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Friday, February 9, 2018 • Vol. 4, No. 12 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
Jason Geiger
(608) 277-2167
Fitchburg Police Department
Inside 12 vehicle thefts so far in 2018
Brecklin is new chief
Page 3
Schools OSD task force says new schools needed soon
Former Lt. began with department in 1999
Page 8 Pisani to leave Stoner Prairie
SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Page 9
Sports
Photo by Amber Levenhagen
Sandra Thompson looks to her daughter, Evelyn, as they together finish gluing part of Evelyn’s Valentine’s Day craft.
Sweet hearts for sweethearts teDuits crowned Badger South champ for Edgewood swimming Page 17
Community Clauder works Super Bowl security Page 18
Business
Chalet Ski and Patio reopens after storm damage last fall Page 23
The Fitchburg library’s storytime room quickly filled with families during the Valentine’s Day craft activity on Feb. 2. Youngsters were able to make paper heart crafts, including hats and puzzle piece hearts, before leaving with a candy butterfly.
Inside More photos from the Valentine’s crafts at the library Page 10
More smiles: Dental clinic opens at BGC HELU WANG Unified Newspaper Group
Michael Johnson recalled how excited a patient was on the opening day of the new dental clinic after she got her first teeth cleaning in over 20 years. Her’s and other patients’ joy is the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO’s reward for nearly five years of work initiating a dental clinic in the Allied Family Center location, where many children have had limited access to dental clinics because of high cost. “It will improve the number of days that kids are in schools,” Johnson said. The clinic is a partnership with More Smiles Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization offering lowcost dental services. For Jeff Okazaki, executive director of More Smiles PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE
Photo by Helu Wang
The new clinic has three patient rooms and an X-ray machine, which is expected to serve over 1,500 patients in the near future. Wisconsin, Fitchburg is the right place to continue offering services to underserved populations. Okazaki said More S m i l e s Wi s c o n s i n ’s
assessment found a significant need in the community. “The community has a high need for dental care, and we can serve as a
resource, as well,” Okazaki told the Star. “It’s a great fit for both sides.” The clinic, at 4619 Jenewein Road, is the organization’s second; the first is located in the Salvation Army at 630 E. Washington Ave., Madison. The staff – three full-time dentists, two hygienists and about 50 volunteers – serves more than 3,000 patients each year. So far, 50 patients have signed up at the Fitchburg clinic. Okazaki expects to see about 1,500 patients in the near future. One of the clinic’s features is providing affordable dental care to both Medicaid and uninsured patients. Okazaki said although there are thousands of providers within the area, only 30 percent of dentists in Dane County accept Medicaid patients. The clinic fills the gap
Turn to Clinic/Page 20
Chad Brecklin wasn’t surprised by the range of emotions he felt when he got a phone call Jan. 17 from the chair of the Police and Fire Commission informing him h e ’d b e e n chosen for a promotion. “Obviousl y t h e r e ’s excitement, a n d t h e r e ’s anticipation leading up to the phone Brecklin call when you have a window of time where you’re expecting it,” Brecklin said. “Then you kind of have that realization of like, ‘Well there’s a whole lot of work to do.’ Then there’s probably a dash of apprehension thrown in there, like, ‘What have I just gotten myself into?’” Brecklin, who spoke with the Star on his eighth day as the chief of the Fitchburg Police Department, said his first seven days in the role since being sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 24, had gone well. “I’m hoping to string together several more seven-day increments, if not longer,” he added with a laugh. The 44-year-old former lieutenant has spent most of his career here in Fitchburg, first joining the department as a patrol officer in 1999 after four years with the Oregon Police Department. He lives in New Glarus, where he grew up, with his wife and two children. The PFC chose him over fellow finalist Kelly Kent, a captain in the Oshkosh Police Department. A third finalist, Eric Atkinson of
Turn to Brecklin/Page 19
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February 9, 2018
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Fitchburg Star
Fitchburg police chief Chad Brecklin, right, listens to Fitchburg fire chief Joe Pulvermacher brief the crowd in the incident command post in fire station No. 1 on Lacy Road before the SIMCOM exercise began Feb. 7.
Photos by Alexander Cramer
Emergency personnel attempt to communicate with their counterparts during the SIMCOM exercise Feb. 7. The drill is designed to simulate the challenges of communicating during an emergency, in this case a simulated ice storm that had affected 600,000 people and knocked the power out to 150,000.
Fitchburg hosts large-scale drill other four branches – two in Fitchburg, one each in Oregon, Verona and Oshkosh – as the incident’s command post. The drill simulated a winter storm that left several inches of ice, affecting 600,000 people and knocking out the power to 150,000. The exercise uses improvised
communication equipment ranging from high-tech, RV-sized mobile communication trailers to civilian radio operators to simulate what it’s like communicating in a disaster situation. – Alexander Cramer
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A U.S. Air National Guard Blackhawk helicopter takes part in the SIMCOM exercise Feb. 7. SIMCOM challenged 40 agencies and 225 personnel to communicate using improvised equipment during a simulated crisis situation.
Forty agencies, including the Wisconsin National Guard and U.S. Coast Guard, multiple municipal emergency responders and aircraft congregated in Fitchburg on Wednesday, Feb. 7 for the 11th annual SIMCOM exercise. Fitchburg fire station No. 1 on Lacy Road was in charge of directing the
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February 9, 2018
Staffing restructure approved Zimmerman will be new assistant city administrator SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
A new internal staffing structure within the city will remove some duties from the city administrator. Members of the Common Council unanimously approved the creation of a Community and Economic Development Department to bring together three previously separate departments, Jan. 23. As part of that change, a position of assistant city administrator/ director of community and economic development will oversee the planning and zoning, economic development and public works departments. Economic development director Mike Zimmerman was expected to take over that role and continue to oversee the economic development department. “It really brings three areas together that do a lot with development and growth in the city,” said Ald. Aaron Richardson (Dist. 3). “This helps provide clear direction.” Some were hesitant during the discussion, though, at the prospect of the new role being given to Zimmerman without an open application process. City attorney Valerie Zisman said the changes could be classified as a change of job duties, which would not require opening the hiring. Administrator Pat Marsh echoed that thought. “We’re just changing the way we do business with our current staff,” he said.
“As the CEO of the city … I’m charged with putting forward the best product for this council.” While it satisfied the alders enough to receive unanimous approval, some were still worried about the perception, especially internally, of favoritism. “If I’m a city employee, I’m saying, ‘How come I didn’t get a chance?’” said Ald. Tom Clauder (D-4). Alds. Dorothy Krause (D-1) and Julia Arata-Fratta (D-3) expressed similar concerns, though Clauder and Krause both specifically said they were comfortable with Zimmerman in that position. “I think those are good moves, I just want to make sure we don’t have problems either internally or people outside that complain that didn’t have a chance to apply for a job,” Krause said. “The candidate’s good, the process stunk,” Clauder added later in the discussion. The change adds about $15,000 to the 2018 budget that will be absorbed by the surplus balance in the water, sewer and stormwater budgets. Ald. Dan Bahr (D-2) said the change was an opportunity to offer “more customer-service driven” decisions in the city. “We have such a bright future in Fitchburg,” Bahr said. “We need to have a balance between zoning and planning … and also of economic development. We have some great opportunities.” Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
12 cars stolen so far in 2018 Thefts took a steep rise after Labor Day, many involve juvenile suspects SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
The City of Fitchburg has seen a sharp increase in car thefts that began around Labor Day last year and has continued into the new year. As of the morning of Feb. 6, 12 cars had been stolen this year — 10 in January and two in February, Fitchburg Police Department Sgt. Edward Hartwick told the Star in an email. That follows 67 car thefts last year, 37 of which occurred after Sept. 1, according to the department. That’s up 180 percent from the 24 stolen in 2016.
Stolen vehicles 2016: 24 2017: 67 2018*: 12 * through morning of Feb. 6 A news release from the department said that “almost all of these cases have involved or show the markings of juvenile suspects.” “Also of concern are the fact some of these cases have involved burglaries in which suspects have entered occupied homes overnight to take keys and then remove vehicles from garages,” the release said. “The behaviors and actions of these juveniles in many of these cases could lead to disastrous consequences, whether it be a fatal traffic crash
or a confrontation with a home/vehicle owner.” The rise is part of a countywide trend, with Verona already experiencing three vehicle thefts in 2018 and Madison had 57 in the month of January. The police department held a press conference Jan. 24 to highlight the problem on behalf of the Dane County Chiefs of Police Association. “We’re not here to blame the victims, we’re here to educate the public and ask that you … take preventative measures and help us,” deputy chief Don Bates said at the press conference. “Lock your vehicles, keep your doors shut, and if you hear something, make sure you call the jurisdiction you live in.” Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
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February 9, 2018
Opinion
Fitchburg Star
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Being salt wise can help environment
S
tepping onto my apartment building’s front steps a few nights ago, I instantly noticed an annoying, gritty feeling under my shoes. I lifted my foot and quickly determined the source was a dense layer of salt spread on my front steps. It had done its job melting snow and ice, but I wondered whether that much was necessary. Later that evening, I observed the culprit: a pickup truck spreading excessive amounts of salt in a parking lot with a salt spreader. After seeing this, I started thinking about the amount of salt used on our roadways, sidewalks and parking lots, and how it affects our region’s waterways. Some quick internet research on the Wisconsin Salt Wise and Madison Metropolitan Sewage Districts websites yielded lots of practical information on how to use salt wisely. I learned the Salt Wise program has a straightforward, five-step approach to combating overuse of salt. It can be summed up in three words: “Shovel, Scatter, Switch.” That means shovel the snow as soon as possible to prevent compaction, scatter minimal salt with space between the individual grains and switch to a different de-icing agent when the temperature drops below 15 degrees and salt is no longer effective. Their approach talks about optimizing your water softener to use less salt, which is something I’d never really thought much about. It can be hard to grasp just how
much salt is being used in Wisconsin during the snowy winter months. I was surprised to learn that last year alone the state of Wisconsin used 669,807 tons of salt at a cost of more than $40 million. These numbers don’t even take into account the salt used by cities, counties, towns, businesses or homeowners. The problem is rain and snowmelt carry that salt directly into Wisconsin’s water resources, where it dissolves into the water and permanently pollutes almost half a trillion gallons of surface water and groundwater. Thankfully, MMSD is working with customers to combat the salt problem. Specifically, they want to reduce salt used in water softeners and industrial processes. Improving the efficiency of water softeners reduces the discharge of salt into wastewater. An estimated 100,000 water softeners discharge water to the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant, comprising more than half the salt from all sources. One way to lower salt usage is to optimize or replace your current water softener, which can reduce salt use by 27 percent and 48 percent respectively. I’ve also learned it’s important to follow the
manufacturer’s recommended settings to avoid over-softening your water. (Fitchburg’s water contains 16 grains of hardness per gallon.) Industrial solutions for large buildings will not only reduce the amount of salt in wastewater but could end up saving businesses money by reducing the amount of salt purchased. MMSD offers grant and rebate programs to businesses to help offset the costs of purchasing more efficient equipment. Using the right amount of salt is as safe as oversalting, and less salt on roads equals less in the water. Once salt is dissolved, it’s tough to get it out. It washes off roads and sidewalks into local waterbodies and into drinking water. It might seem like a small contribution to use slightly less salt on your driveway or improve the efficiency of your water softener, yet these small changes, when done by enough individuals, can drastically reduce the impacts of salt. Reducing salt also improves water quality and protects the health of freshwater organisms and pets. If nothing else, do what I did and tell your property manager that less salt can do the job. If everyone does their part to improve their practices – from homeowners, governments, businesses, to private applicators – our water will be safer and cleaner for years to come. Dakota Dorn is the City of Fitchburg’s environmental engineering technician and GIS specialist.
Correction
Friday, February 9, 2018 • Vol. 4, No. 12 Periodical Postage Paid, Verona, WI and additional offices. Published weekly on Friday by the Unified Newspaper Group, A Division of Woodward Communications, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send Address Corrections to The Fitchburg Star, 133 Enterprise Drive, Verona, WI 53593.
Office Location: 133 Enterprise Drive, Verona, WI 53593 Phone: 608-845-9559 • FAX: 608-845-9550 e-mail: ungeditor@wcinet.com Circulation customer service: (608) 845-9559
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Due to the reporter looking at an incorrect agenda item on a landfill development last month, it reflected the incorrect development and location under discussion. The correct one, @Edge Live/Work, off of Hwy. MM, would include 542 units. The story in January’s Star included a photo of the unrelated Fitchburg Townhomes. Comments from interim public works director Bill Balke about the Townhomes development were removed from the online version. The Star regrets the error.
Election, administration changes make sense
N
o election is perfect. Fans of history might recall the phrase made famous (though not originated) by Winston Churchill: “Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms.” Given that nearly undeniable truth, I have to say the changes made by the City of Fitchburg to change political terms and its internal government structure were Ferolie the worst idea … except for anything else. In other words, they’re the best we’re going to get, and I very much appreciate them. The first set seems innocuous on the surface – staggered elections, an extra year for future mayors – and might even be harsh at first, with some alders forced to run two years in a row in 2019 and 2020. But Fitchburg, a much younger city than any of its peers in the area, has badly needed that change for 35 years. Previous elections have been a Wild West free-for-all, easily comparable to the U.S. House of Representatives, where the whole two-year term can be a campaign. Because everyone ran at the same time each time around, there has been little sense of stability, as evidenced by the fact that only one of the last four mayors has served more than a single two-year term and only two of Fitchburg’s 12 mayors have served more than two terms. It’s a job that has increasingly promoted burnout, frustration, gridlock and resentment simply because of its structure. The second set of changes, which ultimately come down to promoting a long-term staffer to assistant administrator, inspired a hateful anonymous letter to our office from someone who clearly misunderstood the nature of the switch. It’s no stroke of brilliance,
but it’s a sensible and probably long overdue adjustment that will help hone and clarify the duties of each person involved. There are many ways cities can be structured, and this change doesn’t blow up what Fitchburg has been building over the years. Instead, it focuses the duties on three main pillars of running an organization – personnel and finance, development and infrastructure and leadership. The mayor and Common Council, of course, provide the leadership, and the new title of assistant administrator takes over infrastructure and planning to go with its existing duty of economic development. That leaves everything else to the administrator, who essentially can focus on running the office and making sure everything is paid for. T hese make a lot of sense, with the person responsible for bringing in businesses also responsible for making sure it’s thoughtfully planned and the infrastructure is there. That promotes good communication and teamwork. Back to the history lesson for a moment. Churchill, as many know, was a hero in England during World War II but a mess of a politician before and after. That’s the nature of politics, and an extreme example of how it should be – someone who’s good for the constituency in one situation might not be in a different situation. To that, I see a parallel in Mayor Jason Gonzalez, who has gotten himself into some embarrassing situations with his mouth, his temper and his campaign tactics in his first 10 months in office. For all the bad press he brought – and there was plenty – these changes he led will get far less attention but have a much greater impact, and they’ll be universally positive. Bravo. Jim Ferolie is the editor of the Star.
Don’t get fooled by every health claim you see
W
e’re a month into the New Year, and in the past month, social media, Pinterest and magazines have bombarded me with salads, diet-friendly this, sugar-free that and snacks that are low in all the things we’re not supposed to eat. I usually don’t mind this overabundance of healthier options – whether over the top or not – because, hey, sometimes I find some good recipes to try! Plus, I love it when people start to focus on making more nutritious choices. Hoerr But this year, I’ve been seeing a little bit too much of diets attached to the recipe name, such as “Cleansing Apple Smoothie” or “Whole30 Vegetarian Power Bowls.” The recipe that really took me over the top was when I recently saw a description for Coconut Flour Cookies. After the description listed the scrumptious peanut butter and chocolate nestled into each cookie, it listed that they were also Paleo, low-carb, gluten-free and dairy-free. They were described as being “delicious and healthy and come without regrets.” But they’re still cookies! Does anybody else see the irony in this? Just because the coconut cookies check the boxes on a large majority of dietary restrictions or diets right now, does not make them healthy. Whether a cookie is advertised as being diet-friendly or not, it’s still a treat that should be enjoyed sparingly. Recipes and foods can list all kinds
of catchy phrases or words to persuade you they’re “healthy,” which somehow makes them better than other foods. Here are some key words to watch out for that are used to grab your attention – but often may not mean much at all in terms of your long-term health.
