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Friday, September 13, 2019 • Vol. 6, No. 7 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1 Kathy Bartels

Inside 17-year-old Fitchburg resident killed Aug. 25 Page 3

Business

Salon KB celebrates a decade in Fitchburg Page 15 Photo by Kimberly Wethal

From left, A.J. Horne, Matt Sutter, Colin Christenson, Casey Schmidt, Corey Dahmen, Dave Berman and chief Joe Pulvermacher stand outside Fire Station No. 3. The fire station is the first on the east side of the city.

Sports

‘A better response’ City opens new fire station at Syene and Clayton roads

KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

Verona climbs to No. 5 in poll Page B4

Schools Verona Area school board approves grandfathering for fifth graders in new boundaries Page B6 OSD, Village of Oregon still working on school resource officer agreement Page B7

Residents on the eastern side of the city near Syene and Clayton roads have a new neighbor. And this new neighbor is hoping it doesn’t get too many noise complaints. Earlier this month, the Fitchburg Fire Department and Fitch-Rona EMS moved into Station No. 3, the first fire/EMS station on the eastern side of the city.

The $8 million, 26,832 squarefoot facility is the second new fire station in the city in two years, and is designed to be the last for a while, accommodating continued growth on the city’s east side and an eventual incorporation of part of the Town of Madison. “We’re very fortunate that now we actually have a building on the east side of the city,” FFD deputy chief of operations Chad Grossen said. “We’re really excited that now we can have a better response on

this side city, especially as it continues to grow.” Fire Station No. 3 joins its slightly older sibling, Fire Station No. 2, which was finished in the summer of 2017 on Marketplace Drive, and Fire Station No. 1 on Lacy Road, which is under renovation from a functioning fire station to house the offices of department administration and serve as an emergency operations center for the city. Ke e p i n g t h e a d m i n i s t r a t ive offices at the Lacy Road location

allowed for Station No. 3 to have a smaller design, saving the city around $1 million, chief Joe Pulvermacher told the Star last week during a tour of the new fire station. Half the fire department staff works out of each station, Grossen said, with staff being delegated based on station needs and the staff member’s distance to each location. The new station includes living amenities for fire department staff,

Turn to Station/Page 13

Historical society documents businesses Initiative adds more post-incorporation history and expands website CONNOR WOOD Star correspondent

Allan Tereba has been working for the past three months to collect and write histories of Fitchburg businesses. PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE

PAID

With more than 750 businesses in Fitchburg, there’s a lot of work to do. Tereba, the Fitchburg Historical Society president, said the organization has previously collected a lot of material connected to early settlement and up through the Supreme Court case that allowed Fitchburg to incorporate in April, 1983. However, he thought it would be helpful to collect more recent materials. “The businesses, having

the histories of those, is just as important as having the history of the ‘20s or back in the 1800s,” Tereba said. Carole Kinney, one of the founders of FHS in 1987 and a current board member and archivist, said she got involved partly because her husband’s roots in the area went back to 1844. She has watched and helped the organization over the past 30 years. The FHS goal, she said, is to present that “History is

yesterday, today and tomorrow.” And just as importantly, to make sure it’s easy for people to find. “ We d o n ’t wa n t t h i s information just to be stuck in files here that we have in our office and in our storage area in the Fitchburg Library,” Kinney said. “We want to get it out.” Tereba has been adding the business histories to the FHS website. Some,

Turn to Historical/Page 10

About FHS What: Fitchburg Historical Society Members: About 60 to 70 people at its annual meeting in the fall. Location: Fitchburg Room on the second floor of the Fitchburg Public Library Website: fitchburghistory. org

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Fitchburg Star

At right, Kelly Witt, Fitchburg Public Library youth services librarian, assists Jordan Stuart, 4, of Fitchburg, with a scratch off bookmark craft project. At right wearing a balloon hat is Lillian Stuart, 6, of Fitchburg.

Back to School Block Party The annual Fitchburg Technology Campus Back to School Block Party was held along Research Park Drive on Aug. 22. Families Photos by Samantha Christian enjoyed bluegrass music Berri Mueller, 5, Nigel Mueller, 3, and Miles Finger, 5, all of Fitchburg, dance to bluegrass by the Soggy Prairie band, music by the Soggy Prairie band. a screening of Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” a performance from James the Magician, tours of emergency vehicles, giant Jenga, face painting, crafts, bubbles and snacks from food trucks.

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September 13, 2019

City of Fitchburg

Fish Hatchery Road utility work delayed Administrator hopes overall project can be completed on same timeline KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

Utility work for the Fish Hatchery Road reconstruction project will be “significantly delayed” after the Common Council unanimously voted to reject all bids for the project, which came in over the projected budget. City administrator Patrick Marsh said while utility work that was scheduled for fall 2019 won’t take place this year, the city is still hoping for a similar project completion date in the spring or summer of 2021. “What that’ll do is require some more coordination between contractors that are doing the utility work and road work, whereas before they would have been out of each other’s way,” he said. The city received three bids for the project, according to the meeting materials. The lowest came in at $22.7 million, 31% over the engineer’s estimate. The city and the county agreed to share the cost of the project, which will reconstruct Fish Hatchery Road from McKee Road up to the Beltline, with the county’s contribution capped at $8 million. If there’s an increase in the project cost, Marsh said, the city will go back to the county to request more funding. “Awarding this contract amount would create a stress

on the city’s financial health and/or impact other planned capital projects in the next five years,” the resolution passed on Aug. 27 read. The bids included costs for road construction, stormwater maintenance work and beautification. Bill Balke, senior transportation engineer for the city, told the Star in an email that Dane County and the City of Madison will not pay toward beautification costs, but will contribute their proportional share toward the other aspects of the project. City staff recommended the Council reject all three bids to avoid potential litigation. Zignego Company, which had the lowest bid, offered to revise different aspects of the project to lower the bid, but it would involve changes in the construction timeline and materials. Rather than negotiate those changes, the city decided to seek new bids. “Our consultant believes by tweaking the bid documents, possibly extending the timeline of construction slightly and amending some ordinance requirements we have on materials, we’ll be able to bring that number in line,” Marsh said. “No guarantees, but it doesn’t hurt to try.” The city plans to rebid the project in November, the referral sheet stated, and will revise staging milestones and promote the project to new bidders.

Fitchburg Star

Former VAHS student’s death investigated as homicide Medical examiner: 17 year old Watson died from ‘firearm related trauma’ SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group

A former Verona Area High School student died last month in what is being investigated as a homicide. Shay Watson, 17, was identified as the victim Aug. 26 by the Dane County medical examiner. According to the medical examiner’s news release, Watson died “from homicidal firearm related trauma.” Watson, a senior, was a VAHS football player and track athlete last year. He was found dead at his home on the 2700 block of Lyman Lane at 9 p.m. Aug. 25. Verona Area School District public information officer Kelly Kloepping told the Star in an email Watson was expecting to transfer to Madison West for his senior year, as the school had reached out to VAHS for his records. He previously attended school in Madison. Fitchburg police chief Chad Brecklin said at an Aug. 26 news conference there would be extra patrols in the Tower Hill neighborhood for the next few days, though he added there did not appear to be any specific danger to the community. “It does not appear as if this was a random act,” Brecklin said. Police are asking anyone with information, including home surveillance video from that evening, to call 270-4300. Brecklin said the department, which is working with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and Verona and Middleton police departments in its investigation, believes “a number of individuals” may have information on the incident and is seeking to talk with all of them. Principal Pam Hammen announced “the unfortunate news of the death of one of our Verona Area High School students which occurred over this past weekend” in an email to parents Aug. 26 at 11:52 a.m. “First and foremost, our deepest sympathies go to the family of this student,” Hammen wrote. “At this time, we are not able to release the

Photo by Scott Girard

Police responded to a report of a man found dead in a residence on the 2700 block of Lyman Lane Sunday night, and the area remained taped off late Monday morning. name of the student as the investigation continues, nor do we know any further details about the incident at this time.” At the time, Watson already had been mentioned in various social media posts, including from someone posting as his brother. His step-grandfather also confirmed his identity to the Wisconsin State Journal Aug. 26. Verona boys track coach Joff Pedretti said his “heart goes out to Shay Watson and his family during this incredibly difficult time.” “No one likes seeing a young person with their whole life in front of them lose their chance to make the full impact they were capable of,” Pedretti said. In Watson’s one season on the track team, he became one of the top long jumpers in VAHS history and “was getting close to being one of the top in the triple jump, as well,” Pedretti said. He also had an effect on the team beyond his performances. “He had a very cool, calm and relaxed demeanor – so much that I never would’ve anticipated he would be such a strong competitor, but he certainly was,” Pedretti said.

Pedretti said Watson told him on a few occasions he hoped to be a lawyer someday since as he was always “up for a good debate with someone.” “It’s tough not knowing how the story would unfold,” Pedretti said. “We will certainly miss him.” The Fitchburg police investigation began Sunday night just after 9 p.m., when officers responded to a report of a dead body, according to a news release from the department. Hammen’s letter states the district sent the letter to allow families to monitor students’ well being in case they knew the student. The student services team, including counselors, will be available to provide support, according to the letter. Kloepping told the Star in an email that fifth hour teachers read a prepared statement to their students in class Aug. 27, calling him a “beloved community member” and reiterating that student services staff was available to talk with students or staff members who were struggling. Assistant sports editor Mark Nesbitt contributed to this article.

Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.

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Fitchburg Star

Opinion

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Legislative opinions

To consider all sides, we Alliant Energy Center project an opportunity for Fitchburg need to see the middle You are what you eat. I know that’s an old saying related to food, but it applies in many other ways. One of the biggest for me lately is looking back on Krause the experiences of my life to help me to understand the influences of how I came to be where I am in life. I was raised in multicultural neighborhoods in a city that appreciated the diversity of people around us. Even though there was very little money, it was spent in ways that allowed us to also appreciate the land around us. Lots of years and many experiences later, I find myself elected to two different local seats, largely representing low-income diversity, in an area with plenty of nature. I try hard to bring my experience into my elected work. We all came from a family and a culture which shapes

us, and the variety is incredible. We all have priorities and things we are indifferent about, as well as varying ways we are exposed to what influences us. That’s where I bring this back to the phrase I started with. Another common phrase, one I use a lot, is, “Consider the source.” Especially in politics there are a lot of sources of information, some good and some bad, most leaning one way or another, some very extreme. I tend to avoid the extremes, on both sides, and pay attention to either side of the middle. Unfortunately, there is very little middle to find anymore. I have a problem with that. I end up talking to a lot of people on either side of many questions. It’s often easy to tell where they get their information, which, in a way, is sad, since it often means that they are looking at just one side of the issues. Regardless of which side people fall, as an elected official, I want to consider all sides and make myself aware of how one decision might

Friday, Sept. 13, 2019• Vol. 6, No. 7 Periodical Postage Paid, Verona, WI and additional offices. Published monthly 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.

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General Manager Lee Borkowski lborkowski@wcinet.com Sales Manager Kathy Neumeister kathy.neumeister@wcinet.com Display Advertising Donna Larson veronasales@wcinet.com Daniel Duquette oregonsales@wcinet.com Catherine Stang stoughtonsales@wcinet.com Classifieds ungclassified@wcinet.com Circulation ungcirculation@wcinet.com News Jim Ferolie fitchburgstar@wcinet.com Sports Adam Feiner ungsportseditor@wcinet.com Assistant Editor Scott Girard ungreporter@wcinet.com Reporters Mackenzie Krumme, Kimberly Wethal, Mark Nesbitt, Scott De Laruelle, Emilie Heidemann In memory UNG Reporter Amber Levenhagen (1994-2019)

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impact the entire spectrum of people that live here. But that’s hard to do when the middle is missing. So my question for readers becomes how we can help one another understand and appreciate the entire spectrum of people that live in this city. For elected officials, it’s how they can make the best possible decisions on behalf of the city unless they can consider the needs of everyone. In this time of division, how can we help bring back that missing middle? That last question is bigger than many might expect, since a big part of what is missing in Fitchburg, increasingly, is middle-income workers, as well as places they can afford to live. That is what I see as one of our greatest challenges as a growing city. It’s something that deserves a lot of consideration from all sides if we are to solve it in the best way possible for everyone in the city. We need to fill in the missing middle; we can not grow well with mostly just extremes. Dorothy Krause represents District 1 on the Fitchburg Common Council and District 27 on the Dane County Board of Supervisors.

It’s been several weeks since I was sworn in as your Dane County Board supervisor on June 20. I am honored that you’ve chosen me to be the voice for our DeGarmo community. County Board chair Sharon Corrigan has appointed me to the Public Works and Transportation committee. This committee was my first choice – it deals largely with Dane County’s facilities, including the Dane County Regional Airport, Henry Vilas Zoo and the Dane County Landfill. Another major function of the Public Works and Transportation committee is to oversee the construction and maintenance of county roads. One of the projects the Public Works committee is undertaking is the redevelopment of the Alliant Energy Center campus. The Alliant Energy Center is best known for hosting community events like the Dane County Fair and Brat Fest, trade shows like the World Dairy Expo and Midwest Horse Fair and

bringing major national entertainers, food and beverage festivals and athletic events like the CrossFit Games to Dane County. Currently, the Alliant Energy Center is paying for itself, but improvements are needed for it to be a competitive venue. The decision was made to invest in the campus and surrounding space so that we can attract bigger names in entertainment and athletic events and allow for the expansion of our beloved banner community events. A $300 million public and private investment has been pledged to expand and update the Coliseum and Exhibition Hall, increase parking availability, develop abundant green space, improve traffic flow and provide affordable housing and retail space. Private funds will go towards creating a bona fide conference center with more hotel and conference rooms. One of my first votes as your supervisor was to approve the architectural design contract for the Exhibition Hall expansion. Our community is right next door to the Alliant Energy Center. North Fish Hatchery Road is closer to campus than downtown

Madison and is easier to get to. With the upcoming road construction on North Fish Hatchery Road, we have a colossal opportunity to attract businesses that will give visitors to the Alliant places to eat, shop and be entertained before or after their event. Additionally, the portion of the Town of Madison we are slated to annex is a stone's throw from the Alliant Campus. Because of this, the continued development of the area will happen in Fitchburg. This is a really exciting project for Fitchburg and a sound investment of tax dollars. I am thrilled that I can lend our community’s voice and perspective to the effort. As this project con tinues, I will keep you informed and work with city leadership to make the most of this opportunity. If you would like to read the plans for the AEC, visit: aecstudy.countyofdane. com. If you would like to talk about this project further, email me at DeGarmo. ann@countyofdane.com. Ann DeGarmo represents the County Board’s 33rd District, which includes part of Fitchburg.

Letters to the editor

Officials should review 2007 plan before changing FUDA The Fitchburg Common Council has approved a short timeline for updating the City of Fitchburg Comprehensive Plan. I understand that an unresolved concern is whether the new timeline will allow adequate consideration of possible changes to the Future Urban Development Area (FUDA). Two development possibilities, one suggested by the Oregon School District and the other desired b y E d g ewo o d C o l l eg e , would require revision of the FUDA. I assume that both projects have merit, but I would strongly urge

the Council to be sure that any revision to the FUDA is consistent with good planning principles developed and defined by the Common Council. T h e c u r r e n t F U DA boundary was established by the Common Council in 2007 and is specified in the Comprehensive Plan. It is the City's vision for where development should occur in the long term, favoring development along the Fitchburg-Oregon rail corridor. It also specifies lands that should be protected from development – high-quality agricultural

lands and groundwater recharge areas. The current FUDA has already guided major decisions, including the siting of two new fire stations, so revisions to it should not be made without thoughtful consideration. I assume that our three school districts as well as businesses, developers, and home buyers have taken the FUDA into account in their planning decisions. Before the Comprehensive Plan is amended to accommodate any particular development idea, including one or both of the two development ideas

mentioned above, I urge the Common Council and Plan Commission to review the principles adopted in 2007 to guide the specification of the current FUDA (see Chapter Four - Land Use, for a list of the guidelines). Amend the FUDA if appropriate, but please do not change the FUDA boundaries without first reviewing the existing guidelines and either re-confirming or revising them. William Horns City of Fitchburg

Shorter Comprehensive Plan timeline the right decision The Common Council was correct in approving an eight-month timeline for the update of the Comprehensive Plan. This plan took several years to make and has been a good guide the past ten years, especially when protecting valuable farmland and preventing more storm water problems. There is absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel. Some alders were very vocal about wanting a longer timeline. They sought to use as a reason for needing a longer time that they wanted to accommodate desires of Edgewood College to build athletic fields on farmland on the corner of Lacy Road and Seminole

Highway. Let’s unpack that. First of all, it would be disrespectful to residents and the existing Comprehensive Plan to drag out the state-mandated update to appease one entity; an entity that does not operate in Fitchburg and a proposal that would not create jobs or pay taxes. These proposed athletic fields would no doubt add an increase in traffic and raise other concerns like noise and light pollution. Second, in order to even consider the athletic field proposal, the City of Fitchburg would have to expand the boundaries of our Urban Service Area (USA). The USA is the

city’s develop-able boundary and is where the city will thoughtfully grow for decades to come. Third, expanding the USA is not necessary at this time. Currently, there are more than 1100 acres in the USA that are not developed. The city should continue to focus on developing that land, which is already slated for development versus adding more to benefit one landowner. Fourth, the city would need approval from the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) and the DNR to expand the USA. This process can take many months, if the boundary change is controversial,

and CARPC and DNR have the final say over what land is included. These same three alders claim that there is not enough time to get citizen input but the carefully developed timeline has ample opportunity for citizens to share their views. Despite what Alder Arata-Fratta wrote last month, Mayor Richardson and Alders Bahr, Clauder, Rice and Schroeder did not miss an opportunity. They did the right thing! Jay Hochmuth Rita Burke Henricks City of Fitchburg

