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October 22, 2008 |
A 26-year-old Gays Mills man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Monday in Vernon County Circuit Court for the beating death of a Beloit man outside of a Readstown tavern in February.
The sentence by Judge Michael Rosborough was only three years fewer than the maximum that David A. Heisz could have received. Heisz had pleaded no contest and was found guilty on June 30 of second-degree reckless homicide.
Heisz was found guilty of pushing Kelly Kuykendall off of a landing and down the steps outside of the front door of Pat’s Corner Bar in the early morning of Feb. 7. He then continued to beat Kuykendall, who was defenseless.
Kuykendall lived in Beloit but owned a cabin in Readstown, where he was a frequent visitor.
He died of massive internal injuries and other injuries after being transported to a Viroqua hospital. Kuykendall also sustained a fractured skull, brain hemorrhaging, seven broken ribs and a liver injury, according to autopsy results.
Heisz will also serve eight years of extended supervision following his prison sentence.
Heisz’ bond of $10,000 will be retained in order to pay part of the approximately $24,000 he was ordered to pay in restitution.
Tax rate projected to stay the same
Superintendent Drew John-
son gave a presentation regarding the proposed budget at the Prairie du Chien School Board meeting Monday night. The presentation was informational and the board did not take any action on the budget.There will be a public hearing on the budget on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 4:45 p.m. in the District Business Office, located on the second floor of B.A. Kennedy Elementary School. The tax levy will be acted upon by the board at that meeting.
During the presentation Monday night, Johnson said that the tax levy is projected to be $4,553,877, which is down slightly from the $4,604,199 of the 2007-2008 school year.
The projected tax rate for school purposes will remain at $9.88 per $1,000 of equalized valuation, as the district promised because of the passing of the referendum for facilities improvements. Johnson said that the tax rate will remain that same as last year despite the fact that the total valuation for the district went down by more than $5 million.
A tax rate of $9.88 means that the owner of a property valued at $100,000 would pay $988 in taxes for school purposes. Johnson said, of course, that the school district has no control over property taxes levied by other governmental bodies such as the county or a municipality.
Johnson said that the district’s fund balance went up again and was at $622,345 in 2007-2008. In 2006-2007, the fund balance was $566,891. The fund balance has been climbing since a low of $60,390 in 2004-2005.
Johnson said that the district has a debt of $9,457,687, which is down from the $10,426,686 on June 30, 2008. With the current payment schedule, the district would achieve a balanced budget in the 2016-2017 school year.
In other business, 32nd District State Senate candidate Dan Kapanke (R, La Crosse) spoke briefly about autism. Kapanke said that he attended a parent’s support group a year ago, which spurred him to take action.
"I was so moved, I thought we needed to do something," he said, in noting that he has been meeting with a task force to find more ways in which to help. Kapanke commended the Prairie du Chien School District for their work on autism and asked the board to consider joining forces with the task force and other area school districts to exchange ideas to help parents of autistic children.
Kapanke’s opponent Tara Johnson (D, La Crosse) said that she would echo Kapanke’s praise of the school district. Johnson said that early intervention programs have been working well and that there has been significant progress. She said, however, that more needs to be done. Johnson praised Kapanke for being a champion of autistic children and their families, a cause he has been passionate about for a long time, but she then asked why more hasn’t been done.
"Why aren’t we further along," she said in accusing Republican legislators of not fulfilling their stated "good intentions" regarding autism.
A 72 page report released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends that the village of Gays Mills relocate to higher ground.
The report, entitled "Long-Term Community Recovery Plan," recognizes that the relocation will probably be a voluntary partial relocation. The report states, "The UW Extension interviews with downtown merchants indicated a desire of most businesses to remain on Main Street. In addition, downtown residents who wish to remain in their homes . . . would not be forced to relocate."
The recovery plan includes recommendations for four redevelopment sites:
• A 30-acre site with land on both sides of Route 131 approximately one mile north of the current village center. A portion of the site borders a lake.
• A 20-acre site, located just north of the Gays Mills Cemetery, and also abutting the lake.
• The south portion of the Applewood Business Park, approximately eight acres, and 15 acres of adjacent property immediately south of the park.
• A five acre site north of the fairgrounds
Only the first site, according to the report, has the necessary land area for relocating the village, but the other sites would provide opportunity for residential and commercial growth. Cost for development of that area is estimated at $1.7 million.
Cost would still be a major obstacle. Many residents would be faced with bridging the financial gap between the market value that would be paid by the government to acquire their present home and the cost of a new structure.
The village board will consider the plan at a Nov. 3 meeting.
