After the Mukwonago Area School Board personnel committee and the teacher's negotiation team met last night, the two parties agreed to disagree about contract language and possible concessions for next year, according to Superintendent Paul Strobel.

While teachers proposed concessions connected to a two-year contract, the school board remained firm in only considering an agreement for next year.

Jan Rolfe, chief negotiator for the United Lakewood Educators, "The Union agrees that the Walker cuts are disastrous for our schools and pledges to join the District in fighting against this budget
regardless of the failure to reach an agreement on any extension."

Watch for a complete story in the April 6 Mukwonago Chief.

On Saturday morning, April 9 from 10 a.m. to noon, Jim Brownlow, candidate for the 83 Assembly District, will hold his final “Coffee with Jim” listening and discussion session in Muskego prior to the May 3, 2011 special election. The “Coffee with Jim” will be held in the meeting room of the Waukesha State Bank at S69W15273 Janesville Road, Muskego. The Bank is located on Janesville Road, just East of Moorland.

“Jobs, education, and the tax policy deserve a common sense, middle class point-of-view,” says Brownlow.

Brownlow is running on a platform of strengthening the state’s struggling middle class. By putting good decision making ahead of blind partisanship, we can find common ground to enhance the environment for the working class of our state.

“I hope that all my neighbors will come by for a cup of coffee and friendly conversation,” stated Brownlow.

Brownlow, a retired teacher and librarian from the Muskego/Norway school district, resides in Muskego with his wife. They are the parents of two sons who are currently attending universities. 

The 83^rd Assembly District represents parts of Racine, Walworth and Waukesha counties.

Lake Country Lutheran's varsity girls softball team lost its first game in program history on Tuesday, 6-4, against Faith Christian. The game was at Lake Country Lutheran.

Sophomore Emily Howe was the pitcher of record for the Lightning.

Defensively, the Lightning were led by senior Katie Muckerheide.

Two successful bunts were executed by freshman Ashley Andersen.

"It was so fun. We have five players that played in their first game ever, but everyone did awesome," Andi Kornowski, the head coach said. "It was an excellent experience."

Mark Bradley and Amy Hemmer hold early leads in the race for two open Merton School Board seats. The Village of Merton clerk reports that Mark Bradley tallied 456 votes, Amy Hemmer, 428 and Dean Dobbertin, 413.

In the Swallow School District race, the Village of Merton reports that Jim Douglas and incumbent Rebecca Morrison hold early leads over Andrah Grothey in the race for two open seats there.

Only a small portion of the Swallow School District sits within the village, however.

Douglas owns 47 votes, Morrison, 38 and Grothey, 10.

Stay tuned as more results come in for both districts.

The three incumbents in the race for Trustee retained their seats in the Village of Oconomowoc Lake.

Newcomer Joe Faretta  took 14 percent of the vote in the four way race for the three posts. Mike Bickler was the top vote getter with 31 percent, followed by Paul Fischer with 29 percent and Joseph Owens with 26 percent.

Village of Lac Labelle Clerk Lori Boyer said voter turnout in their municipality was greater than expected today with 151 out of the 251 registered voters coming out to cast their ballots.

"It was a huge turnout," Boyer said. "We ran out of ballots," she added, noting that residents then used the touch screen to vote.

The Village was the first to report its results in the race for Oconomowoc Area School Board with candidate Lisa Arenas garnering 78 votes, followed by incumbents Mike Bickler with 62 and Sandy Schick with 62 votes.

With approximately half of the school district reporting, incumbent school board member Dean Dobbertin has climbed to within two votes of challenger Amy Hemmer, while Mark Bradley holds a comfortable lead.

Here are the latest results: Bradley, 530 votes, Hemmer 497, and Dobbertin 495.

Incumbent school board member Rebecca Morrison now holds the lead in the Swallow School Board race with 251 votes.

Jim Douglas, a former school board member, sits comfortably in second place with 231 votes, while Andrah Grothey has 94.

The three candidates are vying for two open seats in the school district.

Retired Village of Mukwonago Police Chief Fred Winchowky defeated Village of Mukwonago President Jim Wagner by 85 votes in today's election, according to unofficial results posted on the Village website.

Trustee Arnold Fickau lost his seat on the Village Board as Michael Sellenheim pulled in 47 more votes than Fickau to win a spot on the Village Board. Additionally, Mark Penzkover and Jim Decker retained their seats as Village trustees.

Complete election results can be found in the April 13 Mukwonago Chief.