Opinion

ConnectFitchburg.com

little more than six years ago, I got a phone call from an

call with Jim, but an in-person interview and a job offer – one that he had acknowlunrecedged seemed unlikely after ognized our initial interaction. number What I have done with as I was UNG since then has inspired about to my next career move, as I walk into head to The Capital Times a movie to cover K-12 education in theater Madison. I can’t imagine with some covering anything outside the friends. world of education, with its Girard A mix of complexity and inspirecent college graduate, I had ration. applied to a bunch of job listThere was plenty of both here in Fitchburg, too, but it ings, and “Jim from Unified often came with some addiNewspaper Group” didn’t ring a bell. He asked if I had a tional confrontation – whether among various elected offifew minutes to talk. cials, residents or city staff. Of course, I didn’t; I was While it always feels good about to see Despicable Me 2 (for the second time). I told as a journalist to see public participation, it’s important him I’d call him back later if that it all be directed toward that was OK. finding a solution. Flabbergasted, he said, That’s something we tried “Uh, sure.” As I sat down in the theater, to help highlight with the return of the Fitchburg Star the brain of someone who more than five years ago. had enjoyed two months of Our parent company, unemployment post-gradWoodward Communications, uation began to reconsider Inc., had already begun workwhether that’s how the call ing on bringing the Star back should’ve been handled. By the time I got home and into print when I started here. I got to jump right into that frantically wrote a “thank you” email to Jim Ferolie and project and had the first centerpiece in the return paper asked when we could talk, I was sure I had blown my best March 2014. Four years later, I got to chance at a job in journalism bring another publication up to that point. into print. This one, Corre la Within a month, I had not Voz, was entirely new, and only gotten that follow up

actual hardness, generally between 16 and 22 grains, reduces salt use. Water hardness test strips are available at hardware stores and on the internet. Finally, you can reduce your softener salt use simply by reducing the amount of water you use. Consider water-efficient plumbing fixtures, shorter showers, turning off the water when brushing your teeth, etc. We can also be salt wise with the de-icer we apply to our sidewalks and driveways in the winter. About half of the salt used as a de-icer is applied by homeowners and private applicators, and it is often over-applied. You can reduce the salt you use as a de-icer if you avoid compacting snow by driving over it before it’s shoveled; remove snow first so the salt will be more effective; and don’t use salt when the pavement is below 15 degrees. When you do use de-icer, a coffee mug’s worth should be enough to treat a 20-foot driveway or about 10 sidewalk squares. If you, your complex or your neighborhood contracts snow removal, ask to use a contractor whose employees are Winter Salt Certified. That means they've attended a training program, passed an exam and agreed to apply practices they've learned to use the least amount of de-icing material necessary to keep parking lots, roads, sidewalks and driveways safe. The Winter Salt Certification Program is open to all in Dane County contractors. Every one of Fitchburg's snow removal staff is Winter Salt Certified. For more info and a list of certified contractors, visit wisaltwise. com Our current level of salt use is degrading our drinking and surface waters. Reducing the salt flowing into our freshwater will require actions by all of us. If you reduce your salt use by one teaspoon, you will protect five gallons of water. If you reduce your salt use by one bag, you will protect 20,000 gallons of water. If we all do our part to reduce our salt use, our efforts will protect aquatic life, keep our freshwater healthy and keep our sewer bills from skyrocketing. The next time you refill your softener brine tank, use salt as a de-icer, are tempted to take a long shower or let water run unnecessarily, please think about our freshwater. Diane Streck is a member of the city’s Resource Conservation Commission.

aimed at a community we had never reached before: VASD households with parents who primarily spoke Spanish. New editorial print products aren’t the norm in news right now, but Woodward gave us the latitude to try things and find out if we could be successful. And we have been with the Fitchburg Star. We have often heard from people who were excited to have us back in print after a period with only a website, whether it’s for our coverage of events, features about people doing good work in the community or the often turbulent Common Council. My work in Fitchburg mainly comprised the latter two, which often created a contrasting vision of the largest city in our coverage area. For years, we joked about running a story called, “What is Fitchburg?” And after more than five years, I think the only answer I’ve come up with is it’s a little bit of everything. The city got its start in an unusual way – a 1983 state Supreme Court decision – and decisions made then often play a part in the controversial debates that come up today: whether to retrofit sidewalks, where to build new housing and what kind, how to help the most

socioeconomically challenged areas of the city. The answers to those issues are often complicated and have often left those with a vested interest disappointed. One needs to look no further than having a new mayor each election since the paper returned to print to see the evidence of that. That turnover also creates complications in getting to final solutions. It also leads to sometimes ugly discussions at council meetings, whether with raised voices or veiled criticism of other alders and city staff. So to the citizens of Fitchburg, while I recommend you continue holding leaders accountable for that behavior, you should also remember to play a part in finding solutions. If you care about an issue, speak up, but be prepared for the ultimate decision to go against you. Your voice still matters. And if you don’t feel listened to, know that the staff here always wants to hear from you for a story idea or feedback. Scott Girard has spent many Tuesday nights watching Fitchburg Common Council meetings for the past six years.

Schedule snacks to prevent unhealthy grazing behaviors

he mornings are getting cooler, the prevents kids (and adults) from recognizing what it feels like to be hungry, days are getting shorter and the school buses are out on the streets eat and then feel full. This rhythm of eating and self-regulation is important again. With school back in session, managin being an intuitive eater, or one who listens to his internal cues for when to ing schedules, school start and stop eating rather than external lunches and family reasons. meals comes back Kids who never really experience their into play, too. Active and hectic schedules internal hunger and fullness cues are more likely to eat mindlessly and form mean snacks are also an unhealthy relationship with food. a common staple for When we graze, we’re usually not in between games, after school or when eating the way we would be if we were you’re out running eating a meal. We’re eating while doing Hoerr something else. errands. Our awareness to the food we’re eatSnacks can be a great way to fill in the gaps between ing is therefore limited and the distracmeals and prevent hunger from dipping tions are high. This can make it easy to too low. I like to think of them as a mini- eat past our internal fullness. For kids, it also means they’re not meal, providing at least two or three watching how the adults around them food groups that help meet you or your are eating and are not getting that valuchild’s nutritional needs. able time to practice social skills and Unscheduled snacks, however, can experiences. blur into grazing. Rather using them How kids approach food is very much as a way to nourish and satisfy hunger, we can easily let them become a way to influenced by what and how they see others eating. If they’re distracted or not appease kids in the moment. When a toddler is starting to get fussy at the table to do this, they’re not able to get that positive influence you have to in the grocery store, an applesauce offer when it comes to food. pouch gets pulled out. When you’re at It all comes down to how you structhe doctor’s office and your kiddo complains of being bored, a granola bar is ture your meals and snacks. handed over. If you’re wondering why your child Sure, giving snacks may work in the isn’t eating well at meals, it might be the short term – your child is now quiet and snacks! By the time dinner comes, your appears to be content in front of the iPad child has lost his appetite. with veggie straws or wandering around This not only can make for a stressful eating experience at dinner, it also the house with a container of Cheerios – but the long-term effect of grazing can means your child might be missing out on more balanced food options. Snack be more detrimental than helpful. options are often limited to cold and dry Grazing or constant snacking

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items and, while these can still be nutritious, grazing limits the variety of foods, textures and flavors a kid is exposed to. The solution is as simple (but not necessarily as easy) as scheduling snacks and meals into your child’s day. Stand firm and let your child know that the kitchen is closed in between meals and snacks, but reassure him or her that more food will be coming again soon. With time, your child will start to recognize hunger and fullness cues again and learn that he or she needs to eat adequate amounts at the scheduled meals and snacks. A parent’s responsibility is to set the time and place of meals and the child’s job is to decide how much they’re going to eat of what’s being offered. When a child is being given snacks on demand, this disrupts the feeding relationship and can lead to struggle after struggle in the future. But when it’s understood that a simple request for a snack after dinner won’t be granted (unless it’s already been scheduled in), your child will come to dinner hungry and be more willing to try to the foods at the table. As you begin scheduling events, meetings and school drop-offs and pick-ups, remember to schedule snacks, too. You’ll be fostering a long-lasting positive relationship with food for your kids and less stressful meals for the entire family. Kara Hoerr, MS, RDN, CD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Kara Hoerr Nutrition. This information is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical professional for individual advice.

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Fitchburg Star

Keep the struggle alive, Fitchburg

To protect our water, try to be salt wise

hen Kathy Lake began her presentation at the Fitchburg library about the impact of salt on freshwater in our area, she said something that really hit home with me. Every bag of softener salt we use ends up in our lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands. Lake is the pollution prevention manager for the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, which treats wastewater for our area and is a founding member of the Wisconsin Salt-Wise Partnership. She pointed out that over 60 percent of the salt in our wastewater comes from water softeners. I already knew road salt ends up in our waterways, but it hadn’t occurred to me softener salt does, too. The chloride component of salt is toxic in a freshwater environment. Lake gave an alarming statistic: One teaspoon of salt is enough to permanently pollute five gallons of freshwater, making it difficult for freshwater organisms to survive. Thousands of tons of salt are being added to our freshwater every year. As a result, there has been a steady increase over the past 25 years in the chloride concentration in all of our local freshwater, including groundwater. Softener salt and salt used as a de-icer are the major sources. It's impossible to remove the salt without also removing the nutrients feeding the low end of the food chain. Salt could be removed from wastewater, but it would cost a minimum of $400 million. Such an undertaking would be energy-intensive and could increase our sewer bills up to 500 percent. Our better option is prevention, and you can help by being salt wise. That means making sure our water softeners are as salt-efficient as they can be and that we’re not using too much salt for de-icing. The first place to check is whether you have a day-regenerating (time-clock) softener. Day-regenerating softeners regenerate on specific, programmed days of the week. They are very salt-inefficient because they regenerate regardless of need. Replacing one of these with a demand-initiated softener will significantly reduce your salt use and save you money. Demand-initiated softeners regenerate only when needed, based on the gallons of water actually used. However, with age, even demand-initiated softeners can lose efficiency. Your softener shouldn’t use more than about one bag of salt per month. More information about checking the efficiency of your softener can be found on MMSD's website: madsewer.org. Another way to reduce your salt use is by checking the calibration of your softener. Some softeners are preset for the highest hardness, which might be as high as 30 grains. Resetting to the

September 13, 2019

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Fitchburg Star

Walk for Wishes set for Sept. 15 KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

You don’t have to wish that kids can live out their wildest dreams – you can walk for it. The annual Walk for Wishes fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Wisconsin will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the Kid’s Dash at 10 a.m. and the 5K run and 2 mile walk starting at 10:30 a.m. There’s no registration fees to participate if you register before the day of the event, but a $10 fee for day-of registration. Participants are encouraged to collect pledges prior to starting the race. Prior to the walk and runs, MakeA-Wish Wisconsin will highlight

If You Go What: Walk for Wishes 2019 When: 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 Where: McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road Info: wish.org

children with terminal illnesses who have received a Wish, and will surprise another with the granting of their wish. Proceeds from the event go toward funding Wishes. For information, visit wish.org. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly.wethal@wcinet.com and File photo by Kimberly Wethal follow her on Twitter Children at the starting line of the 0.8-mile run cross the starting line during the Walk for Wishes 5K on @kimberly_wethal. Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018.

Calendar of events Friday, Sept. 13

• 11-11:45 a.m., Book boogie story time (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 • 4 p.m., Back to School buttons (ages 5-12), library, 729-1762

• 6-6:30 p.m., Family pajama story time (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 • 7-8 p.m., Microsoft Word Intermediate class (registration required), library, 729-1763

Sunday, Sept. 15

Thursday, Sept. 19

• 10 a.m. to noon, Wellness checks with the nurse, senior center, 270-4290 • 3-6 p.m., Fall Fest at Fitchburg Farmers Market, Agora Pavilion, 5500 E. Cheryl Parkway, 2772592 • 4:30-7 p.m., 40th anniversary celebration of the Fitchburg Senior Center, senior center, Monday, Sept. 16 5510 Lacy Road, 270-4290 • 9:30 a.m., Preschool storytime • 5-6:30 p.m., Verona Road (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 project open house, Verona • 3:30-4:30 p.m., Cover letter Road Project Field Office, 6200 and LinkedIn 101 presentation, Nesbitt Road, Suite B library, 729-1763 • 6-6:35 p.m., Unbookclub! • 6-7 p.m., Make a pinata (reg(ages 9-12), library, 729-1762 istration required), library, 729Friday, Sept. 20 1762 • 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tape Tuesday, Sept. 17 Town play activity, library, 845• 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Promega Fall 1762 Art Show opens (open Monday Saturday, Sept. 21 through Friday through Jan. 3, 2020), BioPharmaceutical Tech- • 10:30-11:15 a.m., Do Re Read nology Center, 5445 E. Cheryl Mi a Story (ages 2-5), library, Pkwy., promega-artshow.com 729-1762 • 3:30-6:30 p.m., Promega Fall • 1-3 p.m., Adult drop-in colorart showcase symposium and ing, library, 729-1763 reception, Promega BioPhar• 2-4 p.m., Kids Movie: “How to maceutical Technology Center, Train Your Dragon: The Hidden 5445 E. Cheryl Pkwy, World,” library, 729-1762 promega-artshow.com • 8:30-11 a.m., Make-A-Wish Wisconsin: Walk for Wishes, McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road, jpekol@ wisconsin.wish.org • 9 a.m. to noon, Race for Agrace 5K and one mile run/ walk, 5395 Cheryl Pkwy, 3277219

Wednesday, Sept. 18

• 9:30-11 a.m., Play-Doh Palooza (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 • 10-11 a.m., Wednesday morning book discussion: “Circe” by Madeline Miller, library, 7291763

(ages 2-5), library, 729-1762

Wednesday, Sept. 25

• 10-11 a.m., Toddler art (ages 1-3), library, 729-1762 • 10-11 a.m., Knit club, library, 729-1763 • 10:30-11:30 a.m., Financial fitness drop-in sessions with Curt Arnold, senior center, 270-4290

Thursday, Sept. 26

• 10-10:45 a.m., STEAM Power! story time (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 • 10 a.m. to noon, Wellness checks with the nurse, senior center, 270-4290 • 1-1:45 a.m., Bouncing babies story time (birth to prewalkers), library, 729-1762 • 1:30 p.m., I Love a Mystery book club: “Gideon’s Sword” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, senior center, 270-4290 • 3-6 p.m., Fitchburg Farmers Market, Agora Pavilion, 5500 E. Cheryl Parkway, 277-2592

children), library, 729-1762 • 5-8:30 p.m., Verona Road Business Coalition Open Roads block party, Wisconsin Bank and Trust, 6180 Verona Road, veronaroad.info • 6-6:30 p.m., We are in a Book Club! (ages 5-8), library, 7291762

Thursday, Oct. 3

• 10 a.m. to noon, Wellness checks with the nurse, senior center, 270-4290 • 3-6 p.m., Fitchburg Farmers Market, Agora Pavilion, 5500 E. Cheryl Parkway, 277-2592 • 6-7 p.m., Jeopardy challenge (ages 13-17), library, 729-1762

Friday, Oct. 4

• 11 a.m. to noon, Fall crafts (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 • 4-5 p.m., Perler beads (ages 5-12), library, 729-1762

library, 729-1762 • 1:30 p.m., REACH Book Club: “The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation,” senior center, 270-4290 • 3-6 p.m., Fitchburg Farmers Market, Agora Pavilion, 5500 E. Cheryl Parkway, 277-2592

Saturday, Oct. 12

• 11 a.m. to noon, Pumpkin painting (ages 5-12, registration required), library, 729-1762

Monday, Oct. 14

• 9:30 a.m., Preschool storytime (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762

Wednesday, Oct. 16

• 10-11 a.m., Toddler art (ages 1-3), library, 729-1762

Thursday, Oct. 17

• 10 a.m. to noon, Wellness checks with the nurse, senior center, 270-4290 Saturday, Oct. 5 • 3-6 p.m., Fitchburg Farmers • 1-3 p.m., LEGOs at the library Market, Agora Pavilion, 5500 E. (ages 5-12), library, 729-1762 Cheryl Parkway, 277-2592 Saturday, Sept. 28 Monday, Oct. 7 • 6-6:45 p.m., UnBookClub! • 10-11 a.m., In the News dis(ages 9-12), library, 729-1762 • 9:30 a.m., Preschool storytime cussion, library, 729-1763 (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 Friday, Oct. 18 • 2 p.m., Circuits: Squishy and • Noon to 5 p.m., Friends of the snap (ages 5-12, children ages • 4-5 p.m., Extreme egg drop (ages 5-12), library, 729-1762 Fitchburg Library used book 5-8 require adult guidance, sale, library, friendsoffitchburgliregistration required), library, Wednesday, Oct. 9 729-1762 • 10:30-11:30 a.m., Financial fit- brary.com ness drop-in sessions with Curt • 4-5 p.m., Unbirthday party Sunday, Sept. 29 Arnold, senior center, 270-4290 (ages 5-12), library, 729-1762 • 2 p.m., Picky eating: How to • 6-6:45 p.m., Family pajama Saturday, Oct. 19 get off the mealtime struggle story time (ages 2-5), library, Sunday, Sept. 22 bus, library, 729-1762 • 9 a.m. to noon, Great Pump729-1762 • 2-3:30 p.m., Movie: “Good kin Giveaway (while supplies Monday, Sept. 30 Night and Good Luck” (rated last), Oak Bank, 5951 McKee Thursday, Oct. 10 • 9:30 a.m., Preschool storytime PG, 93 minutes), library, 729Road, 441-6000 • 10 a.m. to noon, Wellness (ages 2-5), library, 729-1762 1763 • 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friends of checks with the nurse, senior Fitchburg Library used book Wednesday, Oct. 2 center, 270-4290 Monday, Sept. 23 sale, library, friendsoffitchburgli• 4-5 p.m., Candy science (rec• 1-1:45 p.m., Bouncing babies • 9:30 a.m., Preschool storytime ommended for school aged story time (birth to prewalkers), brary.com

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Coming up

Intermediate learners of the senior center, will speak and squishy circuits from Stop by the library from registration is required. Back to school buttons Microsoft Word can learn at the beginning of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, For information, call 729Make a button to put on your school backpack from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at the library. All materials will be provided, and design challenges will be available for children to try. The crafting session is recommended for children ages 5-12. For information, call 7291762.

Cover letter seminar Do you want to have a cover letter that’ll wow potential employers? Or do you have a LinkedIn, but don’t know how to best use it to make connections and land that next job? Nikki Ryberg will give advice to job seekers from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at the library. R y b e rg w i l l g o ove r effective cover letter techniques and give advice for how to use LinkedIn. For information, call 7291763.

