TIMES-TRIBUNE DeForest
Legacy business
Regional champs
Genesis Hair & Day Spa going on 35 years – Page 3
DeForest girls basketball races to first sectional since 2006 – Page 9
www.deforesttimes.com
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Volume 120, Number 10 • $1.00
WINDSOR ELEMENTARY
TOWN OF VIENNA
One for the road
DNR, digester firm address allegations Plant reportedly on DNR radar for years By Roberta Baumann Hometown News LP
Photo by Lauren Anderson
Windsor Elementary students chow down and mingle during their lunch period last Friday afternoon.
Blessings in a Backpack to fill student tummies over weekends Lauren Anderson Times-Tribune Reporter Students who rely on school-provided meals can count on at least breakfast and lunch five days a week. But when it comes to those eight meals between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, some students rely on meager portions, while others go without food altogether. That 64-hour period, in which the needs of low-income children often fall through the cracks, is becoming the concern of a group of area residents. Starting this Friday, Windsor Elementary School will launch “Blessings in a Backpack,” a program that provides food on the weekend for children who qualify for federal Free and Reduced Meals in school. Every Friday, students who participate in the program will take home a bag, which is pre-packaged by a group of volunteers, full of kid-friendly, nonperishable, easy-to-make items to feed them throughout the weekend. “It’s a way of showing the students that we care about them even when
prompted Treinen, a mother of three they’re not in school,” co-organizer grade school children, into action. Heather Treinen said. “It opened my eyes to what’s in the Windsor Elementary volunteers will community and things I didn’t realize pilot the program with a goal of feedwere in my children’s school,” she ing 50 students this semester. By next said. “That sparked my interest in year, the number will double to meet helping.” the needs of the school’s 120 students Meanwhile, she had read about who participate in the free and Blessings in a Backpack, a national reduced meal program. Treinen said the idea for such a pro- non-profit organization that feeds more than 63,000 chilgram was inspired by dren in 45 states, and an experience in the recipient of People December 2012. Magazine’s 2012 Charity Treinen had recently Saturday, March 15 of the Year award. befriended a Windsor A silent auction and bene“I saw it and thought, family that was facing fit concert for Blessings in ‘Maybe that’s something eviction four days a Backpack will be held at I could do,’” Treinen before Christmas. The Norway Grove Memorial said. family, which includLutheran Church. Doors After speaking with ed a single mother open at 6:45 p.m. Windsor Elementary and her four children, Principal Roy Bernards had to relocate to be and connecting with a Blessings pronear family in St. Louis. As Treinen gram coordinator, she joined forces helped them move, she noticed that with Norway Grove Lutheran they had limited possessions — just Memorial Church member Anne one chair and one kitchen table. Staniforth. “And that was it for her and her Staniforth has likewise seen poverty family,” Treinen said. firsthand through her long-term volThat insight into the needs within the Windsor/DeForest community See BACKPACKS, page 2
COMING UP...
Photo by Lauren Anderson
ST. BALDRICK’S A SUCCESS
The DeForest Area Fire/EMS Department hosted a St. Baldrick’s Foundation head-shaving event Mar. 9 to benefit childhood cancer research. Right: Hannah Dreischmeier, a 17-year-old DeForest Area High School student who is battling cancer, was the honored guest at the event. She is pictured doing the first ceremonial head shaving of event organizer firefighter/EMT Brian Vaughn. Top: John Berg particpated in the event for the first time this year, along with his dad, Detective Sergeant Bob Berg.
INDEX Calendar.................Page 6 Classifieds...........Page 14 Legals....................Page 12 Opinion...................Page 4 School.....................Page 7 Senior......................Page 5 Sports......................Page 9
Contributed photo
The Department of Natural Resources’ notice of violations to Clear Horizons alleges a long history of permit violations by the Town of Vienna manure digester plant. In fact, just as the DNR was finalizing its stepped enforcement process, two manure spills occurred on Nov. 24 and Jan. 21, adding to the list of permit violations. “We were working on a stepped enforcement process before the digester spill happened,” said Mark Cain, DNR wastewater engineer. On Jan. 29, the DNR issued a Notice of Violation, with five types of non-compliance all dating back to 2012.
The notice includes the release of wastewater directly related to the manure spill, but also cites a number of instances in 2012 when less than 60 percent of phosphorus was removed from the manure. It also alleges that Clear Horizons failed to provide required monthly discharge monitoring reports by the deadline in 20 months of operation in 2012 and 2013, along with annual reports from 2011 and 2012. The notice of violation to Clear Horizons requests that
See DIGESTER, page 2
STUDY: BERMS, ALARMS NEEDED An independent engineering study of the Clear Horizons manure digester plant includes several recommendations for the facility to operate more safely.
