Local

MIDDLETON–Sunflower Days are back.

After a year’s absence, the celebration of acres of the giant bright, blooming flowers returns to Pope Farm Conservancy this August as a town of Middleton sponsored event, managed by a local bicycling racing event firm.

The town board approved a plan by Race Day Events that for the first time charges a $3 admission, children 10 and under free, and $5 for parking or a shuttle bus ride.

“We’re here to solve the problems you had the last time. We’ll deal with parking, logistics and the crowd,” Ryan Griessmeyer, Race Day Events president, told the board Monday night.

Sunflower Days is set for a 10-day between Aug. 16-25. New this year is 5K Trail Run scheduled Aug. 22 that starts and finishes in nearby Pioneer Park. An extra fee will be charged for the run.

LA CROSSE–The Middleton High School Girls Snowboard team came in first place at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Alpine Racing Association (WIARA) for the third year in a row on Feb. 16 at La Crosse. 

The 117 points the team accrued was enough for the win, with three girls placing in the top 10, including Emelie Gehrke who led the team in sixth place. Sophomores Ella O’Orazio and Eden Larsen came in seventh and 10th, respectively.

“At state, we had fast racers race even faster at state than they did during some conference races. The fact that the girls won all three–Giant Slalom, Boardercross and Slalom–events helped them secure the state title in blowout fashion. This is the most dominant girls snowboard team to ever come through Middleton. Last year it came down to the last racer in the last event. This year, not at all,” coach Darrin Kolka said of the event.

WESTPORT–At 9:26 a.m., Dane County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a three-vehicle crash on CTH M and Borchers Beach Rd. in the town of Westport.

A 2004 Jeep Liberty was traveling eastbound on CTH M, just west of Borchers Beach Rd., when the male driver hit a patch of ice and lost control. The Jeep first hit a mini-van which ended up in the ditch, it then crossed the center line and was hit by a 2018 Toyota Camry that was traveling westbound on CTH M.

The 54-year-old male driver of the Jeep Liberty was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Camry was an 85-year-old Madison man. He sustained serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital. The male driver of the mini-van had only minor injuries and was not transported.  The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the deceased following an autopsy and notification of family.

As of noon, CTH M remains closed as deputies investigate the crash.

MIDDLETON–Luke Atterbury has come forward as a write-in candidate for the Town of Middleton, planning a run against incumbent, Town Chair Cynthia Richson. The 28-year-old consultant for Nordic said he will seriously begin campaigning at the beginning of March for the spring election.

“I have worked for the town off and on for the last 15 years, starting as an intern election inspector,” he said of his relationship with the town. 

He said that the resignations and dismissals and lack of transparency are his main reasons for running for public office. 

“I think there is an illusion of transparency. There are more committees and processes,” he said, but doesn’t feel that more people and time spent equals transparency.

MIDDLETON–Hubbard Ave. Diner general manager and part-owner José Garcia will receive the regional Champion in Restaurant Entrepreneurship award from the Wisconsin Restaurant Association next month. Garcia along with winners from the state’s other five regions will be honored at an award gala March 12 at the Marcus Center for Performing Arts in Milwaukee.

Garcia says he wasn’t expecting an award or even aware that he had been nominated but being recognized feels nice.

“Sometimes you get caught up in the day to day, keeping up the equipment, snow removal, customer complaints and you kind of forget what it’s really for that we are doing this,” Garcia says. “So it is kind of nice to get a recognition to remind you what you are doing here.”

MIDDLETON–Lisa Pardon, town clerk in the Town of Middleton tendered her resignation with the town in late January, with Feb. 1 as her last day. In a letter sent to town leaders, Pardon cited her run for the town board against incumbent Richard Oberle as the reason she is leaving because of concerns about her election job duties being a conflict of interest. 

Pardon said she contacted the Wisconsin Election Commission to learn if she would be able to perform all the duties required and learned she could do everything but be in the polling place. She goes on to say that if elected she would have to quit the position.

She also said she has timed the resignation so that the town will have time before the April election to have everything in place.

“I wanted to give them time to advertise and hire a new clerk,” she said.

MADISON–Officers from the Middleton Police Department Richard O’Conner, and Tyler Loether, and Dane County Sheriff Deputies David Lambrecht and Matthew Earll, were recipients of the of the Wisconsin Legislature’s Hometown Hero Award on Feb. 12.

The four were involved in shooting and killing Anthony Tong when they, along with many other law enforcement officers, responded to an active shooter in the workplace at WTS Paradigm (now known as Paradigm) in September 2018.

An investigation found that the officers repeatedly told Tong to drop his weapon, before firing upon him when he refused. An investigation following the incident cleared the men of any wrongdoing. 

Wisconsin State Rep. Dianne Hesselbein (D-79) nominated the officers for the award, and said she felt the men were deserving of the honor because of the courage and valor they showed during the shooting, which left four people wounded.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board reviewed the latest design schematic for the new elementary school planned near the Pope Farm Conservancy. The new elementary school is part of a multi building expansion plan approved by voters in a 2018 referendum for $138.9 million.

Superintendent George Mavroulis said he was thrilled on the progress made.

“The work continues,” Mavroulis said. “I think every time we see a more refined version it is just so exciting.”

Architects for the project, Robin Savola and Mike Schwindenhammer of Eppstein Uhen Architects, presented the latest revisions for the elementary school at the board’s Feb. 4 meeting. They also detailed plans for remodeling the kitchen at Sauk Trail Elementary.

The Sauk Trail kitchen remodel is expected to start right after school is out and be done in late July or early August, Schwindenhammer said. 

MIDDLETON–On Feb. 13, at approximately 2:50 p.m. a nine-year-old boy was walking home from school in the 6600 block of Franklin Ave. when he was approached by an unidentified male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. The subject asked the child if he wanted to come to his house. The child left the area with no further contact. 

The suspect was described as a male, 5’10” with black hair and a thin build wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that was covering his face.

The Middleton Police are asking anyone with information on this incident to contact us. We are also asking residents in the area with home surveillance to please check their devices as well to determine if there is any video of this suspect.

DANE COUNTY–The Dane County Sheriff’s Office is reminding motorist to move over for emergency vehicles and give county snow plows adequate room, after two incidents on the night of Feb. 12.

Just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, a Dane County deputy was providing coverage for a vehicle that had slid into the ditch on US Highway 151 in the town of Verona, when he was rear ended by another vehicle. The deputy did not appear to be injured but was evaluated at a local hospital as a precaution. The driver of the at-fault vehicle was cited.

Just a few minutes later, a Dane County plow driver reported a hit and run after a blue jeep crashed into the wing of the snow plow on Hwy 151 at CTH F in the Village of Blue Mounds. The driver of the Jeep was traveling southbound on Hwy 151. There were no injuries reported.