Community

A Middleton man who worked at a local elementary school until last month was charged Tuesday with six counts of possessing child pornography on his home computer.

The Middleton Police Department has once again teamed up with Middleton Ford and the Middleton Senior Center to conduct a car winterization program for senior citizens.  This free event will be held at Middleton Ford, 7520 Century Avenue in Middleton, on Saturday, October 19th from 9:00am to 1:00pm.

This program is targeted towards adults age 60 and older, but no one will be turned away if they are in need of service.  Persons should contact the Middleton Senior Center at 608-831-2373 to make an appointment.

Police Officers will check the exterior of the vehicle making sure that the horn, turn signals, headlights, brake lights, tail lights and back-up lights are all working properly.  Middleton Ford service technicians will then inspect the vehicle fluid levels, belts, battery, tire pressure, tire wear, wipers and any other problems they may note. 

Landscape architect, countless award-winner, professor, author, visionary, innovator and Sports Illustrated person-of-note: these are just a few of the hats Phil Lewis has worn, and still does.

For over half a century he’s been a force in Wisconsin, and across the planet, for environmental protection and stewardship.

“As a kid, you want to see your dad in Sports Illustrated – Dad did that in 1967,” quipped Lewis’ son, Andy, himself a former member of the Middleton City Council.

At that time, SI published an in-depth article featuring Lewis entitled, “How To Stop The Pillage of America.” It explained Wisconsin’s forward-thinking statewide recreational planning effort, Lewis said.

The Middleton Town Board doesn’t want residents who make a positive difference in the community to go unnoticed.

Beginning next year the board will select an individual who has made a significant contribution to bettering the town as a recipient of the “Friend of the Town” award.

Board supervisor Tim Roehl suggested initiating the annual honor some years ago, While selection criteria remain purposely non-specific, town chairman Milo Breunig last week cited Mike Hanson’s work toward establishing the July 4 Freedom Fest festival as an example of the type of work that could garner the honor.

“But we have lots of residents who have stepped forward and have done great things for the town over the years,” he said. “There are some people who have 30 years of service on the plan commission.”

The board wanted the award limited to an individual and not a group of people. Nominations will be solicited through February. In March the board will make the selection.

The graduating class of 1963 recently held its 50th class reunion. “Our 50th class reunion was terrific,” raved organizer Jo Ann Woodford. “It’s nice how sooner or later everyone grows up!”  It began August 15 and ran through Sunday Aug. 18.

“We had the largest attendance ever,” Woodford added.

Pictured left to right while touring Middleton High School (back row) Judy (Schumann) Schaefer, Randall Schaefer, Sally Monogue, Ginger Collins, Cathy (Meinholz) Breunig, Donna (Ripp) Breunig, Jerry Goth, Mike Breunig; (front row) Janet (Sauk) Hanson, Jo Ann Woodford, Marge (Kalscheur) Stern, Helen (Markart) Adler, Vicki (Mergen) Spink, Mary (Gibson) Gill and DuWayne Fischer.

The Good Neighbor Festival is all about two things: summer fun for the entire community and raising funds for Middleton’s many service clubs. This year’s event, which took place during the final weekend in August, was a success on both fronts, according to organizers. “I think we had a really good year,” said Nancy Vickery, the festival’s president. “Crowds were good, I think everyone had a good time and the organizations raised plenty of money to spend back into the community.”

A former philosophy students who moved his large-scale marijuana business to Middleton after being arrested in Madison was sentenced Thursday in federal court to 6.5 years in prison.

Nicholas Bokas, 33, had been arrested in the spring of 2012 after police searched his E Mifflin Ave. apartment and recovered 97 pounds of marijuana, 188 one-pound baggies that contained marijuana residue and $4,700 in cash.

While police were conducting the search two individuals showed up each carrying large amounts of cash presumably to pay off drug debts, said District Judge Barbara Crabb.

Instead of getting out of the marijuana business, Bokas move to a Century Ave. residence and continued selling until he was arrested during a controlled buy on Feb. 19.

At the time, Bokas was on probation for a Dodge County drug conviction.

Bokas had been selling up to 10 pounds of marijuana a week for $3,400 a pound, according to a complaint filed in court.

After graduating 6th from the bottom of his high school class, Robert Jambois didn’t think a professional career was in the cards.

The now-lauded attorney spent his late-teens to early-twenties working at gas stations and picking up other manual labor jobs. Until one day, a brush with injustice landed Jambois in the midst of a small claims case.

“When I quit a job building motors, the guy I was working for kept an engine,” stated Jambois. Furious about this wrongdoing, Jambois channeled his frustration into legal action. He pursued a lawsuit against his former employer in order to both recover the stolen item and prove a moral point.

“I lost,” Jambois said with a humble laugh, “because I sued him individually instead of targeting the corporation.” The lawyer representing his old boss approached the young Jambois after the trial and offered him a bit of guidance.

The aroma of hot dogs smothered in ketchup and mustard was on the air Saturday morning. A large, boisterous crowd filled the bleachers and chattered between bursts of applause. Five-year-old Cole Truitt wore a perpetual grin as he played around on the PA system, confidently predicted victory for the firefighters’ team, threw out a heater for a first pitch, and generally wore out any adult who tried to keep up with him.

In many ways it was just a fun summertime baseball game at Firefighter’s Park in the City of Middleton. In other ways it was not; this was the second annual Battle of the Badges, raising awareness and funds to help families impacted by childhood cancer. Everyone there - including police, firefighters,  medics, volunteers and fans - was rallying around Truitt, who was diagnosed in November with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Dane County citizens who say they are alarmed by gun violence joined with the Sikh Society of Wisconsin in Middleton on Sunday of last week to commemorate the six worshipers who lost their lives one year ago to a white supremacist who opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek.

The Sikh Society in Middleton, 6970 Century Ave., invited people of all faiths to join in remembering the victims in a service at its temple beginning at 1 p.m. and lasting approximately half an hour.  The service was followed by a two-mile walk along Century Avenue, continuing on to Allen Boulevard to University Avenue and St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church parking lot.  

“One deranged individual will not destroy the Sikh resolve to face every adversity with courage and peaceful means,” said Harry Brar, president of the Middleton temple.