Southbound Highway 83 at interstate 43 is temporarily closed due to a two car accident. No further information is provided at this time. Updates will be posted as they become available.

Two people were transported to Waukesha Memorial Hospital after their cars collided on Highway 83 by the I-43 southbound on-ramp shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

The accident closed southbound 83 until both vehicles were removed from the scene.

The extent of injuries is not known at this time. For further information, check next week's Mukwonago Chief.

Join Marlin Johnson on the Eagle Nature Trail to identify trees and shrubs and talk about ecology. Johnson is a retired biology teacher from UW-Waukesha and manages the UW-Waukesha  Field Station in Waterville. Coffee and hot chocolate will be provided. The event is being held from 11 a.m. until 12 p.m. on March 5 at 820 East Main Street, Eagle, WI 53119.

Sponsored by the Alice Baker Library. Please call 262-594-2800 for more information.

A source indicates that Gov. Scott Walker will announce plans to close Ethan Allen School in the Town of Delafield during his biennial budget address tonight.

Rumors have long circulated that the juvenile corrections facility was in danger of closing in favor of consolidating its operations with Lincoln Hills School in Irma. It is unclear whether the governor's proposal calls for the two facilities to consolidate.

State Rep. Chris Kapenga (R- Delafield), who represents the 33rd Assembly District where Ethan Allen is located, had been leading a charge to keep the correctional facility open. 

In October, Kapenga said that while he was in favor of consolidating the state's juvenile corrections facilities to ease a $25 million juvenile corrections budget deficit, he worried that if Ethan Allen were to close it would reopen as an adult detention facility. 

"They have put millions and millions of dollars into the facility over the last few years into renovations of the facility. So there is no way, in my opinion, the state cannot look at that as an option for an adult population," the state rep. said in an October interview. "That is our concern. So we want to look at the other facility, the Lincoln Hills facility. There is no community around that, so from a safety concern standpoint, and a property value standpoint, there is very little risk. It is complete opposite from Ethan Allen because there are so many people that live near it, and we're concerned for the safety of our kids."

Read more on this story here.

Documents released by the Walker administration indicate that the state will close Ethan Allen School in the Town of Delafield along with Southern Oaks Girls School in Racine.

The juvenile corrections facilities will consolidate operations at Lincoln Hills School in Irma.  

The document says, "The Department of Corrections can no longer afford to operate three separate juvenile facilities. The Department faces a $21 million deficit by the end of fiscal year 2010-11."

Approximately 230 people work at Ethan Allen.

Senior guard David Reese canned a running 23-foot jump shot with less than one second to play Tuesday night to vault his Pewaukee varsity boys basketball  team to a stunning come-from-behind 51-48 victory over visiting Waukesha Catholic Memorial in the opening round of the WIAA Division 2 regional.

With the score tied at 48, CMH had the ball with 21 seocnds to go before turning it over with 4.5 seconds to play. Reese made the steal, took off with the ball, crossed half court and launched an awkward running jumper with a second to play. The ball swished through the net with 0.7 showing on the clock.

The game-winning shot set off a wild celebration on the court between Pewaukee players and fans.

By winning, Pewaukee will play against host New Berlin West Friday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the regional title game on Saturday at Waukesha West at 7 p.m.

Junior center Jordy Edgerson fired in a game-high 19 points for the Pirates. Reese finished with 8 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.

CMH junior Charlie Walsh led CMH with 13 points.

Kettle Moraine's Trey Dowling was whistled for a controversial carrying call with 1.6 seconds remaining, short-circuting any chance the Lasers had to defeat Waukesha North in the first round of the WIAA Division 1 playoffs Tuesday night.

The Lasers officially lost, 48-40, but a series of technical fouls trumped up the final deficit. KM was within 41-40 after Matt Hoppe's layup bounded out with 8 seconds left. But North missed two free throws -- and five total in the final 1 minute 12 seconds -- and gave the Lasers one last chance to win.

Dowling drove the length of the floor, tried to shake a defender and was whistled for the carry, which prompted a reaction from coach Reid Chase that drew a technical foul. After North made two free throws, KM was whistled for an intentional foul on the inbound, and technicals on Connor Keating and Kyle Kita followed.

Jake Ricciardi scored 24 points to lead North, which will face Germantown on Saturday in the regional final.