With 42 percent of the vote counted, incumbents Mike Bickler and Sandy Schick are leading the race for the Oconomowoc Area School Board. At this point, Bickler is leading the pack with 39 percent, Schick with 34 percent and challenger Lisa Arenas with 27 percent/

 Sharon Leair will continue to hold the Town of Genesee chairwoman position after receiving 1,649 votes.  Political newcomer Gary Zimmermann received 821 votes. Leair has served as Genesee chairwoman since 1993.

Deb Hall will serve as the Village of North Prairie president after beating John Taylor with 276 to 180 votes.  Both candidates were write-ins, and both were previously village trustees. 

David Stellflug, Brian Peters, Tina Tierney, and Donna Samuels competed for three trustee spots. Those positions will be filled by Stellpflug (423 votes), Samuels, (231 votes), and Peters (75 votes). Tierney received 21 votes. 

The village had a 49% turn out with 755 voters. 

Incumbent Rebecca Morrison successfully defended her seat on the Swallow School Board, while former board member Jim Douglas will once again return to serve the district.

The defeated Andrah Grothey polled 20 percent, garnering 271 votes, while the victorious Morrison and Douglas polled 595 and 498 votes, respectively.

 Village of Pewaukee – Trustee Tom Calder defeated incumbent president Jeff Knutson for the village president seat.

Calder received 935 votes and Knutson 908 votes.

Kettle Moraine School Board member Gary Vose retains his seat on the board with 4,172 votes and is joined by Jay Crouse with 3,914 votes in today's election. 

Newcomer Amy Plum lost her campaign to become a Kettle Moraine School District Board member with 3,165 votes. 

Complete election results can be found in Thursday's Kettle Moraine Index.

Town of Delafield – Town residents defeated a referendum to borrow $3.3 million to construct a new firehouse off Golf Road.

The measure was defeated by a margin of 2,149 to 1,239. The town had proposed to construct a new firehouse on the baseball diamond near Town Hall off Golf Road. A similar measure was defeated in November by nine votes.

Town of Delafield – Incumbent supervisors Clare Dundon and Larry Krause were re-elected to another term.

Krause was the top vote getter with 1,446 votes while Dundon received 1,184 votes. They were challenged by newcomers Sean Sander and Joel Blumenschein received 1,034 and 1,012 votes respectively.

Challenger Amy Hemmer will join the Merton School Board after receiving 866 votes. Incumbent Mark Bradley led all candidates with a total of 904 votes.

The vote unseats longtime board member Dean Dobbertin from his seat on the board. Dobbertin polled 769 total votes.

 Wth votes still not reported from three of the smaller municipalities in the district, unoffical results are that residents of the Oconomowoc Area School District re-elected Mike Bickler and Sandy Schick to the Board of Education.

With 10 of the district's 13 municpalities reporting, the district is still awaiting results from the Town of Concord, Town of Merton and the Town of Sullivan. In last year's election, those three municipalities cast a total of 34 votes.

Preliminary results show Bickler led the field with 37 percent of the vote, Schick with 34 percent and challenger Lisa Arenas with 29 percent.

 Mike Doble beat Dave Nowicki in the race for the Town of Vernon chair with a vote of 1658

Arrowhead's varsity girls fastpitch  softball team defeated host Mukwonago Tuesday afternoon 8-4 to imrpove to 3-0 on the season. Tuesday's win was the first game of the Classic 8 Conference season.

Sophomore left fielder Carly Brengosz led the way for the Warhawks with three hits and two runs batted in. Kelsey Wasilczuk drove in two runs and Callyn Woldt and Amanda Bauer chipped in with two hits each.

Lexi Economou pitched all seven innings and earned the win, tossing a seven hitter.

For the second time in as many games, Kettle Moraine's varsity girls fastpitch softball team rallied in the seventh ining to post a come-from-behind 6-5 win over visiting Catholic Memorial Tuesday in the first game of the Classic 8 Conference season. KM is now 2-0 on the season.

Maddie Churches delivered a two-out, one-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Mady Melbye from second base to win the game.

Ashley Ausprung was the winning pitcher for KM. Maria Crawford had three hits and two RBIs for the Lasers.

KM scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the game.

Oconomowoc's varsity girls fastpitch softall team stunned host Watertown Tuesday afternoon by scoring 8 runs in the top of the seventh  inning to post a 10-8 win over the defending Wisconsin Little Ten Conference champions. Seven of those runs scored after there were two outs.

Cooney improved to 2-0 on the season.