Make a pinata Celebrate Mexican Independence Day by learning how to make a pinata from 6-7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at the library. The event is recommended for children ages 5-12. For information, call 7291762.

Microsoft Word class

more about the word processing program from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the library. The class will cover such aspects of the program as headers, footers, page numbers and tables. Registration is required. For information, call 7291763.

Verona Road project open house Ve r o n a R o a d p r o j e c t managers will host a quarterly open house 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Verona Road Project field office, 6200 Nesbitt Road, Suite B. Maps and exhibits of the projects will be on display and state Department of Transportation officials will be available to answer individual questions.

Anniversary party The senior center will host its 40th anniversary party from 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19. The event will include food from a variety of food trucks, beer sold by the Friends of the Fitchburg Library and live music from the Red Hot Horn Dawgs. Special guests, including former Mayor Jeanie Sieling and former senior center director Sue Sheets, who played big roles in growing

event. at the library. The program is intended For information, call 2704290. for children ages 5-12. For those ages 5-8, adult guidFall fest ance is required. Registration is required, Celebrate the changing of the seasons with Fall Fest as space is limited. For information, call 729from 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Fitchburg 1762. Fall Fest, 5500 E. Cheryl Picky eaters Pkwy. In addition to the regular Learn how to handle farmers market pickings, picky eaters with a seminar Fall Fest will feature free taught by a registered dieticarriage rides, Culver’s cus- tian and nutritionist from tard sundaes served by stu- 2-3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, dents from EAGLE School, at the library. a goody bag from Oak Bank Kara Hoerr will speak on and live music from Prairie why your children’s eatBayou. ing habits change as they For information, call get older, phrases to avoid 277-2592. saying to children who are being picky and how to In the News respond when your child Interested in discuss- throws a tantrum at the dining current events over a ner table. She will also share tips cup of coffee? The library will host an hourlong “In on how to change a selecthe News” discussion from tive eater into an adventur10-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. ous eater. For information, call 72928. The topic of the discus- 1763. sion is yet to be announced. Selected readings will be Candy science suggested, but attendees are Join the library for a sciencouraged to bring their ence session featuring Halown news stories to discuss, loween candy from 4-5 p.m. as well. Wednesday, Oct. 2. For information, call 729The session is recom1763. mended for school aged children. Circuit science For information, call 729Children can learn how 1762. electricity works with snap

to get creative with Legos. All Legos will be provided, and families should not bring their own. The event is recommended for children ages 5-12. For information, call 7291762.

1762.

Unbirthday party

Celebrate your birthday, no matter what day it is, with a party from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at the library. The event will feature Egg drop games, snacks and crafts, Can you make an egg sur- and is recommended for vive a fall? Test your skills children ages 5-12. For information, call 729from 4-5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1762. 7, at the library. The library will provide all supplies for children to Pumpkin giveaway build a vessel that could Oak Bank will hold its protect an egg from dam- annual pumpkin giveaway age. from 9 a.m. to noon SaturThe event is recommend- day, Oct. 19, at their Fitched for children ages 5-12. burg location at 5951 McKFor information, call 729- ee Road. 1762. Attendees will be able to pick out a free pumpkin, Pumpkin painting while supplies last. The Paint and decorate your event will also include kid’s own pumpkin from 11 a.m. activities, refreshments, to noon Saturday, Oct. 12, bouncy houses and carriage at the library. rides. The crafting session is For information, call 441recommended for children 6000. ages 5-12. Space is limited, so

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Legos at the library

Kite flying for peace Oct. 13 SAMANTHA CHRISTIAN Unified Newspaper Group

For the past 15 years, Fitchburg has been the hub for regional kite fliers to commemorate their version of the One Sky One World International Kite Fly for Peace. The free kite festival is scheduled to take place at McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. People are encouraged to spectate or bring their own kites to fly. Paper kite making for kids will be available from 1-2 p.m.

If You Go What: Kite festival When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 Where: McKee Farms Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road Info: 271-8265 In case of inclement weather, the event may be canceled. Paul Fieber and Ray Blum, Fitchburg neighbors and event organizers, recognize that’s the chance you take with Wisconsin weather. “We got rained out last year, and the event doesn’t get rescheduled,” Fieber said. “And sometimes it’s a

beautiful day but there’s not enough wind or too much wind.” The global event is held the second Sunday each October, drawing thousands of participants across dozens of countries since its origins in 1985. “It’s about celebrating the really rich cultural diversity in our area, and it also has a second theme of a sustainable environment here at home and in the world,” Fieber said, adding that he is sympathetic to both of those ideas and would like to cultivate them further locally. “Other than that, it’s nothing more than kicking back, and hopefully we have a nice day with a nice wind so we can enjoy interesting kites from around the

Midwest,” he said. Each year it attracts different kite fliers and styles of kites, but the event typically draws several people from the Wisconsin Kiters club. There are also usually sport kites, show kites, high flying deltas, banners and ground displays to “brighten up and enliven the (event) area,” he said. For information, contact Fieber at 271-8265 or bethewind@yahoo.com or Blum at 663-5822 or RayBlum608@gmail.com.

We’re seeking volunteers to deliver meals to seniors in Fitchburg after 4 p.m. Your car and kind heart are all that’s needed. Share the experience with your kids or co-workers! Make a difference in just one hour one day a week or every other week. Contact Evening Meals on Wheels at 204-0923 or meals@independentlivinginc.org adno=89160

One Sky One World festival at McKee Farms Park

Est. 1996

‘Pick Me Up at the Border’ fundraiser Sept. 13 80 mile fundraiser for Bike Fitchburg MACKENZIE KRUMME Unified Newspaper Group

Endurance bikers unite as they ride 80 miles through the night during the annual “Pick Me Up At the Border” bike ride. A pre-party event starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at Wyndham Garden, 2969 Cahill Main, with bikers taking off at 7 p.m. They plan to ride the Badger State Trail all the way to the Illinois border and back. The ride started as a

If You Go What: “Pick Me Up At the Border” 80 mile bike ride When: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 Where: Wyndham Garden, 2969 Cahill Main Info: Bike Fitchburg’s Facebook page Price: $15 suggested donation rebellion years ago, when riding on bike trails past 11 p.m. was illegal, the Star previously reported. Today,

state trails are open 24-7, but the ride is still a popular event that raises funds for Bike Fitchburg, a non profit which promotes safe biking. Organizers ask for a $15 cash donation that supports the organization. If participants prefer a shorter ride, there is a 50 mile route from Monticello and a 25 mile route from Belleville. For more information, visit Bike Fitchburg’s Facebook page.

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September 13, 2019

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Fitchburg Star

Fall art show at Promega begins Sept. 17 MACKENZIE KRUMME

Reporter Levenhagen dead at 25 Was in I-94 multivehicle collision Aug. 9

During a 2014 art show in Scottsdale, his exhibition description deemed him a “cultural treasure hunter” and said he is known for What: Promega’s Fall Art Showcase scouring recycling centers, fields, opening alleys and thrift stores for media. When: 3:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dane Arts’ artists, who plan to Sept. 17; exhibition runs Monexhibit alongside Smith, include a day-Friday, Sept. 17- Dec. 31 time-stacking photographer, fused glass artist, wood sculptor and an artWhere: BioPharmaceutical Techist who uses reclaimed skateboards, nology Center, 5445 East Cheryl according to a news release. Parkway Organizers warn of surrounding Info: promega-artshow.com construction projects and advise allowing extra time for parking. For information, visit Smith, a Milwaukee resident, creates promega-artshow.com pieces using wood, broken glass, steel Contact Mackenzie at mackenzie. or car parts all pieced together to build krumme@wcinet.com. a musical instrument he can play.

If You Go

Unified Newspaper Group

Wisconsin artist Joe Willie Smith will use material found at Promega to build usable musical instruments to display and play during this year’s Promega Fall Art Showcase. Participants can hear his story, along with eight other artists, during a symposium from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center, 5445 E. Cheryl Parkway. An opening reception to the exhibit “In Harmony,” follows the symposium from 4:306:30 p.m. The exhibition is open to the public Sept. 17 through Dec. 31.

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Unified Newspaper Group lost a rising star last month. Amber Levenhagen, our Oregon and Stoughton local government reporter, was fatally injured in a multive h i c l e c a r wreck Friday, Aug. 9, on Interstate 94 Levenhagen while returning home to Madison from Oconomowoc. She was 25. Levenhagen joined UNG in October 2016, a few months after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She quickly became an indispensable member of our community reporting team, focusing on Stoughton, and helped establish a strong bond with the community that had been lacking. In short, she was everywhere, and she was wellknown around town. When her opportunity came to take on the grittier, more painstaking work of reporting on budgets, ordinance changes and arguments over alcohol policies, she didn’t just tackle it, she loved it. The messier the better. To her colleagues, she was a newsroom leader who held herself and others to high standards, and did so with grace and good humor. She viewed it as her personal responsibility to ensure the quality of our newspapers. She also had a strong and convincing voice in office debates about social justice issues, helping to promote equity through coverage decisions, phrasing and word choices. One of the stories she enjoyed covering most was the ongoing Ted Bruno murder case, a yearslong process that involved sifting through court documents and attending hearings. And she was particularly proud of a series she was working on regarding a sex offender facility in the Town of Rutland and the program that put it there. She enjoyed covering anything that got people riled up or was multifaceted, such as Stoughton’s ongoing riverfront redevelopment planning. She was devastated when the Kittleson house – a story she had been covering for months – was scheduled for demolition at a time when she had a prior engagement. When she got the opportunity to put on beekeeper gear last summer for a story, she jumped at it without a second thought. She was the kind of reporter who found satisfaction in being involved with every aspect of a story. She also loved writing feature stories about our communities and lamented at having to pass them along to other reporters in recent months so she could continue to hone her skills

Staff reactions Read staff columns reacting to Levenhagen’s death and reflecting on their time as her friend and colleague at ConnectFitchburg.com

covering governments. She was also one of the most supportive people on UNG’s staff. She was always willing to lend an ear to help her coworkers through their difficult times, and was a relentless cheerleader as they worked with tough sources and impossible stories. She also fervently supported them outside of work, going to their photography exhibitions, college capstone presentations and other activities they were involved in. She started early as a journalist, penning a blog on environmental issues as a teenager that garnered more attention than she’d anticipated. After that, she went on to study journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, writing and taking photos for its student newspaper, The Royal Purple. There, she expanded her photography skills from art photography to that of photojournalism, learning on the fly as she was thrown into sports games, political rallies and even a flour fight event. She was also the first student photographer hire for the university’s marketing department, paving the way for other students to hone their craft. Levenhagen was named a Future Headliner by the Wi s c o n s i n N e w s p a p e r Association in 2018, one of five reporters under the age of 30 across the state chosen as an emerging leader in the industry. “Being able to walk down the street and ask people some of their favorite parts about the community and then seeing how that translates into the story,” she said of her job in a video she made as part of the recognition. “I believe in journalism as a tool for getting the community engaged in what is happening outside of their own back door.” She also won three second place awards: Two for her photography work at Syttende Mai in partnership with reporter Kimberly Wethal and another as a “Rookie Reporter of the Year.” In a blog post from her senior year of college, she wrote that after she graduated, she hoped to continue with a career in photojournalism to further her interests in environmental and social justice. “Dream big, right?” she wrote. State Patrol Sgt. Matt Noah told Unified Newspaper Group that Levenhagen struck a truck in front of her at high speed as traffic slowed for a crash. Levenhagen donated her organs, which will help up to 75 people.

ConnectFitchburg.com

September 13, 2019

‘Dentina’ and ‘Blacktooth’ Local dentist authors tooth-themed children’s books Unified Newspaper Group

‘Open Roads Ahead’ Oct. 2 SCOTT GIRARD

If You Go

Photos by Mackenzie Krumme

In the past two years, Dr. David Gundersen, a local dentist, wrote two children’s books titled “Dentina” and “Blacktooth.”

David Gundersen searches his treasure chest at his dental office in Fitchburg on Aug. 30. The chest inspired his first children’s book, “Blacktooth.” believe him. “I had a kid that would hear this (story) and say, ‘You know, I’m going to have to Google that,’” Gundersen said. “So I decided I needed to write the story.” The dentist in that story is a woman of unknown ethnicity, rather than a white man, which is what people typically picture when they see a dentist, Gundersen said, and the main character is a black girl. “You can stop to think, well, what does it mean to be a young girl and what does it mean to be African

Contact Mackenzie at mackenzie. krumme@wcinet.com.

What: Verona Road Business Coalition “Open Roads Ahead” celebration When: 5-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2 Where: Wisconsin Bank & Trust, 6180 Verona Road Info: Search “Verona Road Business Coalition” on Facebook K9 Drago are also expected to attend. There will also be a ribbon cutting during the event. Parking will be available at Monkeyshines, Jung’s Garden Center and Advance Auto Parts. Free tickets can be reserved at eventbrite.com.

Swing Fest set for Sept. 13, 14 MACKENZIE KRUMME

If You Go

Unified Newspaper Group

Hosted in a restored barn built in the 1870s, Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest returns for its 18th year. Headliners of the Madison-based band Harmonious Wail organized the “gypsy swing extravaganza” starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 and 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 at Art in the Barn, 5927 Adams Road. Tickets start at $35 on Friday and $40 on Saturday, guests who purchase general admission tickets are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or a blanket to sit on. Tickets can be purchased online by searching Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest 2019 on brownpapertickets.com. Both days include a 5:30 p.m. Wisconsin Brewing Company happy hour with Denver-based band LAPOMPE and an evening

What: Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest When: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 Where: Art in the Barn, 5927 Adams Road Info: midwestgypsy swingfest.com “Gypsy Campfire” jam. The lineup includes Harmonious Wail, Joscho Stephan of Germany, Milwaukee Hot Club, Steve Gibon’s Gypsy Rhythm Project and Don Stierberg Trio. There will be vendors with food available for purchase but guests are allowed to bring picnics. For more info, visit midwestgypsyswingfest.com.

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American?” Gundersen said. Throughout his second book, “ D e n t i n a ,” t h e c y n i c a l p u r pled-haired tooth fairy stopped believing in children, thinking they only desired her money. She discovers through a series of notes that the children she visits instead want Dentina to help their sick friend. The subtle message, Gundersen said, is that people are always cynical about younger generations. He believes, however, if children are raised with the right stuff – meaning love and guidance – they turn out well. Today, Gundersen goes into classrooms in the Verona Area School District to read his books to kids. He wears costumes crafted by his staff at the his dentist office including a pirate costume and in the future, a purple wig. He hopes to write a third book about Norwegian bacteria trolls in the near future. “(In the U.S.) you’re always brushing the ‘sugar bugs’ off of your teeth. In Norway, they talk about these tiny little ‘tooth trolls,’ Gundersen said.

The U.S. Hwy. 18-151 overpass crossing McKee Road isn’t done yet, but the Verona Road Business Coalition is getting ready to celebrate anyway. VRBC will hold an “Open Roads Ahead” celebration 5-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Wisconsin Bank and Trust, 6180 Verona Road. It will also be a celebration of the Nesbitt-Fitchrona intersection, which is expected to have a completed roundabout by then. The event will include a block party with food trucks, a beer tent and a classic car show. Wheelhouse and the Black Star Drum Line are set to perform live music, and Bucky Badger, Maynard the Mallard and Fitchburg police

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Dr. David Gundersen considers himself the first person to name the tooth fairy. The Fitchburg dentist’s second children’s book, titled “Dentina,” lays claim to that fame. “Dentina,” published in 2018, tells the story of a cynical tooth fairy with purple hair. This book, and his first book, “Blacktooth,” have messages to make dental hygiene fun but also divulge deeper meanings for children and parents. As a teacher in Compton, California, Gundersen heard complaints of tooth pain from his students. The students would pull back their cheek to reveal a mouth full of rotten teeth. “‘Mr. Gundersen, my mouth hurts,’” he recalled the children saying. “It was tragic.” He wanted to become a dentist to administer direct care. He knew children couldn’t learn while experiencing mouth pain, he said. After a 16 year career in public health policy, he graduated from the Marquette University’s School of Dentistry in 2011. Two years ago, he started writing his children’s book under the pen name Davie Fletcher. “These books wrote themselves,” he said. “It was kind of a compulsion, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a compulsion to do anything like this before.” His first book “Blacktooth,” tells the “kind of true tale” of why every dentist office carries a treasure chest. Gundersen remembers the inspiration of the book coming from young patients. He would tell them the story of the tough dentists, bribed by scary pirates. The pirates bribe dentists because if pirates had clean teeth, they would lose their bad reputations. After explaining the story, Gundersen would guide patients to the treasure chest sitting in his dental office full of toys, proof of the pirate bribes. Yet, some patients still did not

Verona Road

Unified Newspaper Group

MACKENZIE KRUMME

Fitchburg Star

September 13, 2019

ConnectFitchburg.com

Fitchburg Star

Businesses range from young to old

City of Fitchburg

North Stoner Prairie rezone approved

‌CONNOR WOOD Star correspondent‌

Two of the 38 histories on the Fitchburg Historical Society website as of Sept. 11 are Ganshert Nursery and Landscapes and Family Pharmacy. At 60 years and six years old respectively, they show the range of businesses included in the project. Both were written by Tereba; some of the others have been submitted. Ganshert Nursery and Landscapes relocated from near St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison to Fitchburg off of Seminole Highway in 1959. Paul Ganshert’s father used the land to grow trees for the nursery, which confused his farming neighbors. Paul explained that under his father, the company had done “anything you could think of outside” but now uses contractors as well. He grew up learning from his father and eventually went to school to become a landscape architect. Ganshert’s found Fitchburg as a convenient place to have some land for the nursery but still be rather close to urban Madison customers. But Fitchburg has grown a lot over the past fifty years, and the nursery is now off Lacy Road. “Fitchburg’s always been great, pretty relaxed,” Ganshert said about the business environment in town. Family Pharmacy, on Fish Hatchery Road, is in Fitchburg for a very different reason. Thad Shumacher started the business in 2013 as part of a regional chain but are now completely independent. “I think every community

KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

With concerns about traffic congestion cleared up, a controversial housing development at the intersection of Lacy Road and Seminole Highway has gotten the city’s approval. The Crescent Crossing subdivision is down to one mostly procedural step after the Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 10, to rezone the northeast corner of that intersection. The rezone conforms with the city’s North Stoner Prairie neighborhood plan, which the council and Plan Commission agreed to change earlier this year after several months of disagreement brought on by complaints from neighbors. A switch in 2017 to accommodate a church allowed high density development there, and more than 100 people attended a neighborhood meeting in a snowstorm in January 2018 to oppose a proposal that included high-density apartments. Veridian Homes’ proposal, introduced this summer, would put 65 single family and 56 twin homes on those 20.9 acres. A two-week postponement of the council’s vote on rezoning the property last month gave Brian Munson, principal urban designer for Vandewalle and Associates representing Veridian Homes, a chance to talk to the developer controlling the property east of Crescent Crossing. He told the council that developer planned on putting in a second access road that would connect to Lacy Road in 2020. “I think that lines up quite nicely with our phasing,” he said. The answer seemed to appease the council’s concerns about traffic flow into the neighborhood. Alders unanimously approved changing the zoning from rural residential to a planned development district with medium density. “I think a lot of questions have been answered,” Ald. Dan Bahr (Dist. 2) said. “I think Veridian’s acting in good faith, and I do think it’s time for us to move on.” In the development plan submitted to the council on Aug. 27, only one access road

Rendering courtesy Veridian Homes

The preliminary design for the Crescent Crossing development at the corner of Lacy Road and Seminole Highway in the North Stoner Prairie neighborhood. District 1, shown in yellow, would consist of single-family homes, while Districts 2 and 3 would hold twin homes. All homes would be built on compact lots.

was designed into the Crescent Crossing neighborhood on Seminole Highway. Veridian representatives said nearby developments would eventually feed into it, but alders did not respond well to that vague assurance. Ald. Tom Clauder (D-4) advocated for more information on a second access road into the neighborhood because of safety concerns. Clauder told the council Tuesday that with a second access point into Crescent Crossing planned for construction and the development meeting the needs of neighbors in the adjacent neighborhoods, the project is “where it should be.” “I’m not as high on my horse as I was two weeks ago,” he said. “I’ve always said that all along that we need another exit, and I’m still saying that.”