While many local school officials were not ready to draw conclusions about the potential impact of Gov. Walker's proposed biennial budget, here are some initial reactions:

"That’s huge. I mean, I guess I just don’t understand the logical thinking that this is going to help. How can you offer a quality educational program?" Hartland-Lakeside Superintendent Glenn Schilling said.

"My concern is that no matter how it’s sugar-coated, if there is too much taken from the schools, there is going to be a loss of services. Reducing benefits is one thing. It’s fine, and I think there is some reality there that we said, ‘OK, I think we can move forward with this’ ", said Schilling, who pointed out that his district has cut approximately $2 million out of its budget in the last five years by cutting programs and streamlining operations. "But I think if it goes deeper than that, that’s my concern – that we would not be able to continue the quality."

"We're going to be faced with keeping a teacher in the classroom that's going to serve 150 children a day versus a roof project," said Al Zietlow, the Lake Country seat on the Arrowhead School Board, during a discussion on building and maintenance projects Wednesday morning.

State Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) shared his thoughts about the governor's proposed biennial budget in a statement.

Today Governor Walker put forth a bold plan to eliminate Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion deficit. The proposed budget reduces overall spending by nearly 7%, and does so without raising taxes, increasing fees, or raiding segregated funds. In addition, it stops the accounting tricks used in the past by both Republicans and Democrats, reducing our structural deficit by 90 percent; the 33rd Assembly District representative said.

This is tough, there is no denying that, but it is what the citizens of the 33rd District asked me to do. The old practice of tax and spend has come to an end. I will be reviewing the budget bill in more detail once it becomes available, but so far it looks like it will accomplish the goal of restoring fiscal responsibility in government.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas said he was disappointed that the governor plans to close Ethan Allen School in his biennial budget. Vrakas said he had hoped to consolidate the state's juvenile corrections facilities at the Town of Delafield facility.

“I am disappointed to see that the budget bill proposes to close Ethan Allen School.  I had hoped that, for the sake of efficiency, the decision would have been to consolidate all three juvenile facilities at Ethan Allen," the statement read. " However, I understand that it was a tough decision by the Governor.  If the juvenile centers were not consolidated, the daily rate to house juveniles at these facilities would have increased by nearly 40%."
 

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, Mike Barry, responding to Gov. Walker's proposal that identifies a 5.5 percent reduction in school district revenue, said that would translate into a $2.75 million reduction year over year for the Oconomowoc Area School District.

Barry said some of the possible ways for school districts to bridge the budget gap are suggested in the Governor’s Repair Bill. Those ideas include a cost shift from the employee share of pension costs; I would expect a similar cost shift in savings for health insurance plans. These were two specifics mentioned in the Governor’s Repair Bill," he added.

Those measures could represent a cost savings of $2 million to the district. Additional avenues will be explored to close the remaining gap. "At the end of the budget process, then we'll look at the potential reductions in staff, but we're not going to start there," Barry said.

Keep tabs with JR Radcliffe at the Preps Alcove for live updates from the WIAA Division 1 team state meet in Madison, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday with the state quarterfinals.

Arrowhead will face off with Kenosha Tremper, and Mukwonago will meet Franklin in the state quarterfinals at the University of Wisconsin Fieldhouse. The winners will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the championship match to take place at 6 p.m.

Moms, caregivers and grandmothers, can enjoy shopping along with fun acitivities for kids on Wednesday, March 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Mukwonago Village Hall, 440 Rivercrest Court.

Products will be available from Avon, Tupperware,  Barefoot Books, Pampered Chef, Beijo Handbags, Bonnico Jewelry Designs, Uppercase Living and chiropractic information from Dr. Erica Knurr from the Big Bend/Vernon Relief and Wellness Center.

There will also be a craft for kids and a toy play area. A special storytime with Miss Jane from the Mukwonago Community Library will be held at 10:30 a.m. Musical entertainment will be provided at 1 p.m. by sister singing duo Deb and Cindy.

A percent of the proceeds from sales benefits the MukwonagoCommunity Library Building Expansion Fund.

For more information call (262) 617.5603.

 

At the end of a long work week, many parents yearn for a quiet evening out. And that often means without the kids. But the kids deserve a break from their studies and school week as well.

