Monday, February 23, 2009

Snow was second biggest of winter

Capt Times


...Madison officially got 6.7 inches of snow on Saturday, the second biggest snowfall of the winter, eclipsed only by the 10.3 inches that fell on Dec. 19, setting a record for that date.

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Car, snowmobile accidents fatal

From the Jefferson County Daily Union

...Meanwhile, the body of a 34-year-old Watertown man was found early Sunday after the snowmobile he was riding went into open water on the Rock River near Watertown.

...Watertown Fire Department and EMS crews responded to the scene, along with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Dive Team. Klein's body was recovered at 5:30 a.m.

Walz cautioned snowmobilers from traveling the rivers and lakes at this stage of the season.

"It's just treacherous right now to be on the rivers," he said, citing the warm weather that occurred only a week ago.

Walz also recommended that snowmobilers travel with a friend.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Lake Level Update

Today = 777.84

Lake Level shoull crest during the next 24 hours...

Dredged Leota adds 'lake' to its name

From the Janesville Gazette


Lake Leota, Evansville, has been partially filled with water with 3-4 feet to go.







previous posts

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Lake Level Jumps

Today = 776.93

Inflow from Jefferson = 3,060 cfs
Outflow at Indianford = 1,880 cfs

Lake level will keep climbing as the snow melt/runoff continues.

Lincoln really did sleep here

Janesville Gazette

...During the 1832 Black Hawk War, Lincoln served in the Illinois State Militia as part of General Henry Atkinson's army.

On July 1, Lincoln camped in present-day Beloit at an Indian village called Turtle Village. Historians even know what he ate: dove soup.

The next morning, the troops passed through Janesville, stopping at a site now in Blackhawk Golf Course. The spot today is memorialized by a marker.

The troops camped at Storrs Lake on July 2. They searched for Black Hawk in the Lake Koshkonong area for the next three days. From July 6 through 9, Lincoln was north of Whitewater in Cold Springs near an old Indian village called Burnt Village. The army came together there. The group included Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States; Henry Dodge, the first territorial governor of Wisconsin; and Albert Sidney Johnston, who would become the second-ranking general in the Confederate Army.

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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Local Snowmobiler Rescued

Madison NBC 15

On Saturday, February 7, 2009, at approximately 10:30 p.m., the Rock County Sheriff's Office Water Rescue and Dive team were dispatched to Lake Koshkonong, Dahlman Park Landing, in the Town of Milton for a snowmobile and rider partially submerged in the lake. Milton EMS was dispatched long with Milton Township and Edgerton EMS.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Let governors keep appointing DNR secretaries

I read with interest your editorial Jan. 31 concerning the appointment of the Department of Natural Resources secretary by the governor. Few people enjoy our outdoors as much as I do, so I recognize the need to protect our environment. In addition, as a builder, last year I built one of the first homes that qualified as a “Green Built” home in Rock County. I would like my grandson to enjoy our world as much as I have been able to enjoy.

However, the answer is not to have the DNR secretary appointed by a board.

I will be installed as president of the Wisconsin Builders Association this weekend. The WBA was in favor of the change in 1995 for the governor to appoint the DNR secretary and remains so today. We believe this authority should be with the governor regardless of party or who the occupant of that office might be because of one major issue: Accountability.

The WBA believes government must be responsive and accountable to the citizens of this state, and we believe the cabinet form of government is the model that best accomplishes this important goal. We therefore support the governor to appoint, with the consent of the state Senate, the DNR secretary because making the position accountable to the oversight of elected officials will ensure that agency decision-making reflects the will of the people.

The governor’s ability to appoint the DNR secretary has served our state well the last 14 years, and we should not give back to a board that is not directly accountable to the citizens of Wisconsin the right to pick the head of one of the most powerful state agencies in Wisconsin. The WBA does not believe there is anything unique about the DNR’s regulatory functions that should preclude the agency’s secretary from being appointed by the governor.

The DNR of Wisconsin regulates much more than our forests, parks and lakes for our sports and outdoor enthusiasts. It also regulates our water, air and many factors that go into regulation of a construction site. We need a DNR that is responsive and accountable to not only the sports enthusiasts of this state but the businesses that the department regulates.

Builders, sports enthusiasts, environmentalists and members of both political parties agree that we must do whatever we can to encourage Wisconsin-based businesses to grow and also recruit new businesses to locate to our great state. A DNR secretary who is accountable to the governor gives Wisconsin the best opportunity to keep our environment clean in addition to helping to streamline the permitting process and get our economy going again by creating good-paying jobs.

While I’m quite certain that The Janesville Gazette does not intend, by advocating this change, to affect the ability to attract businesses and jobs to our state, this would occur. This happened in the past, and it would again in the future.

Doug Scott can be reached at Amwood Homes Inc.,
2017 N. Harmony Town Hall Road
Janesville, WI 53546
(608) 756-2989;
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Previous Posts

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Opposing Viewpoint

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

I-90 1961 - 1962








1961
I-90 contruction over the Rock River at Newville...

1962
I-90 complete...








Let the Harleys...





















And the Chevys...











ROAR!

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Lake Level = 776.25

Nearly DNR Summer Target level.

In just 60 days (maybe less), the boat goes back in the water!

Just to put you in the mood....