FHS business histories Agrace Bavaria Sausage Benjamin Plumbing Bilancio Eyewear Break Away Sports Center Bricks & Minifigs Certco, Inc. Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Company DC Interiors & Renovations Dragonfly Hot Yoga Edward Jones – Stephanie Blankenheim Edward Jones – Denise Faust Edward Jones – Curt Arnold & Matt Miron Edward Jones – Brad Stepp Fitchburg Cycles Fitchburg Family Pharmacy Ganshert Nursery and Landscapes, LLC

needs an independent pharmacy,” Shumacher said. Both businesses are active in philanthropy and keep close connections to other community groups. Ganshert said he has worked with the Fitchburg Chamber Visitor and Business Bureau his whole career and that the company has also donated landscaping for other businesses and nonprofits, including the Ronald McDonald House. Schumacher is involved with a charity bike ride g r o u p c a l l e d t h e Fa m ily Pharmacy Pill Peddlers, which donates to the

General Beverage General Communications Gordon Flesch Company iCOMBAT K & A Gardens Kelly-Moss Road and Race Liliana’s Restaurant Mapping Specialists Me & Julio Midwest Decorative Stone and Landscape Supply Mooyah Noble Knight Games Oak Bank PEGEX, Inc. Placon Corporation Terso Solutions Tingalls Graphic Design Tri-North Ward-Brodt Wingra Stone Company / Wingra Redi-Mix, Inc. Yahara Bay Distillers

Fitchburg Festival of Speed and the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, where he is a board member. Cycling ties in with the Chamber’s efforts to promote the sport in Fitchburg. “We have unbelievable path system, probably the only roundabout for bicycles in the country, and so I think that we’re able to play off each other that way,” he said. “So they promote my business as a business and they promote that part of our community outreach, as well. And so we kinda get a two-fold approach.”

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Fitchburg Historical Society president Allan Tereba adds businesses to the FHS website on Thursday, Aug. 15, in the FHS office off the Fitchburg Room in the library.

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Historical: Business stories available online like Ganshert Nursery, have been in Fitchburg for over half a century and others, like Family Pharmacy, are much newer. Tereba started the project by asking businesses to submit histories themselves. After getting limited responses, he started writing some from newspaper articles and the business websites. He still welcomes business submissions and hopes

as more show up on the site, other businesses will be encouraged to participate. “If someone comes to the site and is searching through businesses, they have the contact information,” he said. “We’re trying to promote businesses.” The FHS website had 38 businesses under its “Business” tab as of Sept. 11. Included are links to the pages with the individual histories and a map of where the businesses are located.

Tereba updates the page in batches, as he has to change the map every time he does so. Still, he’s glad to be making progress and finding the histories these businesses have in the area. “(It let’s) people find out about the history of Fitchburg without making an appointment,” Tereba said. “By having the website, they can do a lot of searching and hopefully find what they want, and if they don’t, they can contact us.”

City news

ConnectFitchburg.com

September 13, 2019

Fitchburg Star

Council Finance director: Budget ‘going to be a struggle’ creates housing committee Need to cut $470K, not including new programs as CIP approved SCOTT GIRARD

Unified Newspaper Group

Nine person group will study city housing needs KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

A new nine person committee will aim to help guide future housing growth in Fitchburg. The Housing Advisory Committee was approved with a unanimous vote from seven alders, with Ald. Julia Arata-Fratta (Dist. 2) absent from the meeting. The committee is the result of a study that looked at the city’s housing needs last fall, and included a recommendation for such a group. The Housing Advisory Committee is supposed to help direct city funds toward gaps in the housing market identified by the Fitchburg Housing Plan. Those gaps include a lack of single-family housing, especially at an affordable price, and balancing that with multi-family development projects, which are also needed to keep up with demand, city economic development director Mike Zimmerman told the Star last October. The committee will be a nine person body, with one alder, one representative from the Community and Economic Development Authority and seven members at-large appointed by the mayor and approved by the Council, with three of those members being Fitchburg residents. At-large members shall have a background in housing, including development, finance or management, according to the ordinance governing the committee. By state statute, the city’s Community and Economic Development Authority would still serve as the official housing authority for the city, but the housing advisory committee would recommend policies and study housing needs. The committee was approved with one change from its initial proposal. Ald. Dan Bahr (D-2) proposed reducing the number of seats occupied by a CEDA representative to one, and giving an additional seat back to an at-large member to “avoid a CEDA-driven process,” he said. “This more reflects how our other committees stack up,” he said. “I’d like to ensure that the Council is driving the train, and that we have people that are sort of dictated, not so much by CEDA, but rather, by the Council, by the mayor, by elected officials, so they can reflect the views of our citizens.” Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.

Coming up with a budget proposal within levy limits is “going to be a struggle” this year, finance director Misty Dodge told the Common Council Aug. 13. During a discussion of amendments to the 2020-29 Capital Improvement Plan, Dodge told alders that Mayor Aaron Richardson will have to cut $470,000 from the existing budget for his upcoming proposal, not including any new programs they may want to or will be necessary to add. “There’s some new proposals that we frankly have to do,” Dodge said. “There’s a presidential election coming up, we’re going to need more poll workers.” Her comments came in response to a proposal that would’ve added $250,000 to the 2020 funding in the CIP, a 10-year planning document that was approved unanimously that night. The CIP does not set any spending in stone, but its first year is typically used as a baseline for the mayor’s budget proposal. That $250,000 to resurface streets in the Briarwood neighborhood was voted down. No other amendments will affect the 2020 budget, though the two most

significant were approved. The biggest adds $35 million for a police station facility — $15 million more than the original proposed amendment. The other major amendment approval was to move up construction at the Seminole Highway-Lacy Road intersection to 2021-22, swapping it with Fitchrona Road construction and making it budget-neutral. Richardson’s proposed CIP would have dropped capital spending by $2 million from its current level, with $23.2 million on 2020 projects. It also forecasted an annual drop through 2023, falling to $17.8 million in 2021, $8.6 million in 2022 and $7 million in 2023. The police station amendment changed that to increase in 2023, as the construction would begin on a new facility.

Police station The CIP now plans for a 75,000 square foot police facility to be built next decade at a cost of $35 million. Ald. Dan Bahr (Dist. 2) had proposed an amendment to Richardson’s initial proposal to increase funding, but only up to $20 million for a 40,000 square foot facility – 10,000 of which would’ve been for parking. Richardson supported that amendment, saying the numbers in last year’s CIP were “grossly inadequate.” “What we had in there was really far off; we still might be off, but

we’re at least closer,” he said. “It’ll be talked about by future councils more and more.” Other alders wanted more assurance, and did not want the police chief to come back year after year to new estimates. “Since I have been here, every year we have been changing our tone,” said Ald. Julia Arata-Fratta (D-2). “They need the space. We need to start moving forward and not change this any more.” The group eventually approved changing it to the $35 million for the larger space, which was recommended in a 2015 space needs study.

Lacy-Seminole moves up

this up a little bit to get this on the city’s radar quicker,” Clauder said. “It needs help.”

Other amendments

The other four amendment proposals from alders got a mixed reception. The street resurfacing proposal for Briarwood was voted down, with only Clauder and fellow District 4 Ald. Janell Rice voting in favor. A proposal to add $87,106 to the 10-year plan for a drone program that would be used by multiple departments was zeroed out. Alders said they supported the idea of the program, which could allow a drone for uses such as economic development and public safety, but did not want to commit funding. Instead, they suggested staff seek grants for the funding. “We have to think about wants and we have to think about needs,” Bahr said. “This is a want.” A n a m e n d m e n t t o r e m ove $25,000 in 2021 funding for the Verona Road Business Coalition was approved, along with a plan to fund the completion of the Dunn’s Marsh recreational circuit. The latter funding would fall sometime during 2025-29, and Ald. Dorothy Krause (D-1) was confident much of it could be covered by grants and partnerships with other municipalities.

Moving construction at the Lacy-Seminole intersection up two years initially set off “some red flags” among city staff, administrator Patrick Marsh said. With Fitchrona Road already scheduled for construction in 2021-22, staff wanted to be sure not to have both undergoing closures at the same time. Marsh said that after talking with the public works department, swapping the projects – Fitchrona Road is now planned for 2023-24 – made sense because of some more stormwater analysis needed for Fitchrona Road, anyway. Ald. Tom Clauder (D-4), who proposed the amendment, called the intersection a mess that needs to be cleaned up as development on a variety of businesses and housing Contact Scott Girard at ungreportcontinues in the area grows. er@wcinet.com and follow him on “All I’m trying to do is move Twitter @sgirard9.

Edgewood athletic complex proposal faces challenges Needs several approvals by 2021 KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group

A plan to put athletic fields and an outdoor learning complex near the corner of Lacy Road and Seminole Highway has been received well by alders, but logistical concerns could make the timeline difficult to accomplish. Edgewood College hopes to make the 40-acre plot “shovel-ready” by 2021, but because it would be outside the city’s urban development boundaries, it would need to go through the city’s comprehensive plan process and a separate regional and state approval.

Some alders expressed skepticism at the Sept. 10 Common Council meeting that it would be feasible. It’s still early in the process, and there was no action planned for the meeting, only feedback to give Edgewood College officials an idea of what challenges it might face. It’s expected to return for Plan Commission and Common Council in the coming months. The Plan Commission had told Edgewood to come back this year when the city’s comprehensive plan update was being done. But in July, alders voted on a seven-month time frame for the comprehensive plan to be completed by the spring election, making it nearly impossible to include the Edgewood project.

That leaves alders with three options. One would be to amend the comprehensive plan to allow that kind of development in the future. Another would be to extend the seven-month timeline for finishing the plan, which was a source of contentious debate this summer. The third would be to have Edgewood come back in 10 years to try again, an option Mary Ellen Gevelinger, interim president, said the school is not interested in. “I must express my concern that choosing to exclude Edgewood from the 10-year update, effectively, the choice before you, would result in Edgewood backing away from this development opportunity,” she said. “I want to be clear that Edgewood is

not in a position to speculate, and our offer to purchase the O’Brien property cannot be extended on the mere possibility of approval for development at some point in the future.” There’s multiple layers to getting the development approved, including amending the comprehensive plan, including it within the city’s Future Urban Development Areas and then getting approval for sewer and water services through the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission and state Department of Natural Resources. “There’s time for public input, there’s time for intergovernmental approvals; Edgewood can assist in that process,” Michael Guns, chief financial officer for Edgewood College, told the council. “All it takes is the

political will to include the project in the plan.” The athletic and outdoor learning complex would include baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, a soccer stadium, a track and discus and shot put rings, as well as an indoor turf facility and clubhouse. The remaining acreage would be a wetland area, maintained by Edgewood environmental science students. The fields would have the ability to hold water underneath them in case of a large rain event. “I think it’s a good project and I don’t want to lose it,” Ald. Tom Clauder (Dist. 4) said. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.

County M closing for six weeks SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group

Another major thoroughfare in the City of Fitchburg will be under construction beginning next week. County Hwy. M, one of the signed alternate routes to avoid the Verona Road construction project, will be resurfaced from Monday, Sept. 16, through Friday, Oct. 25. The project will take place in two sections, with traffic restricted to local only during the work. The road is scheduled to be closed from County Hwy. MM in Oregon to Fish Hatchery Road from Sept. 16 through Oct. 4. Crews plan to then resurface the road

between Fish Hatchery Road and just west of County Hwy. PB in Verona Oct. 7-25. Suggested alternate routes from the state Department of Transportation are Verona Road and the Beltline. “Access will be maintained to area businesses and residences within the project limits,” a DOT news release states. “Motorists with a destination along County M are strongly encouraged to plan ahead, allow additional travel time, and proceed with caution in the work zone.” For information and updates on all Verona Road projects, visit VeronaRoadProject.wi.gov or follow the Facebook page, WIVeronaRoadProject.

Photo by Scott Girard

E. Cheryl Parkway closure

East Cheryl Parkway is closed between Woods Hollow Road and Hollyhock Street until Nov. 1. Crews began work on reconstructing the roundabout at the intersection with Fahey Glen on Sept. 3. Access to businesses, including Agrace, Agora and Promega facilities, remains open.

September 13, 2019

City news

Fitchburg Star

ConnectFitchburg.com

Strassman appointed to Dist. 3 seat through April 2020 Nurse fills vacancy created by Dan Carpenter’s resignation

Shannon Strassman received four votes from the other seven alders at the Aug. 13 meeting to appoint her to the seat left vacant by Dan Carpenter’s resignation this year when he moved out of SCOTT GIRARD District 3. She will serve in the District 3, Unified Newspaper Group Seat 6 role until April 2020, until The Fitchburg Common Coun- the election for a two-year term for the seat. cil has eight alders again. Strassman interviewed at the

July 24 Committee of the Whole meeting along with Sam Voorhees and Patrick Cheney, the other two applicants for the open seat. The UW Health nurse said that night she appreciated what Carpenter, now her predecessor, did in his more than six years in the seat. “I do believe in a lot of the things that Dan stands for,” she said. “We need to be transparent

and listen to the people that we represent and really take in account what they want instead of what we think is best for them.” She did not take strong positions on specific topics during the interview, but said single-family housing affordability was the most important issue in the city. She said the city needs a balance of single and multifamily housing.

She told alders she was excited for the chance to learn and serve her community if chosen. “Hopefully I will be able to learn a lot from you if I get the opportunity,” Strassman said. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.

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Q. What is tendonitis and how is it treated? A. A tendon is a strong band of smooth connective tissue that attaches a muscle

Q. Is it more beneficial for athletes to get a massage the day before or after an event?

to a bone. It is contained within a covering, called the tendon sheath, which allows the tendon to slide easily when the muscle contracts and relaxes. Tendonitis (or tendinitis) occurs when the tendon becomes inflamed, generally from overuse, repetition, injury or trauma to the tendon. Tendonitis often occurs in the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, foot or ankle and is noted more frequently in athletes as well Susan Armstrong, MPT as persons with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes. Sharp, burning Physical Therapist pain, loss of motion, decreased strength, inflexibility and loss of function occur when the inflamed tendon is pulled through the sheath by the muscle. Physical Therapy provides significant relief of inflammation and pain, then focuses on restoration of range of motion, strength, and functional movement. Contact Stellar Rehabilitation for more information at 845-2100 or www.stellarrehab.com.

Comprehensive Therapy Services 1049 N. Edge Trail • Prairie Oaks (608) 845-2100 • Verona, WI 53593 • www.stellarrehab.com

102 N. Franklin Street • Verona, WI 53593 (608) 848-1800 • unwinchiropractic.com

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REALTOR

DENTIST

Q. How does mouth breathing affect my child’s facial development? A. It’s easy to forget how strong our tongues can be! If your child is a “mouth breather,”

(608) 845-6127

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105 N. Main St., Verona • MainStreetDentists.com

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Drs. Kate & John Schacherl, D.D.S.

their tongue often positions itself in the lower jaw to allow him/her to breathe more readily through their mouth. Did you know that this continued pressure of the tongue can change the growth of the lower jaw? The jaw can grow more vertically, causing the face to grow longer. It’s really this simple. Nasal breathing is optimal and results in optimal facial growth and development. Mouth breathing is not normal, but it may be what your child needs to do to get critical oxygen to their body and brain when they cannot breathe through their nose. The first step is learning the reason for your child’s mouth breathing with an airway examination. Drs. John and Kate Schacherl have extensive training in airway orthodontics and breathing disorders. We’re here to help. Call to schedule your free consultation appointment.

Q. What can I do to get my house ready to sell? A. Most sales include an inspection contingency, so walk through your

home prior to listing it to look for potential issues and address them in advance. Repair or replace leaky faucets, any doors that stick, stained concrete, dirty carpeting or dinged up corners of walls and improve your landscaping so your house and lawn is well-kept. Declutter your home to allow for more space. Paint your home with light or neutral colors to make it feel more comfortable. As a Fitchburg Shawn Pfaff Realtor, I happily provide Sellers insight to current market conditions, marketing strategies and negotiations skills to ensure the sale of their home is as easy and cost-effective as possible. If you need assistance getting your home prepared to sell, please contact me at pfaffs@ firstweber.com.