The perfect solution is the Live Y’ers program, a once-a-month program for children in grades K6 through 4. Parents can drop their kids off at the YMCA at Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc at 6:30 p.m. – or at 5 p.m. for dinner and play time. This month’s Live Y’ers program will be this Saturday, March 5 with a theme of “Me Pot of Gold.”

Mom and dad won’t even be missed while the kids are enjoying rock wall and gym activities, swimming, crafts and a snack.  Kids are grouped by age as they move from one activity to the next. They will probably hate to leave their new friends and all the fun when it’s time to get picked up at 9:30 p.m.

Cost is just $10 for Y members and $12 for community participants.

For more information about the Pabst Farms Live Y’ers program, cal (262) 567-7251.

Wood'n it be Nice, 716B Main Street, Mukwonago, will be holding their grand opening Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 6 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Wood'n it be Nice sells handmade wooden items such as furniture, jewelry boxes, wine racks, and more.

Complimentary refreshments and special pricing will be available during the opening.

www.woodnonline.com

Waukesha – A judge this afternoon sentenced Wayne A. Barkley, 23, of Town of Mukwonago to 7-1/2 years in prison for his role in a fatal snowmobile crash on Phantom Lake in December 2009.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge William Domina also ordered Barkley to 6 years of extended supervision to follow his prison sentence.

Barkley entered the plea to a felony charge of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. He also entered a no contest plea to a felony bail jumping filed in November for violating conditions of his bail.

Barkley was racing another snowmobile on Phantom Lake in the Town of Mukwonago at about midnight Dec. 23 when he braked and the sled tipped over. Domina said Barkley was driving about 60 to 70 mph. His passenger, Chelsey Lobenhofer, 17, of Town of Vernon, was thrown off the single seat snowmobile and hit a slow moving car on the ice. She was not wearing a helmet and suffered severe head trauma as well as other serious bodily injuries. She died Dec. 26.

Barkley also had been drinking and smoked marijuana prior to the incident.

In the bail jumping charge, Barkley had taken the painkiller, Vicodin, without a prescription, while he was free on bail late last year. As a condition of his bail he was not to consume or possess any drugs without a prescription.

Arrowhead and Mukwonago will take part in the WIAA Division 1 team state wrestling tournament in Madison on Friday and Saturday night. Keep up to date with the action here.

The Lake Country Lutheran varsity boys basketball rolled to victory at home on Friday 78-40 over University Lake School in the second round of the WIAA Division 5 boys basketball tournament.

Matt Babel scored 32 points for the Lightning (15-9).

Sean O'Neill had 22 points for the Lakers. (10-12).

"We really didn't have an answer tonight for Babel. He's such a good player," Danny Ehnert, the ULS varsity boys basketball coach said. "And Lake Country Lutheran is deep, so falling behind early didn't help."

The Lightning outscored ULS 24-6 in the first quarter.

Conor Kelly had 16 points for the Lakers. David Emma had other other points.

Lake Country Lutheran is at the WIAA Division 5 Regional final on Saturday at Waukesha South against the Burlington Catholic Central-Faith Christian winner. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Arrowhead and Mukwonago's wrestling teams will meet in the WIAA Division 1 state semifinals at Madison on Saturday morning after topping their foes in the quarterfinals Friday night.

The Warhawks dispatched Kenosha Tremper, 38-32, and Mukwonago defeated Franklin, 34-21.

Adam Yde was given a forfeit at 125 pounds for the Warhawks in the final match of the day, breaking a 32-32 tie to tip the scales Arrowhead's direction. Tremper didn't have a wrestler eligible to compete after bumping up its top wrestlers to different weight classes in an effort to get an edge.

Mitchell Berenz defeated 50-3 Tremper junior Dominic Garcia at 130 pounds in the first match of the day, 2-0. Arrowhead wrestled from behind most of the meet but got pins from Zak Ryder (189), Andrew Crone (103) and Cory Cinelli (119), plus another forfeit awarded to Shane Hughes at 215.

Mukwonago's lead was 16-12 when the Indians put it into another gear. Tyler Ladwig won his battle with Brenden Butler in overtime at heavyweight, and a pin by Tommy Kolasinski at 103 put the Indians up by 16 with three matches left. Hank Mattson recorded the other pin at 125 to cap the day.

The winner of tomorrow's 9 a.m. match will meet either Wisconsin Rapids or Hudson in the state championship match, scheduled for 6 p.m.

