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| WALWORTH
COUNTY SUNDAY |
Builders group volunteers to help East Troy family
EAST TROY — Molly Ebbers only was trying to help when she hired a contractor to install a basement in her sister’s East Troy home.
But shortly after work began on Kate and Ken Rath’s home, Ebbers said, the house collapsed. She said the contractor hung tarps over the exposed areas and never returned.
About the same time, the Raths’ 9-year-old daughter, Meaghan, was diagnosed with a relapse of the leukemia the family thought they had successfully battled two years earlier.
Now, thanks to volunteers from the Lakeland Builders Association, who also sponsored a fundraiser Saturday (Aug. 16), the Raths’ future is beginning to look brighter.
That’s a far cry from where the family found themselves last fall.
The condition of their home was terrible. Half of it had collapsed. The walls were cracked and the doors wouldn’t shut. Large holes in the front of the house exposed the inside to the weather like a three-sided lean-to.
Ebbers couldn’t stand to see her sister’s family in such trouble while Kate and Ken worked full-time and fought for their daughter’s life.
The contractor has a history of legal trouble, according to online court records, but legal action wouldn’t solve the family’s immediate problems.
“They really didn’t say much about it,” Ebbers said. “That’s the kind of people they are — they’re there to help out anyone else, but won’t ask for a thing when they need it.
So they jacked up that side of their house and lived in it while the floors iced over and the heating bills went through the roof, she said.
Through it all, the family stayed focused on Meaghan’s health.
Ebbers contacted everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart to “Extreme Home Makeover” for help, but to no avail.
Then she contacted the Lakeland Builders Association’s Builders Help Foundation. The group helps local families in crisis, making much-needed home improvements due to illness, handicap and injuries.
“Within three hours, Jean called back,” Ebbers said of Jean Kruzan, who owns and operates Kruzan Construction in Genoa City with her husband, Kent.
“How could we turn them down?” Kruzan says. “What happened to them is just terrible.
While work on their home continues, the Raths are living in an apartment donated by Beilinski Homes.
By mid-August, a new basement was already in place, and interior framing was well under way.
Every item and hour has been donated by LBA members and local businesses.
And there’s good news with Meaghan’s health, too. Doctors have found a matching bone-marrow donor and optimistic.
“But there are so many kids just in Milwaukee who don’t have matches,” Ebbers said. “And just like Kate — she’s working very hard to find matches for them.”
For more information on how to help Meaghan, visit www.lakelandba.com.
Democrat drops out of congressional race
KENOSHA — Democrat John Mogk has dropped out of the primary race for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, for the state’s 1st Congressional District seat.
In a statement posted on his campaign Web site, Mogk said he plans to remain involved in local and national politics.
“From the beginning of the campaign, we held to my message that the election was bigger than any one candidate,” Mogk wrote. “It has been a long-standing goal of the Democratic Party in the 1st Congressional District to defeat Paul Ryan in the November election, and I will not stand in the way of achieving that … The election was never about me, but about making a positive change for the people.”
Three Democratic candidates — Paulette Garin and Mike Hebert, both of Kenosha, and Marge Krupp, of Pleasant Prairie — will square off in the Sept. 9 primary for the right to face Ryan in the Nov. 4 general election. Libertarian candidate Joseph Kexel, of Kenosha, also will be on the ballot.
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STATELINE
NEWS |
Village board to vote on divisive TIF district
By
Lynn Vollbrecht
Staff Writer
ROCKTON — The Rockton Village Board votes Tuesday on a proposed tax increment finance district for ChemTool Inc., a lubricant manufacturer whose CEO wants to move the company’s headquarters to Rockton.
Given the number of red “No TIF” and green “Yes TIF!” signs popping up in yards throughout Rockton, it’s apparent opinion on the matter is divided.
“They were trying to push it through hush-hush, which in my mind means there might be something fishy going on,” said Rockton resident Cathy Froeliger.
Village President Dale Adams is puzzled by the opposition.
“I just can’t understand why anyone would be against it,” Adams said. “I can’t speak for the board, but I’m in support of it, personally.”
The proposed district, which would give the company a tax break, is comprised of 180 acres south of Prairie Hill Road and west of Blackhawk Boulevard in Rockton. It’s the former site of a Beloit Corp. facility.
ChemTool CEO Jim Athans purchased the land in February, and wants to move ChemTool’s headquarters from Crystal Lake, Ill., to Rockton.
If the village approves the TIF district, the company’s property taxes after the Beloit Corp. buildings are renovated would go from $100,000 to $600,000. That money, instead of going to the same fund as other property taxes, would be used within the TIF district for improvements.
The company also would be partially reimbursed with TIF funds over the course of 23 years for property taxes and the $30 million Athans plans to invest in the property.
Rockton’s taxing bodies, such as the library, school districts and fire department, will continue to receive the same amount of money they always have, which some opponents argue will deprive those bodies of extra funds they might receive over the course of time due to natural growth and expansion.
Adams disagrees.