(608) 628-3275

2985 Triverton Pike Dr., Ste. 200, Fitchburg, WI 53711 pfaffs@firstweber.com • www.shawnpfaff.firstweber.com

MORTGAGE BANKING

Kathleen C. Aiken

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The best answer for athletes is to do both, however if asked to pick one I would say it is better for athletes to receive massage as soon after their event as possible. Post event Massage Therapy helps facilitate and shorten the Jill Unwin, Lee Unwin, recovery process. It helps keep the muscles infused with DC, CCEP BCMT, CSCS oxygenated and nutrient rich blood; this keeps the muscles from becoming knotted and stiff, which allows you to be less sore and tight the days following your event. The exception to this choice depends on how you are feeling the days before your event. Should you feel like your legs are heavy or your body is generally tight from training then I would recommend a pre-event massage so that you can get your legs refreshed and the muscles loosened so that you can go into your event feeling the best you can possibly feel.

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SENIOR CARE

Q. Should I get a fixed rate or adjustable rate? A. A fixed-rate mortgage means that you'll pay the same interest rate throughout the life of your loan. On the other hand, an adjustablerate mortgages starts out with a low interest rate for a set period of time (three or five years are common), and then adjusts according to market rates. In a low-rate environment, like we're currently in, it's generally beneficial to lock in a fixed rate, unless you only plan to be in the home for a short period of time.

Q. What is the Corporate Culture of Comfort Keepers? A. At Comfort Keepers, our greatest asset is our dedicated

Stephen Rudolph FACHE, CSA

team of caring professionals. Comfort Keepers employees undergo a rigorous series of interviews before hiring, and, once on board, our team members are extensively trained in the responsibilities and duties required of elderly care. Our team members are happy and motivated to provide excellent quality care for the elderly, physically impaired, and those with dementia. In addition to superior care, we emphasize the importance of treating our clients with the same grace, dignity, and compassion that every person deserves. We are committed to protecting the independence, safety and happiness of seniors and those with disabilities.

To apply online, go to: associatedbank.com/kaiken 579 D'Onofrio Drive, Suite 10, Madison, WI 53719

(608) 442-1898 • www.comfortkeepers.com/madison-wi

VETERINARIAN

CREMATION SERVICES

your cat runs wild at night or has never set a paw outside the home, vaccines are a great first line of defense against the life-threatening, preventable, and even zoonotic (transmissible to humans) diseases caused by viruses and bacteria spread by wildlife or sometimes even neighboring, unvaccinated pets. Vaccines help an animal’s immune system develop the antibodies required to fight the infection should an unexpected exposure occur and offer protection throughout life when regularly boostered. Vaccines should be considered a regular part of the comprehensive veterinary care that will help your cats lead long, healthy lives—even when that’s entirely within the security of your home. Though each individual cat’s lifestyle will differ, the Rabies, RCP (Rhinotracheitis/ Calici/Panleukopenia viruses), and Feline Leukemia vaccines represent the core group most veterinary practices will recommend. Give your cat a fighting chance in this unpredictable world and schedule an appointment with your local veterinarian, you’ll be protecting yourself, your family, and your other pets along the way!

Q. Could you explain in detail why we would find it to our advantage to pre-pay our cremation? A. We would be happy to explain the advantages of pre-planning, but we know it’s an individual decision. Each person we meet with has so many different needs and/or concerns. If you want a free brochure on the advantages of pre-planning, please call or send a message to the listed email and we will get one to you.

Cremation Society Jodi Johnston • 1-608-438-7437 E-Mail: jjohnston_4@charter.net

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If you would like to join our Ask the Professional Section, contact Daniel Duquette at 835-6677 to find out how!

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Q. My cat has been indoor-only since we got her as a kitten, does she really need vaccines? A. Too often we fear what we don’t understand, add a needle into the mix and somehow it gets worse! Whether

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117 King St. • Stoughton, WI 53589 608-873-6755 kathy.aiken@associatedbank.com

ConnectFitchburg.com

September 13, 2019

Fitchburg Star

Station: No. 3 on eastern side of the city designed for safety, training and staff needs Station No. 3 is convenient for other departments’ training because of its location, Pulvermacher said. “(The station is) somewhat central, parking is good and they have the ability to get home a little bit quicker, especially if they’re coming from the south side of Dane County,” he said. “We try to reach out as much as possible and be that go-to agency.”

Continued from page 1 including a kitchen with appliances sourced from Sub-Zero, a workout room, a meeting room that can fit all 80 department employees, a locker room with gender-neutral private bathrooms and spaces where staff can run practice drills. “For certain things that we do, from a confined space or a firefighter rescue standpoint, those drills are actually built into the station,” Pulvermacher said. Fire Station No. 3 has design features intended to make calls faster and safer for staff, including moving the lockers into an alcove away from the diesel machines to prevent inhalation of fumes, as well as prevent accidents, and positive pressure spaces to insulate the rest of the station from soot-stained gear. The city has been planning for Stations No. 2 and 3 for a decade. Ald. Tom Clauder (Dist. 4), who was mayor when the city began planning for it, told the Star that even then, city officials had a good idea of where the city would see growth. The location was chosen after a city committee saw a need for a new fire station in that part of the city, based on future development predictions, Clauder added. “We were going to build to the east,” he said. “We needed a place that would be good for all of the residents over there.” The city plans to eventually use station’s training room as a polling location for District 4 residents, Pulvermacher said. In addition to the development that has been edging toward U.S. Hwy. 14, the city soon will expand further the east under an agreement it’s had for nearly two decades to absorb parts of the Town of Madison. The town will dissolve by October 2022, and its area south of the Beltline will become part of Fitchburg. That makes having an east side fire station important, Ald. Janell Rice (D-4) said, to be able to have services near where a growing population lives and lower response times. Despite Station No. 3 having only been functional for less than two weeks, response times on the eastern side of the city have already decreased by a minute-and-a-half, Rice said. “If you know anyone who has ever had a stroke, you know that 1.5 minutes changes the quality of life of that person going

Meeting staff needs

Photos by Kimberly Wethal

The locker alcove sits off the apparatus bay. It was specifically designed differently than the Lacy Road location, which had the lockers along the wall. It was changed to make a safer environment for firefighters, deputy chief of operations Chad Grossen said.

Manholes, like the one above, are built into the station floors and ceilings to provide firefighters training opportunities. At left, Lt. Joe Krenz works out in Station No. 3’s training room, which is designed to provide firefighters and EMS personnel with the cardio and strength workouts they need. forward,” she said. “The fact that we’ve got appropriate resources close to not only where our citizens are, but where our growth is … I think that this particular location is going to give the people that live over in that area peace of mind.”

Safety in mind When considering the design for Station No. 3, Grossen’s top priority was ensuring staff could do their jobs safely. That manifested into a facility that focuses on risk reduction, he added. The design of the Lacy Road station had firefighters putting their gear out in the apparatus bay, with lockers

lining the walls. “What was happening is that you may have firefighters come in and slipping on the floors as a truck would go out the door,” he said. “So we’re eliminating the risk of you getting your gear on and trucks pulling out no more than a foot away from you.” The open-air locker alcove allows for a barrier for equipment, as well, with a positive pressure setup to keep the smell of soot inside so fans can suck them out, allowing outerwear to air-dry more effectively, Grossen said. “It goes up and out, instead of the smell going out into the apparatus bay,” he said.

Training-friendly The station features a few manholes that lead to nowhere. And they weren’t mistakes. T h o s e , P u l ve r m a c h e r

The station is also designed to be comfortable for firefighters who work long shifts. There are 12 bunk rooms, plus dorms reserved specially for fire department interns, who live at the station fulltime for the duration of their employment, Pulvermacher said. Not far from the dorms, there’s a workout facility stocked with strength and cardio equipment to help firefighters stay in the physical shape the job demands of them, Pulvermacher said. “A lot of what we’re doing in here reflects the workouts required for fire, EMS and emergency services,” Pulvermacher said. Just past the dorms, the non-private locker room features rows of lockers for firefighters and EMS personnel, plus three private bathrooms that include showers. Because the fire station is meant to be useful for a few decades, Pulvermacher said, building private bathrooms within the locker room accommodates whatever staff the departments will have in the future, regardless of gender. “This way, it doesn’t matter how many men or women I have on the crew that day, I can send them all to the showers after a fire and get them back in service quicker,” he said. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.

explained, are a built-in train- will attend classes there ing exercise to prepare fire- along with trainings with othfighters for a variety of situa- er regional fire departments. tions. They’re part of several training-friendly amenities at the station. Pulvermacher noted the basement, as a result, has manhole covers on its ceiling. “It’s a no-nonsense, functional area that isn’t intended to be pretty,” he said. A door in the wall from the mezzanine above the garage opens to the outside, allowing staff to run drills involving multi-story cascades. The training room on the northern end of the building is meant as a multi-function space, for use by the department or other city departments who are in need of a larger gathering space. To learn more about Paws With A Cause and to find out Pulvermacher said stuhow you can help, just download this simple app and dents in the Madison College watch this story come to life: fire services training program

Connecting New Residents with Local Resources

GET ZAPPAR ZAP THE CODE TO DONATE

Photo by Kimberly Wethal

Station No. 3 features a non-private locker room that has three private bathrooms inside that allow firefighters or EMS staff more privacy. Each bathroom holds a shower.

Welcomes You to the Neighborhood!

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Contact Melissa@hometownhowdydo.com to participate

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Provided as a community service by this civic minded publication and the Association of Free Community Publications

14 Fitchburg Star - September 13, 2019

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=98880

PLASTIC PLANET MOVIE SHOWING AT THE LIBRARY

SENIOR CENTER 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Thursday, September 19th ~ 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Since plastic became popular in the 1960’s, it has become a part of our daily lives. Plastic Planet shows why we have been called the “children of plastic”, how prevalent plastic has become and why it now threatens both the environment and human health. Join Fitchburg’s Resource Conservation Commission and the Fitchburg Library for this eye-opening documentary on Wednesday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fitchburg Library. Popcorn and lemonade provided.

Join the Fitchburg Senior Center to celebrate 40 years with food trucks, beverages, memorabilia, tours, and music by the Red Hot Horn Dawgs (performing outside – please bring a chair) on September 19th at the Senior Center, 5510 Lacy Road. Attendees will have an opportunity to talk with staff and learn more about the important role the Senior Center plays in our community. For more information, contact Senior Center Director, Jill McHone at (608) 270-4291.

PUBLIC HEARINGS ON MAYOR’S PROPOSED 2020 OPERATING BUDGET October 8, 2019 November 12, 2019 7:30 p.m. Council Chambers – City Hall The Common council will hold public hearings on the dates listed above regarding the Mayor’s proposed 2020 Operating Budget. The Mayor’s proposed budget will be available on the city’s website on September 20th.

RECREATION DEPARTMENT Go to www.fitchburgwi.gov/recreation and click on “View Activities” to see our full list of programs!

Musikgarten – Fall Songs & Sounds!

Enjoy revisiting songs and rhymes from childhood that encourage musical exploration of the fall season! We will sing, move, dance, draw and even celebrate Halloween with a costume day! This is a multi-age music experience for families of children ages birth-4 years old. Children are fully engaged in the playful music making process right along with their parent/guardian! • Days – Thursdays, Oct. 3 – 31 (No class on Oct. 24) • Time - 9:00-9:40 a.m. • Location – Fitchburg Community Center – Prairie View Room • Ages – Less than 5 yrs. • Fee - $48

Spanish for Preschoolers – Welcome to Spanish

Children ages 3-5 learn Spanish vocabulary and basic phrases in a fun and active way with these lively classes. Award-winning teacher, Marti Fechner of Grow into Spanish LLC, incorporates music, movement, games, stories and more to make learning Spanish easy and engaging for preschool-age children. It is easy for children to learn a foreign language at this young age, and SO beneficial. Come try it! It is a great way to prepare your child for a bilingual future. • Ages – 3-5 • Day – Thursdays, November 5 – January 14 • Time – 9:30-10:15 am • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $90

Soccer (Ages 3-5)

This coed program will introduce the basic skills of soccer including dribbling, passing, and shooting. Shin guards are recommended and do not forget a water bottle. This is an instructional program. Participants will not be placed on teams or contacted by a coach. Please plan to arrive a couple minutes early to check in on the first date of the program. Participants receive a t-shirt. • Days – Saturdays, Sept. 28 – Oct. 19 • Time - 10:00-10:45 a.m. • Location – Tower Hill Park • Ages – 3-5 • Fee - $25

Spooky STEM (Ages 6-10)

DEXAFIT – BOOST YOUR BONES CLASS Tuesdays & Thursdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. October 1 – November 7 ~ $60 All levels are welcome. The class is held at the Fitchburg Senior Center and focuses on improving bone density.Call the Senior Center at 270-4290 for more information. Sign up deadline is September 24th.

FALL CLEANUP DAY - SATURDAY, NOV. 2, 2019 Save the date for Fitchburg’s fall cleanup day featuring paper shredding, electronics recycling, and medicine disposal.

Spend your day off from school with this spooky themed STEM program! We will be experimenting with science, technology, engineering, and math in all sorts of unique ways. We will be using pumpkins, apples, and creating monsters! This program will be run by a recreational therapist and will support the needs of all individuals and abilities. • Day – Friday, October 25 • Time - 1:00-3:00 pm • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $20

FITCHBURG

FIRE DEPARTMENT

OPEN HOUSE

On the Move! (Ages 6-10)

Spend a Saturday morning playing fun and active indoor games including scooter bowling and relay races. This program will be run by a recreational therapist and will support the needs of all individuals and abilities. • Day – Saturday, November 16 • Time - 9:00 am -12:00 pm • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $30

SATURDAY, OCT 12 10:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. 5791 LACY ROAD STATION 1

Martial Arts Classes – October session. (Ages 9-15 & Adults)

Martial Arts classes are held each month @ the Fitchburg Community Center. 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. Martial Arts are not about fighting, they are about self-defense and self-betterment. Therefore, we have a Code of Conduct that we expect all students to uphold. Students of any age can maximize their potential through our program and become better people.Values like courage, optimism, and humility along with concepts of leadership including; outstanding citizenship & community service are all character development goals embodied in the program. • Days – Mondays & Wednesdays, October 7 – October 30. • Time - 6:00 -6:45 pm • Location – Fitchburg Community Center • Fee - $50

The event will be on the city campus from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. Watch for more information!

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Business

ConnectFitchburg.com

September 13, 2019

Fitchburg Star

Education, customer service and change Salon KB owner Kacy Bott celebrates 10 years in business

MACKENZIE KRUMME Unified Newspaper Group

In 2005, Kacy Bott had no formal hair style training. S h e ’d b e e n c u t t i n g friends’ hair out of a garage for years. One day, while getting her hair done for a wedding, Bott remembers the stylist asking, “You’ve been cutting your hair by yourself?” “And I was like, ‘I know, I’m embarrassed,’” Bott said. “She goes, ‘No, you should be a hairdresser.’” Before the appointment was over, Bott interviewed and accepted a position as a style apprentice. In July of this year, her salon in Fitchburg, Salon KB, celebrated 10 years in business. With the help of family and friends, Bott opened her salon in just two short weeks, after the salon she was working at abruptly closed. Today, she’s still in that same location. “(At that time) none of us knew that we would’ve made it 10 years,” Bott said. Her clients are booked out months in advance and her business model adapted to a changing salon climate. She has a core staff along with a rotation of style apprentice to teach a new generation of beauticians. What she loves most about being a stylist is coloring. She said cutting hair is like geometry, but coloring is like chemistry. She is seeing more clients get bright and bold colors like hot pinks and blues, which require stylists to find a way to break down the hair molecules without damage. Her love for styling and her experience are reflected in her clientele. Bott has many long-running clients, some from when she was still an apprentice. She had one client who moved to Rhinelander and would make the three hour drive to Fitchburg every six weeks just to sit in her styling chair. “I think we have the best clientele possible here,” Bott said. To support her community and her clients, Bott annually holds fundraising drives. The salon donates a percentage of the retail

sale to such as area organizations like the Dane County Humane Society, Susan G. Komen Foundation and Arbor Day Foundation. “Pretty much everybody that works here loves animals and the environment and knows somebody that’s had some form of cancer,” Bott said. The shop regularly donates gift cards to Leopold Elementary School and Shop with a Cop and initiates bi-annual drive for things like coats, food or school supplies. This year, Bott is planning a camping gear drive for people who are homeless. She said she knew

Williamsburg Kwik Trip closes SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group

The Williamsburg Way Kwik Trip suddenly closed last month. Kwik Trip public relations director Steve Wrobel told the Star the store, which was just off Verona Road, “wasn’t doing what we had hoped.” “It was an underperforming store,” he said. “We don’t close stores very often and we don’t close them lightly.” He said both the closeness to another Kwik Trip store on McKee Road and the ongoing Verona Road construction project likely

Photo by Mackenzie Krumme

Kacy Bott styles hair for client Greg Lee on Friday, Aug. 30 at Salon KB.

factored into that performance. “So much depends on the accessibility of a store and traffic patterns and routines of people,” Wrobel said. “I think it just was one that we unfortunately had to walk away from.” The neighboring strip mall only has one remaining business open, Liquor Town. A Touch of Class Hairstyling recently moved, and Picasso’s Pizza closed in 2017. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.

someone who was homeless, so she liked the idea of collecting tents, small stoves and sleeping bags for people who are forced to live outside. “Until you get on your feet and until you find somewhere to go, at least y o u ’r e n o t f r e e z i n g t o death,” Bott said. Along with community service initiatives starting Sept. 1, Salon KB became a blended salon. A new trend, Bott said, has stylists rent chairs in an established space. The renters have their own product and their own clientele, create their own schedules and pay Salon KB rent every month.