St. John's NW Military Academy shocked Hope School when senior D.J. Mlachnik took an inbound pass from midcourt and released a high-arcing buzzer-beater from just inside the halfcourt stripe. See YouTube video of the winner here.

Arrowhead's wrestling team will take a crack at state superpower Wisconsin Rapids at 6 p.m. Saturday night after defeating Mukwonago in the state semifinals in Madison on Saturday morning, 36-28.

Andrew Crone entered a winner-take-all scenario at 103 pounds and delivered immediately, pinning Mukwonago's Tommy Kolasinski in 59 seconds to seal victory. The Warhawks also picked up pins from Adam Yde (125), Mitchell Berenz (130), Jake Sueflohn (145), and Shane Hughes (215).

Mukwonago briefly took a 25-24 lead with three matches left, but Hughes and Crone -- both coming off an appearance in the individual state finals one weekend earlier -- remained. Pins for the Indians came from Mayson Madden in a thriller at 171 and Joe Mattson at 135.

Rapids has won 14 of the last 16 team state titles and placed 10 wrestlers on the podium last weekend at individual state.

Ryan Prom scored 33 points as the host Oconomowoc Raccoons defeated Middleton on Saturday in a WIAA Division 1 Regional final 73-59.

Oconomowoc (14-9) will play at Sun Prairie on Thursday in the opening round of the sectional against the Madison Memorial-Madison La Follette winner.

Zach Poker scored 16 points and TJ Schlundt finished with 12 points.

"I've been at Oconomowoc 11 years and I know this is the first time we've been in the sectional. It feels great," Kurt Melton, the Oconomowoc head boys basketball coach said.

Arrowhead's wrestling team fell to Wisconsin Rapids in the WIAA Division 1 state finals Saturday night in Madison, 44-26.

Cory Cinelli (119 pounds) and Andrew Crone (103) pulled off pins for the Warhawks, and Shane Hughes (215) and Jake Sueflohn (152) both won in their final varsity match. Mitchell Berenz added an overtime victory at 130, and Adam Yde scored a 4-0 win at 125.

The Warhawks finished second for the second time. Rapids has won 15 of the last 17 championships.

Arrowhead's varsity boys basketball team, ranked No. 9 in the state in the latest state Division 1 AP poll, opened up defense of their WIAA state championship Saturday night by defeating neighboring Sussex Hamilton in the  regional championship game, 66-47.

The win moves the Warhawks (20-3) into the sectional next Friday at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee against Classic 8 Conference rival Waukesha West (18-5).

The Warhawks trailed 19-14 almost two minutes into the second period before going on a 12-0 run that turned that deficit into a 26-19 lead. Hamilton (8-15) never got closer than five points the rest of the game.

Charlie Fischer and Brandon St. George hit long 3-pointers in that surge and Ricky Lovett and Kenny Finco also scored for AHS.

In the fourth period, with Hamilton trailing 52-45, the Warhawks put together a 9-0 run that put the game away. Scoring in that rally were Ryan May, Blake Mattson, Charlie and Jonny Fischer.

Charlie Fischer finished with a game-high 22 points. May added 9 points to that total and Lovett had 8.

Sussex freshman Brady Ellingson fired in 16 points. Jake Knueppel added 12 and Brandon Hagenow added 11.

Commuters who use highway 83 in Mukwonago have around a week left before construction begins.  The start date has been moved to approximately March 16 from the first anticipated March 7 due to contractual negotiations, Wisconsin DOT Regional Communications Manager Dennis Shook explained. 

The first phase of construction will reduce traffic on highway 83 to a single lane each direction between McDonalds and Shell Gas to allow for median work.  Highways I and 59 will run a single lane each direction for several hundred feet on either side of highway 83.  The project will be executed in four phases, and will be completed in late November. 

Village of Mukwonago Police Lt. Kevin Schmidt will take the reins as chief of police, effective Friday, March 11, at 4 p.m. Schmidt will take over for Police Chief Fred Winchowky, who is retiring after 39 years of service with the police department.

Watch for more on the new police chief in this week's edition of the Mukwonago Chief.

The American Red Cross is holding a blood drive from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Lake Country Lutheran High School (LCLHS). Appointments may be schedule online at www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation. Enter Sponsor Code: 4520, or call (800) 448-3543. A single whole blood donation can help save the lives of up to three people.

