Local and State News
local and state news 2-03-2012
the Manitowoc Company make a profit in its last quarter…reporting a 40-percent increase in revenues from the sales of its construction cranes. because of that, Manitowoc made a net profit of 15-million dollars from October through December – after it lost 65-million at the same time a year ago. Crane orders were at their highest levels since the summer of 2008, just before the Great Recession started to take hold. Manitowoc said the demand for its cranes increased in North America, Asia, and Latin America – and it was the first crane builder to make certain types of cranes in Latin America. The firm easily survived a two-month strike by 200 machinists in its crane division. The walkout ended in mid-January. Looking ahead, Manitowoc expects a 10-to-15 percent jump in its crane revenues – as well as a growth in its food equipment revenues of just under 10-percent.
we may never know the cause of an explosive fire this week at a Manitowoc county farm. a machine shed with chemical stored inside, was totally destroyed in a fire Tuesday afternoon at Don Swenson’s property near Saint Nazianz. Units from four fire departments were called out as firefighters also had to deal with several small explosions coming from the 30-by-50-foot wooden-and-metal structure. Investigators say some gas tanks probably went up in flames…but they’re unsure as to what ignited them A Manitowoc County highway crew had to plow snow on the driveway before fire-fighters could reach the building – which was engulfed in flames at the time. Units were on the scene for about five hours. A damage estimate has not been released yet. No one was injured.
John Lund, the Antigo high school football coach and elementary principal who's charged in a marijuana sales ring, has resigned. The School Board accepted his resignation last night. School district attorney Dean Dietrich said the move takes effect immediately -- and it ends an investigation by school officials into Lund's activities. Lund submitted his letter of resignation on Monday, saying he's had a "varied and rewarding" career. He had been on administrative leave for almost two months when he was charged January 20th with eight felonies that include possessing and delivering marijuana, and maintaining a drug trafficking place. A judge will decide next Thursday if there's enough evidence to put Lund on trial. Cindy Fisher has been filling in for Lund in his elementary principal duties, and she'll continue doing so for the rest of the school year. A search for a new principal and football coach will begin soon. Two other men face charges in the marijuana ring. And four other Antigo school employees and a Merrill middle school teacher remain on paid leave, after court records showed that they admitted used marijuana. They remain under internal school investigations. A decision on the status of the Antigo employees is expected later this month.
(Thanks Rusty Mehlberg, WACD-WATK, Antigo)
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Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says it's not affected by a loss of funding to its national group. The Susan G. Komen Foundation said on Wednesday that it cut off funding to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for its breast cancer prevention programs. Tanya Atkinson says Wisconsin's Planned Parenthood has operated without the Komen funding for several years. Komen's national grant totaled 680-thousand dollars last year. Atkinson says pro-life groups have made Komen a target because of its relationship with Planned Parenthood -- and she said Komen quote, "succumbed to the political pressure." Komen officials denied that yesterday. They said they prohibit grants to groups that are under investigation -- and Planned Parenthood was the subject of an inquiry by a G-O-P congressman. Diana Drews of Wisconsin's Komen affiliate says she hopes the issue will not hurt fund-raising in the state for breast cancer programs and research. The group raised over a million-dollars in its annual "Race for the Cure" in Milwaukee last year. This year's event is set for September 23rd. Nationally, Komen said its donations went up the past couple days, despite heavy negative criticisms on its Facebook page. Wisconsin Planned Parenthood said it also received dozens of comments about the matter.
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Forty-two people were killed in Wisconsin traffic crashes last month. That's three more than last January, and three more than the average for the past five years. The state D-O-T said 33 drivers were killed last month, along with seven passengers and two pedestrians. Wisconsin has just finished its safest four-year period for traffic deaths since the 1920's, and State Patrol Major Sandra Huxtable says officials are trying to get that to continue. Last year, Wisconsin had fewer than 600 traffic deaths for the fourth year in a row. The last time that happened was 1923-to-'27.
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The president of Lawrence University in Appleton says she'll retire in about a year-and-a-half. Jill Beck became the school's 15th president in July of 2004, and is the first female to lead the private liberal arts college. Lawrence made major facility improvements at its Appleton and Door County campuses during Beck's tenure. And she said the student body has grown and become more diverse. Lawrence now has almost 15-hundred students from 44 states and 35 nations. Forbes Magazine named Beck a "barrier breaker" in 2009, as one of 15 female presidents on the magazine's list of America's 50 Best Colleges. She'll retire in June of 2013.