No regrets We often have regrets or feel guilty for eating foods when we’ve given ourselves restrictions on what foods are allowed. Restrictions lead to overeating and binging on the things we’re trying to avoid. Rather than setting yourself up for failure, give yourself permission to have your favorite foods once in a while. Just because it’s not a black bean brownie, doesn’t mean you should have regrets for eating a slice of cake that isn’t compliant with all the diets.
No refined sugar It says “sugar-free” or “doesn’t contain refined sugar,” but does it contain coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup or agave nectar (just to name a few)? All of these are added sugars that didn’t occur naturally in the food product. Whether the sugar on the ingredient list comes from sugar cane, corn, beets or coconut, it’s still added sugar we need to limit.
Clean eating When a product makes the claim that it used “clean ingredients,” it gives the food a “health halo,” and many make the assumption that it’s, therefore, a healthy choice. Especially for treats, this isn’t the case.
Calling something clean implies other foods are dirty or inferior, which isn’t true, either. Choosing whole or minimally processed foods is certainly a good goal to strive for, but enjoying a cheeseburger doesn’t make you “bad” either.
Low-carb Our bodies need a good balance of fats, protein and carbohydrates. Our bodies actually prefer carbohydrates for its main energy source. Certainly, we need to choose wholegrain carbohydrates most of the time to keep us satisfied and provide nutrients we need, but we’re not doing our bodies any favors by seeking low-carb foods.
Diet approved Diets, in general, don’t work when it comes to sustaining long-term weight loss. That’s because making a blanket recommendation for everyone negates the fact that each of us has highly individualized and different needs. When determining whether a diet-plan is right for you, ask yourself whether it includes all five food groups, if it includes foods you’ll enjoy eating for a lifetime, if the foods are readily available where you shop, if your favorite foods are included and if it fits into your budget and lifestyle. If you can’t answer these with a yes, the diet is most likely too restrictive and not something you’ll beable to maintain for long. Kara Hoerr, is the registered dietitian at the Fitchburg Hy-Vee. Contact her at khoerr@hy-vee.com or 273-5125.
This information is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical professional for individual advice.
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February 9, 2018
First Tee operated here in 2011-13 SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Mayor Jason Gonzalez speaks at a Jan. 30 Mayor’s forum in Madison.
Photo by Scott Girard
Gonzalez talks Fitchburg at Jan. 30 Madison forum SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Fitchburg was among the six cities represented at a Jan. 30 mayor’s forum in Madison. Mayor Jason Gonzalez, joined by mayors from Madison, Middleton, Monona, Stoughton and Verona, told a crowd of about 100 several things that make Fitchburg special. Those include the mix of rural and urban areas, a high number of small businesses and being “pleasantly positioned” between downtown Madison and Epic Systems in Verona. The event, organized by the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, asked the mayors to discuss transportation, developing and attracting a workforce, encouraging affordable housing and collaboration among municipalities. Gonzalez pointed to the example of the Verona Road Business Coalition, which has “built a sense of community among the businesses along that corridor” during the five-year-long reconstruction project, as
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Golf program could collaborate with Nine Springs
City of Fitchburg
Among six mayors on chamber panel
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a successful public-private endeavor. Mayor Jon Hochkammer of Verona said he expects the need for collaboration to increase in the coming years. “I believe in the future much more collaboration will have to occur not only with municipalities but with the private sector,” Hochkammer said. Hochkammer also mentioned Fitch-Rona EMS – which serves the Town and City of Verona and the City of Fitchburg – and the Madison Metro bus line to Epic Systems as examples of what those partnerships can create. “None of us, independently, could provide that level of service at the cost that we do without that collaboration,” he said of the EMS district. The City of Fitchburg is undertaking a study, however, to look at splitting the district and creating a joint first-EMS department. The mayors also stressed the importance of quality-of-life features, such as walking or bike paths to attract a younger workforce. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said those types of amenities were a major component of Amazon’s search for a new headquarters, which
Madison applied for but was not chosen as a finalist. Gonzalez said Fitchburg needs to attract new kinds of businesses to the city, as well. “The biggest thing that we need in Fitchburg … is there’s really no entertainment,” he said. “Other than to go there and sleep there’s nothing to do in Fitchburg.” He mentioned that the city is trying to “reshape” its parkland dedication system to work on creative options with developers that provide more than green space. C i t i n g F i t c h bu r g ’s “responsible growth” and “diversity of housing options available,” Gonzalez said he wants to continue improving the three “vibrant” entrances to the city – Rimrock Road, Fish Hatchery Road and Verona Road. He also said he hopes that in five years, “I’m not the mayor.” “(I want to be) finding a line of succession and grooming future leaders in the city to take over,” he said. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
Love Of Neighbor, Love Of Children, Love Of Creation
Spring election
State Supreme Court primary set for Feb. 20 Voters will have a chance to narrow the list of candidates for State Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The top two vote-getters in the primary will be on the April 3 ballot.
The only item on the spring primary ballot in the City of Fitchburg has three candidates for the seat being vacated by Justice Michael Gableman. They are Milwaukee County Circuit
Court Judge Rebecca Dallet, Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock and attorney Tim Burns. The three candidates spoke at a forum Monday, Jan. 22, in Milwaukee.
Don’t miss our special Kids! section in the March 9th issue of the Fitchburg Star. We also publish a Kids! supplement that we insert into the Oregon Observer, Stoughton Courier Hub and Verona Press on March 8th. That’s over 19,000 homes! We feature a wide variety of articles covering summer activities, day trips, local events and other kid and family-related topics. Watch for Kids! Kids! supplement is also posted on our community websites. Ad Deadline is Monday, February 26, 2018 Contact Donna Larson at 845-9559 or veronasales@wcinet.com
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the golf course and the community to positively impact the lives of children,” the letter states. The golf course was a hotly debated topic just four years ago, when the city considered redesigning it as a park in an area that is in need of more parkland, according to the city’s parks plan. Ultimately, strong support from golfers at the 9-hole course and a promise from those who run it to offer more community programming led the council to keep it as a golf course. The Parks Commission r e c o m m e n d e d a p p r oval of the idea Feb. 1, and the Finance Committee is expected to consider it Feb. 13.
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The regional branch of an international golfing nonprofit organization could soon partner with Nine Springs Golf Course – again – to provide an after-school program. First Tee of South Central Wisconsin first reached out to the city in November about its interest in a partnership with the city and Nine Springs to provide three years of programming at the golf course on North Fish Hatchery Road. According to the letter sent by First Tee, Nine Springs was a site for the program from 2011-13. The First Tee program already has a
partnership with nearby Leopold Elementary School, according to the letter. The first year of the initiative, expected to start this spring, would provide a pilot learning center after-school program for 12 kids, which would grow into a 150-person summer outreach program later this year. In the fall, there would be a twoday-per-week after-school program for 24 kids. In the winter, First Tee would look for a potential site at the golf course for a permanent facility to build toward a summer program location for 100 kids. Until that facility is built, First Tee requested to use the Nine Springs clubhouse for programming. “Our goal is to dramatically increase what the impact of a vital community asset – Nine Springs – has on the surrounding communities by serving as a bridge between
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Fitchburg Star
Memory Cafe The senior center will kick off the first cafe March 15 HELU WANG Unified Newspaper Group
The senior center will host a Memory Cafe for people with memory loss, mild cognitive impairment, early Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Through a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, the Fitchburg senior center will kick off the cafe at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 15. Wisconsin has more than 14 memory cafes, according to the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin, which defines a Memory Cafe as a gathering place for people with memory loss, Alzheimer’s or dementia and their caregivers. Demographic projections from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation project a three-percent increase of senior citizens over the next four
If You Go What: Memory Cafe Where: Fitchburg senior center, 5510 Lacy Road When: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 15 Info: 270-4292 years, or more than 300 people. The cafe’s goal is to provide a supportive and e n g a g i n g e nv i r o n m e n t where those people can get together with their care partners. Activities are chosen and sometimes led by participants; some with the whole group and some in smaller groups depending on interests. For example, Tai Chi to improve balance, discussing artwork, creative projects, games, guest presenters on an array of subjects, storytelling and simply sharing among friends. For information, call David at 270-4292. Contact Helu Wang at helu. wang@wcinet.com.
Photo by Alexander Cramer
Lucy, 3, and Wyatt Formanek, 5, work on an experiment during the Winter Science activity at the Library on Jan. 19.
Winter Science at the library ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
If you walked into the Fitchburg library at just the right time on Jan. 19, you would’ve seen something pretty unusual: about 20 kids from middle-school aged to as young as two shaking plastic bags with all their might. This wasn’t just for exercise: the bags were filled with what would become ice cream from a recipe library assistant Kristin Garvey found while researching activities to do for the library’s Winter Science program. Garvey also led the group in an experiment to see if they could melt ice faster than it normally does. She
froze Lego men in ice cubes and then handed them out to groups whose task became freeing the Lego from his icy bonds. They submerged him in water, stirred it to see if that would make a difference, and then added ingredients like salt and sugar to gauge the effect. As the activity wrapped up and the kids filed out, the carnage they left behind became apparent. But Garvey had a smile on her face as she began to clean up, and it was easy to remember how much fun the kids had been having doing science minutes earlier. Contact Alexander Cramer at alexander.cramer@ wcinet.com.
Packers tailgate tour benefits Badger Prairie Needs Network Tickets on sale this week HELU WANG Unified Newspaper Group
Three current Green Bay Packers and three alumni – including Packers Hall of Famer Antonio Freeman – will visit Verona this spring as part of a benefit for the Badger Prairie Needs Network. Tickets go on sale this week for the Tailgate Tour, which will stop at the Verona Area High School, 300 Richard St., on
Tuesday, April 10. Freeman, who led the NFL in receiving in 1998, will be joined by current players Blake Martinez, Kenny Clark and Ty Montgomery and fellow alumni Bubba Franks, and Rob Davis. Activities will include food stands, live music, player autographs, face painting, games, a photo booth, a raffle and a live auction. Packers president Mark Murphy will also lead a Q&A session, and players will toss Tailgate Tour footballs. Tickets are $10 and will be available at 8 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at local businesses, including Miller and Sons Supermarket,
Karate America and Little Caesars Pizza. Online purchases will be available at tailgatetourverona.eventbrite.com. General admission tickets cover access to the Q&A session and tailgate party activities. Premium tickets are $40 and include food and beverages, a collector’s poster and player autographs. All proceeds will support BPNN to continue its food pantry, free community meal and other activities. For information, visit BPNN.org/packerstailgate. Contact Helu Wang at helu.wang@ wcinet.com.
Calendar of events Friday, February 9
• 4-5 p.m., Olympic Game Night, library (ages 5-12), 729-1760
library (ages 9-12), 7291760
Friday, February 16
• 11-11:45 a.m., Fractured
Saturday, February 10 fairy tales storytime,
• 1-3 p.m., LEGO build, library (ages 5-12), 7291760
Sunday, February 11
• 1-3:30 p.m., Valentine’s Day card making, library, 729-1760
Monday, February 12
• 9:30-10 a.m. or 11-11:30 a.m. (ages 2-5), Preschool storytime, library, 729-1760 • 11:45 a.m., Black history video screening, senior center, 270-4290
library, 729-1760 • noon to 5 p.m., Used book sale, library, friendsoffitchburglibrary.com • 4-5 p.m., No sew scarf making (ages 9-12), library, 729-1762
Saturday, February 17
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Used book sale, library, friendsoffitchburglibrary.com • 2-3:40 p.m., Kids movie: My Little Pony, library, 729-1760
Monday, February 19
Tuesday, February 13 • 9:30-10 a.m. or 11-11:30 a.m., Preschool storytime • 11-11:45 a.m., Lapsit sto- (ages 2-5), library, 729rytime (ages 0-2), library, 1760 729-1760 • 6:30-7:30 p.m., Escape • 6-7 p.m., Blackout poet- room, library, 729-1762 ry (ages 13-17), library, 729-1760 Tuesday, February 20 • 11-11:45 a.m., Lapsit stoWednesday, February rytime (ages 0-2), library, 14 729-1760 • 10-11 a.m., Toddler art, • 5 p.m., READ to a dog library (ages 1-3), 729(ages 5-12), library, 7291760 1760 • 6-7:30 p.m., 3-D Printing for beginners, library Wednesday, February 21 (ages 9-12), 729-1762 • 10-11 a.m., Book disThursday, February 15 cussion: Orange is the • 6 p.m., String art, library New Black: My Year in a (ages 13-17), 729-1762 Woman’s Prison by Piper • 6-6:30 p.m., Guys read, Kerman, library, 729-1760
• 10:30-11 a.m., Toddler dance party (ages 1-3), library, 729-1760 • 6-7 p.m., Paper craft, library, 729-1762 • 7-8 p.m., Android basics , library, 729-1762
• 6-6:30 p.m., UNBookclub, library (ages 9-12), 729-1760
Thursday, March 1
If You Go What: 2018 Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour Where: Verona Area High School, 300 Richard St. When: 5-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April. 10 Tickets: $10 (premium passes $40) Info: BPNN.org/packerstailgate
Saturday, March 10
• 2 p.m., Kids movie: Wonder, library, 729-1760
Monday, March 12
rytime, library, 729-1760
Wednesday, March 21
• 10:30-11 a.m., Toddler dance party, library, 7291760 • 6-6:30 p.m., UnBookclub (ages 9-12), library, 7291760 • 6-7 p.m., Art salon: bead crafts, library, 729-1762
• 6-7 p.m., Sphero Robot- • 9:30-10 a.m., Preschool ics for Teens, library (ages storytime, library, 72913-17), 729-1762 1760 Thursday, February 22 • 6-7 p.m., Canvas tape Friday, March 2 • 10:30 a.m., Adventure • 4-5 p.m., Bake cookies, painting, library, 729-1762 storytime (ages 2-5), library (ages 9-12), 729Tuesday, March 13 library, 729-1760 1762 Thursday, March 22 • 11-11:45 a.m., Lapsit sto• 11 a.m. to noon, Cookrytime, library, 729-1760 • 1-1:45 p.m., Bouncing S aturday, March 3 book club, library, 729babies, library, 729-1760 Wednesday, March 14 • 10-10:30 a.m., Lion or 1760 Friday, March 23 • 10-11 a.m., Toddler art, lamb storytime, library • 1-1:45 p.m., Bouncing • 4-5 p.m., Breakout challibrary, 729-1762 babies (ages 0-1), library, (ages 2-5), 729-1760 729-1760 Thursday, March 15 lenge, library, 729-1762 Monday, March 5 • 6:30-8:30 p.m., Home Saturday, March 24 • 10-10:30 a.m., Spring • 10-11 a.m., Preschool improvements, library, storytime (ages 2-5), • 1-3 p.m., LEGO build, art, library (ages 2-5), 729-1763 library, 729-1760 library, 729-1760 729-1760 • 3:30-5 p.m., Snap cirFriday, February 23 Monday, March 26 Wednesday, March 7 cuits at the library, library, • 11-11:45 a.m., Book • 9:30-10 a.m., Preschool • 10-11 a.m., LEGO build, 729-17602 Boogie (ages 1-5), library, library (ages 2-5), 729storytime (ages 2-5), 729-1760 Friday, March 16 library, 729-1760 1760 • 4 p.m., Canvas tape • 11 a.m. to noon, Book • 12:30 p.m., Cultural • 6-6:30 p.m., Book club, painting for tweens (ages library (ages 5-8), 729Boogie (ages 1-5), library, event series, senior cen9-12), library, 729-1760 729-1760 ter, 277-8118 1760 • 4-5 p.m., World record Monday, February 26 Tuesday, March 27 Thursday, March 8 challenges, library, 729• 11 a.m., Preschool can- • 10:30-11:30 a.m., Com• 11-11:45 a.m., Lapsit sto1762 vas tape painting (ages rytime, library, 729-1760 munication innovation stoSunday, March 18 2-5), library, 729-1760 rytime, library, 729-1760 Wednesday, March 28 • 8 a.m. to noon, Pancake • 10-11 a.m., STEAM Tuesday, February 27 • 1-1:45 p.m., Bouncing breakfast, senior center, babies, library, 729-1760 277-8118 open build, library, 729• 9:30-11:30 a.m., Play1762 • 1:30 p.m., REACH Book Doh Palooza (ages 2-5), Monday, March 19 Club: Astoria by Peter Thursday, March 29 library, 729-1760 Stark, senior center, 270- • 9:30-10 a.m., Preschool • 4-5 p.m., Afternoon art, Wednesday, February 4290 storytime (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 28 library, 729-1760 • 6-7 p.m., Harry Potter Friday, March 9 • 10-11 a.m., Toddler art, Game Night, library, 729T uesday, March 20 • 6-9 p.m., Tween lock-in, library (ages 1-3), 729library, 729-1762 • 11-11:45 a.m., Lapsit sto- 1762 1760
ConnectFitchburg.com
February 9, 2018
Fitchburg Star
7
DIY succulent plant terrarium Teenagers made succulent plant terrarium, at the library, where they learned about how to take care of succulent plant.
