Local

DANE COUNTY–The Dane County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in a death investigation.

On Sept. 7, a decomposing, man’s body was found in the Town of Blooming Grove near some railroad tracks on Underdahl Rd., east of I-39. Deputies responded to a report of the body at 11:48 a.m., and detectives said it was clear the body had been there for an extended period of time. 

The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office is currently leading a death investigation and conducting an autopsy on the body of the unknown man. 

Anyone with information in this case is urged to come forward by calling the Dane County Tip Line at 608-284-6900.

MIDDLETON–Wayne Pferdehirt, a serving member of the Middleton Plan Commission, passed away in an accident Aug. 26 while hiking on the John Muir Trail in California. Pferdehirt indicated in social media posts that he planned to hike the entirety of the 240-mile trail in 21 days.

Pferdehirt was esteemed in his professional career field earning a master’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning from Northwestern University in 1975 and serving in the Army Corp of Engineers and as an Environmental Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory.

In 1991, Pferdehirt was recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison/UW-Extension to help establish the UW Solid & Hazardous Waste Education Center. In 1998, Pferdehirt became director of the online graduate engineering programs at UW-Madison. 

MIDDLETON–The solar array to be installed at the Middleton Municipal Airport is estimated to save the city of Middleton and the Middleton-Cross Plains School District a combined estimated $1.41 million during the next 30 years compared to rates from non-renewable energy sources, according to local officials.

The school district anticipates saving $28,381 in electricity costs during the first year the array is operational and $1.059 million by 2048, according to Perry Hibner, district spokesman.

“We are basing the savings on the current prices for electricity and fuels. If they go up, our savings should go up. If they go down, our savings would be less,” he wrote Tuesday in response to a reporter’s questions.

The city should save an estimated $353,000 during the next 30 years, said Abby Attoun, director of planning and community development.

MIDDLETON–Shaney Andler is not new to volunteering, and the Middleton special education teacher wanted to pass that on to high school students, so she started Bridge Volunteering last year, and serves as its president. Now the organization that is geared toward student with mental health issue, though open to all, will have a home.

Andler is opening a hub for volunteer projects that students can chose to help fulfill their required service hours. The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District requires that all student have 40 hours of service hours to graduate, with two kids of her own Andler found the requirement challenging to achieve. “

MIDDLETON–Middleton police in conjunction with Madison police arrested a man they say is responsible for an armed robbery in Middleton on Aug. 8.

Chris A. Hines, 60, of Middleton was arrested in Madison on Aug. 20 at his place of employment. Hines was identified as a suspect and taken into custody after physical evidence at the scene, Today’s Trends Salon at 6670 University Ave., was processed by authorities. When police confronted him at work, Hines admitted to the crime.

MADISON–The Public Service Commission Tuesday unanimously approved the third high-voltage transmission line to terminate at a substation in the Town of Middleton.

The three commissioners agreed that the 345-kilotvolt Cardinal-Hickory Creek (CHC) line, extending from Dubuque, IA, is needed to bring low-cost renewable power into Wisconsin.

“This project is not only worthy of (construction approval) but is the best option for a carbon-free energy portfolio in the future,” said Commissioner Mike Huebsch.

All three commissioners announced their approval minutes into the nearly three-hour meeting causing about one half of the audience to leave the crowded hearing room disappointed.

Chris Klopp, of the town of Cross Plains, stayed on as the commissioners worked their way through about three dozen questions to justify the $525 million line and its route.

MIDDLETON–The hopes of a mother are pinned on one California doctor, a leader in researching a particularly difficult and rare cancer. To aid his efforts, former Middleton resident Michelle MacLea, (nee Jolin), has devoted herself fulltime to fundraising for research, creating more treatment options and a cure. 

MacLea’s son, Conner, was diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) at the end of his senior year in high school, at age 17. He’s been fighting the disease for over two years.

“It’s a very complicated cancer,” explained MacLea, “and not a matter of if it’s coming back, but when.” 

Currently, the only treatment options are multiple surgeries for recurring tumors or oral chemotherapy. Those whose cancer is inoperable may decide to take part in trials or unproven therapies, MacLea said.

TOWN OF WESTPORT–A group opposed to widening part of CTH M, believe the public will find it so incompatible with existing land use that it will restore interest in building the long dormant North Mendota Parkway. 

Dane County Highway Department is about halfway through a study of expanding CTH M from CTH Q to SH 113 to relieve congestion and reduce vehicle accidents.

Advocates for the North Mendota Parkway, who call themselves A4NMP, prefer that CTH M only be widen from CTH K to SH 113. They oppose widening CTH M to four lanes, adding frontage roads and an expansive median between CTH Q and CTH K. That could take land from the Bishops Bay Golf Course and other pricey property along the roadway.

Many of the 70-some in attendance at meeting last month at Bishops Bay Country Club are already fed up with the commuter congestion on CTH M.

MIDDLETON–Two days, a genre, a line, a character, a prop, and a team of filmmakers are the recipe for a short film in the 48 Hour Film Project, a worldwide competition that tests a team’s moxie along with their editing, writing and filming skills.

The films, which recently premiered at the Bartell Theatre in Madison, are in the process of being judged and the award ceremony and screening has been scheduled for Aug. 17 at Capital Brewery in Middleton.

This year competitors were given a sponge as a prop, a character named Rob or Robyn Sarvis who is a travel specialist, and the line “He told me to ask you”  to be incorporated into the four to seven-minute films. The use of specific elements is to prevent people from pre-writing scripts.

Michael Keeney and Katherine Thompson organized the Madison event. Both have competed in the 48 Hour Film Project, but for the last couple years have turned their attention to running the competition. 

MADISON–Dane County Jail Inmate Michael A. Duarte, age 19, of Wisconsin Dells, has been declared AWOL. 

He is currently serving a probation sentence with work release and was in the process of transferring his work release to the Sauk County Jail. Upon arrival, he failed the Sauk County Jail intake process and was directed to return to the Dane County Jail. After leaving Sauk County, he didn’t report back to the Dane County Jail to serve his sentence.

Duarte is 5’7” tall and weighs 180 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. His last known address is in the Wisconsin Dells/Lake Delton area.

Anyone with information on Duarte’s whereabouts is asked to call 911.