Salon KB still has apprentices, but once they’ve graduated, their employee contract turns into a rental contract. The blended salon reduces an industry trend where stylist and employers become territorial over clientele. “When someone leaves a salon, it is usually not on good terms,” Bott said. Bott still loves a team and learning environment. She offers renters and apprentice opportunities for further training at fashion shows in New York City or right at the salon. When she can, Bott enjoys showing renters and apprentices appropriate finger positions

Business in brief

and body angles. “I always focus on education because everybody needs it,” Bott said. “Hair is always changing. Trends are always changing.” As the sole business owner, she doesn’t have much time away from the salon. However, when she does, she travels to remote camping destinations with little cell reception and few people. This summer, she went to Rock Island off the Door County coast. “I’d tell everybody, ‘OK guys, I’m going camping this weekend,’ and I’d send like a mass text and like, ‘You have one hour before I’m out of service. If there’s

construction commercial projects category of the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin’s annual Build Wisconsin Fitchburg-based Promega Corporation Awards. The company received recognition for is among 17 finalists for a set of statewide its work on Newman Heights, a UW-Platbusiness awards. teville student apartment building. The three finalists for the Wisconsin Economic Development Association’s Cosa Boutique opens Business Retention and Expansion award Cosa Boutique opened on Nesbitt Road, include Promega. celebrating with a grand opening Sept. 8. The recognition, among the six ComIt is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, munity and Economic Development Awards from WEDA, is for the biotech- Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. nology company’s new research and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday. development facility. The store features “sophisticated and The winner was announced Wednesday, fun apparel and gifts,” according to its Sept. 11, after the Star’s print deadline. website, and believes “everyone deserves Tri-North among winning entries to look good, feel good and have the opportunity to work at a job they love.” in statewide building contest The store is located at 6250 NesFitchburg-based Tri-North Builders is b i t t R o a d . Fo r i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t among 13 entrants recognized in the new cosaboutique.com.

Promega a finalist for WEDA award for new building

anything at all, let me know now,’” Bott said. She also had a woodworking shop where she builds most of the furniture for the salon, including the artwork on the walls and the display cases. As a business owner and hairstylist, she has found her niche and doesn’t picture herself going anywhere anytime soon, she said. “I say that everything in my life, all the good things that have happened to me, have been accidents,” Bott said. Contact Mackenzie at mackenzie.krumme@ wcinet.com.

Send it in! We like to send reporters to shoot photos, but we can’t be everywhere. So if you have a photo of an event or just a slice of life you think the community might be interested in, send it to us and we’ll use it if we can. Please include contact information, what’s happening in the photo and the names of people pictured. You can submit it on our website at ConnectFitchburg.com, email editor Jim Ferolie at fitchburgstar@wcinet. com or drop off electronic media at our office at 133 Enterprise Dr. in Verona. Questions? Call 845-9559.

16 Fitchburg Star - September 13, 2019

Miller & Sons Supermarket

Serving You For Over 115 Years! It’s Apple Season… and we have too many varieties to list… Every Day! Our produce section is always FRESH! Go to: millerandsonssupermarket.com and click on Weekly Ad for our specials!

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Adam Feiner, sports editor

845-9559 x226 • ungsportseditor@wcinet.com

Mark Nesbitt, assistant sports editor 845-9559 x237 • sportsreporter@wcinet.com Fax: 845-9550

Sports

Friday, xxx. xx, 2018

The

Fitchburg Star For more sports coverage, visit: ConnectFitchburg.com

Verona football

Wildcats steamrolls into Week 4 MARK NESBITT Assistant sports editor

The Verona football team is off to a high-flying start, having outscored its first three opponents 151-50. T h e Wi l d c a t s r o u t e d Janesville Craig on Friday, Sept. 6, to improve to 3-0. Verona won a 61-35 shootout at Middleton on Aug. 30, and opened the season with a 41-7 home win over Janesville Parker on Aug. 23. Verona hosts Madison West (1-2, 1-2 Big Eight) on Friday, Sept. 13. The Regents are coming off a 23-12 road loss to Middleton. “West has some athletes that can beat us, but we just have to get better at what we do,” Verona coach D ave R i c h a r d s o n s a i d . “I’m pleased with where we’re at offensively, and we’re figuring some things Photo by Mark Nesbitt out on defense. It’ll be nice Verona junior running back Jackson Acker (22) runs for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter against Middleton on Friday, to be home two weeks in a Aug. 30. Acker rushed for 243 yards and scored three touchdowns, as the Wildcats beat the Cardinals 61-35. row.” S e n i o r q u a r t e r b a c k served as a multi-purpose the scoreboard, as UniverWest beat Madison East Verona 49, sity of Wisconsin-Madi- Adam Bekx finished 6-for- back with two catches and 4 9 - 2 8 i n We e k 2 , a n d son commit Jackson Acker 10 for 137 yards and four four rushes for 89 total opened the season with a Janesville Craig 8 T h e Wi l d c a t s n e e d e d took the opening kickoff touchdowns. Junior run- yards and two touchdowns, 35-13 loss to Madison La just 12 seconds to mark 80 yards for a touchdown. ning back Graham Stier and Acker rushed for 71 Follette.

yards and a touchdown on five carries. Aubrey Dawkins caught a pair of touchdown passes.

Verona 61, Middleton 35 Acker and the Wildcats’ offense put up video-game numbers against the Cardinals. Acker rushed for 243 yards on 14 carries and had three touchdowns to power the Wildcats. Verona gashed the Cardinals for 607 rushing yards and 734 total yards. After a shootout in the first half, the Wildcats’ defense stiffened in the second half, forcing one turnover and three turnovers on downs while the offense kept chugging. Stier rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns, and Haakon Anderson ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Richardson said the last time the Wildcats had a 600-yard rushing performance was in 2011 in a playoff win over Hartland Arrowhead.

Turn to Football/Page 2

Oregon football

Panthers play close contests in first three weeks ADAM FEINER

for touchdowns on its first two possessions. Ryan McCorkle ran in from 2 yards out, and Austin Saunders raced around the right side for an 8-yard score. Matt Kissling led the Panthers’ rushing attack with seven carries for 84 yards. Szudy added 11 carries for 67 yards, Grender rushed for 42 yards on two carries, and Damien Johnson added three carries for 32. Johnson started the game with a 27-yard scamper, Saunders carried five times for 23 yards, and McCorkle rumbled for 19 yards on eight carries. Victorson was an efficient 5-for-8 for 56 yards through the air. Szudy also had three catches for 38 yards, all on screen passes.

Sports editor

The Oregon football team is off to a 1-2 start ahead of tonight’s home game against Madison Edgewood. The Panthers started their season Aug. 23 with a 20-6 road loss to Reedsburg. Oregon bounced back to beat Beaver Dam 21-14 on Aug. 30, and nearly pulled off a 22-point comeback Friday, Sept. 6, in a 42-34 home loss to rival Stoughton. Edgewood comes into Week 4 winless. The Crusaders were shut out by DeForest (47-0) in Week 1, and Watertown (41-0) in Week 3. Edgewood also lost 19-13 to Sauk Prairie.

Stoughton 42, Oregon 34 Mason Grender returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and running back Teague Szudy rumbled into the end zone from 2 yards out to pull the Panthers within a score with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Panthers’ ensuing onside kick was wiped out by illegal touching, and Stoughton ran the clock out. The Panthers tied the game at 7 on Szudy’s 2-yard touchdown run. After two Vikings’ touchdowns, Oregon’s Matt Kissling broke a tackle on his way to a 9-yard touchdown with 1:23 left before halftime to make it 21-14 Stoughton. The Vikings responded with a touchdown right before halftime and another to start the second half to increase their lead to 35-14 lead. Austin Saunders ran in for a touchdown from 4 yards out for Oregon, but Adam Hobson

Reedsburg 20, Oregon 6

Photo by Mark Nesbitt

Oregon sophomore running back Austin Saunders breaks loose for a 9-yard touchdown run in the second half against Stoughton on Friday, Sept. 6. The Panthers fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Badger South with the loss. responded with a 9-yard touchdown run of his own to extend Stoughton’s lead to 42-20 with 2:33 left in the third quarter. Matt Kissling rushed for 47 yards on six carries, while Szudy rushed for 37 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Erik Victorson completed 7 of 17 passes for 148 yards. Donovan Johnson had three receptions for 84

the Panthers past the Beavers. “I got sort of stuck in the backfield, but I saw our linemen kept moving forward,” Grender said. “I juked a guy out pretty hard and raced to the pylon to score.” rushed for 292 yards Oregon 21, Beaver Dam 14 onOregon 38 carries, including Grender’s Grender scored a go-ahead burst with 7:55 seconds remaining. 24-yard touchdown run to propel Oregon marched down the field

yards. “I thought our offense did really well and kept us in the game,” Oregon coach Dan Kissling said. “Once we settled down, we really played well.”

The Panthers’ offense struggled to find a consistent rhythm in a season-opener loss to the Beavers. The Panthers ran just 16 plays for 32 yards and two first downs in the second half. Oregon tied the game at 6 with 7:01 left in the second quarter. Johnson’s 50-yard catch and run set Oregon up at the Reedsburg 27-yard line. Defensive holding on fourth down extended the Panthers’ drive, and McCorkle capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down. The Beavers took the lead for good with a touchdown right before halftime, and tacked on another score late in the fourth quarter. Victorson finished 6-for-17 for 117 yards and an interception. The Panthers’ ground attack totaled 50 yards on 21 carries. McCorkle led the way with 23 rushing yards.

September 13, 2019

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Oregon boys soccer

Panthers stymie Crusaders in Verona MARK NESBITT Assistant sports editor

Oregon junior Pat Brognano scored his first varsity goal to propel the Panthers to a shutout over Madison Edgewood on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Reddan Soccer Park in Verona. “It felt really relieving to score that,” Brognano said. “I made it a little difficult for myself trying to dribble through players, but I got there in the end. I heard some people calling for the ball, but I took it at my own stride.” Oregon improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Badger South Conference with the win. The Panthers shut out Union Grove on Friday, Sept. 6, in a quad at Huntoon Field in Oregon, but lost 4-2 to Minnesota’s Totino-Grace a day later. Oregon kicked off its season Aug. 30 with a 1-0 loss to Pewaukee in another quad at Huntoon Field. The Panthers bounced back with a 1-0 win over De Pere a day later.

Oregon 1, Edgewood 0 Brognano dribbled around two defenders and scored in the 37th minute. “I think it was in their minds that this was the only team last year we didn’t score a goal against,” Oregon coach Chris Mitchell said. “These were the only points we left behind in conference.” Edgewood dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the Badger South with the loss. The Crusaders have lost three games against teams currently ranked in the top 10 in Division 3 – McFarland (No. 6), Mount Horeb (No. 7) and Notre Dame (No. 8). “The look of both teams is drastically different than last year,” Edgewood coach Chris Martinelli said. “Making any comparisons to last season would be unfair to the way the teams are now. Overall, I thought our team showed up and played with a lot of grit and toughness.” Edgewood has been outscored 7-0 in its first five games. “We need to become more dangerous on the attack,” Martinelli said. “We are here to compete and not to count wins and losses. When we figure out how to do that for 90 minutes and can find a more threatening nature to our attack, we will find the results.”

Photos by Mark Nesbitt

Oregon sophomore Alex Rodriguez (right) positions the ball for a shot on goal against Madison Edgewood defender Nick Stacey in the Panthers’ 1-0 win over the Crusaders on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Reddan Soccer Park in Verona. It was the Badger South Conference opener for both teams.

Stevenson Lamarre netted a hat trick for Totino-Grace. “He’s one of the best strikers we will see all year,” Mitchell said of Lammarre. “In my mind, two of their goals were unlucky. They scored three goals on dead balls, one on a free kick and two on penalty kicks. We felt good about our effort against one of the best teams in Minnesota.” Rodriguez put the Panthers on the board with a goal in the 8th minute. Rodriguez scored his second goal on a shot that snuck inside the left post on an assist by Bjerke to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the 16th minute. Lamarre scored his first goal on a cross with 3 minutes to go in the first half, scored the game-tying Totino-Grace (MN) 4, goal on a free kick in the 48th minOregon 2 ute, and netted his third goal on a The Panthers couldn’t hang on to penalty kick. Oregon goalkeeper Coltrane a two-goal lead as the visitors scored three goals in the second half. LoBreglio had eight saves.

Oregon 3, Union Grove 0 Three Panthers scored their first varsity goals. Eli Lehmann scored on a pass by Rodgriguez in the 39th minute. Ben Statz scored in the 44th minute on a header, assisted by Rodriguez. Mason Diercks scored on an assist by Bjerke in the 82nd minute. LoBreglio had six saves.

Oregon 1, DePere 0 Bjerke, who committed to Drake University on Aug. 21, headed in a cross by Brognano in the 2nd minute, and LoBreglio made eight saves to shut out the Redbirds.

Pewaukee 1, Oregon 0 LoBreglio made four saves, but Pirates goalkeeper Noah O’Neal stopped all eight shots on goal. Pewaukee’s Josh Terrian scored Oregon’s Pat Brognano (right) dribbles past Edgewood defenders Danny in the 10th minute off an assist Blachowicz (middle) and Nick Stacey in the 37th minute on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at Reddan Soccer Park. Brognano scored on the play. from Patrick Bernauer.

Football: Wildcats kick off final season at Curtis Jones Field with dominant win over Parker Continued from page 1 “This was pretty special against a good football team,” Richardson said. “We just have a lot of weapons. It’s fun to call plays because you can’t be wrong too often.”

Verona 41, Janesville Parker 7 Bekx tossed four touchdown passes to lead the Wildcats past the Vikings at Curtis Jones Field. The Wildcats were dominant early on, scoring on all four of their drives in the first half. They cashed

in on senior defensive back Michael Guy’s interception early in the first quarter with a four-play, 17-yard drive, culminating in Bekx’s 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end James Rae. Verona started the second half with a bang, as Acker bolted for a 89-yard kickoff return touchdown. He later scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter. The Verona defense had three sacks, forced one turnover and two turnovers on downs against Parker. Defensive end Tyler Laham had two sacks as the Wildcats limited the Vikings to Photo by Mark Nesbitt Verona defensive ends Tyler Laham (53) and James Rae (89) tackle Middleton running back Kallion Buckner on Aug. 30. 176 total yards.

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Girls cross country

Fitchburg Star

Boys cross country

West, DiMaggio start 2019 season strong ADAM FEINER Sports editor

Photo by Adam Feiner

Madison West’s Geneveive Nashold races to the finish line Saturday, Sept. 7, in the Verona Invitational. Nashold won the individual title with a time of 17:39.5.

Regents, Nashold win Verona Invitational ADAM FEINER Sports editor

In its first meet of the season, Madison West edged Onalaska 64-65 for the team title at the Verona Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 7, thanks in large part to three runners in the top seven. West sophomore Genevieve Nashold remained undefeated in her high school career with the win in 17 minutes, 39.5 seconds. Nashold trailed after the race’s first lap, but took over in the second and final lap. She ran down the final straightaway alone. “I’m really happy about breaking 18 minutes,” Nashold said. “That’s something I tried to do all of last season. I worked really hard in the summer for it.” We s t s e n i o r K r i s t i n a Rohrer finished fifth with a time of 19:18.2, while sophomore Cecily Greblo took seventh in 19:26.5. Rosa Greblo (20:28.1) and Grace Weigl (20:40.9) finished 24th and 29th, respectively. Kate Aman-Lavicky (33rd, 20:47.9) also competed for the Regents. “We stressed to the girls to be brave and not afraid to take risks,” West coach Cory Hayden said. “It looked like we had been racing for weeks the way we executed.” The team ran with heavy hearts in the wake of tragedy within the West cross country program. Boys assistant coach Jim McCoy collapsed while running with the Regents’ boys team Aug. 23 and died a day later at UW Hospital. “We’re a little more distant to the tragedy on the girls side, but he was still a teacher in the building and part of our program,” Hayden said. “We’ve been stressing to honor who Jim was. He was a ball of energy and optimism. We’re committed to doing what he would want us to do, and that’s to run for each other and push ourselves.”

VERONA Wildcats finished seventh out of 22 teams with 223 points at the Verona Invitational. The Wildcats’ sixth-place

finish out of six Division 1 teams was a testament to the race’s competition level. “This meet is kind of like hosting a party and you never get to eat any of the food,” Verona coach Dave Nelson said. “If you look at our meet results and the state meet results, it’s pretty similar. There are a couple teams that are really strong that weren’t here, but most importantly, we’re trying to be included in that conversation as a strong team in the state.” Abby Wampfler led the Wildcats in 31st place with a time of 20:47.3 on the 5,000-meter course. “The pace was aggressive. There were a lot of good teams and runners out there,” Wampfler said. “I think everyone on our team did really well and pushed it hard.” Pa y e t t e N e e s s ( 3 8 t h , 20:56.7), Jamie Hogan (43rd, 21:08.1) and Sotera Boado (45th, 21:09) all ran in a close pack for the Wildcats. Colleen Quinn finished 66th (22:09.8). Lucinda Baaken (86th, 22:43.7) also competed for Verona. The Wildcats started their season Sept. 1 by winning the Glenn Herold Invitational in Watertown. Verona had four runners finish in the top 14. Wampfler finished fifth with a time of 21 minutes, 10.6 seconds. Boado took seventh (21:43.7), and Hogan placed ninth (21:46.6). Sophomore Emma Petta took 14th (22:17.6), and Neess rounded out the top five with a 17th-place finish (22:26.3). Verona will be compete in the SPASH Panther Invitational on Saturday at Standing Rocks County Park in Stockton.

OREGON Dasha Vorontsov finished 21st with a time of 20:15.4 at the Verona Invitational, while Grace Reidl took 33rd with a time of 20:51.7. “It makes me feel more energized having someone run next to me,” Vorontsov said. “It give me strength and positivity. Grace is so optimistic, and I enjoy working out with her.” The two underclassmen

ran side by side during the first lap to establish a good pace before Vorontsov took off and Reidl hustled to the finish line. “They really work together well in practice, just pushing each other to get better,” Oregon coach Doug Debroux said of Vorontsov and Reidl. “We talked beforehand about packing, and they did that really well in the first lap. For the second loop, you just do your best.” Oregon finished ninth out of 22 teams with 246 points, second out of nine Division 2 teams. Zoe Frank took 56th with a time of 21:38.7. Libby Beirne (22:16.1) and Clara Hughes (22:16.3) finished 68th and 69th, respectively. Bryanna Salazar (82nd, 22:33) and Julia Hutchinson (88th, 22:47.4) also competed for the Panthers. “This is just a learning experience for our team,” Debroux said. “Our goal is to be our best in October, and the girls know that.” Oregon finished fifth with 174 points at the Appleton West Terror Invitational on Aug. 30 at Winnagamie Golf Course in Neenah. Riedl paced the Panthers in 13th place with a time of 20:33. She dropped 2:41 off of last year’s time at the event. “She trained all week being sick, her allergies are awful, and the blisters on the back of both of her feet are painful, but you would never hear an excuse or any complaining from her,” Debroux said of Riedl. “She just trains and races with guts.” Frank finished 35th with a time of 21:24. Hutchinson (21:41) and Hughes (21:50) finished 42nd and 44th, respectively. Salazar took 44th with a time of 22:02, and Eden Meidl rounded out the lineup in 67th (23:16). Madison Memorial won the team title with 39 points thanks to three runners in the top eight. Oregon will compete in the Luther College Invitational in Decorah, Iowa, on Saturday. The Panthers attended a running camp at Luther over the summer.