Megan Finn delivered the game-winning hit for the Raccoons in the top of the seventh. Others contributing big hits in that rally were Brianne McGuire, Renate Meckl, Kaitlyn Ballman, and Keely Rolbiecki.

Delaney Osterday struck out 8 and was the winning pitcher.

The semi-annual dress sale scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Lake Country Lutheran High School will be cancelled.

Organizers said they were cancelling the sale due to a lack of "new" inventory.

"We did receive a handful of new donations and still have a couple racks of beautiful dresses donated from previous sales, so we'll continue to plan for next fall's dress sale," wrote organizer Brenda Halverson in an e-mail.

In lieu of the sale, where many high school girls bought used prom and homecoming dresses for affordable prices, Halverson said they will offer private appointments the week of April 11 for anyone interested in perusing the existing inventory.

Those interested in scheduling a private appointment should contact Halverson at (262) 468-4083, or e-mail at brendakay22@gmail.com.

Appointments are available through Friday, April 15 from 3-4 p.m. each day in the Lake Country Lutheran High School music room.

Lisa Paul will read from her new book, "Swimming in the Daylight" from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 7 at the Alice Baker Library, 820 E. Main St., Eagle. Her book chronicles her student days in the Soviet Union, and her campaign to win freedom for a Soviet-Jewish dissident.

A book signing will follow the program. Books will be available for purchase.

For more information call (262) 594-2800

No childhood is complete without experiencing an Easter egg hunt. The thrill that little ones get when they spot a colorful egg to add to their bag or basket is only matched by the delight that parents get just watching.

At 10 a.m. Saturday the YMCA at Pabst Farms will start its Easter egg hunt inside the building at 1750 E. Valley Road, Oconomowoc. There will be separate areas to hunt for each age group to make the hunting easier for the little ones. The event is for children up to age 10.

After collecting eggs, the youngsters can enjoy various activities until noon including face painting, arts and crafts projects and games.

The event is free for everybody.

For more information, call (262) 567-7251

Village of Pewaukee – A recount of the race for village president between Trustee Tom Calder and Village President Jeff Knutson will be held Tuesday starting at 9 a.m. at Village Hall.

Knutson requested a recount after losing to Calder in Tuesday's election. Calder received 51 percent of the votes, or 935 votes and Knutson 49 percent or 908 votes.

Jeremy Miller, 33, has been named the new varsity wrestling coach at Arrowhead High School. Miller will replace highly successful John Mesenbrink, who resigned from the post in February. Mesenbrink turned the AHS program into one of the top programs in the state.

Miller, a physical education/health instructor at Arrowhead, will take over the job immediately.

Miller has been an assistant under Mesenbrink for the last 6 seasons.

The former Village of Eagle clerk was sentenced this afternoon in Waukesha County Circuit Court to 225 days in the work-release jail after she pleaded guilty to her fourth drunken driving offense.

Shirley K. Mealey, 55, of 502 Clover Lane, Village of Eagle, was stopped Aug 23 at about 7 p.m. in Eagle when an officer saw her driving 48 mph in a 35 mph zone. Mealey had an alcohol content of .12, which is above the legal limit of .08 for adult drivers in Wisconsin.

Mealey was previously convicted for drunken driving twice in 1996 and in December 2006.

Wisconsin’s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week arrived just in time for some of the area’s first big storms of the season.

Running from April 11-15, the week-long initiative reminds people of the dangers associated with tornadoes, thunderstorms, flooding and hail, encouraging them to take protective safety measures.

Organizers planned a statewide tornado drill for Thursday at 1 p.m., when schools, businesses and individuals will have a realistic opportunity to practice safe procedures and learn about severe weather.

"We’ll get on the PA and talk with them (Lake Country School students) just to make sure everyone is aware," said Lake Country School District Superintendent Mark Lichte. "If they’re outside, we’ll bring them in, and then the tornado warning will go on and we’ll just put them in a room for about five minutes."

According to the state Department of Military Affairs Division of Emergency Management, Wisconsin averages 21 tornadoes annually. Wisconsin saw 46 tornadoes in 2010, the second greatest yearly number on record, and one of which, touched down in Eagle last June. The 2010 tornadoes injured 22 people and caused almost $30 million in property damage.

Tornadoes can hit at any time, although Wisconsin’s peak season runs from April to August.

The Get Connected presentation series offers "Love & Logic for Tykes, Tweens and Teens" on May 3 and 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Park View Middle School, Mukwonago. Registration is required by April 15. Payment for a $10 workbook is collected at the door.