Will Simonson and Jameson Smith water their terrariums.
Coming up Olympic Game Night Children age 5-12 can participate in a “Winter Olympics” from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at the library. They can make their own torches and compete in a variety of games. For information, call 729-1760.
Black History Month
Children ages 13-17 can create crafts using wood, nails and string at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at the library. For information, call 729-1762.
Emily Godwin and Bronte Perkins make a terrarium at the library.
For information, call 729-1762.
overlooked issues with home remodeling such as proper venNo sew scarf making tilation and potential comfort Children ages 9-12 can make a changes from 6:30-8:30 p.m. their own scarves from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, at the library. Friday, Feb. 16, at the library. No Staff from Project Home will present how to avoid these issues sewing is required. For information, call 729-1762. in future. For information, call 729-1763.
Used book sale
T h e F r i e n d s o f F i t c h bu rg Library will hold a used book sale from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the library. There will be a wide variety books of fiction, nonfiction, mystery, children’s and audio books at low prices. Proceeds will go toward supporting the library’s materials and programs. For information, visit friendsoffitchburglibrary.com.
In honor of Black History Month, the senior center will screen a 15-minute video documenting African American athletes in the 1936 Olympics at 11:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 12. The video features 18 African American athletes who represented the United States. African-Americans dominated the popular track and field events. Many American journalists hailed the victories of Jesse Owens and other African-Americans as a Escape room blow to the Nazi myth of Aryan Participants ages over 18 can supremacy. join an escape room from 6:30For information, call 270-4290. 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at the library. They can solve clues and Blackout poetry puzzles to open locks to escape Children ages 13-17 can create the room. their own blackout poetry from For information, call 729-1762. 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the Paper crafts library. They can grab a marker, a page Crafters ages 9 and older can from a book and make it their participate in an art salon makown poetry. ing paper crafts from 6-7 p.m. For information, call 729-1760. Wednesday, Feb. 21. This fine arts program is a bonding experience 3-D Printing for beginners for parents and children. Children ages 9-12 can learn For information, call 729-1762. the basics of 3-D printing from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, Android basics at the library. People can learn about the They will learn about 3D print- Android smartphone operating ing and Tinkercad to get start- system from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, ed creating their own designs. Feb. 21, at the library. Space is limited and registration The workshop will cover the is required. basics of smartphones or tablets. To register, call 729-1762. To register, call 729-1763.
String art
Photos by Helu Wang
Cookbook club
People can bring their favorite bread to the library, along with the cookbook recipe from 11 to noon Thursday, Feb.22, at the library. The cookbook club will sample Fractured fairy tales story- everyone’s contribution and distime cuss the recipes. Butter, utensils Children ages 2-5 can listen and beverages will be provided. For information, call 729-1763. to fairy tales from 11-11:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the library. Home improvements The storytellers will put a silly People can learn about often twist on classic fairy tales.
Tax return help People can benefit from free and simple tax return help by making a 45-minute appointment on Fridays, Feb. 23, March 9 and March 23, at the senior center. To reserve, call 270-4290.
Sphero robotics for teens
Teenagers ages 13-17 can spend an evening of painting from 6-7 p.m. Friday, March 12, at the library. They can create a fun work of art with just paint, tape and a canvas. Registration is required. To register, call 729-1762.
Art salon: bead crafts
The library calls all crafters ages 9 through adult to spend an evening at the library’s art salon from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21 to make yarn crafts. This fine arts program will be a bonding experience for a parent Toddler art and their children. For information, call 729-1762. Children ages 1-3 can explore and play with fun art materials from 10-11 a.m. Wednesday, Breakout challenge Teenagers ages 13-17 can parMarch 14, at the library. They will practice fine motor ticipate in an escape program skills as they engage in process from 4-5 p.m. Friday, March 23, art. Parents are encouraged to at the library. They will solve clues and puzstop in at various times throughout the hour. Smocks or “messy zles, open locks and escape. Registration is required. clothes” are recommended. To register, call 729-1762. For information, call 729-1762.
Teenagers ages 13-17 can learn about and play with Sphero robots from 6-7 p.m. Thursday, March 1, Snap Circuits at the library at the library. They can control the spherical Kids ages 5-12 who are interrobots with a smartphone or tab- ested in learning how electronics let. work can participate in a circuit For information, call 729-1762. science program from 3:30-5 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at the Bake cookies library. During the program, kids will Kids ages 9-12 can come to the library to mix up some cookie have the opportunity to construct dough from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. a circuit projects using Snap Circuits. Those attending the pro2. They’ll measure and mix, then gram will be provided with a can take it home to bake. Regis- colorful manual with pictures explaining how to build the projtration is required. ects, and children’s staff will be To register, call 729-1762. around to help. Therapy storytime Space is limited and registraChildren ages 2-5 and their tion is required. Kids ages 5-8 caregivers can participate in a will require parent guidance Communication Innovation sto- during the program. To register, call 729-1762. rytime from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 8, at the library. A licensed speech-language World record challenges Teenagers ages 9-12 can try to pathologist and occupational therapist of Communication Innova- beat world records from 4-5 p.m. tions Pediatric Therapy Services Friday, March 16, at the library. Challenges will include how will present how to enhance children’s language skills through many T-shirts a person can put on reading, incorporate songs and in one minute. For information, call 729-1762. motor activities with books. For information, visit Pancake breakfast therapymadison.com. The senior center will host its Tween lock-In annual Pancake Breakfast from 8 Teenagers ages 9-12 can spend a.m. to noon Sunday, March 18. There will be scrambled eggs, a lock-in night at the library from sausage, pancakes, apple sauce, 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 9. There will be pizza, treats and juice and coffee. The cost is $7 for adults and $4 movie. Space is limited and regisfor children under 10 years old. tration is required. All proceeds will benefit FitchTo register, call 729-1762. burg seniors. Canvas tape painting For information, call 277-8118.
Cultural event series The senior center will host a variety of cultural events and music throughout 2018. The cultural event series aims to build an understanding of the diverse cultures and artistic expressions in the community, as well as to bring an appreciation of different traditions from around the world. A traditional Indian dance and music event will kick off the series at 12:30 p.m. Monday, March 26, at the Oak Hall room. For information, call 277-8118.
STEAM Open Build Kids ages 5-12 can spend a morning of engineering from 10-11 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, at the library. They will build and create with a variety of materials. For information, call 729-1762.
Afternoon Art Kids ages 5-12 can drop in at the library for an afternoon of art from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, March 29. They will explore different art media and make a take home project. For information, call 729-1762.
Harry Potter Game Night Kids ages 9-12 can celebrate their favorite wizard with a night of Harry Potter-themed games from 6-7 p.m. Thursday, March 29, at the library. For information, call 729-1762.
February 9, 2018
Oregon schools
Fitchburg Star
Task force: New schools needed soon Group to give recommendation to board Feb. 12 SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Voters in the Oregon School District could see a referendum for new schools as soon as this fall. A district task force has concluded new schools are needed within the next few years to avoid overcrowding. The district’s three elementary schools and intermediate (grades 5-6) school will be “out of capacity” within two years, according to an informational letter prepared by district superintendent Brian Busler. And since building new schools requires a voter referendum, district voters
could see a referendum on a new school or schools as soon as this fall. “Taking action now will prevent our children from experiencing overcrowding,” Busler wrote. The letter refers to a 10-member task force the school board created last January to take a long-term look at growth and how to best proceed with any expansion of existing schools or construction of new ones. The district is faced with a student population expected to rise 50 percent by 2030 – mostly from developments planned in Fitchburg and west of the village of Oregon. The task force, which met frequently throughout 2017, pared down 12 options to four possible “paths’” the district could take, and will present those to the school board at its
Monday, Feb. 12, meeting. All options that will be presented include building a new elementary school and either a new intermediate or middle school, and all but one involve some grade reconfiguration among the schools, the letter explained. In an email to the Observer on Tuesday, Busler said the recommendation did not mention specifically where a school should be built, but identified two areas — the Village of Oregon and Lacy Road interchange. Busler said he anticipates the school board reviewing the ideas and “likely selecting a hybrid of few ideas.”
two successful referenda. The most recent one, a teacher compensation referendum in 2016, was for $1.5 million per year to help the district adjust pay scales to reflect market conditions and the post-Act 10 recruiting environment. That came on the heels of a $56 million capital projects referendum in 2014 that passed by a 2-to-1 margin, just two years after a $33 million capital projects referendum failed by a large margin. The 2014 referendum passed largely because of the reduced cost to residents, as it was timed to “hit” when the district was shedding debt by paying off earlier projects. While more expensive overall, it only cost $36 per year of $100,000 in property value, versus $50 for the previous attempt.
Impact uncertain If there is indeed a fall referendum on new schools, it could have a bigger financial impact than the district’s last
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Open enrollment seats down SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Continued growth within the Oregon School District means better finances for the district, but fewer chances for students outside of Oregon to open enroll here. As open spots in the district are increasingly being taken up by residential growth, Oregon School Board members approved the lowest amount of open enrollment spots in recent history. Space for 110 open enrollment students was set aside Monday night by the school board; down 61 spots from last year, and the fewest number in the district going back to the 2012-13 school year. In spring, open enrollment spaces can increase, but legally the board must set a minimum number in January. The open enrollment period runs this year from Feb. 5 to May 30. District business manager Andy Weiland said in notes to board members the “spigot is starting to close” on district open enrollment, as the district is “starting to run out of space.” “Before we were growing, we used open enrollment to survive, to some degree, so we had some flexibility with our budget,” he said. “Now that we’re seeing some growth,
it’s less important to us, and we’re starting to have the space crunch, so we’re starting to turn it back.” Weiland noted that the district gets around $11,000 from the state for each student living in the district, compared to $7,000 for students who open enroll from elsewhere. A large portion of the open enrollment spots for next year – 42 – are in either 4K or kindergarten, with little space in elementary or middle school, and more room at the high school level after the recent additions there. District director of human resources Jina Jonen said open enrollment numbers are reached by figuring residential growth and capacity in the district, and said there is no net increase to staffing due to open enrollment plans. She noted the board will talk staffing in April, and could make other recommendations then. “We may be coming for additional staff in April, based on residential growth, but not this open enrollment recommendation,” she said. The district allows priority admission for siblings of students already open enrolled in the district. Once a student is open enrolled, they do not have to re-enroll. Email Unified Newspaper Group reporter Scott De Laruelle at scott. delaruelle@wcinet.com.
Available spots at OSD School year Resident spots Open enrollment spots 2012-13 454 204 2013-14 426 182 2014-15 462 221 2015-16 467 194 2016-17 401 129 2017-18 738 171 2018-19 1,052 110
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February 9, 2018
Pisani leaving Stoner Prairie Principal reassigned to district office at end of school year SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Stoner Prairie Elementary School will have a new principal for the 2018-19 school year. Mike Pisani, who began at the school in fall 2013, announced Jan. 10 in a letter to parents and staff that he requested a reassignment and superintendent Dean Gorrell had Pisani approved the change. Beginning July 2, Pisani will work in the central office providing support on data and assessment, student services, professional development
services and other duties that remain to be determined, according to his letter. Pisani thanked families for their support during his time at the school, and wrote that his “commitment to the children of our district and their success remains steadfast” in his new role. “I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the principal of Stoner Prairie Elementary School and to work alongside you and our wonderful staff on behalf of all of your children,” Pisani wrote. “As I reflect on the work we have done over the last four and a half years as well as Stoner Prairie’s future, I believe the time is right for everyone for a new leader.” Pisani’s time at the school included criticism from some parents of discipline practices during the districtwide transition to initiatives like Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and the Nurtured Heart
Approach. The Partners Actively Learning, or PALs, program also underwent a change after the 2015-16 school year that drew complaints from some parents and former students. But the school also received the highest score among the district’s attendance area schools on the 2016-17 “school report cards” issued by the state’s Department of Public Instruction. Pisani’s letter said the district will provide more detail on the process for finding his successor in the coming weeks. “I will do everything I can to accommodate a very smooth transition for the next Stoner Prairie principal as well as the staff, students and parents,” he wrote. The Star has an outstanding open records inquiry, filed in late December, related to Pisani’s role change. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
Amy Siebert, left, helps her daughter Leah, 8, draw in chalk outlines for a tree in the winter scene.
Photo by Scott Girard
Stoner Prairie Paint Night A paint night event at Stoner Prairie Elementary School last week raised $1,600 for the school’s “artist in residency” program. Art teacher Tina Johnson wrote in an email that the program will bring professional artists from varying backgrounds to the school to collaborate with students. One of the first projects will be a mural next year in collaboration with Dane Arts Mural Arts, which specializes in working with student and community groups.
What’s online Read these and more Verona Area School District stories at ConnectFitchburg.com:
12 VASD staff get National Board Certification The Verona Area School District had more staff members achieve National Board Certification in 2017 than any other district in Wisconsin. That 12 teachers here decided to put in the “overwhelming” amount of time in the one- or two-year process to receive the certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards isn’t really a surprise. It’s exactly what a 2015 change in the district’s salary schedule was designed to encourage.
TWI policies provide path for expansion The Two Way Immersion program took another step toward expanding to K-8 Monday with a set of policy approvals. Now, it just needs its students to keep growing up. Administrators began publicly discussing last fall how the now K-4 program could expand beyond elementary school. The program, which began in the 2013-14 school year, will be opt-in at the middle school level for any students who went through TWI here, a similar program elsewhere or come from a native Spanish-speaking home. It will continue in its current form next year with fifth grade and expand to a full K-8 program by 2021-22.
Exploration Academy gets three-year charter extension Exploration Academy will continue as the Verona Area School District’s only charter high school for three more years. The school board unanimously approved a three-year charter contract renewal Jan. 22, and it’s likely the last for the school. The vote, along with the school’s governing council in December, came with the expectation the school will fold into a program within Verona Area High School once the charter expires.
Perception survey sent out Feb. 8 Verona Area School District families and staff will have the opportunity once again this month to share their thoughts on how the district is functioning and where it’s headed. The annual perception survey, in its third year here, run by School Perceptions, Inc., will ask questions to parents and staff on more than 30 topic areas. While most of the questions will be the same or similar to those on the survey last year – to allow for comparisons – the district also added a few questions that will specifically apply to the strategic planning process that’s underway.
Fitchburg Star
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Survey, focus groups part of five-year plan ‘Community’s’ On the web document could Read the full story about the define achievement, strategic planning process: ConnectFitchburg.com equity goals SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Most of the long-term planning in the Verona Area School District over the past couple of years has revolved around building the new high school and its other buildings. This spring, the district is broadening the conversation about its future by producing a five-year plan to outline broad priorities for education, facilities and budgets for the district. This strategic planning process started last month and is expected to run through May. “We know what our building’s going to look like in three years,” school board vice president Meredith Stier Christensen said. “But the really important educational, foundational work is going to come from this plan.” That could mean defining goals for student achievement, equity, community outreach or personalized learning, among other things. District director of instructional equity and bilingual programming Laurie Burgos said it would be important to reach out to underrepresented communities among the district’s population. That’s especially true given the document’s expected focus on equity, she added. But Stier Christensen and school board president Noah Roberts told the Press in a wide-ranging interview this week they don’t want to “taint” what the plan includes or what the community has to say. “If I was sitting on a focus group, I would have opinions,” Stier Christensen said. “It’s not the board’s document, it’s the community’s.” Those focus groups are part of the district’s planned outreach, along with a new committee and a community survey, all taking place this month. Stier Christensen and Roberts, both of whom joined the board in April 2016, said they’ve been hoping to have a strategic plan to guide decision-making in place since they began their service. “It isn’t an option,” Stier Christensen said. “This is a necessary step we need to take.”
