Political divide defines area in the past year
Two thousand twelve was a year in which the art of compromise for a common cause appeared to lose out to deep-seated political belief – as if people on both sides of the issues were fed up enough to draw a line in the sand and refuse to budge.
The wide political divide that defined much of our country and state in the past year, found its way to the streets of Burlington where a contentious School Board election gave way to a series of state and area recall elections in which local political groups preached their messages and did battle on the streets, in the coffee shops and at the ballot box.
And while the long-term impact of the divide cannot be gauged in a single year, 2012 represented a major shift in local politics that will – for good and bad – be felt for years to come.
Here’s a look back at that story and others rated as the top 20 Burlington area news stories of 2012 by the staff of the Standard Press:
1. Change, challenges for school district
Following a battle to approve a tax levy increase for the 2011-12 Burlington Area School District budget, opponents vowed they would continue the fight against what they felt was an irresponsible use of taxpayer money.
The first step in that change saw two new members elected to the school board in the April elections – Roger Koldeway and Phil Ketterhagen. The two displaced longtime board members Susan Kessler and John Anderson, and vowed to hold the district to both a zero percent tax increase as well as ensure district employees paid a portion of their health insurance premiums.
While this year’s budget came in with the equivalent of a zero percent increase, the health insurance battle continued. The district chose to go with a two-tier plan: one with a high-deductible option that still had employees paying no premium (but facing higher out-of-pocket costs), and the plan used for 2011-12, for which district employees would pay the difference in premium costs between the two plans (roughly 11-12 percent).
While most board members felt that was enough of a compromise, both Koldeway and Ketterhagen voted against the 2012-13 budget, at least in part because of the health insurance situation.
Another new twist to the situation came up this fall, as both Koldeway’s and Ketterhagen’s wives applied to be citizen representatives on two of many BASD committees. An outcry of possible conflict of interest arose, and both wives as well as a few other applicants were rejected as citizen reps because of possible conflicts.
2. Hospital to stop delivering babies
It didn’t take long once word leaked out in November about the pending closure of the birthing center at Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington for Mayor Bob Miller to begin seeking alternatives for that service.
Soon after hearing of the decision made by Aurora Health Care administrators, Miller began contacting competing health care providers about their potential interest in expanding into the Burlington area.
Miller made it clear he considers the obstetrics department a vital part of a community hospital and indicated he’ll leave no stone unturned as he looks for a provider to continue offering that service here.
In a letter sent to Aurora President Dr. Nick Turkal late last month, Miller said he was disappointed with the decision and he urged the state’s largest health care provider to reconsider.
Miller said he has a meeting scheduled with Vicki Lewis, president of Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington, in mid January to further discuss the issue. However, he said he didn’t anticipate Aurora reversing the decision and planned to continue to pursue other health care providers.
When news of Aurora’s decision became public in November, Lewis released a statement to the Standard Press that explained the change is necessary to allow Aurora to provide a sustainable model of care in the future.
Aurora will continue to provide prenatal, gynecological and other women’s health services in Burlington, but sometime in the summer of 2013 the hospital will begin referring all births for local patients to Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn.
Earlier this year Lewis said Aurora – which remains one of Burlington’s largest employers – is committed to providing services in Burlington, but would not speculate at what level those services would exist.
3. Political polarization grips Burlington
The Burlington Area School District School Board situation highlighted how political groups have polarized to one end or the other of issues.
While WeVote – a fiscally conservative group fighting to keep the school district from raising the tax levy – gained a great deal of attention, so did the Burlington Area Progressives. That group rented the Plaza Theatre for the presentation of a left-leaning film, sparking the WeVote Facebook page members to start discussing the idea of a boycott of the theater.
While on a state level Gov. Scott Walker was facing a recall – which was in the end, unsuccessful – local Progressive member Kelley Albrecht ran against influential Republican state Rep. Robin Vos. Both stuck true to party lines, and Vos easily won the race.
In addition, Phil Ketterhagen was either making a statement or the victim of a prank or an oversight in November, as his flag flew upside following the presidential election. When notified of the issue, Ketterhagen had his wife fix the flag.
4. Milwaukee Avenue construction impacts traffic – and businesses
Anyone traveling on Milwaukee Avenue – Burlington’s busiest road – ran into a beast of a construction project this summer, as at least two lanes were closed on the street from mid-summer through November.
A massive overall of the road was approved and undertaken, which included the upgrade of various water and sewer lines on the southbound side of the road and repaving of both sides.
There were times all four lanes were closed – rare, though, and at night. Most of the time, traffic had one lane each direction.
Businesses along Milwaukee Avenue reported lower volumes of traffic, including Los Compadres Restaurant – which went to a dinner-only shift because lunch traffic had dwindled.
5. Drought creates problems for farmers and residents
While many people enjoyed the break from mowing their lawns this summer, the lack of rain had a huge impact on local and state crops, as well as some area residents.