5,000-meter course in a time of 16:43.8. DiMaggio sensed midway through the race that he needed to keep up his fast pace to stay with the top competitors. “I definitely felt the pace at the end of the first lap and going into the second lap going up the hill,” he said. “I knew it was going to be a really tough last lap, but that’s the way it should be. This is one of the toughest courses in the state.” Verona finished sixth out of 23 teams with 196 points, and fourth out of six Division 1 teams, despite having only five competitors. Aidan Manning finished 13th with a time of 16:58.9. Three freshmen – Blake Oleson (37th, 17:36.3), Max Metcalf (49th, 17:51.9) and Ryan Cassidy (18:42) – rounded out the Wildcats’ lineup. Verona had three of the top four runners and finished second Sept. 1 at the Glenn Herold Invitational. DiMaggio finished second with a time of 16:56.2, 2.1 seconds behind Gray. Natahn Neitzel took third (17:10.1), and Manning was third (17:13.5). Oleson placed 14th (18:12.7) to round out the top four for the Wildcats. Verona and 15 other teams will compete in the West Invitational on Saturday at Madison’s Lake Farm County Park.

Madison West opened its season Saturday, Aug. 31, with a win at the Glenn H e r o l d I nv i t a t i o n a l i n Watertown. The Regents won the meet with 29 points thanks to four runners in the top seven. Julian Gary won the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:54.1. John Lee (17:25.3), Eli Gore (17:30.3) and Michael Kuhn (17:35.2) were fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Ryan Reed took 10th with a time of 17:43.6. West ran with heavy hearts after assistant coach Jim McCoy collapsed while running with the Regents on Aug. 23 and died a day later at UW Hospital. West continued to run inspired, finishing second with 100 points at the 23-team Verona Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 7. R e e d r a c e d t o s ev enth place with a time of 16:44.4. Gore (16:45.3) and Lee (16:48.8) finished ninth and 11th, respectively. Kuhn was 21st in 17:17.1. Paul Treiber (52nd, 17:52.2) and Toby Sibert (67th, 18:18.3) also competed for West. Madison La Follette won the team title with 61 points, thanks in large part to Chris Wolfe’s individual victory in 16 minutes, 20.1 seconds. The Lancers also OREGON had two other runners in the top 10, and their fourth Yo r d a n o s Z e l i n s k i and fifth runners took 23rd recently returned from a and 24th, respectively. trip to visit family in Ethiopia, meaning he did not VERONA have a full training load to Luka DiMaggio contin- prepare for his sophomore ued his strong start to the season. Dealing with the comseason with a fifth-place finish on his home course mon cold at the Verona Invitational morning didn’t in the Verona Invitational. T h e t a l e n t e d Ve r o n a make things any easier. senior traversed the Zelinski persevered to

finish 18th with a time of 17:12.4. His time was the fourth-best out of all Division 2 runners. “You have to work your body,” Zelinski said. “You can’t just come out here and run 5,000 meters in 17 minutes. You have to be mentally and physically built to do it.” Oregon finished 12th out of 23 teams with 336 points, and fifth out of nine Division 2 teams. Raul Ramos took 51st with a time of 17:57.5, and Brendan Dieter was 82nd (18:31.1). Turner Sieren (18:50.5) and Quinton Bush (18:50.8) finished 92nd and 93rd, respectively to round out the Panthers’ top five. Deaken Bush (116th, 19:39.3) and Odin Beck (133rd, 20:13.1) also competed for Oregon. “I think they were a little disappointed with the way we started the season at Watertown, so they were looking forward to another meet to prove themselves,” Oregon coach Erik Haakenson said. “We ran with some of the top groups and held on really well, especially with this being a two-lap race. That second lap can make or break a run.” The Panthers finished eighth with 213 points at the Glenn Herold Invitational. Zelinski paced Oregon in 18th place with a time of 18:19.6. Ramos was 32nd (18:41.2), and Dieter was 58th (19:26.7). Sieren (61st, 19:29.8) Quinton Bush (64th, 19:34.5) and Deaken Bush (88th, 20:20.5) rounded out the Panthers’ top six. Oregon will be back in Watertown on Tuesday, Sept. 17, for the Badger Challenge.

Photo by Adam Feiner

Verona’s Luka DiMaggio (right) races Madison West’s Ryan Reed to the finish line Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Verona Invitational. DiMaggio finished fifth with a time of 16:43.8.

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Prep sports

Local teams litter top 10 in coaches polls ADAM FEINER Sports editor

The Madison Edgewood girls golf team and volleyball team are ranked No. 1 in Division 2 in their latest coaches association polls. The Crusaders won the Division 2 state title in girls golf last season, and have topped the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin Poll the first two weeks of the season. Edgewood’s volleyball team jumped two spots to No. 1 in Division 2 in the latest Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. The Crusaders’ boys cross country team is ranked ninth in Division 2 in the latest Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll. The girls tennis team was ranked eighth in Division 2 in the Wisconsin High School Tennis Coaches Association Poll, but fell out of the top 10 in the latest rankings.

MADISON WEST The Regents have three

teams currently ranked in the top five of their respective Division 1 coaches’ polls. West’s girls cross country team jumped six spots to No. 2 in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll. The Regents are behind only Muskego. Big Eight Conference foes Middleton, Madison Memorial and Sun Prairie are ranked fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. Janesville Craig is ranked 19th. West’s boys cross country team dropped a spot to No. 5 in Division 1 in the latest WCCCA Poll. Madison La Follette is ranked second, and Middleton took over fourth. Verona (14th) and Sun Prairie (19th) also cracked the top 20. For the second straight week, the Regents’ girls tennis team is ranked No. 4 in Division 1 in the Wisconsin High School Tennis Coaches Association Poll. West was ranked third in the first poll.

Photo by Adam Feiner

Eliot Popkewitz (right) and the Verona boys soccer team are No. 2 in Division 1 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Coaches Poll. soccer team was ranked were ranked in first WSCA No. 2 in Division 1 for the poll. Middleton is currently second straight week in the ranked fourth, and Madison Wisconsin Soccer Coaches East is eighth. Association. Verona (4-0-1) Verona scored four goals VERONA is behind only Marquette. in the second half to beat Four Big Eight teams Division 3 No. 7 Mount T h e Wi l d c a t s ’ b o y s

Verona Area/Mount Horeb girls swimming

Horeb on Sept. 5, the first game after the Wildcats were ranked No. 2 in the first coaches poll. “We saw that nervousness in the first half,” Wildcats coach Chris Handrick said. “They’re only high schoolers, but they’re figuring it out mentally. We want to be a strong team in the state, and we’re going to take care of business one step at a time.” Verona’s football team was unranked in the Division 1 Wissports.net Coaches Poll after Week 1’s 41-7 home win over Janesville Parker. Voters took notice after the Wildcats’ 61-35 road win over Middleton in Week 2, and ranked Verona No. 5. The Wildcats remained at No. 5 after Week 3’s 49-7 home win over Janesville Craig. “With those coaches’ polls, 90% of the people who vote haven’t seen us,” Verona coach Dave Richardson said. “They just see who you beat and by how much. It’s not a huge deal to me, but the kids like it.” Defending Division I

champion Muskego (3-0) is ranked No. 1, followed by Kimberly (3-0), Bay Port (3-0) and Fond du Lac (1-1). Big Eight contenders Madison Memorial (3-0) and Sun Prairie (2-1) are ranked sixth and 10th, respectively. The Wildcats’ boys cross country team was ranked 10th in Division 1 in the first Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association Poll, and was 14th in the latest poll.

OREGON The Panthers’ boys soccer team, the defending Division 2 champions, were ranked seventh in the first D2 Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Poll. Oregon fell out of top 10 in the latest rankings.

STOUGHTON The Vikings’ girls golf received a vote in Division 1 in the first Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin Poll.

Oregon/Belleville girls swimming

VA/MH off to 2-1 start in Big Eight Oregon/Belleville battles top foes MARK NESBITT Assistant sports editor

The Verona Area/Mount Horeb girls swimming team won all 11 events en route to a dominant 132-38 home win over Big Eight Conference foe Janesville Craig on Friday, Sept. 6. “We’re where we should be right now,” VA/MH coach Bill Wuerger said. “Our girls just like to race. It doesn’t matter who they’re going against, they just focus on themselves. They want to beat their seed times, which is our goal for every meet.” Ve r o n a s e n i o r J o s i e McCartney cruised to wins in the 100-meter freestyle (1:03.02) and the 100 backstroke (1:13.68). She teamed with Regan Brazeau, Gianna Gnewuch and Maia Blas to win the 400 free relay with a time of 4:29.86. Verona sophomore Kenzie Zuehl touched the wall first in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.27) and 400 free (4:48.01). She teamed with Sam Malecki, Tola Klabough and Izzy Moore to win the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:14.84. Malecki tied teammate

Peyton Drexler for first in the 50 free with a time of 29.4 seconds. Malecki teamed Gnewuch, Emma Neumann and Bailey Felsheim to win the 200 free relay in 1:57.91. Blas won the 200 free in 2:18:45, while Klabough took the 200 IM in 2:38 flat. Neumann won the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:13.88.

Middleton 98, VA/MH 72 Drexler showcased her strength in the distance events, but the Wildcats lost on the road Friday, Aug. 30. Drexler won the 200yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.96, and was first in the 500 free (5:17.64). Verona’s Sara Stewart won the 100 butterfly (59.92). “I was really happy with it,” Stewart said of her time in the butterfly. “My goal was to go right under 1 minute, and I was right at that. My underwaters were good, and I was just trying to focus on that.” Kenzie Zuehl took first in the 100 free (59.42). Kaitlyn Zuehl, Kenzie Zuehl, Klabough and Blas won the 200 free relay with a time of 1:42.07.

VA/MH 133 Janesville Parker/Evansville 36

MARK NESBITT

The Wildcats won all 11 events en route to a home win Friday, Aug. 23. Stewart won the 50-meter freestyle in 27.85 seconds and the 400 freestyle with a time of 4:44.44. Kenzie Zuehl won the 100 butterfly (1:11) and the 100 backstroke (1:10.58). The Wildcats swept the top three spots in the 100 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 400 free and 400 free relay. Malecki finished first in the 100 free (1:04.14). Gnewuch took first in the 100 breaststroke (1:25.12). Josie McCartney won the 200 free (2:17.45), and Kaitlyn Zuehl took first in the 200 IM (2:35.98). The Wildcats’ 200 medley relay team of Gnewuch, Kaitlyn Zuehl, Lucia Haffner and Cleo Seidl finished first in 2:14.69. Haffner teamed with Seidl, Neumann and Kaitlyn Zuehl to win the 200 free relay (2:02.15). Allison Beggs teamed with Stewart, Neumann and Blas to win the 400 free relay (4:19.32).

The Oregon/Belleville girls swim team had three relays finish in the top four at the Swimmin’ Women’s Relays in Stoughton on Thursday, Sept. 5. Freshman Izzy Block won four events Sept. 3 to help the Panthers beat Monona Grove 102.5-67.5 in a dual at the Oregon Community Pool.

Photo by Mark Nesbitt

Verona Area/Mount Horeb’s Josie McCartney swims her leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay against Middleton. The Wildcats finished second with a time of 3:42.11.

Assistant sports editor

Swimmin’ Women’s Relays Oregon/Belleville finished seventh out of nine teams with 56 points. McFarland, last year’s Division 2 state runner-up, finished first with 164 points, edging defending state champion Madison Edgewood (152 points). “We weren’t at this meet to compete for top spots,” Oregon/Belleville coach Michael Keleny said. “The girls all got to swim different events than they usually do and just have f u n . We a c c o m p l i s h e d that. I was happy with how everyone swam and the effort put into the events. Having relays place was just a bonus.” The Panthers’ 200-yard breaststroke and butterfly relay team of juniors Mattea Thomason, Zoe Rule, sophomore Claudia Schwartz and Block finished third with a time of 2 minutes, 7.59 seconds. The 200 backstroke relay team of Rule, Schwartz, Block and Victoria Helvig also took third with a time of 1:58.50. Oregon/Belleville’s 200 free freshman-sophomore relay team of

Photo by Mark Nesbitt

Oregon/Belleville freshman Izzy Block swims the breaststroke during the 400-yard medley relay. The Panthers took third in the relay with a time of 4 minutes, 25.65 seconds. Hailey Sieren, Lily Gebauer, Noelle Marsh and Brooke White placed fourth (1:52.45). The Panthers’ 200 free junior-senior relay team of Erin Newton, Michaela Rosga, Caroline Rusch and Halle Bush took fifth (1:56.33). Newton and Rosga also teamed with Thomason and Grace Kiesau to take fifth in the 100 free relay (55.80).

Oregon 102.5, Monona Grove 67.5 Block won the 50-meter freestyle in 28.71 seconds and the 100 free in 1:04.47. She teamed with Schwartz, Thomason and Zoe Rule to win the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:10.70. Block, Schwartz, Rule and Bush won the 200 free relay in 1:57.50. “It feels really good as a freshman coming in

swimming against juniors and seniors,” Block said. “It feels good to win even though we have a small team. We have good swimmers, and that’s all that matters.” The Panthers (2-0, 2-0 Badger South) dominated the meet, winning eight of the 11 events. “They were prepared for it and swam hard,” Keleny said. “They did what they had to do to beat a team that has more girls.” Oregon/Belleville swept the top three spots in the 100 butterfly and 400 free. Schwartz won the butterfly in 1:11.52, followed by Rule and Helvig. Rule took first in the 200 individual medley (2:38.70). Bush took first in the 400 free (5:05.48), and teamed with Helvig, Hail ey S i e r e n a n d N o e l l e Marsh to win the 400 free relay (4:36.25).

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September 13, 2019

Fitchburg Star

Verona volleyball

Eight straight is great for Verona four against Ripon. Gretchen Karnosky had nine digs against Tomah and served three aces against Oregon and East. Rachel Witthuhn added two blocks against East.

ADAM FEINER Sports editor

The Verona volleyball team’s winning streak reached eight after a Big Eight Conference home victory over Janesville Parker on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The streak started with a win in the third-place match at the Catholic Memorial Invite. Verona (13-3, 2-0 Big Eight) then swept Madison La Follette on Sept. 5, and won all five of its matches at the Monona Grove Invitational on Sept. 7. The Wildcats won Pool C of the Burlington Invitational with wins over Racine Case (25-16, 25-17) and Jefferson (25-20, 25-21) on Aug. 28, but lost both of their matches in the gold bracket.

Verona def. Madison La Follette 25-16, 25-18, 25-18 The Wildcats won their Big Eight opener and home opener with a sweep of the Lancers. “I think we had a hard time settling in. Everything felt a bit frantic,” Verona coach Jillian Bauer said. “There was a lot of adrenaline and emotions with it being our first home match. At the end of the day, a win’s a win.” Bobb finished with 10 kills, six aces and five digs. Armstrong recorded 27 assists, seven aces and three digs. Touchett and Kelley added seven and six kills, respectively. Hust chipped in four digs.

Verona def. Janesville Parker 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 25-15 The Wildcats rebounded from a first-set loss to beat the Vikings at home. Verona controlled the second and third set. The Wildcats led 16-13 in the fourth set, and scored nine of the final 11 points to seal the victory.

Burlington Invitational

Monona Grove Invitational Verona defeated Oregon 25-15, 25-12; Madison East 25-15, 25-17; Ripon 25-12, 25-12; Tomah 25-19, 25-13 and Monona Grove 25-16, 25-23 en route to the tournament title. Claudia Bobb recorded 12 kills against Monona Grove and eight kills against East and Tomah. She also had six digs against Oregon

Photo by Adam Feiner

Verona sophomore Claudia Bobb (middle) tips the ball over the net as senior libero Amelia Hust (3) watches in a home match against Madison La Follette on Sept. 5. The Wildcats won 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. and four against Ripon. Jordan Armstrong dished out 22 assists against Tomah, 20 against Monona Grove and 14 against Oregon, East and Ripon. She also served four aces against Ripon,

three against East and two against Tomah. Maddy Kelley slammed six kills against Oregon and recorded four blocks against Monona Grove. Anna Bohrer added four

kills against Ripon and two blocks against Tomah. Kylie Magnus had four kills against Ripon and six digs against East. Amelia Hust hustled for 11 digs against Monona Grove and

Verona girls tennis

After pool-play wins against Racine Case and Jefferson, Verona lost 25-23, 25-23 to Burlington in the gold bracket semifinals, then lost 25-13, 25-12 to Hamilton in the third-place game. Bobb recorded eight kills, nine digs and three aces against Case. She also had five aces against Jefferson and nine digs against Hamilton. Armstrong dished out 54 total assists. ouchett added seven kills against Jefferson and five against Burlington. Hust chipped in eight digs against Jefferson and 12 digs against Burlington.

