January 2020

CROSS PLAINS–Citing an adage most cannot relate to, retiring Cross Plains Chief of Police Tom Janssen explained, “The life of a police officer is filled with seven hours of boredom, punctuated by five minutes of terror, followed by eight days of paperwork.”

In his experience, even in a village of a few thousand or throughout rural Wisconsin.

Janssen’s last day in the office will be Jan. 10. Recently he reflected on his 34-year career in law enforcement, and the changes he instituted throughout his tenure as chief.

When he moved from Manitowoc to Cross Plains in 2005, leaving behind roles as a SWAT sniper and on the scuba dive rescue and K-9 teams, Janssen welcomed the new challenges posed as police chief. The job also appealed to him because it wasn’t simply administrative, he said.

“I still got to do patrol work, and I really enjoy that,” he said. “What my officers got to do, I do too: vehicle lockouts, traffic stops, calls.”

Our daughter wanted bunk beds for ages. She loved the idea of having a guest bed in her room, and she was intrigued by the fact that it’s essentially a fort frame that’s ready to turn into a ship or a castle at any moment. There is also an undeniable primal safety to sleeping six feet off the ground. I admit I often fall asleep on the top bunk while reading bedtime stories to her. When I do, a little, atavistic part of my monkey brain always thinks: “I can sleep safely up here, just out of reach of the wolves.”

My wife purchased a used bunk bed, doing so with more faith in our marriage than was prudent. She went and picked it up, managed not to get murdered by the person selling it on Facebook, and returned home. 

“They lived in a mansion,” she reported back to me. “They were definitely rich, so I think this must be a good bed.”

MADISON–Two environmental groups opposed to the Cardinal-Hickory Creek (CHC) powerline have filed lawsuits against the Public Service Commission (PSC) in state and federal courts seeking to reverse the decision to construct the Dubuque, IA-to-Town of Middleton, high voltage line.

The Driftless Area Land Conservancy (DALC) and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation (WWF) contend in federal court that the PSC decision violates private property owners’ due process rights and uses eminent domain to take property for a private use in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifth amendments.

CROSS PLAINS–August L. Butler, age 88, passed away on Dec. 28, 2019, at Sienna Meadows. He was born on Jan. 19, 1931, in Cross Plains, the son of Leroy and Hulda (Scheele) Butler. He married Shirley Schoephoerster on May 14, 1960. 

August owned a successful upholstery business in Cross Plains and was a proud member of the Cross Plains Volunteer Fire Department. He enjoyed fishing and hunting, and he was a gifted woodworker, building furniture and doing wood crafts. More than anything, he loved his two grandchildren.  

August is survived by his wife; daughter, Mary Ann Butler; sons, Kenneth Lee (Peggy) Butler and James Michael Butler; grandchildren, Joshua Lee Butler and Amanda Sue Butler; and many dear relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, William Butler and Donald Butler; and sister, Grace Fulgrabe.