A severe drought was declared in July, with local corn and soybean crops being affected. While corn still grew in the area, the problem became corn “tasseling” early – which meant the pollination process began before the ears were ready for the pollen.
Some farmers had complete losses, while others managed to bring in some portion or all of their crops. The state also allowed emergency use of lakes and rivers to help provide irrigation.
One of the area lakes, Browns Lake, got so low that the local water-ski club, the Aquaducks, were forced in late July to cancel the remainder of their summer shows.
6. Father and daughter die in plane crash
A Sunday pleasure flight turned to tragedy for a 50-year-old Antioch, Ill., man and his 14-year-old daughter when their single-engine plane crashed as it approached the Burlington Municipal Airport Nov. 18.
Todd A. Parfitt and his daughter Nicole died in the crash that was reported at 1:26 p.m., according the to Walworth County Sheriff’s office.
It appears Parfitt, who kept his plane at the Burlington airport, was attempting to land the 1972 Grumman Model AA-1B at the airport when the crash occurred.
Both Todd and Nicole Parfitt were ejected upon impact and suffered fatal injuries, according to officials.
A preliminary report posted by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said the plane was seen spiraling toward the ground prior to impact.
Nicole Parfitt was a freshman at Antioch Community High School and a member of the school’s dance team.
The crash spurred an outpouring of well wishes and support at the school, online and in and around the Antioch community. A Facebook page tribute to Nicole Parfitt cropped up a few hours after the news filtered back to Antioch.
This Facebook post was typical of the sympathies expressed online and throughout the community:
“This was my daughter’s classmate, very sad situation but I have to say her passing has brought a lot of people together and allowed them to put their arguing aside and realize how cherished life can be.”
7. Farm accident claims the life of local farmer Clayton Weis
Well-known and well-loved local resident Clayton Weis died Sept. 28 when a piece of farm equipment fell on him and his brother Russell, while the two were working in a shed on their rural Burlington property.
Russell Weis was transported by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital, and was released in time to be home for the Weis Brothers’ Farm harvest – brought in by area farmers and friends who pitched in to help out the families.
Clayton Weis and his brother are third-generation farmers. Clayton lived in Burlington his entire life, taking over the farm that his father and grandfather ran at 4406 English Settlement Road.
In addition, Clayton Weis was active in both his church and in the community, often driving the buses for Catholic Central High School athletic teams to and from games. Ironically, he died the day of CCHS’s homecoming game.
8. Burlington again honored as volleyball “Titletown”
Last year, Burlington High School and Catholic Central High School made history by becoming the first two schools from the same community to win WIAA state girls volleyball titles in the same year.
This year, the two teams doubled their pleasure, as the BHS girls won their second straight WIAA Division 1 title, and the CCHS girls won their second consecutive Division 4 state title.
There were a combined 11 seniors on the two teams – six for Catholic Central and five for BHS. Among the Demon players were three NCAA Division 1 signees – Kaysie Shebeneck (Texas A&M), Ciara Capezio (Iowa State) and Morganne Longoria (Valparaiso).
Shebeneck also earned her second consecutive Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year honor after winning it as a junior.
But the success didn’t stop there. The Burlington High School boys came up just short of a state title of their own, making it to the WIAA boys championship match before falling in four sets to Appleton North (in a best of five match).
A number of players earned All-State honors, including Shebeneck, Longoria and Capezio, BHS freshman Quinn Spieker, CCHS senior Maggie Smith, and BHS boys Zach Gesteland, Garrett Schilling, Nolan Reuter and Carson Biedrzycki.
9. Superintendent David Moyer leaves, Peter Smet is promoted
After spending more than a year watching BASD turn into a political battleground, Superintendent David Moyer announced in March that he would leave as of June 30.
The news was met with equal parts celebration and consternation, as some fiscal conservatives felt Moyer had been nothing more than a “carpetbagger” and marking time until a better job came along, while others thought Moyer was unappreciated and opted out due to the dissent by certain groups in the community.
A search began for Moyer’s replacement, and BASD Assistant Superintendent Peter Smet was announced as his replacement later in the month.
Smet, who had been the district’s business manager for more than a dozen years, was largely viewed as a knowledgeable candidate who would likely be able to strike a middle ground between the two polarized groups.
However, in perhaps the first major battle – and compromise – Smet and the district came up with two different insurance plans for district employees, one requiring a premium payment, the other a high-deductible plan that would likely involve out-of-pocket costs.
In spite of coming in at a zero percent levy increase, the district was still criticized for not immediately requiring employees to pay toward their premiums.
10. Teacher layoffs help balance school district budget
For the first time in recent history, teachers were laid off according to performance criteria rather than seniority when BASD had to make cuts in its staff to address a decline in revenue and enrollment.
The district sent out 17 preliminary notices of non-renewal, which included 14 full-time equivalent position cuts and partial cuts to three other spots.
Many of the teachers chose either retirement or resignation before the final notices were handed out. According to the district, eight of the teachers tendered their resignations and another retired.
-
-
-
-
-