To register email Nancy Berg at bergna@mukwonago.k12.wi.us or call pupil services at (262) 363-6300 ext. 24201. Provide name, phone number and e-mail address to register.

Hamilton School District's Alcohol and Other Abuse (AODA) counselor, student assistance and guidance counselor, Kristin Hasbrook will show parents how to let empathy and consequences do the teaching, provide tips on raising responsible kids, and how to provide limits, guidelines and choices that encourage kids to think and make appropriate choices. The two-session presentation offers easy-to-use techniques that help parents raise healthy, happy and responsible kids.

Village of Pewaukee – With half the wards counted and the results matched those from election day, Village President Jeff Knutson today halted the recount.

Knutson asked for a recount as he lost his bid for re-election by 27 votes to Trustee Tom Calder. Upon seeing the results for wards one through five remained the same, Knutson did not want the village’s Board of Canvasers to proceed with the recount of votes from wards six through 10. Calder received 51 percent of the votes, or 935 votes and Knutson 49 percent or 908 votes.

Calder will be sworn in as village president April 19.

  A 52-year-old Cottage Grove man has been charged with a Jan. 5 bank hold-up in Neenah, Wis., that closely parallels the Feb. 17 robbery of the Guaranty Bank in the Village of Oconomowoc Lake.

Farrington is also a suspect in a LaCrosse bank robbery that took place in last month. In the Neenah, Oconomowoc and La Crosse crimes, the banks were all located inside grocery stores.

Authorities are still investigating those other robberies to see if they are linked to Farrington.

Read more about this in the Thursday Oconomowoc Focus

The Oconomowoc Public Education Foundation (OPEF) presented more than $50,000 in grant awards for the 2011-2012 school year at the April 12 Oconomowoc Area School District  Board of Education meeting.

Twelve grants were awarded tosupport innovative experiences in education.

Waukesha - A former Arrowhead High School student who wrote bomb threats on bathroom walls last year was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail.

Andrew M. Frankwick, 17, of W327 N4248 Portside Drive, Nashotah, was convicted of a felony charge of threatening to release a harmful substance, while a felony charge of bomb scare was dismissed under a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen B. Stilling imposed a 120 day jail sentence but stayed the last 90 days. Frankwick will serve his sentence in the work-release jail. Stilling also ordered Frankwick to three years of probation and to do 60 hours of community service each year of probation.

Time Warner Cable has announced in a pre-recorded message that it is experiencing a digital telephone outage through out southeastern Wisconsin.

The Arrowhead Facilities Community Task Force (FCT) will vote next week on a set of facilities recommendations to present to the Arrowhead School Board.

The FCT set an April 19 meeting date after a two-hour discussion at last night's meeting. The task force is in the midst of readying its final recommendations for the board.

The five recommendations will address the high school's aquatic center, the fieldhouse, traffic, pedestrian and parking issues, the needs of its educational fine arts programs and 21st-century learning spaces.

Read the full story in tomorrow's Lake Country Reporter.

For the 1933 tune "Easter Parade," Irving Berlin penned the words "I could write a sonnet about your  Easter bonnet."  Bing Crosby sang the tune in the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn"  and in 1948 Judy Garland and Fred Astaire starred in the movie "Easter Parade" that featured the song.

We don't see Easter parades with ladies in their lovely bonnets these days, but on Sunday Catherine's Corner in Genesee Depot will bring back the once-popular event.

The day begins with Miss Laura reading a special Easter story at 1 p.m. followed by a real Easter parade. Children and adults are all invited to come in their Easter headwear and march in the parade.

At  2 p.m., kids 1 to 10 years old can scramble for  candy and prizes during the egg hunt. Be sure to bring a basket.

All kids wearing Easter bonnets, hats or bunny ears will receive free homemade ice cream in a cone from Pal's Ice Cream Shoppe & Grill. Adults will receive a free cup of freshly brewed tea from Lilies Place.

The first annual event takes place at Catheriine's Corner lcoated at S42 W31428 Highway 83, Genesee Depot.

For more information, call (262) 201-4366.

Bob Shea has been tapped to replace Arno Kirchenwitz as varsity girls basketball coach at Oconomowoc High School. He becomes the fifth head coach in program history after Kirchenwitz announced he was stepping down from the helm he has held for 20 years.

Shea was a freshman boys coach from 1997 to 2000 and an OHS varsity assistant from 2000 through last season. The OHS girls tied for the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference title and return the bulk of their starting lineup next season.

Kirchenwitz is in his first year as varsity baseball coach at OHS.