A Crawford County jury submitted a verdict on Friday night, Oct. 17, that a certified nurse midwife and a registered nurse either employed by or associated with Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center of La Crosse were each negligent regarding the birth of a Seneca area child.
Amy and Chad Jelinek, who reside near Seneca, will receive a jury award totaling more than $11.4 million after the 12-person jury unanimously found the midwife and nurse to be negligent in their care and treatment of Amy and Laine Jelinek.
A member of the Crawford County Clerk of Courts office said that the award is the largest civil suit award in the history of Crawford County.
"Yes, I feel that this is very just," said Amy Jelinek Tuesday from her home. "But, there isn’t any amount of money in the world that can replace my son. I think the jury put a lot of time and consideration into it."
The jury reached its verdict at 8 p.m. after seven hours of deliberation, thus concluding a three-week trial. The whole case took approximately 2.5 years. The defendants have 90 days to file an appeal.
In handing down its verdict, the jury found that certified nurse midwife Glenda Pinkham was 84 percent negligent in the care and treatment of Amy and Laine Jelinek and that registered nurse Michelle Dwyer was 16 percent negligent. The jury also found that the negligence caused injury to Laine Jelinek.
The jury ruled that Shannan K. Stephens, M.D. was not negligent.
The jury awarded $310,369.93 for past medical expenses, $5 million for future medical and health care expenses, $387,000 for Laine’s loss of earning capacity, $3,250,000 for Laine’s past and future pain, suffering and disability, and $2.5 million for the parent’s loss of society and companionship.
According to the plaintiff’s pretrial report, Laine was born on August 7, 2005 at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse. He suffers from cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, talk, feed himself or have any other normal functions. His injuries are permanent, as acknowledged by all parties.
Amy said that Laine will never walk or speak. Laine needs to be fed via a feeding tube that has been placed in his stomach. He can "scoot" on his back and has made some progress by being able to move with the assistance of a walker or a crawler. His vision is impaired but he can see a little, said Amy. Laine needs constant care. "I’ve cared for him 24-7," Amy said about the past three years.
According to the report, a lack of oxygen during the birthing process is the cause for Laine’s injuries. According to the report, the drug Pitocin was administered and repeatedly increased, causing additional stress to the fetus and an abnormal contraction pattern. According to hospital policies, an order for Pitocin to be administered by nurses can only be instituted by a physician, the report said.
Dr. Stephens attempted a vacuum delivery, according to the amended complaint filed Dec. 15, 2006. Dr. Stephens experienced at least two or three "pop-offs" of the vacuum and made more than 10 attempts to delivery the baby via a vacuum extraction, according to the complaint. As was previously stated, Dr. Stephens was found not to be negligent.
Laine has therapy five days per week. He receives physical therapy and feeding therapy in La Crosse. Amy said that he also receives vision, occupational, speech, physical, and instructional therapy at home by a therapist via the Seneca School District.
"We are going to keep on doing what we’ve been doing," said Amy. The jury award will allow Amy and Chad to pursue many avenues to help Laine that they otherwise couldn’t afford. Some of these avenues include the purchasing of extra mobility devices, the addition of a bedroom to their house, and the hiring of a nurse. A handicapped accessible van will be purchased so that they can transport Laine and his wheelchair. Chad and Amy will also get Laine into extensive therapy programs that the insurance doesn’t cover.
"I would pay someone $11.4 million if my son could be healthy," said Amy. Chad and Amy also have a 1-year-old daughter, Zoey.
October 20, 2008 |
During the Nov. 4 election, residents of the Seneca School District will vote on a referendum asking whether or not to approve of exceeding the district's revenue limit.
If the referendum passes, the tax levy for school purposes will increase by $800,000 on a recurring basis, said District Administrator Al Szepi. Szepi said that the levy will increase by $800,000 in the 2009-2010 school year. The estimate for the next year is $200,000 and for the year after that $154,000. The amount of levy increase will continue to decline every year after, Szepi said.
There is another factor to consider regarding the referendum. Szepi pointed out that Seneca is in its last year of receiving funds from a previous referendum. So, $375,000 will no longer be there. Therefore, he said, the net effect for the 2009-2010 school year will be a jump of $425,000, not $800,000, should the referendum pass.
The tax rate for school purposes was $7.75 per $1,000 of valuation for 2008. If the referendum passes, the tax rate will increase to an estimated $10.68. The tax rate for school purposes will then decrease every year thereafter as the tax levy goes down.
"This referendum is basically so we can balance the budget," said Szepi, who noted that the district has been taking money from their cash balance in order to keep running.
"We can't continue to do that," he said, in noting that the cash balance is dwindling and will soon be gone if the district keeps drawing from it.
