Local

Emily Duffy with last week’s storm damage at her home located at 1740 Park Street. Her family, which includes two Pre-K children, were escorted out of their back door by City of Middleton firefighters after tree branches broke an incoming “fireline” electrical wire. The family spent the night in a hotel.  Madison Gas & Electric deactivated the line Friday morning. Photo by Mary Langenfeld. 

Acting on a recommendation from city staff, the Middleton Common Council on May 21 approved up to $20,000 to hire a consulting firm that will hire Middleton’s next police chief.

That’s because Chief Troy Hellenbrand announced he will be retiring in mid-December. 

The decision about the new literacy/biliteracy curriculum that will be in place in Middleton/Cross Plains Area School District classrooms in the fall was announced at the May 13 school board meeting. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Silvia Romero-Johnson said the committee had selected two Savvas products for K-8 students.  Director of Secondary Education Keith Schneider, a member of the 25-member committee, said that typically the selection of a new curriculum stretches out over many months if not years but that the schedule was truncated due to the passage of Act 20 in the Wisconsin Assembly last July.  

After extended public and aldermanic comments, the Middleton Common Council rejected a proposal from the Middleton Cross Plains School District to rezone fields adjacent to Middleton High School as institutional and conservancy, with strong instruction not to submit a revised zoning request with artificial turf fields as the playing surface. The 7-1 vote occurred after more than a half hour of public comment about the issue from the public, which included one athlete and two coaches who favored the plan to construct artificial turf baseball, softball and lacrosse fields as well as new restrooms, press box, lights and batting cages. The council rejected the amendment to the Middleton Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map as well as both rezoning requests despite 5-4 approval by the Middleton-Cross Plains Board of Education and an approval recommendation from the Middleton Plan Commission.

CROSS PLAINS – The Cross Plains Lions Club announced a $400,000 campaign to raise funds to construct a pavilion in Zander Community Nature Park.

The Lions called the proposed 30-by-40-foot open-sided structure their “Legacy Project” and have been prompting since 2016, Lisa Laschinger, a capital campaign committee member, told the village board last week.

Engineer Tom Lauber, who built this “locomotive,” keeps it on schedule at Saturday morning’s Trout Days. 

The Middleton Common Council bid goodbye to two departing alders — Kendra Wochos and Jenifer Cole in districts 2 and 4 — and welcomed newly elected alders Kim Madden (District 2) and Todd Kalish (District 4) along with returning alders Lisa Janairo (District 6) and Randall Crow (District 8) during its April 16 meeting. 

The Middleton Common Council bid goodbye to two departing alders — Kendra Wochos and Jenifer Cole in districts 2 and 4 — and welcomed newly elected alders Kim Madden (District 2) and Todd Kalish (District 4) along with returning alders Lisa Janairo (District 6) and Randall Crow (District 8) during its April 16 meeting. 

 The Bike Rodeo held Friday, March 29 at Elm Lawn Elementary brought many young bicyclists to learn about the rules of the road plus bicycle repair, obstacle courses and swag distributed by the City of Middleton Police Department. 

Fourteen speakers and 9 more residents who registered in opposition April 3 won their fight against city hall when the Middleton Common Council rejected a change to the Future Land Use map and postponed a rezoning request for a former auto body shop on Terrace Avenue.