Guidance for all District public information officer Kelly Kloepping,
who has experience with strategic plans in her past role with the Special Olympics of Southern California, said she’s excited to have more guidance through a plan. “You really need to have that concrete plan at a higher level that really everyone in the district can understand,” Kloepping said. Seattle-based consultant Mary Fertakis will be paid $100 an hour up to $30,000 to help guide the process, something she said she’s “thrilled” about. Fertakis, who spent 22 years a school board in Tukwila, Wash., before finishing her tenure in November 2017, went through strategic plans three times during that time. She said her “heart and passion” in the process has become “incorporating an equity lens” into the planning process. “We can’t just be doing things the way we used to, because we are serving a different population,” Fertakis told the board by telephone at its Jan. 22 meeting. “Both our students and our communities are changing.” Roberts told the Press that Fertakis’ involvement, especially in the focus groups with staff and students, will be key to the “integrity” of the process, allowing staff and students to speak more candidly than they would with their boss or teacher asking the questions. He and Stier Christensen said they look forward to the document providing a base for future board members to understand past decisions and help guide their future ones. “Without a cohesive plan, we’re scattering our energy into the wind,” Stier Christensen said. “ I t h o l d s ev e r y o n e accountable for what they’re doing,” Roberts added. Roberts acknowledged that not all of the feedback will be positive, but said that’s fine with him as it will provide a “healthy part” of how the district can get better. “It’s also recognizing where we can improve,” R o b e r t s s a i d . “ T h a t ’s extremely critical in any organization that’s trying to improve what they do, especially in education we should always be looking at how can we improve our service to our students and our staff.”
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10
February 9, 2018
ConnectFitchburg.com
Fitchburg Star
Valentine’s crafts
Photos by Amber Levenhagen
Renee Bigler, left, helps granddaughter Emma Bigler create Valentine’s Day crafts at the library on Feb. 2.
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February 9, 2018 - Fitchburg Star 11
Ask the Fitchburg
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Q. Do we have a “Seller’s Market” or “Buyer’s Market” in Fitchburg?
A.
The terms “seller’s” and “buyer’s market” are common especially now in Fitchburg’s hot real estate market. There are many factors - supply and demand, interest rates, employment, economic growth, new construction and regulatory policies - that effect our local real estate market to determine what type of market it is. A “buyer’s market” means there are more homes for sale than there are buyers because Shawn Pfaff of high unemployment, fear of increased interest rates or other factors that may cause hesitation in purchasing a new home. Fitchburg is a “seller’s market” because there are a lot of buyers and a low inventory of active listings (33 active homes - average on market of under 2 months), high employment, lower interest rates and continued economic growth. There is no better time than now in Fitchburg to sell your home. Please contact me at pfaffs@firstweber.com to take advantage of Fitchburg’s “seller’s market.”
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you from losing weight; it might be your fitness tracker that’s the issue. I tell all of my clients to disregard the calories burned function when calculating the day’s net calories. Fitness trackers Jill Unwin, Lee Unwin, DC, CCEP BCMT, CSCS are a fine tool for tracking activity, but are completely inaccurate at calculating the calories you’re burning, even worse, they often over estimate totals. The next problem you may encounter with just using exercise for weight loss is that the more experienced you become at exercise, the less, not more calories you will burn. Once you have your true daily number of calories consumed you can start to make changes to the diet. Keep working out, it’s good for just about everything, but remember that no amount of exercise can combat a bad diet, just eliminating one soda is about the same as going for a 30 minute run. For help getting started feel free to contact us at anytime.
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Anthony Iozzo, assistant sports editor 845-9559 x237 • sportsreporter@wcinet.com Fax: 845-9550
Sports
Friday, Feb. 9 , 2018
The
13
Fitchburg Star For more sports coverage, visit: ConnectFitchburg.com
Edgewood boys hockey
West boys swimming
Regents on a path to contend for another title JEREMY JONES Sports editor
Photo by Jeremy Jones
Teddy Kluesner (19) and Jack Royer (27) celebrate with goaltender Ben Cegelski after Madison Edgewood wrapped up its ninth straight Badger South Conference title with a 5-2 win over Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 1.
Nine in a row Crusaders wrap up ninth straight conference title Carter Hottman has made a habit out of turning the tables on the opposition, and he did so again Thursday, Feb. 1. Hottman scoring a momentum-shifting short-handed goal, the first of three unanswered goals by the Crusaders to help Edgewood earn a ninth straight Badger South title with a 5-2 victory inside Oregon Ice Arena. The Crusaders (16-4-2 overall, 11-0-0 conference) entered the second period with the game tied 2-2 but found quickly themselves down a skater after Jake Schmaltz was called for boarding and sent to the
VAHS wrestling
penalty box for five minutes. Hottman got a loose puck in the neutral zone three minutes later and scored a short-handed goal a little less than four minutes after that to give the Crusaders a 3-2 lead. Edgewood tacked on two more goals. Teammate Jake Schmaltz added his second goal of the night two minutes later to push the Edgewood advantage to 4-2. Hottman tacked on a third-period insurance goal to secure the win. Senior Ben Cegelski stopped 14 shots on goal to preserve the win. Oregon junior Jacob Ayers made 17
saves on 22 shots. The Crusaders took a one-goal lead one-and-half minutes in the first period on a power-play goal by Drew Lenz, but Oregon regrouped to pop in a pair of pucks 26 seconds a part for a 2-1 lead with two minutes remaining in the period. Oregon junior forward Matt Strassman backhanded a one-timer 14:29 into the second period, and sophomore Colton Eyers forward scored on a wrap-around 26 seconds later. - Jeremy Jones
Playoffs Edgewood earned the No. 2 seed for the WIAA playoffs and will play No. 7 Waunakee (11-11-1) at Hartmeyer Ice Arena at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. The winner of that game advances to face either No. 3 Sun Prairie (18-4-1) or No. 6 Middleton (11-11-1) on Feb. 20.
Ranked atop the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Division 1 state poll throughout the season, the Madison West boys swimming team took another step toward a postseason its hopes will end with a state title. The Regents won six of 12 events Saturday, Feb. 3, at Beloit Memorial to wrap up the Big Eight Conference crown with 597 points. West swam to gold on the 200-yard IM, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke and claimed the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Lain Weaver won the 100 free in 46.22 seconds and added the 200 IM in 1:56.83. The senior was also anchored both Regent relays to victory. Junior Wes Jekel won the 100 backstroke (50.96), and classmate Henry Miller led a sweep of the top four spots in the 100 breaststroke by West with a time of 58.5. Sophomore Charlie Feller joined Jekel, Weaver and Miller to win claim the 200 medley relay in 1:340.02. Senior Matthew Fernandez and sophomore Isaac Casey teamed up with Jekel and Weaver to cap the meet with a time of 3:10.27 on the 400 free relay. The Regents, who were second to Madison Memorial from 2013-16, haven’t won a state title since 1993. They hope that will change this season, though M a d i s o n We s t , Wa u k e s h a South/Catholic Memorial and Arrowhead won’t make it easy. West finished fifth at the WIAA Division 1 state swimming meet last year with 174
Turn to West swim/Page 16
OHS wrestling
Feller, Herbst Keast, Mellum medal at Badger Conference meet take third at Big Eight meet ANTHONY IOZZO
Assistant sports editor
ANTHONY IOZZO Assistant sports editor
Senior Jono Herbst (120 pounds) and junior Nathan Feller (132) earned thirdplace finishes Feb. 3 in the Big Eight Conference wrestling meet at Madison La Follette. Junior Jeremy Grim (160) also medaled for Verona, taking fifth in a nine-man bracket, and every Wildcat won at least one match to place. “It is always nice to see everyone get their hand
Turn to Conference/Page 16
Senior Devin Keast and junior Steele Mellum both earned spots on the podium Feb. 3 at the Badger Conference meet at Waunakee High School. Keast took third at 160 pounds, with his only loss against top-ranked Stoughton senior Tyler Dow, and Mellum finished fifth at 126 pounds. “When I was coming in here, I knew I needed to wrestle my best,” Keast said. Keast was 4-1 at 160. After being pinned by Dow in 4 minutes, 23 seconds in the semifinals, Keast came back with a pin over Beaver Dam’s James Brown in the consolation semifinals to earn a spot in the third-place match. He didn’t waste time going to work against DeForest’s Jared Stuttgen. Keast led 7-2 after two periods and added two takedowns, a reversal and a two-point near fall in the final period to run away with a 17-6 major decision. “(Stuttgen) was really strong and really good, and he put me in a lot of bad positions,” Keast said. “I had to actually work through them, and I persevered to get that major.”
Now Keast has his sights set on bigger things in the WIAA postseason. Despite not making it to sectionals before, he said he has high hopes this year after his performance at conference. “I have a lot of confidence getting third at conference, which is one of the toughest conferences in the state,” Keast said. “Definitely, I am feeling good about it, and I am thinking I can go quite far.” Mellum needed a takedown in sudden-victory overtime after he and Baraboo’s Eli Davidson remained scoreless after three periods in the fifthplace match at 126 pounds. “I was motivated, I guess,” Mellum said. “I wanted to get (Davidson) again, because I beat him earlier.” Mellum made the semifinals but lost 3-0 to Reedsburg’s Mason McMillen, who was ranked third. The match was scoreless after two periods, but a takedown and a stalling penalty led to a 3-0 loss. McMillen went on to win a title. Mellum’s next match is one he would like to Photo by Anthony Iozzo have back, he said. Mellum dropped an 11-2 major Senior Devin Keast took third place at 160 decision to Sauk Prairie’s Gavin Lankey in the con- pounds Feb. 3 in the Badger Conference wrestling solation semifinals, but Mellum led 2-0 after the meet. Keast defeated DeForest’s Jared Stuttgen Turn to OHS wrestling/Page 16 17-6 in the third-place match.
14
February 9, 2018
Boys swimming
Wildcats take fourth at Big Eight meet JEREMY JONES
What’s next
Sports editor
Junior Shane Rozeboom medaled in two events and freshman diver Alex Ritter added another Feb. 3 as the Verona Area Mount Horeb boys swimming finished fourth at the Big Eight Conference meet. The Wildcats had 26 season-best times out of a possible 34 individual swims and five out of six best times in relays at Beloit Memorial High School natatorium. “We had a couple of boys swimming at less than 100 percent health, or it would have been higher,” said coach Bill Wuerger, whose team placed fourth with 208 points. “It’s been a tough season with the flu going around, keeping everyone healthy.” Madison West, ranked atop the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coach Association’s Division 1 state poll all season, posted 597 points to win the meet. The Regents won the 200 medley (1:34.02) and 400 free relays (3:10.27) and earned a pair of individual titles from senior Lain Weaver in the 200 IM (1:56.83) and the 100 free (46.22). Junior Wes Jekel added gold in the 100 backstroke with a 50.96 and junior Henry Miller led a 1-2-3-4 finish by the Regents in the 100 breast with a 58.5. Third-ranked Madison Memorial finished 55 points back of the Regents with 542 points. Senior Alex Wowk led a 1-2 finish by the Sparans in the 100 butterfly with a 51.37. Memorial also won the 200 free relay (1:27.46). Fifth-ranked Middleton
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Verona Area High School
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Verona travels back to the Middleton High School natatorium at 1 p.m. Saturday for their WIAA Division 1 sectional meet. rounded out the top three with 514 points as senior Michael Draves won the 200 free in 1:45.03 and the 500 free in 4:50.21. Rozeboom won the 50 freestyle by eight-hundredths of a second over Madison Memorial senior Roark Lundal in 21.84. Rozeboom added a second-place finish in the 100 free, finishing 1.76 behind Madison West senior Lain Weaver in 47.98. Ritter took third place in the diving competition held Friday night in Middleton with 364.6 points. Madison Memorial senior Sam Smith recorded 451.75 points for first place. Junior Aidan Updegrove was seventh in the 200 (1:50.43) and 500 free (5:00.31). Senior Kaleb McMillan made his end-of-season goal time in two events, on the 200 IM and the 100 free from his split on the 400 free relay. Senior Torbin Kittleson (1:05.68) and sophomore Ian Grossenbacher-McGlamery both made their end-of-season goal times in the 100 breaststroke. Kittleson joined Rozeboom and Updegrove and senior Ryan Stewart to help the Wildcats finish sixth in the 200 free relay (1:30.75).
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Boys hockey
Cats lock up second straight Big 8 crown JEREMY JONES Sports editor
Verona (17-3-3 overall, 12-1-1 Big Eight) received the top seed in section 6 of the WIAA playoffs and will receive a first-round bye. The Wildcats host the winner between eighth-seeded McFarland (10-10-2) and ninth-seeded Monona Grove (6-14-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. Verona didn’t play either Badger South team this season. Verona, which has only lost two in-state games this year, fell one goal shy to second-seeded Madison Edgewood (16-4-2) in the first game of the season. The Wildcats split with Sun Prairie (18-4-1) to win their second straight Big Eight title. Verona beat fourth-seeded Madison West (15-6-2) and sixth-seeded Middleton (10-11-1) twice, and then defeated Madison Memorial (11-8-3) once and tied the Spartans.
Verona 4, Janesville 1 The Wildcats officially wrapped up their second straight conference title Feb. 1 with a 4-1 victory over the Bluebirds co-op inside the Janesville Ice Arena.
Junior forward Brockton Bakers scored twice and assisted on another. Riley Frieburg also added two goals, and Ty Curtis assisted on a pair of goals. Goaltender Ethan Maurisak made 12 saves on 13 shots on goal, while Janesville’s Owen Aldrich stopped 27 of 31 shots by the Wildcats.
Verona 3, Memorial 3 Verona scored first in all three periods Feb. 3 inside Madison Ice Arena but settled for a 3-3 tie against Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. Baker gave the Wildcats their third lead of the game five minutes into the third period for a 3-2 lead only to see the host Spartans answer two-and-ahalf minutes later, thanks to a Parker Lindauer even-strength goal. The game opened with three-straight power play goals, including a first-period goal by Leo Renlund and a second-period score by Mack Keryluk. Jack Faulkner had a first-period goal midway through the first period for the Spartans. Madison Memorial tied the game, 2-2, with a little more than four minutes remaining in the second period. Verona senior goaltender Garhett
Photo by Jeremy Jones
Sophomore Cale Rufenacht (center) celebrates his second power-play goal 20 seconds after his first in the third period Jan. 26 against Madison West. Verona won the Big Eight Conference game 7-4.
Kaegi stopped 17 shots on goal in the tie, while Wes Turner turned away 30 of 33 shots on goal by the Wildcats.
Girls basketball
Verona finishes 3-3 last month, falls to 8-7 in Big Eight Conference ANTHONY IOZZO Assistant sports editor
Creating turnovers and scoring in transition helped the Verona girls basketball team take a lead into halftime Jan. 26 and eventually pull away for a 59-35 win at Madison West. The Wildcats (8-11 overall, 8-7 Big Eight) started the second half on a 16-6 run. Senior guard Chandler Bainbridge led off the run with a steal and a layup, and junior guard Bre Penn later scored inside after a steal by junior guard Rayna Briggs, making it 38-22 Verona. Senior forward Josie Mueller later made a spin move inside for a basket, and Bainbridge added two more baskets inside to build a 44-25 lead. “In the first half, we didn’t really communicate and it kind of showed because we weren’t up by as much as we should have been, but in the
second half, we really picked up our communication,” Bre Penn said. “And staying quick on our feet and keeping our hands up really helped with the steals and getting good looks in transition.” Bre Penn found Bainbridge inside, and Mueller followed with a couple of free throws. Bainbridge, who had 22 points, capped her night with a 3-pointer, and Bre Penn capped her performance with a steal and a layup to make it 55-34. Briggs scored inside again before the starters went to the bench. She and Bre Penn each had 10 points. Mueller finished with seven. Bre Penn said that the Wildcats wanted to work better as a team to get ready for a tougher part of the schedule down the stretch – with games against Middleton (10-6, 8-4), Madison La Follette (10-7, 6-7), Madison East (12-4, 10-2) and Sun Prairie (14-1, 11-0). “It is obvious we are not the
tallest, and we are underrated for that reason because we are so quick and work on fundamentals,” Bre Penn said.