One of the major problems facing the school district is continued declining enrollment, which is a problem throughout much of Southwestern Wisconsin. Fewer students means a significant drop in state aid given to a school district, and thereby, less money with which to run the school and its programs.
"We need to maintain what we have," said Szepi. "We can't cut into our programs." Szepi noted that the district has already cut some courses in recent years due to budget constraints.
Szepi said that he realizes that now is a tough time to ask residents for more money, given the tough national and global economic situation. But, he said that the district has no other choice.
"We don't have any other way to go to keep our school here," he said. "We need to keep the educational programs that are so essential to our kids." Szepi said that everyone hopes that the economy will improve.
One area that the school district will save money on in the near future is Szepi's position itself. Szepi will no longer be the superintendent beginning July 1, 2009, at which time High School Principal David Boland will become the superintendent/principal.
Szepi said that one administrator would be correct for a school the size of Seneca's. "I would rather spend the money on teachers and programming than on administration," he said. Szepi said that he is looking forward to full retirement. For the past year he has split his time as the superintendent for both Seneca and La Farge. Prior to that, he was the superintendent for Brookwood for 28 years and for La Farge for three years.
"I think small schools really have a lot to offer," said Szepi, in pointing out that Seneca has excellent staff, programs and community support that has led to numerous educational awards over the past several years.
For the 10th time in five years, the Seneca School District has again been recognized by the state of Wisconsin's "School of Promise" award program. The Seneca District has been recognized at the elementary level, the middle school level and the high school level this year by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This is the first year that the district has received the award at all three levels in the same year, one of only 11 schools in the state so recognized. Seneca is one of only 29 schools in the state to have received this award for five consecutive years.
"We certainly would like to continue to keep that up," said Szepi regarding Seneca's award winning educational tradition.
The next informational meeting about the referendum is scheduled for Oct. 22 in the high school band room. There will be a school open house starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by the meeting at 7:30.
The credit crunch isn't just something you hear about on the national news. It is now affecting cities and small towns across the country.
"Very fine, creditworthy municipalities are having trouble getting financing," noted Prairie du Chien City Manager Jim Gitz.
Typically, city, state and county governments and school districts sell bonds to finance major projects. Called municipal bonds, or "munis," these types of bonds historically have been one of the most reliable types of investments. Usually municipalities have no difficulty selling these bonds in part because the interest earnings bondholders receive is often tax free.
But the credit crunch has changed all that.
Cities are tightening their belts and issuing fewer bonds. And when they do, they are finding fewer banks that want to bid on them, and they face higher interest rates.
Thankfully, Prairie du Chien has not been caught in the squeeze thus far.
Prairie du Chien recently bonded for the sewer and water projects on Blackhawk Ave, Prairie Street and North Main. But they were fortunate enough to qualify for funding through two state revolving loan programs„the Clean Water Fund, which finances rebuilding of sewer service lines and the Wisconsin Safe Drinking Water Loan program, which assists with water line infrastructure.
Both programs are administered by the Wisconsin DNR and the Wisconsin Department of Administration and are funded by the federal government. They offer financing for infrastructure projects at very low rates. The city received 20-year bonds through these two programs. The water line bond for $1,760,799 is at 1.4 percent, and the sewer line bonds of $1,522,480 is at 2.3 percent.
The programs fund only sewer and water projects. The downtown streetscape was funded through state grants.
Because Prairie du Chien qualified for these programs and applied for the assistance early enough, they were able to access these funds just as the credit squeeze began clamping down on smaller cities.
If the city had been forced to try to sell bonds for these project on the bond market today, they would have been forced to take an interest rate of 5.5 to 6 percent.
"If it were not for [the government programs], we would be in a position to seek private financing, which is difficult now," Gitz said.
Prairie du Chien will not need to explore any new bonding measures until it begins planning for the Marquette Road rebuilding project, which is not scheduled to begin construction until 2011. This project may be partialy state funded as well.
Gitz said that the $700 billion federal bailout of banks and financial institutions passed by Congress recently is important to people here.
"This is not about helping rich people on Wall Street," Gitz said. "This has very real implications for Prairie du Chien. The credit crisis was going to immobilize the economy. That's what this bailout is all about," Gitz explained.
Gitz said that the city„like most other cities and individuals as well„is tightening their belt. While he does not expect a significant drop in local tax revenues, he does expect that funding from the state is likely to decrease, as Wisconsin responds to the broader impacts of an economic slowdown.
He noted that the city may have to delay some equipment purchases and make-do with what they have, or buy used items. But for small cities like Prairie, this is nothing new.
"Small cities have to be creative," Gitz said.