Oregon girls golf

Mixed results against tough competition for Wildcats Schmidt pacing Panthers against Rhinelander. Verona’s No. 1 doubles team of Sydney Breitbach and Kasie The Verona girls tennis Keyes also won two matches. team finished third at the Verona 5, Sun Prairie 2 Green Bay Southwest InviConley earned a 4-6, 7-6 tational on Saturday, Sept. 7. The Wildcats beat Big (5), 6-2 win at No. 1 singles Eight Conference foe Janes- for Verona. Saley (6-2, 6-0) ville Craig 6-1 at home Sept. and Samz (6-3, 6-0) closed 3 to snap a six-dual losing well in No. 2 and No. 3 sinstreak, then defeated Sun gles, respectively. Elsa QuePrairie 5-2 on the road Sept. off won 6-1, 6-1 in No. 4 singles. 5. The Wildcats’ No. 1 douBig Eight powerhouse Madison West went on the bles team of Keyes and Sydroad and beat Verona 5-2 on ney Breitbach battled for a Aug. 29. The Wildcats also 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory. lost 5-2 to Middleton on Verona 6, Aug. 22, then lost four duals in the Madison/Milwaukee Janesville Craig 1 Challenge on Aug. 23 and The Wildcats swept all Aug. 24. four singles matches against Verona started its season the Cougars. 4-0 in dual competition after Conley cruised to a 6-1, sweeping Janesville Parker at 6-1 victory in No. 1 singles. home on Aug. 20, and going Saley won 6-1, 6-2 in No. 2 undefeated at the Central singles, and Samz won 6-1, Invitational in La Crosse a 6-0 in No. 3 singles. Queoff day previous. closed well in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 Green Bay Southwest victory in No. 4 singles. Verona’s No. 2 doubles Invitational team of Sam Breitbach and The Wildcats defeated the Morgan Krueser won 6-1, host school 6-1 in the first 3-6, 6-2. Gillian Cartwright round, were swept by She- and Yasmeen Khalid won boygan North in the second 6-3, 6-2 in No. 3 doubles. round, and edged Rhineland- Madison West 5, er 4-3 in the third-place dual. No. 1 singles player Mer- Verona 2 edith Conley won both her The Regents backed up matches. Mary Saley and their No. 4 ranking in the Meghan Saley won their latest Division 1 coaches respective singles matches poll with a road win over the against Southwest, then won Wildcats. “It can get a little their No. 2 doubles match ADAM FEINER Sports editor

overwhelming when you’re always playing opponents ranked in the top 10,” West coach Ryan Reischel said. “But for the most part, we’ve handled it really well. We’ve started the year strong, and we’re confident, but not overconfident. We have a great group of girls who put team before me.” Queoff earned a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lucy Friedman in No. 4 singles. The Wildcats’ No. 2 doubles team of Saley and Samz won 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Samz earned a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory in No. 2 singles against Nicolet, while the No. 1 doubles team of Keyes and Sydney Breitbach won 7-6 (1), 6-1.

Verona 7, Janesville Paker 0

Conley, Saley, Samz and Queoff all won 6-0, 6-0 in their respective singles matches. The No. 2 doubles team of Kreuser and Sam Breitbach also won 6-0, 6-0. Keyes and Sydney Breitbach won 6-3, 6-2 in No. Middleton 5, Verona 2 1 doubles. Cartwright and Khalid won 6-0, 6-1 in No. 3 Conley rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 doubles. win in No. 1 singles, while Samz battled to a 6-7 (2), 7-6 Central Invitational (8), 6-2 win in No. 3 singles The Wildcats swept La for the Wildcats. Crosse Aquinas 7-0 and defeated La Cross Central Madison/Milwaukee and La Crosse Logan 6-1 in Challenge duals. “La Crosse was a great Verona lost 6-1 against Whitefish Bay and 5-2 opportunity to come togethagainst Oak Creek on the er as a team,” Verona coach first day of competition. Mark Happel said. “It was The Wildcats lost 6-1 a good opportunity to work against Arrowhead and 5-2 on our games. I thought we against Nicolet to close the played really well throughtournament. out the lineup and took care Conley won 6-4, 6-2 in of business.” No. 1 singles against WhiteSaley, Samz, Queoff, Sam fish Bay. Hannah Bertrand Breitbach and the Wildwon 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in No. 4 cats’ No. 1 doubles team of singles versus Oak Creek. Keyes and Sydney BreitThe Wildcats’ No. 3 doubles bach collected four wins in team of Cartwright and Kha- the two-day span. Conley lid won 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 against won all three of her No. 1 singles matches. Cartwright Oak Creek. Saley won 6-2, 6-1 in No. and Khalid went 3-1 in No. 3 1 singles against Arrowhead. doubles.

conference home loss to the Red Hawks. McKee carded a 50 and The Oregon girls golf Miller Stang shot a 54. Disch team edged Fort Atkinson by finished with a 56. four strokes Tuesday, Sept. Middleton Invitational 10, at Oregon’s Foxboro Schmidt finished sixth Golf Club. Oregon lost a conference with a 9-over-par 81, as Oredual meet to Milton the day gon finished 19th out of 21 previous at Foxboro. Oregon teams with a team score of finished 19th at the Middle- 423. McKee shot a 112, and ton Invitational on Sept. 7, at Disch carded a 113. Lindert shot a 117. Pleasant View Golf Course. Oregon defeated Monona Oregon 215, Monona Grove in an Aug. 29 dual at Deer Creek Golf Course Grove 250 in Cottage Grove. The PanSchmidt shot a 41 to lead thers were coming off a sev- the Panthers past the Silver enth-place finish at the Por- Eagles. tage Invitational on Aug. 28. McKee carded a 55, and Oregon junior Alyssa Disch finished with a 57. Schmidt shot a 12-over-par Stang shot a 57. 84 on Aug. 22 to finish in a five-way tie for fifth place in Portage Invitational the Verona Invitational. Schmidt shot an 8-overThe Panthers tied for fifth par 80 to tie for second place place in the season-open- at Portage Country Club. ing Stoughton Scramble on McKee finished with a Aug. 19 at Coachman’s Golf 104, and Lindert carded a Resort in Edgerton. 112. Disch shot a 126. ADAM FEINER Sports editor

Oregon 187, Fort Atkinson 191

Schmidt earned medalist honors after shooting a 2-over-par 36. Sam McKee and Bella Lindert carded 89s. Tori Disch shot a 53 to round out the Panthers’ counting scores.

Milton 176, Oregon 199

Verona Invitational The Panthers shot 444 to take sixth out of 10 teams at Edelweiss Chalet Country Club in New Glarus. McKee shot a 110, and Disch carded a 120. Lindert rounded out the Panthers’ counting scores with a 130.

Stoughton Scramble

The Panthers tied MonoSchmidt shot a 3-over-par na Grove and Watertown for 39 to pace the Panthers in a fifth with a 1-over-par 72.

September 13, 2019

Verona schools

Fitchburg Star

ConnectFitchburg.com

Parents get choice on fifth grade Grandfathering option affects 76 who would change schools next year SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group

Next year’s fifth graders will be able to stay at their current school, even if their attendance area changes in the new maps. The Verona Area school board voted 4-3 to allow families to choose whether to keep their children at their current elementary school for their final year, or move them with the new boundary. The decision affects 76 students, most of whom are currently in the Country View Elementary School attendance area. “We have the ability to offer a choice, and I think that’s better than mandating one way or the other,” said board president Noah Roberts, one of the four votes in favor. New attendance areas, approved this summer, will go into effect for the 2020-21 school year as the new Verona Area High School opens. Badger Ridge Middle School and Core Knowledge Charter School will shift into the current high school building, with New Century School and Verona Area International School moving to the K-Wing. Sugar Creek Elementary School will move to the current BRMS building – significantly increasing

its capacity to more than 700. Parents of affected students will have to make their choice by Dec. 1 so the administration can begin to plan bus routes and classes. Board members stressed that staff need to be proactive in reaching out to the families to make sure they know about the decision and deadline. The district had been estimating 58 students would be eligible for the grandfathering until Saturday, when new data from the current school year indicated 76 fifth-graders will be in changing attendance zones next year. The board was considering three options when the meeting began Saturday: mandatory grandfathering for fifth-graders, no grandfathering for fifth-graders and an option for parents. Board members agreed shortly into their discussion to eliminate mandatory grandfathering from consideration. They used the mandatory grandfathering as a measuring stick at one end of the extreme, board members explained, which allowed them to receive some estimates of potential transportation costs from staff. Superintendent Dean Gorrell reported Badger Bus’ best estimate would be three to four new bus routes with either mandatory grandfathering or no grandfathering – at about $55,000 per route, that would use up most of the operating referendum funding allotted for new busing costs. He stressed that it was an estimate and could

be higher once the actual routes are determined. “Whether it’s one or two routes or one, two or three routes can literally depend on the residence of one student,” Gorrell said. “It isn’t just a capacity issue, it’s also a timing issue.” That meant “no functional difference” in busing between mandatory grandfathering and no grandfathering, as Roberts put it, and staff reported no capacity issues expected based on the number of fifth-graders the decision applies to. Board members agreed mandatory grandfathering had the potential of unintended family duress, as parents whose fifth-graders have younger siblings would have two schools to work with. “We’re down to a number of students that I feel like the decision should be handed over to the parents to make that best decision for their individual students,” Meredith Stier Christensen said. The choice option allows parents of the 36 fifth-graders in that situation to fix that if they want to, by sending their fifth-grader to the new attendance area. Board member Kristina Navarro-Haffner stressed her desire to limit disruption and supported grandfathering beyond fifth-grade, but she understood the rest of the board did not consider that feasible. “Allowing the fifth graders this choice for one year is, I guess, a gradual step toward the map next year,” she said. “The power of

authentic relationship and the value I have for continuity for those students is worth that one year, then, to get everyone to the new maps.” Board member Tom Duerst has consistently advocated against grandfathering, including this year, when the board approved a phasedin approach for the new middle school maps. Saturday, he said hindsight has proven him right on grandfathering decisions in past years. “In the years past, when I’ve lost on these – which I’ve lost every time on these votes – people have always approached me and said, ‘Why did they do that? That was stupid,’” Duerst said. “There always seems to be unintended consequences with decisions like this.” Board members Amy Almond and Deborah Biddle voted with him, with Almond saying she wanted to “honor the committee’s work from the last year” and move to the new maps. “This district has done a really good job overall in allowing parents to make choices,” Almond said. “It doesn’t feel as nice when the district says, ‘We have to just do this, we have to just make this change.’” Board member Carolyn Jahnke was the swing vote, as Roberts, Navarro-Haffner and Stier Christensen had all spoken clearly in favor of offering a choice, Biddle and Duerst clearly against and Almond seemingly leaning against during discussion before the vote.

Jahnke spoke last of the group, and said she was “trying to balance the choice” she made in the middle school vote weeks earlier – in favor of a mandatory phase-in over three years – with the consideration Saturday. “I’m struggling with that, because it feels a little hypocritical,” she said. Roberts said the “different scale and context” made it not hypocritical. “We’re balancing a bunch of things that matter: Continuity matters, options for parents matters,” Roberts said. “If I could do the phased approach, I would, but it’s not feasible.” Stier Christensen encouraged parents to consider what moving or not moving would mean both for fifth grade and for sixth grade. If they were in a different middle school attendance area than their current elementary school, she said, that extra year of relationship building by moving early could be valuable. Whatever choice parents make, she and the rest of the board expressed confidence in the district’s staff to make it the best situation possible. “I know our elementary schools will do whatever they can to help you see what a wonderful environment your child will transition to,” she said. Contact Scott Girard at ungreporter@wcinet.com and follow him on Twitter @sgirard9.

What’s online

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Read these and more That’s one of our top five Verona Area School District stories to watch in the disstories at ConnectFitch- trict this year, as weather burg.com: closures could force schedule changes in the middle Five things to watch of the year or delays to conFor the first time in nearly struction work on a tight two decades, Verona Area timeline to be ready for the School District students fall 2020 opening of the new returned to classrooms in Verona Area High School and other building shifts. the month of August. While that has the potenAs students filled hallways and lunchrooms and tial to be a top concern this parents return to school year, it’s just that: potential. routines Aug. 23, officials The rest of our top five will are keeping a close eye on surely affect parents and this year’s calendar, know- their children in the upcoming that Mother Nature ing school year. Filling out could throw a wrench into our top five are the new softconstruction plans next ware for personalized learning plans, the expansion of summer.

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Oregon schools

ConnectFitchburg.com

September 13, 2019

Fitchburg Star

No deal on OHS school resource officer OSD wants to keep talking with village SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group

After hearing often emotional testimony at its Aug. 26 meeting, the Oregon school board unanimously rejected the Village of Oregon’s version of an agreement to continue allowing a police presence at the high school. The contract the village approved a week earlier would, among other things, allow an assault rifle to be kept at Oregon High School for the school resource officer. It also put a Dec. 30 cap on the deal so a committee could discuss key issues dividing the district and police department. While the contract is being worked out, the designated officer won’t be on campus, but district superintendent Brian Busler said the district has temporary “alternatives,” including hiring a retired police officer or security guard. He said a timeframe of three or four weeks would be possible for a group of village and district officials to come to a new agreement and iron out the “competing approaches to make the district as safe as it can be.” School board president Steve Zach said the district will continue working “at all due speed” with the village to come to terms on an agreement “if one can be reached.” U l t i m a t e l y, t h e d i s agreement stems from the board’s interest in ensuring

that the officer assigned to the campus is there to build relationships and maintain a culture of cooperation with authorities, rather than simply providing security. In addition to the question of guns, which drew lengthy debate, there was also concern from the school board and staff that the language of the agreement approved by the village did not adequately address the expectations of the position. District legal counsel Jina Jonen, who recommended the board not approve the village proposal, said in past years, a committee comprising Oregon police and OSD officials had “a very lengthy discussion of the paragraphs in the current agreements,” with compromises reached between the two groups on language. “We took a long time to talk about that and manage everyone’s expectations and lay out an agreement we could all live with,” she said. “Are there more things to talk about? Absolutely. That was an ongoing process annually that we would meet and talk about this.” About a dozen people signed up to speak, all expressing reservations about contract language that would allow the SRO access to an assault rifle at OHS and would allow the officer to interrogate or interview students ages 14 and older without the presence of parents or legal guardians. Nathan Johnson, speaking on behalf of the Oregon Education Association board of directors, said the

group “strongly opposes” having a rifle at the SRO’s office in OHS. “We share the goal of safe, secure learning environment, but we disagree with village’s position that placing a semi automatic rifle within the high school makes it a safe learning e nv i r o n m e n t ,” h e s a i d . “School safety starts with the culture of climate we create in our buildings. Presence of a weapon of this type will undercut the very type of values we are trying to foster.” In a post Tuesday afternoon on the Oregon Police Department’s Facebook page, chief Brian Uhl accused Oregon school board members of not being willing to hold “meaningful discussions” about the SRO agreement. He said the village had requested meetings about the agreement and the district rejected them. Tuesday morning, Busler wrote a letter to district parents and guardians informing them of the latest developments on the SRO discussion. He said the district and village have “long partnered” for an SRO to be present in OSD schools, and a few years ago, a committee of school administrators and OPD officers worked to put together an agreement for an SRO based on recommendations by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Department of Public Instruction. The committee reviews and revises this agreement each year, including this year, as work between the sides continues, and Busler

said he’s “optimistic an agreement will be reached soon.” “In the meantime, you can be assured that on Sept. 3, a police officer/security professional will be at Oregon High School and available to serve all of our schools in addition to the local law enforcement provided by the Villages of Brooklyn and Oregon,” he wrote.

Culture vs. security When the district first hired an SRO, Zach said, the vision was to “have another presence here to build a relationship with our students who happened to be a law enforcement officer.” “ N ow t h e wo r l d h a s changed since then, and I’m not blind to that,” he said. “Knowing that causes us at points in time to reflect where that balance is between needing that relationship building and at some point in time, law enforcement presence.” Zach said from talking with people in the district, having a weapon like an AR-15 in a vault in the high school “impacts the culture.” “It has an effect, and we’ve heard that tonight; we heard that from their teachers,” he said. “Tonight, the universal voice was opposed to that, and that was consistent with what I heard around the community.” Board member Troy Pankratz said the No. 1 goal for the SRO should be “building relationships with students in the district.” “I don’t believe an SRO should be spending a majority of their time in an office

What’s online

near a gun safe,” he said. Zach said if there is a shooting in the high school, he questioned how effective the response would be from an SRO who might need to return to their office to grab the AR-15. “They would have to come from somewhere else in the building, down to the office open the door, open the vault … and then go back to where the shooting is. As I understand, the SRO has an AR-15 parked in their car — how big a deal is it to go from here to there and back? School board member Tim LeBrun said he was initially concerned this was an “antigun” move by the board, but after doing some research, he agreed with their position. “I went out, frankly, to find evidence that maybe this was an effective way to respond to an active shooter in our schools,” he said. “I couldn’t find any evidence. And as I talked to more people and learned about their perspective and the research they did … having a weapon like that in our school, it just doesn’t make any impact at all, and furthermore it makes a negative impact on the environment.” LeBrun said while he “absolutely supports law enforcement in this town, it is different in school.” “I did look into many different perspectives and having a gun in our school is not the way to do it,” he said. “Period.” This is a condensed version of the article. To read the full story, visit ConnectOregonWI.com.

Read these and m o r e O r eg o n S c h o o l District stories at ConnectOregonWI.com:

Five things to watch There will be a lot going on in the Oregon School District this year. In addition to building a new school, and finding out who will teach and learn there, the district will need to establish new school boundaries and plans to come up with new ways to help students’ mental and emotional health. Our top five things to watch this year are progress on the new school, new traffic rules around Rome Corners Intermediate School, boundary changes, a new mental health specialist position and some long-term strategic planning.

FOSD adds ‘COOL’ program In its fifth year of helping students in need throughout the Oregon School District, the Friends of the Oregon School are now including educators in its focus. The Creating Opportunities for Oregon Learners classroom (COOL) grant provides funds for educators to create opportunities for their classroom, team or school that align with FOSD’s objectives and the district values of Whole Child Emphasis and Educational Equity. One example would be bringing in a speaker to teach about another culture or promote connections and positive behaviors in the school.

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September 13, 2019

First Day of School photos

Fitchburg Star

Photos by Kimberly Wethal

Center, Salma Benani gets a hug from Stoner Prairie Elementary School principal Tammy Thompson-Kapp as she gets off the bus on the first day of school Friday, Aug. 23.

ConnectFitchburg.com

Sherry Soliman, Jackie Amlong and Wendy Kjellstrom watch as 4K students get off the bus to help direct them where to go on the first day of school outside the two Village of Oregon elementary schools on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

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