Middleton 45, Verona 42 Free throws continued to haunt the Wildcats this season, as the girls finished 9-for-19 at the line Feb. 1 in a 45-42 loss at Big Eight rival Middleton. Bainbridge and Briggs were each 4-for-4 from the line. The rest of the team was 1-for-11. “We are leaving so many points at the free-throw line this year, that it is just beyond frustrating,” coach Angie Murphy said. “The kids work hard and then they don’t reward themselves. They are called free throws for a reason. Nine-for-19 is not going to beat a good team.” There was still a lot of drama at the end of the game despite the missed opportunities at the charity stripe, though. Bainbridge, who had 19
points, was quiet for much of the game until coming alive in the last five-and-a-half minutes. Verona trailed 40-30 when Bainbridge drained a 3-pointer and later added a steal and a layup to cut the deficit to 40-35. After senior forward Sydney Rae scored inside, Bainbridge nailed a rainbow 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the deficit to 43-40 with 1:35 to go. Bainbridge earned another steal with less than a minute to go but just missed the layup. She later hit two free throws on a 1-and-1 foul to get the Wildcats within a point of the Cardinals, but a missed 3-pointer with three seconds left sealed Verona’s fate. “I think we worked hard, but that is just one of those things where you have to hit the free throws,” Murphy said. “We are definitely getting better as the year goes on, but free throws have been our Achilles’ heel.”
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• Skill Evaluation - April 15 Where: Verona Area High School Gym When: 8:30-3:30 (assigned 2-hour age blocks)
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2018 REGISTRATION STARTS FEBRUARY 1ST Verona Little League (VLL) registration opens February 1st and closes on February 28th. The VLL newsletter is available on the website.
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Where: Verona Area High School Gym When: 8:30-1:00 (assigned 2-hour age blocks) Cost: $30 Advance/$40 Day
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Oregon High School
February 9, 2018
Fitchburg Star
15
Boys swimming
Lohmeier brings home three medals JEREMY JONES Sports editor
Photo by Anthony Iozzo
Junior guard Jenna Statz fights for possession with Edgewood senior guard Caitlin Link in the second half on Jan. 30. Statz finished with 11 points in a 55-49 win.
Clutch free throws lead to win over Edgewood ANTHONY IOZZO Photo by Jeremy Jones
Senior Josh Lohmeier finished second in the 100-yard butterfly Feb. 3 at the Badger South Conference meet with a time of 57.02 seconds. Lohmeier added medals on the 200 medley relay and in the 200 free. “You have to give props to Blake for stepping up,” coach Rachel Walsh said. Oregon opened the meet with a slightly surprising third-place finish on the 200 medley relay. Although the Panther relay has posted one of top five fastest Division 2 times in the state this year, that was with senior Ian Charles who sat out this second straight meet for academic reasons. Lohmeier said the relay’s time of 1:48.87 was good motivation after feeling down about possibly losing Charles for the rest of the season “Even without Ian, we’re looking at a really good time,” Lohmeier added. “It was good to see we can still do a lot without him, but it would be great to see what we can do with him, as we’re seniors and it could be our last meet.” Sophomore Blake Anderson, Rohloff, Braatz and Lohmeier finished a little less than eight nine seconds
b e h i n d M o n o n a G r ove in the 200 medley relay (1:42.09). The Silver Eagles team of senior Eric Storms, Bronz Geissler and Shane Sackett and junior Josh Douberly helped the Silver Eagles sweep all three relays with a pool record time of 1:40.08 to start the meet. The Silver Eagles won the conference title by sweeping the relays and picking up titles in the 200 free, 50 free, 100 butterfly, 100 free and 500 free. Stoughton finished second behind junior Conner Clark, who earned the Vikings’ lone individual medal and was part of a quartet that brought home another on the 400 freestyle. The Vikings posted a program-best 320 points. Edgewood, ranked seco n d b e h i n d t h e S i l ve r Eagles on the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coach Association’s Division 2 state poll, won three events and finished third with 307
Boys basketball
Panthers knock off Edgewood, Milton ANTHONY IOZZO Assistant sports editor
Oregon boys basketball rolled Madison Edgewood 57-31 on Feb. 3 to get back to .500 in the Badger South Conference. The Panthers (8-10 overall, 5-5 Badger South) led by as many as 28 points in the second half and went on a 31-6 run from midway through the first half until midway through the second half. Senior forward DeAndre Burrell started the run with a putback, and junior forward Carter Erickson followed with a 3-pointer. Junior guard Nolan Look then knocked down a shot inside and later connected on a 3-pointer to make it 31-14 Oregon. Senior forward Brandon Blanke started the second half with a 3-pointer from a kickout by Look, and freshman guard Erik Victorson nailed two 3-pointers at the top of the key to make it 40-20 Panthers. Senior guard Jack Weiland followed with a jumper, and
Photo by Anthony Iozzo
Junior guard Nolan Look attempts to drive past Beaver Dam senior Sam Wilke Saturday in the Badger Challenge. The Panthers lost 54-33. Look knocked down a layup following a Burrell steal and long pass. Look made it 48-20 with a 3-point play. Erik Victorson had 16 points, and Look finished with 11. Erickson chipped in 10, and Burrell added eight.
Oregon 52, Milton 29 Oregon hosted Milton on Jan. 23 and won 52-29. The Panthers led 18-7 at halftime, but the Red Hawks scored five straight points to start the second half. Oregon answered with a 10-0 run to build a 16-point
lead. Junior guard Ethan Victorson banked in a layup, and Look followed with a basket for a 23-12 lead. Ethan Victorson added a 3-point play, and his brother Erik scored inside to make it 28-12. Erickson later knocked down a 3-pointer, and Burrell had a traditional 3-point play to make it 37-20. Ethan Victorson finished with 14 points, and Erik Victorson had 11. Burrell added 10 points, and Erickson chipped in five.
points. The Panthers finished last out of the eight teams competing with 224 points. Rohloff took fifth place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.1. Braatz reached the podium of the 50 free with a fifth-place 23.82 and the 100 free, where his 53.03 was good for seventh place. Junior Kaden Seeliger, Rohloff, Braatz and Lohmeier touched the wall in fifth place on the 200 free relay (1:37.64). Wiedemann earned the final podium spot on the 500 free in 5:57.97. Anderson just missed the podium, taking ninth place in 1:08.72 of the 100 backstroke. “Overall, I would say we had a lot of season-best times,” coach Rachel Walsh said. “If they didn’t have a best time, they were right on their best time. I saw a lot of improvement from everyone.”
Assistant sports editor
Oregon girls basketball is back to .500 in the Badger South Conference. The Panthers (13-7 overall, 6-6 conference) staved off a late rally Jan. 30 at Madison Edgewood and held on for a 55-49 win. Sophomore guards Kaitlyn Schrimpf and Izzie Peterson finished 7 for 8 at the free-throw line in the final minute with Oregon leading 48-47. “We came in thinking it was going to be a tough game,” Schrimpf said. “All we had to do was take care of the ball, stay smart and not force anything stupid. I am really happy with how we ended up finishing strong.” E d g ew o o d f r e s h m a n guard Sydney Olson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game 47-47 with 2:10 left, but Oregon senior forward Ellen McCorkle answered by hitting one of two free throws to make it 48-47. McCorkle led Oregon with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers led 27-17
at halftime and kept the pressure on early in the second half. McCorkle scored on a putback, and sophomore guard Liz Uhl found junior guard Sydona Roberts for another basket in the paint to make it 31-20 Oregon. But Edgewood senior guard Caitlin Link began to single-handedly get the Crusaders back in the game. Link had a steal and a layup and later added a couple of jumpers to cut the Panthers’ lead to 33-28. Link’s next shot was a 3-pointer with less than nine minutes left to cut the Panthers’ lead to 37-35. H ow eve r, E d g ewo o d couldn’t capitalize on several offensive rebounds, including three straight in one possession and four straight in another. McCorkle and Uhl combined for six straight points to build Oregon’s lead to 43-35. Junior guard Jenna Statz had nine of her 11 points in the first half, and Uhl chipped in eight points. Uhl also added four assists, and Schrimpf had three.
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Oregon senior Josh Lohmeier medaled in three of four swims at his second Badger South Conference meet Feb. 3 at Fort Atkinson High School, and only a record-setting performance in the 200-yard freestyle topped his season-best swim. T h o u g h t h e Pa n t h e r s fi n i s h e d l a s t , t h ey g o t strong performances from Lohmeier and their 200 medley and 200 free relay squads, which were third place and fifth, respectively. Juniors Sam Rohloff, Collin Braatz and Henry Wiedemann also made it to the podium for the Panthers. Three-time state champion Monona Grove won eight of 11 events to easily win another title with 491 points. Defending state champion Ben McDade won titles with conference records in the 200 and 500 free and was part of a conference-record 400 free relay. McDade’s pool-record and conference-record 1 minute, 43.29 seconds in the 200 free left Lohmeier second in 1:52.77. “I was really happy with my finish, dropping a couple of seconds and moving up from being seeded fifth,” Lohmeier said. “I saw the second place on the scoreboard and heard all the Oregon parents screaming. That was a really cool moment.” It was a similar result in the 100 butterfly, where only Monona Grove senior Eric Storms bested Lohmeier’s time of 57.02. The medley relay Lohmeier swam the third leg on was only two seconds off its season-best time despite the absence of senior Ian Charles.
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February 9, 2018
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Conference: Grim adds a fifth-place medal Continued from page 13 raised on, but we had higher goals than what we got,” co-coach Jason Ott said. “We weren’t ecstatic overall. It wasn’t the best we wrestled all year, and there are obviously a lot of things to work on going into regionals.” One of the higher goals was to get a few conference champions, and Herbst was the top seed in the seven-man 120-pound bracket. Herbst nearly made the finals against Janesville Craig’s Juan Armas, leading by a few points with control as time was expiring in the third period. However, Herbst was caught in an awkward spot, rolled on his back and allowed a defensive pin in 5 minutes, 59 seconds. “He knew when he came off the mat that he put himself into that position,” Ott said. “It was more a mental mistake than the other kid doing anything special, so it is easier to fix.” Herbst came back with 17-2 technical fall over Middleton’s Calvin Srem, and he later won a 10-2 major decision over Sun Prairie’s Juan Jimenez in the third-place match. “Overall, (Herbst) wrestled a little bit more aggressive than he has, and that is a good sign going into regionals,” Ott said. Feller lost his semifinals match to the top seed, Janesville Craig’s Nate Ellis. Ellis, who came in ranked 12th, pinned Feller in 59 seconds. Feller bounced back with a pin over Beloit Memorial’s Marco Olivares in 54 seconds and a pin over Middleton’s Hernan Carranza in 2:44 in the third-place match. Ott said it was the best Feller has looked all year. “Hopefully, he can continue to wrestle well like he did on Saturday,” he said. Grim was 2-2 on the day. He pinned Janesville Parker’s Anthony Tobias in 4:59 in his fifth-place match. Ott said he has shown improvement in each match and that he is still not hitting his peak. Junior Zakh Kalifatidi (152) took sixth in an eightman bracket, and seniors Lance Randall (182) and Wyatt Breitnauer (195) also took sixth, but in nine-man brackets. Kalifatidi lost 11-6 to M a d i s o n E a s t ’s C o l l i n Waech in his fifth-place match, and Randall was pinned by Janesville Craig’s Mitchell Schumann in 5:27 in his. Breitnauer lost a close 9-7 decision to Madison Memorial’s CJ Green in his fifth-place match. T h e Wi l d c a t s a l s o h a d s eve n t h p l a c e s b y
West wrestling
Cooper, Yang finish second at Big Eight meet ANTHONY IOZZO Assistant sports editor
Photo by Mary Langenfeld
Verona junior Nathan Feller wins a match against Beloit Memorial’s Marco Olivares on Feb. 3 at the Big Eight Conference Wrestling Tournament at Madison La Follette High School. Feller took the match in a fall in 54 seconds and ended up finishing third in the meet.
Big Eight champs
If You Go What: WIAA Division 1 Middleton regional When: 10 a.m. Where: Middleton High School
106: Guillermo Tellez (Madison Memorial) 113: Mayson Maclennan (Janesville Craig) 120: Edward Pazdziora (Madison La Follette) 126: Kyle Smith (La Follette) 132: Nate Ellis (Janesville Craig) 138: Ethan Smith (Janesville Craig) 145: Drew Scharenbrock (Sun Prairie) 152: Kevin Meicher (Middleton) 160: Dylan Lawinger (La Follette) 170: Jacob Hendrix (La Follette) 182: Brendan Shannon (Sun Prairie) 195: Linzell Burks (Beloit Memorial) 220: Mason Smith (Sun Prairie) HW: Keeanu Benton (Janesville Craig)
sophomores Nick Heinzen (138) and Nick Grassman (170) and freshman Ben Grandau (126) in eight-man brackets. Grandau pinned Sun Prairie’s Charlie Wagner in 1:30 to win his seventh-place match, and Heinzen won an 8-3 decision over Janesville Parker’s Daniel Curtis in his. Grassman won his seventh-place match by injury default over Madison Memorial’s Tristin Bird. Sophomore Chris Garcia (145) was eighth in a nineman bracket. Garcia pinned Madison East’s Trevor Starr in 2:45 to make the seventh-place match, but he dropped a 10-8 decision to Beloit Memorial’s Dominick Lindley. Janesville Craig won the Big Eight meet title with 228 points. Sun Prairie (221) and Middleton (220) took second and third. in the top three to have a better chance to advance Looking ahead past sectionals. Verona now heads to a For example, a third-place different WIAA Division 1 finisher from the Middleregional than in years past, ton regional would open in Middleton. sectionals against the secIt includes Middleton, ond-place finisher at the Madison Memorial, Mad- Baraboo regional, while the ison West, Madison East, fourth-place finisher would Madison La Follette and take on the Baraboo regionD1 honorable mentions and al champion. co-Badger North champions That is important because Waunakee and Sauk Prairie. the first round at sectionals Ott said every wrestler is an elimination round. has a chance at a top-four Ott said Randall (182), finish to move on to section- Herbst (120), Kalifatidi – als, but the goal is to finish who is moving back to 145 – and Grim (160) all have a realistic chance to finish in the top three. Sophomore Caden Page will also be back in the lineup at 152, and Ott said Grandau (126) will also Specializing in Residential Cleaning have a shot to sneak up on some opponents. Insured • 17 Years Experience “It is going to be a fun Reliable • Free Estimates weekend, and I definitely think we have our best wrestling to do still,” Ott said. “Hopefully, it will tinashomecleaning@gmail.com come this weekend.”
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Seniors Robert Cooper (120 pounds) and Paxton Yang (113) led Madison West wrestling with runner-up finishes on Feb. 3 at the Big Eight Conference meet at Madison La Follette. Juniors Juan Avila (195) and Harrison Schreiber (160) also medaled, taking fourth place. Cooper defeated Janesville Craig’s Joey Bellomo 6-0 to make the 120-pound final, but he dropped that match 6-1 to La Follette’s Kyle Smith. Yang pinned Sun Prairie’s Richard Quintana in 3 minutes, 14 seconds in his semifinal, but he dropped the 113-pound final by pin in 5:47 to Janesville Craig’s Mayson Maclennan. Avila had two pins in the consolation bracket to make the third-place match at 195, but he dropped an 11-2 major decision to Sun Prairie’s Alex Haug. Avila also lost to Haug in the quarterfinals.
If You Go What: WIAA Division 1 Middleton regional When: 10 a.m. Where: Middleton High School
Schreiber won a 20-3 technical fall over Janesville Parker’s Anthony Tobias in the consolation semifinals at 160, but he dropped a 17-8 major decision to Middleton’s Remington Lockwood in the third-place match. Freshman Daniel Brown (132) and sophomore Joe Harris (138) both finished sixth, one spot from a medal, and senior Jackson Mozena (182) took eighth. The regional is up next in Middleton with Waunakee, Sauk Prairie, Middleton, Madison Memorial, Madison La Follette and Madison East
West swim: Big Eight champs aim for state Continued from page 13 points. Waukesha South/ Catholic Memorial won the won the title with 246, f o l l ow e d b y M a d i s o n Memorial (216), Eau Claire Memorial/North (189) and Brookfield Central/East (176).