“All the taxing bodies will receive the same thing they’re receiving now — “ he said. “No one will lose anything on this.”
Once the 23-year TIF agreement expires, the taxing bodies would begin to receive more money, though the village is working to accelerate payments.
“We’re working on a plan in which we’ll pay the taxing bodies early,” Adams said.
According to a ChemTool news release, the company considered other locations for its new headquarters, but “the incentives offered by a possible TIF made the Rockton site a more attractive one for the new ChemTool facility.”
The new ChemTool facility is projected to eventually create 500 jobs, about half of which are new jobs not filled by current employees.
If the TIF district is not approved, Athans said ChemTool’s headquarters will not relocate to Rockton. He noted the agreement has changed — the amount the company will be reimbursed has decreased, and some land has been removed from the proposed district. The proposed agreement also will set aside land for village use, potentially as a park, and land for conservation purposes.
“I can tell you our headquarters would not be here without the TIF,” Athans said. “We would probably look at our options; what we would probably do is use it as a warehouse.”
He added that Sharon and Elkhorn, Wis., Freeport and Sterling, Ill., and East Chicago, Ind., also have invited ChemTool to their communities.
Rockton, Adams said, should not pass up the opportunity to host the company.
“We hear about G.M. laying off, and Chrysler in Belvidere, and Starbucks closing down, so that kind of facility coming to the region will be huge,” Adams said.
Opponents, however, say a large company shouldn’t receive a tax break when ordinary citizens are struggling.
“If he’s got millions of dollars, he doesn’t need a tax break,” Froeliger said. “I want more business down here, and I believe there should be some benefits, but 23 years is too long.”
Froeliger wants the village to support development, but believes focusing on large companies like ChemTool is misguided.
“They should be doing the downtown area,” she said.
She also has doubts about the ability of the village to cope with the presence of a large company.
“He puts all his businesses in small towns, which can’t really enforce things,” she said of Athans. “The fire department cannot handle a big chemical spill.”
Athans said claims that his company has violated federal pollution regulations are false.
“You can’t pollute today; you just can’t do it. And who’d want to?” he said.
Though many residents oppose the TIF district, the South Beloit City Council and the Rockton Chamber of Commerce both support the proposal.
Adams is not surprised.
“I think it will be a shot in the arm for the local economy,” he said.
Residents like Froeliger acknowledge the economy can use a boost, but believe a two-decade agreement is not the answer.
“Five to 10 years I could see,” she said. “But not 23.”
Flooding forces South Beloit to move football complex
By
Rick West
Stateline News Sports
SOUTH BELOIT — In 1973, when the football field at South Beloit City Park flooded, the high school football team played its home games on a makeshift field off Blackhawk Boulevard.
Thirty-five years later, the city has a new high school just off Prairie Hill Road, but again, the home field at City Park is under 3 feet of water.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” South Beloit Mayor Randy Kirichkow said. “People told me in 1973 they used to fish off the bleachers.”
That flood left City Park unusable for three years, and the same might be true again this year.
This time, however, the South Beloit School District is committed to building a permanent stadium adjacent to the new high school, which opened in 2002.
“We’re putting together a field for the duration — a field kids won’t feel bad about playing on and won’t get hurt on,” district Superintendent Mike Duffy said.
Until now, the new field has been used only as a practice facility.
“We had to do a lot of work on it, because we didn’t have it upgraded to the standards it needed to be to play games on it,” Duffy said.
The upgrade is being financed from the district’s maintenance budget.
Duffy said the new complex is the result of the generosity of many individuals and businesses who have made monetary, supply or labor donations to the project. For example, the bleacher frames were donated and the bleacher seats purchased five years ago from Iowa State University. A combination storage shed and concession stand was donated, and the district’s maintenance crew constructed the goal posts. A new scoreboard, at a cost of over $8,000, was paid for, in part, with donations from the booster club and the class of 2008.
Duffy said it’s still too early to put a price tag on the complex.
“I wouldn’t even guess or speculate at this time,” he said. “We will have that figure at some point, but we’re still putting things together.”
Duffy said the district will find a way to publicly recognize those who contributed, including those from other Stateline communities.
“It’s kind of nice that not everybody has to be an old Sobo to want to help out the Sobos,” Duffy said.
The highest-priced item — about $150,000 — is lighting for the field, which the district hopes to have ready by the third home game of the season.
“Our intent right now, is to have the lights in and ready to go for our homecoming game Sept. 26 against West Carroll,” Duffy said.
To compensate for the lack of lights, the first two home games have been switched to 1 p.m. Sept. 6 and Sept. 13.
South Beloit High School Principal Matt Vosberg knows the move to a new field will be hard for sentimental reasons.
“There’s a lot of tradition at the city park,” he said. “That’s where our (2002) state championship team played, so there’s a lot of good memories. But I think this is an opportunity to start a new tradition.”
As for City Park, it’s not known when floodwaters will recede. According to Kirichkow, there are no plans to pump water out of the park; the city, he said, is at the mercy of nature.