Volunteers are also needed to help with the Blood Drive. Send an e-mail to Katie Baganz at kbaganz@lakecountryhs.org if interested in helping out

Trinity Academy's varsity girls basketball  team won its first round game in the WIAA tournament Tuesday night by defeating visiting Williams Bay in a Division 5 game, 53-41.

Trinity outscored the visitors by a lopsided 33-13 margin in the middle two periods to pull away.

Sydney Dieck fired in 24 points to lead the winners. Alexandra Noack added 18 and Renee Kolbeck scored 11.

Trinity will now play against No. 1 seeded Burlington Catholic Central on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Oconomowoc is hosting an event on March 17 featuring national speaker Rev. Sharon Delgado, an ordained United Methodist minister from California and the former executive director of Earth Justice Ministries.

She travels the country presenting seminars, workshops and lectures on peace, justice and the environmental, social and economic effects of economic globalization.

The event, 'Making Peace with Mother Earth' will be held at the church, 209 W. Wisconsin Ave., at noon and a pot luck meal featuring a sustainable local sourced beef stew will be served. For more information, please call the church at (262) 567-2144

Dan Schwartzer, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Wisconsin, wil lbe speaking at Olympia at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, March 11 at the Spring Seminar hosted by Snyder Insurance.

The Deputy Commissioner will provide an update on the Health Care Reform Act and how it relates to the State of Wisconsin and will also discuss the most current information in the insurance industry.

For more information, or to reserve a spot at the seminar, please call (262) 567-0288

The FIRST Robotics Wisconsin Regional event  is planned for March 11-12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee.

It is free and open to the public.

The engineering competition wil lfeature 51 robots from five states and Canada competing to find out which robot is the best. The event is a combination of racing and sports with lots of action for everyone.

Visit the OHS Robotics Team at the regional  - team number 269 -   wearing bright safety green t-shirts that read 'I Like Robots'.

For more information, go to www.wisconsinregional.com

A school bus carrying kids from St. John's Lutheran School in Mukwonago slid into the ditch this morning  while making a turn around 8 a.m..  According to St. John's Lutheran School, students were transferred to a second bus that deliveed them to the school 15 minutes late.  No students were hurt.

When Roald Dahl, creator of the Willy Wonka stories, was growing up in the 1920s in England, two of the country’s famous chocolate companies were vying for the taste buds of children. One would send packages of chocolate to children to taste test, while both companies planted spies, posing as employees, in each other’s factories in order to steal trade secrets. That was the background for Dahl’s stories of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka, whose factory became the playground of his popular children’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” in 1964. The book eventually was adapted into movies and plays.

At 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, children at Silver Lake Intermediate School will become Charlie Bucket, who finds a golden ticket in a chocolate bar earning him a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory; Veruca Salt, a spoiled rich girl whose whining get her in deep trouble; Oompa Loompas, whose ditties teach childhood lessons; and the other unforgettable Dahl characters as they present their version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The show will be held at the Oconomowoc Arts Center, 641 E. Forest St., Oconomowoc.

Tickets are $8. Children 3 and younger are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at the school. For more information, call (262) 560-4309.  

Follow along with the courtside blog as Lake Country Publications sports director JR Radcliffe provides commentary and updates from the Al McGuire Center, when Arrowhead takes on Waukesha West in the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal Friday.

Game time is 8:30 p.m. The live blog kicks in for the 5:45 p.m. game between Germantown and Waukesha South -- the two winners will meet in the sectional final Saturday.

Students at Oconomowoc High School are readying to participate in a walk-out this afternoon at 2 p.m. to  protest against the Governor's proposed budget repair bill.

Approximately 25 students walked out from the final class period at Oconomowoc High School today.

The students said they skipped class to show solidarity with their teachers as the budget battle in Madison continues. The group of students coordinated the walkout via Facebook and text messages throughout the school day.

"We just thought we'd support our teachers and try to do our part and send a message that we don't like what's going on," said Mike Schulz, a senior at the high school.

"Obviously we can't all vote, so we tried to voice our opinions by protesting," commented Alyson Nemoir, also a senior.

Principal Joseph Moylan was less than pleased with the conduct of his students. He said the student walkout accomplishes nothing, and he indicated that the school will take disciplinary action against those that participated.