Other champions The defending state champion, Madison Memorial senior Alex Wowk, won the 100 butterfly at conference in 51.37. Fellow Spartan senior Sam Smith added the conference diving title Friday with 451.75 points, and the Memorial 200 free relay team of juniors Noan Gonring and Josh Barth, senior Roark Lundal and Will Wowk in 1:27.46. Middleton senior Michael Draves claimed both distance events, taking
Big 8 Conference champions Diving: Sam Smith, sr., Madison Memorial, 451.75 200 medley relay: Jekel, Miller, Weaver, Feller, Madison West, 1:34.02 200 free: Michael Draves, sr., Middleton, 1:45.03 200 IM: Lain Weaver, sr., Madison West, 1:56.83 50 free: Shane Rozeboom, jr., Verona, 21.84 100 butterfly: Alex Wowk, sr., Madison Memorial, 51.37 100 free: Lain Weaver, sr., Madison West, 46.22 500 free: Michael Draves, sr., Middleton, 4:50.21 200 free relay: Gonring, Barth, W. Wowk, Lundal, Madison Memorial, 1:27.46 100 backstroke: Wes Jekel, jr., Madison West, 50.96 100 breaststroke: Henry Miller, jr., Madison West, 58.50 400 free relay: Fernandez, Jekel, Casey, Weaver, Madison West, 3:10.27 the 200 free (1:45.03) and the 500 free (4:50.21). Verona Area/Mount Horeb junior Shane Rozeboom
staked the claim as the conference’s fastest sprinter, winning the 50 free in 21.84.
OHS wrestling: Regionals up next Continued from page 13 first period. Lankey scored a reversal and a two-point near fall to go up 4-2, and he added a takedown and two 2-point near falls in the third. “I think I could have beaten (Lankey) and kind of got down on myself,” Mellum said. “I just didn’t perform well after I got down. Now I just have to get ready for next week.” Mellum said that he knows whom he can beat and what he needs to do now to try and move on in the WIAA postseason. “I know I am up there, and I know I can make it to state,” Mellum said. “I just have to perform.” Junior Jade Durmaj was the only other Panther to make a place match. Durmaj had a bye in the first round and had tough opponents throughout the day at 113 pounds. She lost to second-ranked Sauk Prairie senior Zeke Smith, to Stoughton sophomore Nathan Rein and by fall in the seventh-place match to Portage’s Spencer Adams. Senior Connor Brickley was 1-2 at 132 pounds and just missed the place matches. Sophomore Nate Hall was also 1-2 at 195 pounds and was two wins away from a place match. Senior Collin Legler (138), junior Faith Trinidad (106) and sophomore Samuel Crigger (152) also competed at conference but all finished 0-2 on the day.
If You Go What: WIAA Division 1 Sun Prairie regional When: 9:30 a.m. Saturday Where: Sun Prairie High School
Badger Conference champs 106: Sam Lorenz (Waunakee) 113: Zeke Smith (Sauk Prairie) 120: Hunter Lewis (Stoughton) 126: Mason McMillen (Reedsburg) 132: Draven Sigmund (Fort Atkinson) 138: Gavin Model (Stoughton) 145: Nico Roscioli (Fort Atkinson) 152: Austin Rauls (DeForest) 160: Tyler Dow (Stoughton) 170: Sam Kind (Monroe) 182: Dempzy Foley (Monroe) 195: Stephen Maule (Watertown) 220: Max Olinger (Mount Horeb) HW: Alan Olkowski (Waunakee)
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Madison West/Madison Edgewood
Edgewood boys swimming
February 9, 2018
Fitchburg Star
17
West boys hockey
Photo by Evan Halpop
Sophomore forward Marcus Mack scored a goal in the 7-4 loss to Verona on Jan. 26 at the Eagles Nest Ice Arena. The Regents finished third in the Big Eight and earned a No. 4 seed in the WIAA playoffs. Photo by Jeremy Jones
Sophomore Truman teDuits dominated the Badger South Conference 200 IM by more than six seconds to win in 1 minute, 58.41 seconds. He added the 100 breaststroke title in 1:00.75. Edgewood finished third.
Crusaders finish third at conference JEREMY JONES Sports editor
The Madison Edgewood boys swimming team medaled in six of 11 events Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Badger South Conference swimming meet in Fort Atkinson. The performance was enough to help the Crusaders finish third with 307 points. Sophomores Truman teDuits and Alex Moen outtouched the competition in the 200-yard IM and 100 backstroke for the Crusaders. teDuits dominated the 200 IM by more than six second to win in 1 minute, 58.41 seconds. He added the 100 breaststroke title in 1:00.75. Moen posted close to a two-second lead over the rest of the field in the 100 backstroke, claiming the title with a 53.83. Three-time state
champion Monona Grove won eight of 11 events to easily win another title with 491 points. The Silver Eagles swept the relays and picked up titles in the 200 free, 50 free, 100 butterfly, 100 free and 500 free. Defending state champion Ben McDade won titles with conference records in the 200 and 500 free. He was also part of a conference record 400 free relay. Edgewood was ranked second to Monona Grove on the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s Division 2 state poll, but Stoughton found a way to leapfrog the Crusaders at conference. The Vikings finished a program-best second-place fi n i s h w i t h 3 2 0 p o i n t s behind junior Conner Clark, who earned Stoughton’s lone individual medal and was part of a quartet that brought home another on the 400 freestyle. The
Vikings had never finished higher than fourth at conference. Edgewood sophomore sprinter Nate Frucht took second place in the 500 free with a time of 4:59.47 and earned the final medal in the 50 free, touching the wall third in 22.63. The Crusaders’ 200 medley relay of sophomore Alex Moen, juniors Tommy Beyer and Sean O’Conner and teDuits finished second to MG’s record-setting time of 1:40.08 with a 1:42.09. Freshman Chase Korb missed a medal but made the podium (top 8), taking fourth place in the 200 IM (2:19.15). Moen and Beyer also reached the podium (top eight), finishing fifth and sixth in the 200 free. Beyer added a sixth-place finish in the 100 free (52.58). Junior Sean O’Conner, senior Jacob Darien, Korb and Frucht were fourth in the 200 free relay (1:37.08).
Regents earn No. 4 seed ANTHONY IOZZO
concussion protocol, and finished with 28 saves.
Assistant sports editor
Madison West boys hockey earned a No. 4 seed in the WIAA division 1 sectional 6 bracket after a 16-6-2 season, including a 10-4 third-place finish in the Big Eight Conference. Verona (17-3-3, 12-1-1), which won the Big Eight title, earned the top seed, and Badger South champion Madison Edgewood (16-4-2, 11-0) is No. 2. Sun Prairie (18-4-1, 11-3) took second in the Big Eight and is the No. 3 seed, and Madison Memorial (12-8-3, 7-6-1) took fourth behind the Regents and is No. 5. West will take on the Spartans in the regional final at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Madison Ice Arena. The Regents swept Madison Memorial in all three contests this season, including an overtime shootout to claim the Culver’s Cup and a 6-0 win on Jan. 20. West finished 6-2 last month with other wins over Oregon, Beloit Memorial, the Madison Lakers twice and nonconference KMMO. The losses came to Middleton in overtime and to conference champion Verona.
Verona 7, West 4 The Regents were still without Buencamino in a 7-4 loss at Verona on Jan. 26. Buencamino was in the concussion protocol, and Hedican was once again called upon. The Wildcats jumped ahead 3-0 early, but the Regents cut the deficit to one in the second period with goals by junior forward Drake Baldwin and senior forward Sam Loving. Verona kept coming in the third, however, scoring four times. “We all underestimated Verona and should have come out with a little more fire,” Hedican said. Sophomore forward Marcus Mack and senior defender Dean Fuhrmann both tallied goals in the third for West. Hedican finished with 18 saves.
Middleton 3, West 2 OT
The Regents lost 3-2 on Feb. 3 to Big Eight rival Middleton in overtime at Madison Ice Arena. Senior forward Colin Pulkrabek scored in the third to tie the Cardinals 2-2, but West 6, Madison Memorial 0 Middleton’s Jake Feldt ended the game Baldwin had a hat trick, and Pulrabek with an overtime goal 5 minutes, 42 secadded two goals in a 6-0 win over Madi- onds into the extra period. Buencamino had 22 saves. son Memorial on Jan. 20. Devin Huie also scored, and freshman -Evan Halpop contributed to this story goalie Ian Hedican filled in for senior goalie Adam Buencamino, who was in the
Edgewood girls basketball
West girls basketball
Crusaders win twice to bounce back after tough stretch
Regents earn season sweep over Beloit
ANTHONY IOZZO
ANTHONY IOZZO
Assistant sports editor
Madison Edgewood girls basketball (14-6 overall, 8-4 Badger South) took care of business against Fort Atkinson and Milton to stay in the race for second place in the conference. T h e C r u s a d e r s h av e games against Monroe (151, 12-0) and Monona Grove (11-9, 5-7) are a game behind Stoughton with WIAA D3 playoff seeds coming out next week. Monroe has already clinched the Badger South title.
Stoughton 51, Edgewood 44 Senior guard Caitlin Link dropped 32 points on Jan. 26, but it wasn’t enough in a 51-44 loss to Stoughton. Edgewood led 24-23 at halftime, but the Vikings outscored the Crusaders 28-20 in the second half.
Oregon 55, Edgewood 49 Link once again led Edgewood with 27 points, but Oregon knocked down clutch free throws at the end of the game as the Crusaders fell 55-49 on Jan. 30. Edgewood clawed back from a 27-17 halftime deficit but couldn’t stop the Panthers enough down the stretch.
Edgewood 70, Fort Atkinson 39 The Crusaders bounced back with a 70-39 win over Fort Atkinson on Feb. 2. Link had 18 points, and freshman forward Sarah Lazar chipped in eight.
Edgewood 67, Milton 51 Edgewood won its second straight game Feb. 6, knocking off Milton 67-51. Link had 20 points. Junior guard Madison Moore and freshman forPhoto by Anthony Iozzo ward Baluck Deang added 11 and 10 points, respec- Senior guard Caitlin Link drives past three Oregon defenders on Jan. 30 to score on a layup at Edgewood High tively. School. Link finished with 27 points in a 55-49 loss.
Assistant sports editor
Madison West girls basketball hasn’t fared well against the rest of the Big Eight, but the Regents finished the season sweep over Beloit Memorial on Jan. 12. West (4-14 overall, 2-13 Big Eight) knocked off Beloit 75-62. Senior forward Kate Carlson went off for 32 points, and senior guard Serenity Jackson added 12. Carlson has 314 points this season and is second in the Big Eight with 18.5 points per game.
Photo by Anthony Iozzo
Senior forward Kate Carlson gets a block against Verona’s Sydney Rae on Jan. 26. Carlson had 23 points in a 59-35 loss.
Verona 59, West 35 Carlson had 14 of her 23 points in the first half and no other Regent had more than four points in a 59-35 loss to Verona on Jan. 26.
Madison East 68, West 48 Carlson and junior forward Gabby Durcker combined for 25 points in a 68-48 loss to Madison East on Feb. 3.
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City of Fitchburg
Density debate Neighbors call Stoner housing plan ‘bait-and-switch’ ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group Photo courtesy Tom Clauder
Tom Clauder, a Fitchburg alder and retired police officer, wore this badge during his security work at the Super Bowl in Minnesota.
Fitchburg goes to the Super Bowl Alder Clauder works security in Minneapolis SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Tom Clauder’s “team bus” had a bit longer drive than either the Philadelphia Eagles or New England Patriots did on Super Bowl Sunday. Clauder, a District 4 alder and retired Fitchburg police officer, joined about 50 others from the Madison area Feb. 4 to work security at the game in Minneapolis. He got on the bus here at 3 a.m., and by 8, he had arrived at the Minneapolis Convention Center to work security for a $1,600-a-ticket party featuring team owners. “This tailgate party (was) like the tailgate party of all parties,” Clauder said, adding he saw former National Football League commissioner Pete Rozelle. The idea to be part of the paid security team at the Super Bowl came from a friend last year who had seen an advertisement calling for those with security experience. Clauder recalled asking his police officer friend, “Are you kidding?” when he first heard the idea. After “several weeks” of thinking he had not gotten picked, the former Fitchburg mayor received a phone call and had an interview and background check at a Madison hotel, where he was eventually chosen to be part of the team. Two days of protocol training later, he was ready to leave for an event bigger than anything he’s worked before. “I can relate it to working University of Wisconsin games,” he said. “The magnitude for this game was
probably triple what it is for UW.” After the tailgate was over, Clauder and others working there were bused to U.S. Bank Stadium for the game, a 41-33 victory for the Eagles he estimated he saw “about half of” as he was moving around the stadium. He couldn’t recall any major incidents and said anyone who had an issue was “talked to” and the “situation was taken care of” without any ejections or follow-ups. “I saw some good kidding between Patriot fans and Eagles fans,” Clauder said. “They were gentlemen(ly) with their harassment.” By the time the Eagles were receiving their trophy after a dramatic victory, Clauder was back on the bus on its way to Madison, arriving around 2 a.m. “You can do the math on how long a day that was,” he said with a laugh. He said a highlight of the event was working with law enforcement groups he had not worked with in the past, including the St. Paul Police Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, ATF, military and border patrol. “It was a real honor for me to work with all these agencies, because obviously I know them … but all of them I haven’t worked with,” he said. He said he was especially glad to be part of “a situation where there was no incident.” “It was an experience I won’t forget,” he said. “It was definitely an experience that I saw another side of law enforcement and security that I’ve never seen before.” Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
About 100 Fitchburg residents braved the forecast ice storm to come to the community center on Jan. 11, many of whom complained about already-approved changes to a neighborhood plan they weren’t aware of. The North Stoner Prairie neighborhood plan was added to the city’s comprehensive plan in 2013 after extensive public input and amended last year to accommodate a proposal to add a church. But many people living in the area were surprised to learn the change had even been proposed, much less approved, and they complained at the Jan. 11 meeting about the resulting switch from medium-density housing along the Seminole Highway corridor to high-density housing on part of it. The meeting was one of the many listening sessions developer Chris Ehlers said he plans to hold with neighbors during the pre-application stage of having the site’s zoning changed so he can put a 192-unit apartment complex along the road. He also presented his proposal to the Plan Commission Jan. 17, where he was told to keep working with neighborhood representatives. The change was a result of a deal worked out last May between Mayor Jason Gonzalez and Ehlers, city planner Thomas Hovel said. Ehlers told the group the sale of the Dunn farm to Blackhawk Church necessitated the density change. He later explained to the Star that was because turning part of that area into tax-exempt property meant the taxable value had to be made up elsewhere. The comprehensive plan was amended last August, and according to minutes of that Common Council meeting, no one at the public hearing on the change registered or spoke in opposition to it. But many neighbors said in January they had thought the debate over density was finished. Peter Lundberg, who lives along Seminole Highway, sent an email to neighbors before the meeting telling them to come hear about the new
Map courtesy City of Fitchburg
The proposed high-density development would fall on the pacel labeled “10” in the above map. Construction for Blackhawk Church has already begun on the parcel just to the north of it, labeled “6A.”
proposal. “In the original approved design, which many of us worked on for three years, there was to be no high-density housing, just single-family with some low- to mid-density condos and townhouses in the extreme southwest area near the intersection of Lacy and Seminole,” Lundberg wrote in the email. Some residents called the proposal a “bait-and-switch” by Ehlers. Colleen Chase, treasurer of the Lacy Heights neighborhood association, told the Star in an email that she was disappointed by the lack of transparency in the “deceptive practice” of switching a portion of the development to high-density housing. “Apparently there has already been some agreement between the developer and the city, which was not conveyed to neighbors who were vocally opposed to high density housing back when this development was approved with different housing sizes/styles,” Chase wrote. At an Ag and Rural Affairs listening session Jan. 22, Fitchburg planning and zoning resource/project planner Wade Thompson said that the change was made in the regular order of business. “The neighbor(hood) plan was approved by the committee that was
consisting of the neighborhood, developers, policy makers,” Thompson said. “There is a process we go through. The outcomes aren’t always what people like, but there is a designated process.” At the same meeting, Ald. Tom Clauder (D-4) had strong words to describe the feelings of neighbors. “I’ve used trust ever since I was in politics in the city of Fitchburg,” said Clauder, who voted for the comprehensive plan switch in August. “The trust kicked us right in the face, because that was not supposed to be high density.” The site in question is bound by Lacy Road to the south, McKee Road to the north, and Seminole Highway to the west. The proposed location of the apartment complex is just north of the old Dunn farm, which had an iconic stone barn torn down this summer. “At the time of the (comprehensive plan) change, I still had no idea what this project would look like,” Ehlers said. “I just knew that I would need that density that transferred over from the church site.” About an hour into the meeting, an elderly resident got up and said the neighbors made it clear in the original planning process they didn’t want high-density housing. She said the change was made in secret and against their wishes. When Ehlers asked why the residents were against high-density, more than five people began speaking at once, all with different concerns. “People get too fixated on the word density,” he later told the Star. “I think they attribute it with higher traffic counts, overcrowding in schools and decrease in property values.” Ehlers addressed those issues throughout the night but was unable to find a response neighbors found satisfactory about their feeling they had been hoodwinked. He promised to increase communication with neighbors as the process continues. “I’m going to have many meetings before proceeding forward, as was always the plan,” Ehlers said. “Let’s not worry about how we got here, but let’s move forward and see how to do this project best.”