Page 2
DANE COUNTY
Board backs federal female health bill Supervisors call for more accessible abortion services By Jake Kurtz Times-Tribune Editor The Dane County Board at its recent meeting backed a resolution urging federal lawmakers to pass the proposed Women’s Health Protection Act and to provide “access to safe, legal abortion services.” The federal legislation introduced by Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and sponsored by Rep. Mark Pocan would prevent states from enacting so-called “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers” (TRAP) laws, which do not prohibit abortions directly but place restrictions, such as medically unneeded ultrasounds, on clinics that offer the pregnancy procedure. The bill has a chance to get through the Democratcontrolled U.S. Senate but faces an uphill battle in the Republican-led House. Supervisors Jenni Dye of Fitchburg and Leland Pan of Madison were lead sponsors of the county resolution, which passed on a majority vote with one audible “nay” Thursday evening in Madison. Supervisors Dennis O'Laughlin of DeForest and Tim Kiefer of Waunakee abstained.
Winter’s bite still freezing pipes
Contact the Times-Tribune
Despite recent warm weather, the DeForest Utility Department and Windsor Sanitary District No. 1 both ask that residents continuously run a small stream of water from a faucet beyond the previously announced deadline of March 15. Locals will be notified to halt the faucet flows once it is deemed safe. The stream should leave the faucet as a continuous flow, break apart on the way down, and hit the sink as drops. Customers will receive a credit against their water bill for the estimated water used in complying with the request.
Phone: (608) 846-5576 Email: deforest@hngnews.com Mail: P.O. Box 585 DeForest, WI 53532 Twitter: @DeForestTimes All news submissions must be received by Friday at noon for the following week’s issue.
“I don’t see this as a county issue,” said Kiefer, who has a track record of abstaining from matters he feels are beyond the board’s scope. “This is part of a broader effort to support the Women's Health Protection Act … to ensure safe and accessible legal abortion is available to all those who need it,” Pan told the board. “I view this as a way to add our voice to the growing number of local governments … who have signed on in support.” “We must stand up and make our voices heard so that we can continue to Jenni Dye ensure women have choices now and into the future,” Dye added. Elle Ficken, a University of Wisconsin-Madison medical student who serves as president of the campus group Medical Students for Choice, urged supervisors to support the local resolution and said future doctors must be trained “free from political influence.” “As a future physician and a future abortion provider, I strongly support the resolution before you,” said
See COUNTY, page 2
DeForest, Wisconsin 53532
2 – DeForest Times-Tribune – deforesttimes.com
March 13, 2014
BACKPACKS: Program feeds WES students on weekends
DIGESTER
From page 1
From page 1
unteer work with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Dane County. She has encountered many students in the Madison area over the years who qualify for free and reduced lunch and would have benefited from a weekend meal program, she said. But those students aren’t limited to just the city of Madison, she said. “These stories are all over the place. DeForest is the same,” she said. “There are students who don’t have food at home, and then we expect them to come to school and function when they haven’t eaten since noon on Friday.” As a national non-profit, Blessings in a Backpack provides organizational support and administrative
oversight, allowing local volunteers to focus on fundraising, coordinating and distributing food. “We decided to go with Blessings because they take care of a lot of the administrative costs and have done a lot of the groundwork for us,” Treinen said. That means a greater benefit for local children. “Every dollar we raise goes right into the kids’ tummies,” Staniforth said. Donations go directly to an account set up through Blessings, which volunteers then access when purchasing food weekly. Supplies will be stored at American Family Insurance, DeForest. On Friday mornings, a group of volunteers will meet at the school to pack the food, which will include
items such as mac n’ cheese, cereal, soup, oatmeal, Chef Boyardee, granola bars and juice boxes. The food will be distributed to students on Friday afternoons, keeping with the confidentiality standards of the free and reduced meal program. Staniforth and Treinen are looking to raise $15,000 from individuals and businesses to cover the cost of this year’s piloted program and next year’s full program. It costs about $100 per student to send them home with a bag full of food each weekend for 38 weeks, at about $2.63 per week. “That’s not a whole lot when you think about it,” Staniforth said. But the payoff is significant, Treinen said.