“The water in the park right now is at the level of the water table, so we’ll just have to wait until it goes down,” Kirichkow said. “The park is one of the city’s prized possessions, so we’ll do our best to restore it.”
The city will receive $11,000 from the federal government to aid in cleanup at the park.
“That’s not going to nearly be enough,” Kirichkow said.
Other football squads, including the junior high and youth football organizations have used the City Park football field, so even with a new field at the high school, the gridiron may remain a part of City Park in the future.
“If the school wants to continue using the football field, we will definitely accommodate them,” Kirichkow said.
For now, however, the Sobos will have a new home.
“We weren’t anticipating doing this because we had such a good relationship with the city playing at City Park,” Duffy said. “I guess everything comes to an end, but this is just a strange end, because you don’t expect to be put out of a football field because of a flood.”
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JANESVILLE
MESSENGER |
83-year-old spends her days baking treats for son in Iraq
By
Sam Killian
Staff Writer
JANESVILLE — Carroll Herritz enjoys baking for her son, even if she has to send her cookies halfway around the world.
Every two weeks, the 83-year-old bakes about 90 chocolate chip cookies for Alex, 50, who works for a trucking company in Iraq and shares the goodies with his coworkers.
“They do a lot of night work, and they don’t get to eat meals a lot, so I was just wanting to send him stuff to help him on the road at night in Iraq,” the Janesville resident said.
Herritz makes the cookies small enough to fit inside a Pringles can. She sends four cans per package, along with any other goodies she can fit in the box.
She has repeated this routine since late last year and will continue to do so until Alex returns home in December.
“Her faithfulness in doing that has really been quite remarkable,” said friend Marianne Peterson.
Herritz is diabetic, so she usually doesn’t sample the treats she makes, but that hasn’t slowed her down.
Growing up, she and her grandmother would bake batches of 24 dozen sour-cream sugar cookies. To this day, she bakes thousands of cookies during the holidays and has countless other recipes on hand. Usually, she makes cookies to glaze and paint for special occasions.
“For the Fourth of July, I made 90-some flag cookies,” she said. “Every once in a while it seems like it could be too many, (but) I keep plugging away,” she said.
Peterson, also of Janesville, is impressed.
“Carroll is a remarkable lady,” she said. “I’m 76 and I couldn’t possibly keep up with her.”
Herritz said her son’s friends and coworkers have taken a fancy to the steady stream of treats. One man even wrote her a thank-you letter and asked if she would send him some homemade fudge. He said it was his favorite treat that his late mother used to make.
“I probably won’t make it right away,” Herritz said. “But eventually I’ll buy the ingredients and send him a batch.”
Herritz, through St. Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church, also helps provide meals for students in the Adams School Breakfast Club, and usually gives extra cookies to children in the neighborhood.
Peterson recalled a time when Herritz took a homemade pie to a church group meeting, and that same day, baked another for a neighbor who was going through a difficult time.
“She’s a very selfless lady, and at her age, to be doing all the things she does, is really quite remarkable,” Peterson said.
Though Herritz doesn’t have a special recipe for the chocolate-chip cookies she sends her son — she uses the classic Nestle Toll House recipe — she can spend hours baking enough to fill a box.
“I’m in my 80s, but I can still bake a lot of cookies,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of baking in my time. To me, it’s just doing something for my son.”
Vikings must work hard to replace 16 graduated starters
By
Sam Killian
Staff Writer
JANESVILLE — After losing 16 starters from last year’s team, the Parker High School Vikings have some rebuilding to do. Head coach Joe Dye is looking forward to the task.
“Our challenge will be our learning curve and staying healthy,” Dye said. “But our kids have a great work ethic and are excited with their opportunity.”
Parker finished 6-4 last year, 5-3 in conference play, before losing to Kenosha Bradford in the first round of the playoffs.
In order to compete in the newly expanded 10-team Big Eight Conference, Dye said his team needs time to gain experience, especially on offense, where the Vikings return just two starters from 2007.
“Champions are crowned in November, so we want to be a team that improves as the season goes on,” he said. “We know the real key to our success will be our ability to be ready to compete every Friday night.”
Dye has led the team to five conference titles in his 15 years at the helm. He knows it will be tough to match the 28 points per game his 2007 team scored, while allowing just 15.
“We’re looking for a complete effort every time the ball is snapped,” he said.
Senior offensive lineman Alex Tadt believes the team can make up for its relative inexperience.
“We’ve all taken away a big work ethic,” he said. “I think we’ll be a good team this year. Everyone worked hard in the off-season.”
Defensive lineman James Studzinski agreed.
“We’re trying to work together as a team and do the best we can,” he said. “We just have to think about the game and go play.”
The Vikings play their first game Aug. 29 in Beloit; their home opener is Sept. 12 against Madison West at Monterey Stadium.
Dye wants his team to learn something every time they take the field.
“We’ve just got to spend time worrying about getting better each time,” he said.
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