Verona Press The
Thursday, August 29, 2019 • Vol. 55, No. 15 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
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Former VAHS student shot, killed Sunday Police investigating Fitchburg incident as homicide SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Photo 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.
A warm welcome building that’s scheduled for summer 2020. The construction is needed as Sugar Creek Elementary School and charter schools will move facilities for next year, when the new Verona Area High School opens.
Inside More photos from the first day of school Page 16
– Kimberly Wethal
Sharing in worship for 20 years Resurrection Lutheran Church celebrates Verona anniversary KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
When Resurrection Lutheran Church opened in Verona in the late 1990s, there were nine families in the congregation and Sunday School classes were taught anywhere a classroom could be created on the fly.
“We had to make use of that facility ... but because of the smallness of the area, my wife and some of the other people that helped teach Sunday School literally would have it in different areas of the facility, like in the staircase,” Resurrection Lutheran Church charter member Gene Cate said. “We all spread out and used The
Verona Press
the room as best we could.” The church will celebrate 20 years of services Sept. 13, having grown to around 400 members over two campuses, with the second in Monroe. Reaching 20 years of services at Resurrection Lutheran Church is an
Turn to 20/Page 13
Inside Meet Resurrection Lutheran Church’s new assistant pastor Page 13
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City of Verona
Sayre becomes permanent administrator Planner withdrew in May, but city rejected all finalists JIM FEROLIE Verona Press editor
Adam Sayre is now the permanent administrator for the City of Verona more than six months after taking over as the city’s highest-ranking employee on an interim basis. As of Tuesday, Aug. 27, the 38 year old former planning and development director is being paid $126,394, a more than $40,000 annual raise from
his previous position and a roughly $10,000 annual increase from his interim pay. Alders approved the contract unanimously after a 25-minute closed session Monday, Sayre and Sayre signed it after the meeting. “He’s a good guy, and he’s easy to work with,” Ald. Chad Kemp (Dist. 1) said before the vote. “I know he’s going to do a
Turn to Admin/Page 14
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Verona Area School District students came back to their classrooms on Friday, Aug. 23. Verona Area High School students in grades 10-12 came back to school Monday, Aug. 26. The school year is starting in August because of upcoming construction at Badger Ridge Middle School and the high school’s K-Wing
A former Verona Area High School student died over the weekend in what police are investigating as a homicide. The Dane County medical examiner identified Shay Watson, 17, as the victim Monday night. 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. Sunday, Aug. 25. Verona Area School District public information officer Kelly Kloepping told the Press 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 a Monday afternoon 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 Sunday 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”