Digester study: Berms, alarms needed
Waunakee’s representative on the Dane County Board, he said. “I’ve very disappointed An independent engithat Clear Horizons didn’t neering study of the Clear construct the plant properly Horizons manure digester in the first place,” said plant includes several recommendations for the facil- County Board Supervisor Tim Kiefer. ity to operate more safely. In the article, Ditter says The study by Applied improving the alarm system Technologies was conductwould be ed after a costly, and burst pipe the containreleased ment system 300,000 gal“could mean lons of a burdenmanure into some state the waterapproval shed, much of process.” which was “My recomcleaned up. mendation is It indicates this needs to building pracbe impletices that Tim Kiefer, mented,” could have Dane County Board Kiefer said. prevented the “Clear Supervisor spill, such as Horizons’ compact performance pipe bedding is not acceptto prevent able. That needs to start ground movement. turning around now.” The study includes a Kiefer is concerned for number of recommendathe safety of Waunakee resitions, along with a Clear dents and area lakes, he Horizons response to the said. Department of Natural Asked if Clear Horizons Resources. would implement all of the The recommendations – recommendations from the all of which Clear Horizons Applied Technologies indicated to the DNR it report, Ditter said those of would follow – include high priority have already installing flexible pipe conbeen completed. nections, increasing the “We have implemented or berm and containment sysin the process of impletem and using a shutoff menting high priority items, valve to prevent leakage, along with improvements to like installing flexible connections and ensuring low the alarm system. level alarms are properly A March 6 article in The set,” Ditter said. “Some of Wisconsin State Journal the recommendations provides these in detail, but require further engineering the reaction from Clear and analysis, along with Horizons CEO Jim Ditter in discussion with the DNR.” the article concerned The plant is a partnership
Hometown News LP
“Clear Horizons’ performance is not acceptable. That needs to start turning around now. ”
first thing comes first: getting the Windsor Elementary program up and running. With $6500 raised so far, Treinen and Staniforth are optimistic about reaching their fundraising goal. On Saturday, Mar. 15, Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church will host a benefit concert for Blessings in a Backpack. The event will feature a silent auction and specialty desserts starting at 6:45 p.m., with the Chance Allies Jazz Trio concert following at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person, or two for $25 and are available at Windsor Breads and Christ Lutheran Church, Norway Grove Memorial Lutheran Church.
COUNTY: Two supervisors
TOWN OF VIENNA
By Roberta Baumann
“Statistics show that kids that are on this program do better in school the following week,” she said. “They pay attention more, they learn better, they feel better, they behave better. They feel more part of the school and cared for. Ultimately, they do better academically and socially at school.” With 22 percent of DeForest Area School District students receiving free and reduced meals, Treinen and Staniforth recognize the opportunity for expanding the program to more schools. “Our ultimate goal is to reach out to other grade schools,” Treinen said. While the long-term plan is to establish the program in all district elementary schools, Treinen said the
with Dane County, Clear Horizons and three surrounding farms. Ditter noted that despite the large Nov. 24 spill, a DNR analysis shows just 30 pounds of phosphorus reached Lake Mendota. During a 1.5-inch rain in March of 2013, 4,450 pounds of phosphorus were registered at the county's monitoring station, Ditter said. “In 2012, our plant processed over 73,000 pounds of phosphorus that was exported out of the watershed,” Ditter said, noting that overall, the plant has had a positive impact on the environment. But Kiefer warned that if a spill like the Nov. 24 event occurred during a rainfall, the results could be more disastrous. “I don’t want people in Waunakee to be in danger because of a manure spill and I don’t want our lakes to be in danger because of a manure spill,” Kiefer said.
abstain from vote From page 1 Ficken. According to Ficken, onethird of American women by age 45 have had an abortion. The future physician also cautioned that limiting such services endangers the health of pregnant women, and the decision to undergo an abortion is “one of the most trying times in a woman's life.” “I plan to provide abortions because right now somewhere else in the world — in Asia, or in Africa, or in South America — a woman is sick, bowled over with terrible cramps, bleeding, feeling alone and probably terrified,” Ficken remarked. “I am committed to providing abortions because not very long ago, this also happened to women here in the United States. And we must not let it happen again,” she continued. Sup. Carousel Andrea Bayrd of Madison said she hosts a weekly radio show on a Madison signal and recently interviewed a physician who is one of four in the U.S. performing late term abortions publicly. “I think that's really startling. That other doctors perform third-trimester abor-
tions in this country, but only four people will say out loud that this is what they do,” Bayrd said. “It's a secret and we live in a country where it's a shame if you have an abortion.” The supervisor added that her mother previously had an abortion, as did her sister. “I'm a sexual assault survivor,” Bayrd said. “Fortunately I didn't happen to have an abortion in those circumstances, but I might have. And it's not a shame of what happened to me and the women in my family, and it shouldn't be a secret. And every woman should have access to healthcare.”
a representative of the company meet with the DNR for an enforcement conference. “Violations… may be referred to the Department of Justice to obtain court ordered compliance and penalties up to $10,000 per violation per day,” the notice states. While many of the alleged violations occurred years ago, Cain said they are included in the notice to show a pattern of non-compliance. “Some are permit violations from the past, since the facility was first opened. Some are related to discussing the spill,” Cain said. Wastewater specialists from the Department of Natural Resources were to meet with representatives from Clear Horizons Tuesday. The engineers may request certain remedies or may refer Clear Horizons to the Department of Justice, Cain said. “This is their opportunity to come talk to us and explain what happened,” Cain said. During Clear Horizons’ Nov. 24 spill, a pipe burst, releasing 300,000 gallons of manure, much of which was recovered. Another smaller spill occurred Jan. 21, and at that time, Clear Horizons indicated it was following engineering recommendations to replace some pipe parts with more flexible elbows.