooperatives in Wisconsin continues to shrink, leaving dairy farmers in the state with fewer options for selling their milk. The number of agriculture cooperatives in Wisconsin dropped from 180 in 2000 to more than 110 in 2015. Of those, dairy cooperatives in Wisconsin dropped from 31 to 21 during that same period. The explanation for the shrinkage is that cooperatives across the agricultural industry are consolidating, which is a problem for smaller dairy farms. Darin Von Ruden, Westby dairy farmer and president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, says he finds the increasing number of cooperative mergers worrisome, adding that some cooperatives have become “marketing giants” in the southwest part of the U.S.
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The Wisconsin Department of Revenue says it has stopped $255 million in potentially fraudulent tax refunds and credits the past six years. The department announced the totals on Monday as the April 18 tax filing deadline approaches. It recommends that tax filers allow two to three weeks for their returns to be processed. The department says that allows it to run an identification verification system to ensure someone is not attempting to file a false return. The department says its anti-fraud efforts stopped more than $63 million in refunds and credits last year. Gov. Scott Walker says protecting taxpayers is a top priority and he will continue to work with the department to “remain vigilant so we can prevent identity theft and other forms of fraud.”
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A key Republican legislator says Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to cut University of Wisconsin System tuition could hurt taxpayers and lawmakers should instead consider letting the system raise tuition according to inflation or income increases. Rep. Dale Kooyenga, a member of the Legislature’s powerful budget committee, wrote on the Right Wisconsin website last week that cutting tuition and backfilling it with state tax dollars means many Wisconsin residents who lack college degrees will have to pay higher taxes so others can graduate. Kooyenga suggested allowing the system, campuses or even specific programs to raise tuition to a percentage that doesn’t exceed the increase in Wisconsin median household income or inflation, whichever is less. Walker wrote Monday on Right Wisconsin that backfilling the tuition cut amounts to funding state priorities.
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Pressure is building in Congress to take gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region and Wyoming off the endangered list, which would allow farmers to kill the animals if they threaten their livestock. Representatives from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming have asked House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for a fast floor vote before the season when most cows and sheep will be giving birth begins in earnest. That followed recent testimony before a Senate committee from a Wisconsin farm leader who said producers need to be able to defend their livestock and livelihoods. Meanwhile, both sides are waiting for a federal appeals court to decide whether to uphold lower court rulings that put wolves in the four states back on the list.
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