Moylan hoped that the 25 students that walked out would not overshadow the other roughly 1500 other students that stayed in school.

"I said to the kids, 'you need to understand, in the community, community members are going to say that teachers told kids not to come into class. So if you walk out, you are actually putting our teachers in jeopardy of being blamed for you missing class.'"

Both Moylan and students confirmed that teachers were not orchestrating the walkout.

Pewaukee's varsity girls basketball team defeated New Berlin West on Friday at home in a WIAA Division 2 Regional Semi-final, 55-45.

The Pirates (22-1) went 25-for-30 at the free throw line. Jordyn Swan had 11 points for the winners. She also had 10 rebounds. Martha Radke scored 15 points for New Berlin West.

"All season we've been good at the free throw line," Todd Hansen, the Pewaukee head coach said. Hopefully that continues."

Waukesha West's Joe Schobert hit a double-cluth 3-pointer at the buzzer, lifting the Wolverines to a gut-wrenching 58-57 victory over Arrowhead in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs Friday night at the Al McGuire Center.

With 7 seconds left, Austyn Lingle brought the ball down court for West and dished to Schobert in the right corner, who elevated, flinched for a second as a defender screamed by, and rattled home the game-winner as the buzzer sounded.

Led by 12 points from Ricky Lovett of the bench, the Warhawks held a 57-52 lead with 35 seconds to go. West pulled within a basket on a Dillon Gilpatrick 3-pointer off an out-of-bounds play, then fouled with 7 seconds on the clock. Two missed free throws later, West had its final chance.

The defending Division 1 state champs, which went undefeated in Classic 8 Conference play -- including a sweep over West in the regular season -- finished the year 20-4. See the full photo gallery here.

Kendra Brooks scored 21 points as the host Oconomowoc Raccoons varsity girls basketball team advanced to the WIAA Division 1 Sectional Semifinal with a 60-37 victory over Madison West on Saturday.

Oconomowoc improved to 20-3 with the victory and will play at Verona Area High School at 8 p.m. in the next round on Thursday.

Mandy Prom had six assists for the Raccoons.

New Berlin Eisenhower's  varsity girls basketball team defeated Woodland Conference rival Pewaukee Saturday afternoon at Waukesha North in a WIAA Division 2 regional championship game, 47-41.

Pewaukee ended the season with a 22-2 mark. Both of those losses came to Eisenhower.

Pewaukee and the Lions were tied at 23 with 6:05 to go in the third period before Eisenhower went on a 10-3 run to close out the quarter and take the lead for good. PHS never got closer than six points the remainder of the game.

Junior Nicole Bauman fired in 23 points to lead the winners. Anna Hahn had 16 points.

Pewaukee was led by Jordyn Swan who had 15 points. Emily Wirth chipped in with 10 tallies.

Village of Pewaukee – West Wisconsin Avenue near the railroad tracks has been closed to traffic in order for crews to repair a water main break that occurred Monday afternoon.

David White, public works director, said the work should be completed by later today.

Monday, a water main broke and water gushed out in the area of West Wisconsin Avenue near the tracks. The street was closed for about 90 minutes until village crews could close a valve and shut off the flow of water. No damage was reported, White said.

Construction to highway 83 in Mukwonago has been delayed a second time due to unresolved contract negotiation between contractors and the state, Dennis Shook, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Southeast Regional Communications Manager reported Monday night.

Shook said the delay is due to the contractors and the state working out language details in the contract.

A new start date has not been set, and will be dependent on the approval of the contract.


Updates will be made as they become available.

Stefan Totzke, current part-time deputy chief for the Dousman Fire District, has been selected as the District's new full-time fire chief, effective March 28.

Totzke replaces Joseph Giver as fire chief, who left the Fire District on Feb. 14 to become the new full-time chief for the Verona Fire District.

Waukesha – Testimony began this afternoon in the trial of a Town of Oconomowoc man who allegedly kicked his dog to death two years ago.

Mark H. Tessmer, 54, of W348 N6053 California Ave., is charged with felony counts of mistreatment of animals and mental harm to a child.

Tessmer is accused of repeatedly kicking a 3-year-old Australian labradoodle in front of his two children, who were 7 and 11-years-old at the time, on Feb. 28, 2009, because the dog had defecated and urinated in the house. The dog was found dead the following day.

Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Michelle Hulgaard argued in her opening arguments that Tessmer kicked the dog with his work boot 10 times in the chest. "Their dad literally kicked their dog down the hallway," she told a jury.

Hulgaard said the dog was breathing heavily that night and later died near a back door. Tessmer then allegedly told his children that the dog died of a heart attack. Later Tessmer would say the dog had died of rat poison.

As a result of witnessing the attack, Tessmer’s son suffered serious trauma including having nightmares and waking up in a cold sweat, Hulgaard said.

An autopsy showed the dog died of blunt force resulting in hemorrhaging and muscle torn from it chest, she said.

Tessmer’s attorney, Dan Fay, argued Tessmer admitted to kicking the dog saying he "made a terrible mistake."

Fay said Tessmer though did not intentionally decide to kill the dog. Fay suggested in his arguments that the cause of the death occurred two days earlier and that the cause was the dog consuming rat poison. Fay said the dog’s behavior had changed prior to the attack.

Tessmer’s children briefly took the stand. Each was followed by a video of their statements made to a social worker on March 9, 2009, at the Care Center. The boy, now 13, and the girl, now 9, told the social worker they saw their father kick the dog.

What started out as two brothers and their kids 20 years ago has evolved into “Leahy’s Luck” today, one of the area’s premier Irish bands with five albums to their credit.

Most of the kids are grown and gone, but brothers Tom and Brian Leahy have added Randal Harrison on violin and Stas Venglevski on accordion to create a distinct style of world music.

The group has been busy this week celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with their music and will be coming to the Oconomowoc Arts Center, 641 E. Froest St., this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $24 for adults, $18 for seniors and $8 for students. Call (262) 560-3172 for ticket information. For more information about the band, visit www.leahysluck.com.

Courtney Lemon scored 11 points in her final game, and the Sussex Hamilton girls basketball team lost a 54-32 WIAA sectional semifinal to top-seeded Nicolet on Thursday at Kettle Moraine.

The Chargers finished the year 16-8 and reached the sectional for the first time since 1998.

Ashley Green and Alex Cohen -- two players headed to Division 1 universities on basketball scholarships in UW-Milwaukee and Northwestern, respectively -- both scored 19 points to front the Nicolet charge. Hamilton was within 6 points at halftime but couldn't contain the Knights in the second half.

The Arrowhead girls basketball team survived a thriller Thursday night at Kettle Moraine, topping the host Lasers in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal in two overtimes, 51-47.

Andrea Hirschfeld hit her only basket of the game, a putback off a rebound with 27 seconds left in the second session to give the Warhawks a 48-47 edge. Kettle Moraine then called a timeout it didn't have, leading to two technical free throws and possession for the Warhawks.

Arrowhead didn't hit on either freebie, but Kyle Davis drained two free throws on the ensuing possession, and Davis then stole the ball when KM tried to set up a final shot, drawing contact on her way to the hoop to earn game-clinching free throws.

The Warhawks advance to face Nicolet on Saturday at Kettle Moraine in the sectional final. The winner of that contest will appear in the Super Tuesday event three days later in Oshkosh.

KM finished 17-7 and was led by Robinson's 18 points. The Warhawks improved to 18-6. Jenny Smith scored 20 points for AHS.

Highway 83 is temporarily closed south of Mukwonago between highway L and highway O. Both directions of traffic are being diverted by police.  It is unclear how long the road will be closed for. No details as to why the road is closed have been released.

Bestselling author, humorist and songwriter, Michael Perry and his band, The Long Beds, present a fun evening of great music on OAC’s main stage onSaturday, April 2, at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available through the box office 262-560-3172 or on line at www.theoac.net.

Michael Perry and The Long Beds bring together a combination of original music that is a mix of straight up country twang, church harmonies and has been often referred to as “Americana” and "roughneck folk".

Perry began writing songs in the early 1990s during long nights when he was struggling to survive on prose (he is the author of four books: Population 485, Truck, Off Main Street, and Coop). With no arts background (he has a nursing degree) he found himself drawn especially to the work of poets and singer/songwriters. He began writing songs as a way to break up all-night typing sessions, and eventually he had enough of them that a musician friend invited him to play at a coffee shop.   In 2006, he released his first album, Headwinded.