Ag talk focuses on farmland protection Committee holds listening session at Doerfer farm AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
What is the city doing to protect farmland? That was the main topic of discussion during a listening session the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee held at Doerfer Farm on Jan. 22. More than a dozen people attended the meeting, including several committee members and city staff. A portion of the meeting was dedicated to talking about projects the city is
working on, including the North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood, but much of the other public comment focused on zoning and how the Comprehensive Plan affects farmland. The committee meets once a month at city hall, bu t A l d . To m C l a u d e r (D-4) said he wanted to get out into the community to give people an extra chance to have their voices heard. “The idea was to not have meetings at City Hall all the time, but to get out in the community, especially when we have an Ag and Rural Affairs committee in the city,” he said. “It’s about what’s going on in the city, it’s about the farming community, it’s about not holding secrets at City Hall.” Several attendees spoke during the meeting, saying they had felt left out of city decisions regarding zoning and the use of farmland during the last Comprehensive Plan update process in 2009.
State law requires updates every 10 years. The plan identifies goals for future development and land use, as well as city resources like housing, public facilities, utilities and transportation. This is done by updating the zoning map and identifying areas for targeted growth looking ahead to the next 10-50 years. The process for developing farmland is complex. It depends on market trends, land value and an agreement between the city, developer and landowner. Wade Thompson, resource and project planner for the city, said these relationships are important when looking ahead to land development and protection. “The best tool to protect farmland is zoning, and zoning can change,” he said. “But if there is a council that is committed to protecting land, protecting farmland, zoning is your most efficient tool.” He emphasized the
importance of there being a dialogue between the city and the residents, which was a goal for the meeting when it opened. Though the plan update isn’t due until next year, it’s a lengthy process, requiring public hearing notices and extensive discussion among residents, alders and the city staff throughout the next several months. “You need to engage the community, you need to figure out who the key players are, the landowners, the developers, and the next step is to plan,” Thompson said. “Just like we plan for development, we need to figure out strategically where we want to protect (agricultural) land. It’s not going to be every single acre in a city, it’s going to be the best land, land that’s most productive.” Contact Amber Levenhagen at amber.levenhagen@ wcinet.com.
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February 9, 2018
Fitchburg Star
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City of Fitchburg
Council removes PFC Wetlands approved as parkland dedication commissioner after absences SCOTT GIRARD
Unified Newspaper Group
PFC oversees police, fire departments SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
The Common Council voted unanimously Jan. 23 to remove a member of the Police and Fire Commission. Mariam Maldonado, had been appointed to a five-year term in 2015. The PFC is in charge of hiring, firing and discipline for the police and fire departments in the city, as required by state statutes. With at least one member serving a fiveyear term, its structure provides some insulation against political corruption. Maldonado had missed 19 of the 28 meetings during her term so far, according to a memo from human resources
director Lisa Sigurslid, who staffs the commission. Ald. Tom Clauder (Dist. 4) filed the complaint about Maldonado with the city Nov. 8, with an initial plan for a public hearing on the charges at the Dec. 1 Council meeting. That was rescheduled to Jan. 23 after Maldonado indicated she would be unable to attend that meeting, but she then did not show up at the January meeting. The council went into closed session to discuss its decision after Clauder explained why he filed a complaint. “We all miss meetings,” he acknowledged. “(But) when you miss 80 to 85 percent of the meetings, I think action has to be taken where an individual has to be talked to and brought to their attention.”
The City of Fitchburg will have a new public wetland area after approving a deal with a developer in January. The Common Council approved the agreement for parkland dedication as part of the @Edge development on the city’s northeast side 6-2, with some alders and one member of the public questioning whether wetlands should be counted as parks. Developers building in the city are required to donate 2,900 square feet per dwelling unit to parks in the city or pay a fee. In the past, that dedication has usually involved green space for a more traditional park, often within a neighborhood being developed. This time, developer Torque Companies proposed using a 35.7-acre property off of Goodland Park Road as its parkland dedication. The question for the council was how to assess the 17.7 acres of wetlands on that property. The approval counted the acreage
at 75 percent, leaving the developer to pay $313,950 in dedication fees. Had they chosen to not count any of the wetlands as parkland dedication, the developer would’ve paid $1.1 million. Ald. Tony Hartmann (Dist. 4) said the wetland areas would be extremely valuable for education. “I get that people are worried we’re getting swampland in Florida, but that ain’t what this is,” Hartmann said at the Jan. 23 council meeting. Ald. Aaron Richardson (D-3), one of the two “no” votes, said he wanted some guidelines on accepting wetlands as park dedication if they were going to say yes to this. “I think some credit is OK, but I wouldn’t give it full credit,” Richardson said. City resident Patrick Cheney, who attends most council meetings and many committee meetings, told the council he opposed the “unprecedented” idea, and suggested if the city wanted the wetlands as a park it could just purchase the property for much less than the $1 million difference in dedication fees.
“Buying it directly is a viable option,” Cheney said. “It is really not worth $65,000 per acre. But every acre credited earns Torque that much.” Ald. Dan Bahr (D-2) said that it was instead a chance to think “outside the box” in programming for children. “This is something unique to educate our kids … so they have different opportunities in the city,” Bahr said. The @Edge development itself was a controversy earlier in January, as it is being built on a former dump site. While many expressed concerns that development could turn up toxic chemicals such as asbestos, the developer pointed to state Department of Natural Resources testing and the designation of the land as a “clean” dump site. The council ultimately approved the 542-unit development and creating a tax-increment financing agreement to help fund it. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
Brecklin: Listening sessions part of new chief’s plans to strengthen community connections Continued from page 1 the Menomonie Police Department, had taken his name out of consideration in December after the list was narrowed from 21 applicants. Commission vice chair Tom Thoresen told the Star that Brecklin’s “experience” and “vision for the future” were the deciding factors in the choice, adding that hiring an internal candidate provided a few benefits. “The biggest advantage is they can hit the ground running,” Thoresen said. “Somebody who’s there may know the things that need to be addressed first hand as well as they have established relationships already with people. Life is all about relationships.” Brecklin’s 19 years at the department have included stints as a bike unit neighborhood officer, a patrol sergeant and two separate terms as a patrol lieutenant with three years supervising the detectives unit sandwiched between them. That’s had him work in nearly every sworn officer area of the building – which the department just so happened to move into the same week he started, he said – other than the deputy chief’s office and being a detective. “There may be days where I wish I was at that (deputy chief) position, but I hope not to go back,” he said with a laugh. He expects the coming year to go quickly for him as he learns on the job, but he emphasized that building relationships with the community and seeking feedback from staff will be high on his priority list. Part of that, he said, will be holding listening sessions every few weeks around the city. “It’s gonna take a few months, let’s be honest, to try to capture all of the feedback that I’d like to get,” he said. “Then we can begin to prioritize where we’re going to put our time and our resources.”
Help us cover crime We at the Star are looking to improve our coverage of crime in Fitchburg. What do you want to see from our reporting on crime and the police department in the coming year? More small updates about crimes around the community? Longer pieces on crime trends? Features about programs the department runs? Or maybe it’s all of the above. Since the Star is your paper, we want to hear what you’d like to see. Email your thoughts on what crime coverage would matter to you to communityreporter@wcinet.com.
Photo by Scott Girard
Fitchburg Police Department Lt. Chad Brecklin, left, was announced as the new chief of police Thursday night by Mayor Jason Gonzalez, right. Brecklin was chosen from the list of two finalists during a closed session meeting of the Police and Fire Commission Wednesday.
Body cameras by March The Fitchburg Police Department began looking into acquiring body cameras in August 2016. By the end of March 2018, every officer could have one on their person while on patrol. Chief Chad Brecklin told the Star that six officers began testing the cameras in January, with a plan to continue that testing for up to three more weeks. If all goes as planned, staff would be trained to use the cameras and how to store footage in March with a full rollout by the end of the month. Creating perceptions While being in the chief’s office is the realization of a goal for Brecklin, he suggests the most enjoyable job he’s had here was being part of the bike unit. “That, one could say, may have been one of the best jobs in the department, at least at the time,” he said. “I still remember fondly coming to work in shorts and a polo shirt and getting to ride around. You get to connect with people a different way.” He’ll once again be connecting with people, but in a different way now, as one of
the items near the top of his list is getting feedback, both internal and external. That’s especially important in a city like Fitchburg, Brecklin said, which is “not a typical 27,000-population city.” “We can go from a cardeer crash in south Fitchburg to the bank robbery and shots fired calls up on northern Fish Hatchery Road in a matter of minutes,” he said. His first week as chief included those calls for a bank robbery and shots fired incidents minutes and a block apart on Fish Hatchery Road, as well as a press
conference about the rise in stolen vehicles, which totaled 67 in 2017 — well above the 24 in 2016. Brecklin said getting the community involved will be key to stemming that tide, as well as any other trends that show up. “We can’t arrest and/ or refer our way out of any problem long-term, and we have to work as collaboratively and somewhat creatively in this day and age to take a multi-faceted approach to just about any crime problem that’s happening,” he said. “We’re really trying to get the scope of the problem out there in the forefront and trying to find preventative solutions. We can’t go alone.” That includes in understanding what’s happening around the city. While data is important to consider, Brecklin pointed out that a single major public incident in a neighborhood can create stress for residents and the feeling that crime is rising around them. “(Perception is) something we have to be willing to listen to … not just simply rely on numbers,” he said. “They can tell us part of the story, but they can’t tell us the
While that waiting is done whole story if we don’t lisfor the staff and Brecklin, ten.” quickly had to move Department ‘stability’ he’s onto how he’ll actually do One of the advantages the new job. “You spend several years Brecklin plans to lean on, at least early on, is the experi- thinking, ‘I think I want to do that role,’” he said. “You ence of those around him. Deputy chief Don Bates, work hard to put yourself in who served as interim chief the position to get it, then all during the time between of a sudden, holy cow, you Blatter’s retirement and did what you set out to do. Brecklin’s appointment has Now what?” Brecklin pointed to the been here for 32 years, and he is just across the hall. roles of people like Schmidt Brecklin also mentioned and Bates, as well as the administrative services man- department’s short list of ager Dana Schmidt, who has chiefs, as a point of pride worked with him on the bud- and part of what helped them manage the wait for a new get in prior years. “I really have two good chief. “To only have three police people in place that are wellversed in the inner-workings, chiefs in basically 45 … so to speak, of things at this years of a department’s exislevel,” he said. “We’ve got tence is rather unheard of,” really good staff across the he said. “It’s actually a good board. I’m just looking for- testament to the stability that ward to working with them tends to be provided in a lot in a different role than I have of regards.” He’s excited to take on the in the past.” Adjusting to that role “challenge” of being on that comes after a few months list. “By being in this role it of stress during the hiring process. While he’s glad the allows me to have a greatPFC took its time to make er impact on the mission the best decision rather than of the police department “rush something and have and the values of the police regrets,” he acknowledged it department and can have a positive impact in the took a toll. “I felt for our staff, because way in which we police chief (Thomas) Blatter had our community,” Brecklin announced his impending said. “That’s what I’m most retirement in July,” Brecklin looking forward to.” said. “So you had about six Contact Scott Girard at months, that entire period of, ungreporter@wcinet.com ‘Well, who’s gonna be our and follow him on Twitter next chief of police? What @sgirard9. direction are they gonna take the department in?’”
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February 9, 2018
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Fitchburg Star
Clinic: Budget for new dental clinic is $350K, looking for more funds to support mission Continued from page 1 to serve the over 92,000 patients who are either on Medicaid or uninsured. To ensure affordability, it offers a sliding-scale payment for the uninsured based on their income level. “We want to do as much a s p o s s i b l e t o r e l i ev e pain and restore people’s smiles,” Okazaki said. Okazaki estimated the budget for the clinic with three patient rooms and an X-ray machine is
about $350,000 each year. Although the organization has raised over $270,000 for the building, they’re always in need of more funds. The clinic is still looking for more dentists and volunteers to fill out more shifts. “It will make a huge difference for so many kids,” Johnson said. “We’re thankful it’s happening here.” Contact Helu Wang at helu. wang@wcinet.com.
Photo by Helu Wang
Center, Michael Johnson, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO, speaks at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of a new dental clinic in the Allied Family Center location. WELL-BEING
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Kids from the Allied Drive Boys and Girls Club have their art on display at three Madison-area U.S. Cellular locations for an art contest through the month of February. The students created their artwork, which recognizes influential African-Americans for Black History Month, in January.
Kids from the Allied Drive Boys and Girls Club are taking part in a Black History Month art contest this month, with artwork that can be voted on by the community. The contest, taking place at three Madison-area U.S. Cellular locations including on McKee Road in Fitchburg, will award a $250 gift card to the first-place winner, $150 gift card for second place and $100 gift card for third. Those interested can vote on the artwork in the store through Feb. 28.
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February 9, 2018
Housing task force begins Group will develop goals, identify gaps SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
A new task force convened for the first time Jan. 31 to begin its work on developing goals for housing in the City of Fitchburg. Economic development director Mike Zimmerman said in an email that an initiative on housing strategies has been a desire of the city since a November 2014 housing assessment was completed. “Based on that assessment
we knew we had some housing gaps like renovation of existing older multi family, single family affordability, need for additional senior housing units,” he said. The group is expected to meet two more times, with the goal to have a final plan by May or early June. The next meeting is planned for Tuesday, March 20, though the agenda is still to be determined. One of the keys to process, Zimmerman explained, will be determining what funding is available now and in the future to reach any of the goals the group settles on.
One option he mentioned is to leave tax-increment financing districts open an extra year and use that increment on housing initiatives, though he stressed that may only work in some situations. Consultants shared “11 notable numbers” at the group’s first meeting to illustrate the challenges and opportunities that exist, including a .6 percent vacancy rate, a $65,735 median household income, that 50 percent of households in the city are renter-occupied and a $324,750 average sale price of single-family homes in 2017.
