Local

MIDDLETON–Three Middleton businesses were among the 231 winners in the We’re All Innovating contest held by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Community CoWorks, Meg’s Masks and Regal Find all received funding as winners in the competition. 

Kristi Warriner, owner of Community CoWorks said she learned of the contest through multiple sources including the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and WWBIC Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC). “City of Middleton leaders and the Chamber also sent out press about the award.  Mike Davis at the city and Lisa Quam at the Chamber have been really fabulous about looking out for us,” Warriner said. 

Editor’s note: In a previous vaccine article published on Dec.10, Julie Willems Van Dijk’s name was misspelled. It is corrected in this story.

WISCONSIN–After FDA (Food and Drug Administration) emergency approval on Dec. 11, Pfizer began rolling out their COVID-19 vaccine immediately. Wisconsin, which is poised to receive 49,725 doses, started receiving the vaccine on Monday. The first 10,000 doses arrived in the afternoon.

MADISON–The buzz about the approval and release of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and later the Moderna vaccine, may leave many feeling a sting. The Pfizer vaccine, which is expected to be approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as early as next week, will see slow distribution and just under 50,000 doses for the state in its first shipment. 

In a video call in for reporters on Monday, Wisconsin Deputy Health Secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Julie Willems Van Dyke and Dr. Stephanie Schauer, program director of the Wisconsin Immunization Program said that 49,725 doses of the vaccine, which requires deep freezing, will be in the first round. It is unknown how many will follow in the second round. 

MADISON–Local health organizations are calling on the public to be vigilant over the holidays in protecting themselves from COVID-19. Despite recent positive news about vaccine development, the general public is unlikely to receive vaccines until Spring of 2021 at the earliest.

Rather than calling your healthcare provider, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Wisconsin Department of Health Services websites below for answers to frequently asked questions about the vaccine. This helps reserve healthcare systems’ staffed phone lines for those calling with active symptoms and acute care needs.

DANE COUNTY–The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped Christmas tree sellers from putting a little Ho, Ho, Ho into the holiday season.

Wanting their customers to feel safe while enjoying a traditional Yuletide experience, they’ve adopted public health guidelines for businesses and gatherings

“We got the hang of it during our fall season, our busy season,” said Chris Krisch, of Enchanted Valley Acres, 5047 Enchanted Valley Rd., Cross Plains.

The fall corn mazes and pumpkin patch gives way to cut-your-own and selecting pre-cut Fraser Fir, Balsam and other evergreen tree species beginning with a “soft opening” on Nov. 23, a few days before Thanksgiving.

Enchanted Valley’s employees wear masks for all customer contacts, receive daily health checks and frequently sanitize hay wagons, tables and other “high-touch” areas. Sanitizers are stationed throughout the farm.

MADISON–The Madison Police Department (MPD) is seeking help from the public in locating Carlos A. Wible, 37 of Middleton.

MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said a case detective has probable cause to arrest Wible for second degree sexual assault for an incident that allegedly occurred on Madison’s west side on Aug. 1.

Anyone with information as to Wible’s whereabouts is asked to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or online at P3Tips.com.

MIDDLETON–Some unlikely workers showed up at the Middleton Municipal Airport-Morey Field in October to clear invasive species on the property–a group of goats from Vegetation Solutions in Muscoda.

The idea for goats to clear the brush at the airport came from volunteer Kara Randall who was tasked with removing overgrowth. “When I got out there, I realized we were doing something much bigger than one person or a couple could handle,” said Randall.

After living in the Caribbean and seeing goats clear areas that were difficult to reach or environmentally sensitive, Randall began to do some research. She found that Chicago O’Hare International Airport was using goats as groundskeepers and began calling companies that provided the service. She ended up connecting with Vegetation Solutions, who by coincidence was the company proving the service to O’Hare. 

TOWN OF MIDDLETON–At approximately 11:24 p.m. on Nov. 9, Dane County Deputies and City of Madison Officers responded to the Quality Inn located at 6900 Seybold Rd., in the Town of Middleton, for a gunshot wound victim.

A 30-year-old male sustained gunshot wounds to his right thigh and left forearm. The victim was able to run into the lobby for help. A responding deputy applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. The victim was transported to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

MIDDLETON–A 14-year-old girl has accused a gas station employee of offering to exchange sex for tobacco products and money according to a complaint filed with the Middleton Police Department last week.

On Oct. 29, police arrested 37-year-old Mohd Abdul Mujeeb of Madison, an employee at Pit Stop Express, 3303 Parmenter Street, for child sex offenses. The victim reported to police that over the course of a couple weeks Mujeeb had asked her for nude images of herself in exchange for free tobacco products. The victim stated that Mujeeb had also engaged in sexual activity with her at the store in exchange for free products and money.

Police allegedly found nude images of the victim on Mujeeb’s phone. Mujeeb was jailed and has been charged with Repeated Acts of Sexual Assault of a Child, Possession of Child Pornography, and Child Enticement. The investigation is ongoing.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Cross Plains Times-Tribune will sponsor Takeout Takeover, two weeks of takeout specials offered by locally owned restaurants within the newspaper’s coverage area. 

The idea came about in October, when editor Michelle Phillips approached local organizations to discuss how to help restaurants, which are particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I approached the City of Middleton, Downtown Middleton Business Association, Chamber of Commerce and Tourism department to get input on whether we could feasibly do a takeout week, and Takeout Takeover is the idea that came out of those conversations,” said Phillips.

The event will be held from Nov. 28- Dec. 12, and each participating restaurant will have the option of including a lunch special, dinner special and family dinner special with the price points of $15, $25 and $50, respectively. All of the meals will be takeout only.