April 2023

Tom Cabalka might have one of the toughest jobs in the state right now.

But no one is crying for Middleton’s boys golf coach.

You see, Cabalka has eight, nine, even 10 players that are worthy of being on the Cardinals’ five-man varsity roster.

So picking a top-five for each event is a tough gig.

“It's a good problem to have,” Cabalka said.

Cabalka did an awfully good job last week as the Cardinals had a pair of stellar performances.

Middleton won its own triangular held at Pleasant View Golf Course on April 12. The Cardinals shot a 312 to easily outdistance runner-up Sun Prairie West (352) and Madison West (361).

Amazingly, Middleton’s JV team shot 320 on the same day and would have rolled to a win at the triangular.

DANE COUNTY–The Dane County Supervisors are poised to vote on the construction of a new Dane County Jail at their meeting on April 20.

The board will vote on resolutions that would approve additional funding for the project without a referendum or additional taxes to residents. 2022 RES-287 would allow the board to funnel leftover funds from the Terminal 19 Modernization project ($3,359,1130) and the CNG Trailer project ($6,598,000) into the jail budget. 2023 RES-13 would increase the budget amount by $13.5 million for general obligation bonds.

In a memo to the board on March 27, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi urged supervisors to vote for the resolutions to get construction started on the project which the board has discussed since the 1990s. At that time the board heard plans for adding on to the existing jail. Since then, little has been done to update the facility, making for sometimes unsafe conditions for residents and staff.

The third time proved to be a charm for Sam Pilof.

Pilof, a junior linebacker at Middleton High School, took an unofficial recruiting visit to the Rutgers University campus in Piscataway, N.J. this past weekend.

On Saturday, Pilof took a big weight off of his shoulders when he verbally committed to head coach Greg Schiano to play football for the Scarlet Knights as a member of the 2024 recruiting class.

“It feels great. It’s hard to explain,” Pilof, said during a phone call on Sunday before he returned home. “Now I can just focus on my senior season and try and improve myself.”

After trimming his list of suitors to three, including the University of Wisconsin and Penn State University, Pilof said that he was prepared to make a decision during his third trip to the Rutgers’ campus.

He didn’t hesitate when asked ‘Why Rutgers?’

MIDDLETON–A six percent salary increase was recommended Monday for all Middleton Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) teachers, staff and administrators for the 2023-24 academic year.

The increase was presented by the district’s finance staff which said it was needed to remain competitive and reach the 75th percentile for salary and wages paid by Dane County schools.

The cost to the district would be $4.33 million, according to information the district supplied.

Teachers and staff received a 5.5 percent total compensation package increase for the current school year, which school board and Middleton Education Association members said was the first significant wage bump in some time.

Under the salary proposal, annual pay for teachers with a bachelor’s degree increases from $45,126 this year to $47,500 in 2023-24. Salary for teachers with a master’s degree would increase from $51,126 to $53,500 in the same period.