The Friends of the Vernon Marsh will have a prescribed education prairie burn on Saturday, April 16 at 10 a.m. The rain date will be Saturday, April 23 at 10 a.m.

The burn location is at the prairie on the end of Benson Avenue, west off of XX (Oakdale) on the northeast side of the marsh.  We will meet in the parking lot, where there will be a brief educational presentation followed by the burn.  Items in the education presentation will include; the history of burning, fire behavior, wildfires vs. prescribed fires, effects of fire, utilizing fire for management, burn requirements, burn equipment (show and tell), and a briefing on the days burn.  

The public is welcome and the program is free of charge. Depending on the location of the burn, a lawn chair might be useful. 

Mariette Nowak, president of the new Kettle Moraine Chapter of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes will present entitled Does Your Yard Make a Difference? on Saturday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the South Kettle Moraine State Forest Headquarters, S91W39091 Highway 59, Eagle, one mile west of Eagle.

Nowak will show that your yard – even the smallest yard – can make a difference. You can increase biodiversity (birds, butterflies, and the abundance of all wildlings). You can heal your piece of the earth, improve the health of you and your family, and add to the quality of your life. Her talk will discuss the research that proves that you can accomplish all of the above, through natural landscaping with native plants.

 The program is open to the public. Admission is free. Donations are welcome.

According to the Mukwonago Area Chamber of Commerce, Village of Mukwonago Police have reported a recent scam in the area.

A fellow that goes by the name of Matt Stein has been calling Mukwonago businesses to inform the person that answers the phone that he is calling from their corporate headquarters and that there was a wallet stolen from a patron of their individual business.  He then directs the individual to take $2,000 from their safe and deliver it to a certain person at a certain location whom will be repaying the money to the patron.

Thus far he has hit several Chamber members who own a franchise location.  One employee at one of the locations did fall for the scam.

The Police Department wants to be notified as soon as possible if a call has been received or if a call is received in the future.

As part of Representative Paul Ryan's April 2011 Listening Sessions, Rep. Ryan will be in North Prairie from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 130 North Harrison Street, and in Mukwonago from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Village Hall, 440 Rivercrest Court on Monday, April 18.

For more information and a complete schedule, visit paulryan.house.gov/UploadedFiles/April2011LSschedule.pdf

State Representative Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) will be holding in-district office hours at the Mukwonago Town Hall on Wednesday, April 20 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. to answer questions and seek input on issues of importance from constituents of the 33rd Assembly District.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has cancelled the educational prescribed burn in Vernon Marsh scheduled for this Saturday, April 16 due to expected poor weather conditions.

This year’s annual Unitarian and Universalist Church Auction will be held on Saturday, April16, at 6 p.m. at the United Church of Christ, S93 W30740, Highway NN. 

Many great items have been donated by area business and church members, and the auction is always a lively, fun-filled event. The evening opens with a silent auction, desserts and music by Elmer Sparks, followed by the live auction.  

For more information and to see a catalog of items go to www.uumuk.org, or call (262) 363-5686. 

We Energies has restored power to the Village of Mukwonago area near Highways 83 and ES. Residents in that area were without power for nearly two hours while equipment problems were resolved.

We Energies restored power to the Eagle area some time before 3 p.m.

University Lake School junior Molly Seidel won two races last Saturday at the Lady Crusader Invite held at Catholic Memorial. Seidel, arguably the best high school distance runner in the state, won the 1,600-meter  run with a time of 5:08 and she also won the 800 with a clocking of 2:24.20.

ULS scored 32 points in the meet and tied for ninth place.

Isabel Seidel ran third in the 1,600 and the 3,200 relay team of the two Seidels and Piper and Maise Rosenheimer placed third.

  State Representative Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) will no longer be holding in-district hours at the Mukwonago Town Hall this Wednesday, April 20 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. due to a family emergency.

Upcoming office hours are as follows: May 07, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at City of Delafield Public Library June 11, 2011; 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Wales Community Building July 08, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. at Meadow Brook Elementary Waukesha *August 13, 2011; 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Tentatively at Nashotah Village Hall September 10, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at North Prairie Village Hall *October 08, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Tentatively at Hartland Municipal Building November 12, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Genesee Town Hall December 10, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Chenequa Village Hall

Eagle Fire Department responded to a house fire on South Shore Drive around 11:30 this morning. Upon arrival, Fire Chief Justin Heim said the home owner reported that everyone was safely out of the house. Firefighters from numerous departments responded to the call, which was under control within an hour. Heim said the cause of the fire was not determined at this time.