ST. GERMAIN - Fire destroyed a cottage in St. Germain on Monday -- and winter plumbing problems may be to blame.
St. Germain Fire Chief Tim Clark said a plumber might have started the fire while thawing out the building's pipes. His crew rushed to Deer Run Resort around 12:20 yesterday afternoon.
"While in route, that there was flames coming out the building. That's when we called for some more mutual aid. When I got here fire was already going through the windows."
Arbor Vitae and Plum Lake firefighters were there, too. They controlled the fire within an hour.
But it took about two hours for crews to clear the smoke. Clark said the building's roof was the biggest problem.
"It's got a double roof on it and the fire got in between the two roofs, and it was hard for us to vent the building because of the double roof."
Clark said the cottage was a total loss worth about 100-thousand dollars.
MADISON - Burglars accused of hitting TWELVE Wisconsin counties will answer for their crimes. Two men are charged after an investigation that took years to complete. « (Director Note) Take FS: Burglary Ring Hits 12 Counties - Robert Miles, 28 - Daniel Frausto, 37 - Charged in three counties - Other suspects will be charged too » 28-year-old Robert Miles, and 37-year-old Daniel Frausto are formally charged in three of those counties, including Oconto and Outagamie. Frausto also faces burglary, robbery and false imprisonment charges in Waupaca County. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said some of the other counties the ring operated in are Shawano, Portage, and Oneida counties. Charges are expected to be filed in some of those other counties as well. Van Hollen says they'll also charge other suspects.
WOODRUFF - The capitol may be far away but one of our local legislators wants to bring it closer. Assemblyman Rob Swearingen is meeting with constituents around the 34th district.
He visited Woodruff and Eagle River today.
Swearingen is five months into his freshman term. He wants to make sure people can put a face to his name.
He also wants reach those who might be skeptical of him because of his political party.
"You get that, just because I have the "R" in the back of my name that you're automatically not going to be friendly to those issues. And we encourage you to reach out. I may respond and it may not be the response you want to hear, but if you're going to ask me an honest question I'm going to give you an honest answer," says Rep. Swearingen.
Swearingen says everyone's working hard on the budget in Madison. He's hearing a lot of concerns about school funding locally.
"I just really feel that people should be engaged with their own local legislators so the legislator knows them, and knows how they feel. And I showed him my tax bill and he got a real perspective for someone who's on a fixed income and how all the costs for education impact one of his constituents," says Shirley Kufeldt, from Conover.
"We're looking for more funding for the K-12 funding program. I think there's been a lot of heightened awareness in the capital on both sides of the isle and in the Governor's office. So I'm looking for hopefully some good results to help rural schools as the budget moves forward before the Governor signs it in the first part of July," says Rep. Swearingen.
Swearingen's first budget motion was to allow Nicolet College to be eligible for state aid based on enrollment. That motion passed unanimously.
He says his weekly drive to his office in Madison is a reality check.
"There's the state capitol and you realize that your office is inside that building. It's a really surreal feeling to walk into that building each morning. Every time I press that button, whether it's green or red, I am voting on behalf of over 50,000 people in the 34th Assembly District. And that is something you don't take lightly," says Rep. Swearingen.
Swearingen will continue district dialogues on Monday. He'll be in Florence, Rhinelander and Crandon.
Florence, May 20th 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Maxsells Restaurant Inn & Pub, 209 Central Ave, (US Highway 2)
Crandon, May 20th 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Forest County Courthouse, Board Room
ACROSS THE NORTHWOODS - A week with little to no rain pushed fire risks dangerously high across northern Wisconsin. A fire in Bayfield spanning 9-thousand acres destroyed 17 homes. Fire crews want everyone to be smart about burning this time of year.
A small burn got out of control on Loop Heights Road in Pine Lake today. Fire Chief, Brian Gehrig, says the weather conditions make it easy for fires to get out of control.
MERRILL - You won't find candy bars or chips in the new vending machine at Ministry Good Samaritan in Merrill. This machine dispenses prescription medication.
It won't replace the regular pharmacist. But it will help patients who visit the hospital late at night.
"It allows patients to receive full prescriptions after hours for the local pharmacies. So if you have babe in arms that's sick that needs a prescription, we can fill that full prescription and get you on your way within less than five minutes," says Pharmacy Manager Jim Mason.
The machine has anything you would need for infections or pain; the kind of things a person goes to the ER for.
It's the fifth machine in Ministry facilities. Pharmacy Manager Jim Mason says they have a track record of safety. Each prescription is triple checked before it's dispensed.
"There has never been an error from dispensing the InstyMeds. So it's extremely safe, and it's well over a million prescriptions through InstyMeds," says Mason.
So far the Good Samaritan machine has filled around a hundred prescriptions. Doctors and patients say it's worked out well.
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