Zimmerman said the group will look at what the city can do to encourage redevelopment or revitalization of multifamily buildings as well as lower-cost single-family homes for first-time home buyers. While adding that “there’s so many things outside of our control” like construction costs, labor and financing, he wondered, “are there some things that we as a city can look at?” Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
City awards $50K in grants to 5 nonprofit organizations SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Five nonprofits received money from the City of Fitchburg as part of its 2017 community grant process. The city split $50,000 among Building Bosses, the Latino Academy of Workforce Development, Breaking Barriers Mentoring, Trails to Success and the Oregon Youth Center. Five other organizations submitted applications but were not awarded funding, including the Verona-based Badger Prairie Needs Network. The community development fund program was created as part of the 2017 budget after a contentious discussion during the approval process over giving funding directly to the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and BPNN. While that money was included in the budget, alders decided to add $50,000 to be distributed
Grant recipients Latino Academy of Workforce Development: $18,000 Building Bosses: $14,000 Breaking Barriers Mentoring: $11,000 Trails to Success: $4,500 Oregon Youth Center: $2,500 through the Community and Economic Development Authority. The city is expected to award another $50,000 in grants this year, though Mayor Jason Gonzalez did not include the grant money in his budget proposal. Gonzalez also took out the funding for BGC and BPNN, and while those funds were not restored, alders added back $50,000 for nonprofits to
On the web Read more about the programs the grants will fund:
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be distributed through the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative. The Latino Academy of Workforce Development received the largest grant, at $18,000, followed by Building Bosses at $14,000. Each applicant was required to submit a letter of interest as well as an application explaining how the money would be used, and the city’s Community and Economic Development Authority reviewed the applications and recommended funding levels to the Council. Ald. Julia Arata-Fratta (Dist. 2) abstained from the discussion and vote because of her prior associations with some of the groups.
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The Latino Academy is an adult education, training and employment program of Vera Court Neighborhood Center. Building Bosses was founded by Fitchburg’s AJ Carr at age 13 to teach the youth the importance of leadership,entrepreneurship, and service. Breaking Barriers, which will get $11,000, teaches skills “that are useful in career paths,” such as public speaking and fiscal responsiblity. Trails to Success, which will get $4,500, is a collaboration among Madison’s Chavez Elementary School, Redeemer City Church and Dane County-based social work organization Joining Forces for Families. A portion of the Oregon School District-based service area of the Oregon Youth Center, which got $2,500, is in Fitchburg. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.
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City to update ‘Forward Fitchburg’ Revamp of 2012 ‘City in Motion’ ideas SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
A 2012 strategic development plan for the City of Fitchburg is receiving an update. Economic development director Mike Zimmerman convened the first meeting of the “Forward Fitchburg” group Tuesday, Jan. 30, with a group of city staff, businesspeople and Chamber leadership. The group is planning to update the “City in Motion” plan, which outlined a 10-20 year “aspirational vision,” he explained in an email. “We’ve made good progress on a number of initiatives over the past five years,” Zimmerman said. “We want to keep the City in Motion strategies and implementation plan current based on what has been accomplished and economic changes that have occurred.” That vision includes being known as a “dynamic, youthful city,” becoming a tech hub, finding a “distinct identity” and having “memorable places and (a) mobile workforce.” “The City is young – therefore, Fitchburg’s economic development vision and strategy must focus on creating a stronger and more unified identity, and on building memorable places,” the document states. Strategic directives over the last five years have included developing a
Steering committee members • Jason Adamany, Adesys IT Consulting • Julia Arata-Fratta, District 2 alder • Pam Christenson, MG&E • Mark Hamilton, UW Health • Steve Leverentz, Fitchburg Center • Andy Potts, Wis. Dept. of Safety and Public Services new website, developing the Fitchburg Technology Neighborhood, attracting development to Fish Hatchery Road, growing the hospitality markets and amenities and coordinating with regional partners. A draft of potential initiatives for the coming years – created by consultants for the project and not necessarily what will be on the final list – includes ideas like enhancing the Verona Road corridor, creating performing arts and cultural attractions, implementing a local food vision, supporting diversity in entrepreneurship development and expanding broadband internet access. Zimmerman said he expects the group to discuss what it would like to prioritize for initiatives at its next meeting in mid- to lateMarch, with a final meeting in May to put together a final draft.
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Support Staff Substitutes The Verona Area School District is seeking support staff substitutes for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year. Hourly pay rates: office/secretarial, ed. asst. - $11.71 custodial - $13.75
food service - $12.75 special education - $14.57
Experience with students with special needs and/or Spanish fluency is preferred. For more information and to apply online, visit our website at www.verona.k12.wi.us
Full/Part Time Positions Available
Drive Locally andWages Support your Community •Excellent Badger BusTraining Offers: •Paid • $150 Sign-On Bonus for Van Drivers •CDL Program • $500 Sign-On Bonus for (If Qualified School Bus Drivers •Signing Bonus Applicable) • Paid Training and Available Bonus to get in your CDL •Positions Madison and Verona • Full and Part-Time Positions Available Call: 608-255-1551
Apply Locally at: 219 Paoli St., Verona, WI E-mail: Jobs@BadgerBus.com Call: 608-845-2255 or Go Online: BadgerBus.com
Apply in Person: 5501 Femrite Drive Madison, WI
An Equal Opportunity Educator/Employer Minorities are Strongly Encouraged to Apply
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impairments. “We want to take account of all the members in the community,” Arata-Fratta said. She is confident the city will approve the plan – her only concern is raising funds. Although the city’s $50,000 land donation and $130,000 park fees will cover more than half of the expense, the committee still has to raise $150,000 – including private donations and grants – to get the plan move forward. Once the fundraising goals are met, the playground is estimated to be completed in June 2019. “The playground will
Service, Inc.
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Photo courtesy of City of Fitchburg
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A plan to build an inclusive playground at McKee Farms Park is waiting for the Common Council’s approval on Feb. 13. To facilitate a play environment where all children can play alongside one another, the proposed 4,000-square-feet inclusive playground features adaptive high-backed swings, roller slide, wheelchair-accessible glider, ramps and rubber tiles instead of stairs and mulch. Ald. Julia Arata-Fratta (Dist. 2) said the proposal was initiated by Communication Innovation, a pediatric therapy center that works with children with special needs. Some therapists said it’s difficult for the whole family to play at the Kids Crossing playground at McKee Farms Park, since the facilities are not fully accessible to those children with mobility
22 Fitchburg Star - February 9, 2018
City Hall - Main Line Administration Assessing Building Inspections City Clerk Economic Development
270-4200 270-4213 270-4235 270-4240 270-4210 270-4246
FACTv Finance Fire Department FitchRona Human Resources Library Municipal Court
270-4225 270-4251 278-2980 275-7148 270-4211 729-1760 270-4224
Parks & Forestry Planning/Zoning Police Public Works Recreation/Community Center Senior Center Utilities
270-4288 270-4258 270-4300 270-4260 270-4285 270-4290 270-4270
5520 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, WI 53711 • www.fitchburgwi.gov adno=553422-01
MAINTAIN YOUR HEALTH
MEMORY CAFÉ COMING IN MARCH
Did you know the Fitchburg Senior Center offers a variety of opportunities to maintain or improve your health? Stop in or call 2704290 today to learn more about: - Wellness checks with Nurse Nancy - Diabetic/Non-diabetic foot care - Blood pressure & glucose screenings - Massage & reflexology - Exercise classes for all fitness levels
The Senior Center is excited to be partnering with the Alzheimer’s Association to bring a Memory Café to Fitchburg. This program is designed for people with mild cognitive impairment, early Alzheimer’s or other dementias. The Café will be a place where individuals with memory loss and their care partners can get together in a safe, supportive and engaging environment. Kick-off will be March 15th at 10:30 am at the Senior Center. For registration and information, please contact David at (608) 270-4292.
NEW RIDESHARE PROGRAM
There’s a new RideShare program in Fitchburg that can help you get to where you need to go. This service costs $2/person per ride or $1/person for riders age 65+, disabled riders and those under 18. The vendor, Richwood Transport, provides service
between any of the 93 bus stops and 4 additional designated locations including the Senior Center. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Custom pick-up and drop off can be provided for an additional charge. Cash and credit card payments are accepted; however, drivers do not carry change so EXACT fare is required. To request a ride, call 608-504-2453 and press “6” or go to www. richwoodtransport.com/fitchburg-rideshare and scroll down to the web form. Pickup wait times are up to 20 minutes.
FITCHBURG PARK SHELTER RESERVATIONS Reservations for Fitchburg Park Shelters are now being accepted for 2018 dates. Fill out a shelter rental application found at http://wi-fitchburg.civicplus.com/1860/Rent-a-Park-Facility and
bring it along to the Community Center when making the reservation. If you have questions concerning park shelter reservations, contact the Recreation Dept. at 608-270-4285.
REMEMBER TO CLEAR SNOW FROM AROUND FIRE HYDRANTS
FACTV Watch Talking Fitchburg LIVE daily at noon, 6 & 10 pm. Talking Fitchburg is your source for the latest news updates & the day’s headlines for Fitchburg. See the show on the COM Ch. F2, the FACTv Facebook page, Video on Demand or on the FACTv YouTube channel. For more information, call (608) 270-4225.
COMING IN MARCH
Winter snowfall can often hide fire hydrants under a large amount of snow making them impossible to find quickly. In the event of a fire, firefighters have to locate & shovel out fire hydrants before hooking up to them. Please help the Fitchburg Fire Rescue in keeping the fire hydrant closest to your residence or business clear of snow – a 3 foot clearance on all sides. Citizens & civic groups can “adopt” a hydrant in their neighborhood. Please call the Fitchburg Fire Dept. at 608-278-2980 to learn more.
RECREATION DEPARTMENT Go to www.fitchburgwi.gov/recreation and click on “View Activities” to see our list of programs for this upcoming season!
Wisconsin Martial Arts
SNOW & ICE REMOVAL GUIDELINES FOR CITY OF FITCHBURG PROPERTY OWNERS Property owners are required to keep sidewalks clear of snow and ice so that pedestrians can navigate safely. Fitchburg ordinance states: Sec. 27-114.- Snow and ice to be removed from sidewalks. The owner of each lot or part of lot shall remove or cause to be removed all snow and ice which may have fallen or accumulated upon the sidewalk in front of the premises which he/she owns not later than 6:00 p.m. of the day after the same has ceased to fall or accumulate; provided that when ice has so
Each student will receive a well-rounded martial arts and fitness education. We teach the standard striking and blocking movements, traditional forms, and weaponry. We also offer more unique aspects, such as practical self-defense and joint manipulation applications, tumbling and acrobatics, fitness tracking and goal-setting, two different kinds of ground fighting, armored weapon fighting, two different kinds of stand-up fighting that incorporate elements of boxing and take-downs, throws, and more. • Ages – 4-8 yrs. old, 9-15 yrs. old, and Adults • Day/Time – Mondays and Wednesdays, Mar 5-Mar 28, 5:30pm-6pm (4-8 yr. olds), 6pm-6:45pm (9-15 yr. olds), 6:45pm-7:30pm (Adults) • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $35 (4-8 yr. olds), $45 (9-15 yr. olds and Adults)
Family Musikgarten March Session
formed upon any sidewalk that it cannot be removed, then the owner shall keep the same effectively sprinkled with sand, salt or other suitable substance in such manner as to prevent the ice from being dangerous, until such time as it can be removed, and then it shall be promptly removed. The fine for failure to remove snow/ice is $187. Go to wisaltwise.com/homeowner for guidelines on effective salting and sanding practices that also protect Fitchburg waterways. Contact Building Inspection at (608) 2704240 with questions or concerns.
A multi-age (birth-4yrs) music and movement class for the entire family. Sing, chant rhymes, play instruments and musical games, dance and move to familiar songs of childhood. As we play, music learning begins and we build a community of music makers! Each registered child will receive a movement scarf that will be used for class activities. • Ages – Baby-4 yrs. old • Day/Time – Thursdays, Mar 1-Mar 22, 9am-9:40am • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $40 Like us on
Kids Painting Class – Owl Always Love You!
The kids will love painting these darling owls for Valentine’s Day! We will be using acrylic paint on a 16 x 20 canvas. Throughout the painting will be talking about background, middle ground and foreground. These paintings turn out colorful and whimsical and they are so much fun to do! These paintings will be a wonderful Valentines gift or a treasured piece of art to hang in your home during the Valentine season. Each child will walk away with a masterpiece which they will love to show off! • Ages – 5-12 yrs. old • Day/Time – Saturday, February 10th from 9am-11am • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $40
Futsal (Soccer on gym floor)
This program will mimic Fall and Spring outdoor soccer programs through Fitchburg Rec with one weekday training session each week for 6 weeks. Games will be 4v4 plus a keeper. Training will be on Tuesdays 6pm for 5-7 year olds and Thursdays at 6pm for 8-10 year olds, both at Leopold Elementary School. Ace Soccer Coaches will break up the kids into teams based on year of birth each week for small sided games. • Ages – 5-7 yrs. & 8-10 yrs. • Day/Time – Tuesdays (5-7 yrs) and Thursdays 8-10 yrs), Mar 6 – Apr 26, 6pm-7pm • Location – Leopold Elementary School • Fee - $40
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February 9, 2018
Fitchburg Star
All downhill from here
23
Chalet Ski and Patio shop is back in business after storm damage last fall SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
No one likes Mother Nature’s excitement more than folks who sell outdoor gear. But severe storms that blew through last July 10, caving in part of the Chalet Ski and Patio roof and flooding the building, brought anything but a pleasant adventure. “It was like Niagra Falls,” owner Tony Millonig told the Star. “The force of the water just blew out the walls. Thank goodness no one was here when it happened.” The damage caused by a wall of water surging through the store was stunning, as large stone tables and fixtures were tossed around like rubber ducks, leaving more than a foot of standing water in its wake. Millonig happened to be in Colorado at the time with his wife, and he received a troubling text message and photo from a contractor who happened to be driving by the store. “Are you remodeling or something?” the man asked Millonig, who could only stare in disbelief at the images of destruction he saw on his cell phone. The couple immediately drove back to Wisconsin where, t h a n k f u l l y, i n s u r a n c e adjusters and contractors were already on the scene. Chalet underwent a massive, six-week clean-up operation to get everything out of the store, which was essentially stripped down to brass tacks. Reconstruction began in October, and after some “challenges navigating the insurance coverage,” some unexpected labor shortages and a lot of hard work by Millonig, employees, friends and relatives, the shop reopened Jan. 4. No employees were laid off during the time, and the store was able to continue to work with customers through its warehouse in Belleville.
Upgraded look New customers, of course, won’t notice the difference, but returning ones will likely be impressed by the store’s new look. Millonig decided to give it a “major upgrading” as long as Chalet was going to be closed for a few months, anyway. He invested “a lot” on improvements to buildings, inside and out, including new LED lighting and
Photos by Scott De Laruelle
After a rough several months of ripping out and then restoring Chalet Ski and Patio after flooding last July, the skis and patio sets are ready for customers once again.
Chalet Ski and Patio 5252 Verona Road Madison, WI 53711 273-8263 chaletski.com HVAC. He even remodeled the website. “It’s hard to do those kinds of things when customers are around,” he said. But one of Millonig’s biggest surprises was how easy it was to work with the City of Fitchburg to get the 40-year-old building up to modern code; something he was initially hesitant about. In the end, he said it could not have been a better working relationship, as a result of the city’s common-sense approach. “(They were) very helpful and supportive through this rebuilding process,” he said. “It was clear to me
Photo submitted
This photo shows the extent of the damage, and the power of the wall of water that swept through the building after a partial roof collapse due to heavy rains.
that they wanted to make sure we were not another casualty of the Verona Road construction project.” In the meantime, Millonig said the store is “very busy” since reopening last month, and people see the same quality merchandise and service as always – just in a new environment. He said the ski shop will be open for another few weeks before the expanded indoor furniture department reopens March 1.
new technologies
Clean Energy
Energy EFFICIENCY
Contact Scott De Laruelle at scott.delaruelle@wcinet. com.
Business in brief Marco’s Pizza opens Marco’s Pizza opened a location just off McKee Road last month. The pizza chain, started 40 years ago in Ohio, is at 3162 Maple Grove Dr. connected to the Family Video store. Marco’s also has a location in Sun Prairie and Janesville.
Visit to learn more energy2030together.com
Tingalls Graphic Design voted top in Madison A Fitchburg-based graphic design company was voted Madison’s top website development company in the InBusiness Magazine’s 2017 Executive Choice awards last December. Tingalls Graphic Design received the recognition for the third year in a row, according to a news release. Tingalls, in its 18th year in business, is located at 2939 S. Fish Hatchery Road, suite 100.
Madison Gas and Electric GS3221 1/11/2018
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24 Fitchburg Star - February 9, 2018
Nothing Says Happy Valentine’s Day Like A Home-Cooked Meal
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Surprise your valentine with a home-cooked meal this Valentine’s Day. We have everything you need!
210 S. Main St., Verona 845-6478 Open Daily 6:30am-9:00pm