2013 bnc entry: enterprise/interpretive reporting

Thursday, July 4, 2013 - Page 1

Single copy $1Thursday, July 4, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971

Issue No. 27www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864

INSIDE

Our Views

Horse playThis local girl has turned a love of horses into an award-winning activity while still finding a way to help others.

See page 19

Help neededArea law enforcement ask, Who is this masked man? as they seek to uncover who is behind an armed robbery at a Markesan pharmacy.

See page 7

Sports

Business

Brats for brats?Local officers hope to change what it means to be grilled by a cop as they offer a free meal via a local organization.

See page 4

2011Wisconsin WeeklyNewspaperof theYear


Groundwork Biodigester beginsA partnership between several area organizations will begin to bear fruit next week as ground is broken for a new biodigester at Rosendale Dairy.

See page 3

Pit Bulls: Friend or ...

Foe?Part One Of a twO-week SerieS

Dangerous or not? Experts weigh in

RHS principal staying in postHad been finalist for superintendent

position in Menasha

They are muscular ... [but] it all boils [down] to how they are socialized.Damon Marquart, pit bull owner

New superintendent gets going after Zimman retires from postby Aaron Becker

[email protected]

Ripons new school superin-tendent is working hard to hit the ground running.

This includes attending board and administrative meetings; devel-oping an entry plan; offering a sur-vey to community members, staff and parents; getting to know the community by attending the high school graduation ceremony and the Memorial Day service; having conversations with her predecessor; and plenty more.

Shes been busy.

Mary Whitrock officially began her new role Monday, taking over for the retiring Richard Zimman.

He just stepped down after nine years at the helm of the Ripon Area School District.

The top priority my first year is to listen and learn, Whitrock said. In the words of Woodrow Wilson, The ear of a leader must ring with the voices of the people. The sur-vey was the first part of this process. I need to know and understand the hopes and dreams the residents and staff of Ripon have for the children of Ripon.

She also aims to continue the

solid com-munication components a l ready in place and bu i ld r e -lationships wi th com-munity mem-bers, farmers and business leaders.

I am finding that shopping is actually a wonderful way to meet people, Whitrock said. I am thankful for the many great stores and services conveniently located

right in Ripon.While Whitrock aims to absorb

information from the community, she also plans to give it back.

Dr. Whitrock is committed to continuing to communicate with the community through the district website, Facebook, Twitter, month-ly blogs, Supetalk and informal community coffee sessions, the district website states. Input pro-vided to Dr. Whitrock through the community survey that ended June 30 will be shared with stakeholders this fall.

As she settles in, Whitrock indi-cated her first impressions of Ripon

have been favorable.The highly qualified and dedi-

cated staff stands out, she said. They take great pride in the health and stellar reputation of the district. The staff possesses the skills and will to keep moving the district forward.

Shes also noticed the commit-ment of the community to support all of the students is also very evident.

Even as far as Green Bay, I heard wonderful stories about Ripon and the Ripon Area School

Fireworks display set for July 4

by Ian [email protected]

This is part one of a two-part series that aims to shed light onto concerns many have with pit bulls.

Part one will offer the experts perspectives on this type of dog.

Next week, part two will answer the question the Ripon Common Council plans to discuss later this month: should pit bulls be banned in the city of Ripon?

Damon Marquart considers himself kind of a pacifist.

I was raised Quaker, the Ripon man said, noting his up-bringing and outlook on life go hand-in-hand.

So it might come as no surprise he has a couple dogs he considers to be big mushes.

Coco is a sweet, energetic [dog], he said. Id be more concerned about kisses than anything from her.

And Armani?Hes like a big oaf, Marquart said. Hed just as

soon as lay on his back and get his tummy scratched.But these arent your average pets next door.

Gentle giants though they may be, they come with a scary name pit bull and a virtual warning label in the city of Ripon:

These dogs are potentially dangerous if not lethal.

Its a label that angers Marquart and other pit bull enthusiasts.

They are muscular, they are very strong, he said. [But] it all boils [down] to how they are socialized.

But others including at least one local doctor believe its a warranted concern, regard-less whether Armani and Coco ever raise a lip at anyone.

Its a subject local experts are divided on, and one that sometimes pits statistics against sentiment.

Chamber parts ways with director

Paula Price


Paula Price no longer is ex-ecutive director of the Ripon Area Chamber of Commerce.

She and the chamber parted ways Monday after her almost 16-year affiliation with the organiza-tion, the last nine of them as its top staff person.

Cause of the change, however, remains shrouded.

Joan Karsten, president of the chambers board of directors, ex-plained she could say just what the press release said about Prices leaving, and no more.

That release was sent Tuesday shortly before 8 a.m.

It stated:The Ripon Chamber of Com-

merce board of directors has an-nounced that Executive Director Paula Price is no longer with the Ripon Chamber of Commerce.

The Ripon board of directors has established a process to iden-tify a new executive director. In the interim, Jason Mansmith, the marketing and events coordinator, will be the point of contact for the Chamber.

On behalf of the Board and our employees, we thank Paula for her years of service and dedication to the Ripon Chamber of Com-merce, The Little White School-house Museum, the community of Ripon, and the membership we serve, stated Joan Karsten, Ripon Chamber board president. We

want to take this opportu-nity to wish Pa u l a o u r very best.

W h e n c o n t a c t e d shortly after the release was emailed, Karsten de-clined to offer

any further detail about Prices departure.

She did explain the chamber board has set a course for how to move forward from here.

The board of directors we have a plan in place to have a meet-ing on Thursday ... to discuss the next step and timing to start inter-views, much as with the marketing

Mary Whitrock

by Jonathan [email protected]

For the third time in three years, Ripons Fourth of July fireworks will take place on a different date.

This time, they are slated to erupt in the sky on the most fitting date of the three Inde-pendence Day.

The firework display, which

will begin at dusk at Murray Park, is scheduled for July 4 (Thursday) for the first time in recent memory.

Ripon is the birthplace of the Republican Party and, I think, we should be celebrating the Fourth of July on the Fourth of July; not on the third, not on the 10th, not on whatever [date], said Ald. Annette Klein, who suggested the change last year

at a Common Council meeting. And for years, it was always on the Fourth of July in Ripon and over the years, something hap-pened and it got changed. I just wanted to see it brought back to where it should be and where a lot of citizens felt it should be.

Before Klein suggested the fireworks should be moved back

See DANGEROUS/ page 16

See GOING/ page 18

See CHAMBER/ page 18 See FIREWORKS/ page 14

by Aaron [email protected]

Ripon High Schools principal expects to keep his Tiger orange and black for now.

Dan Tjernagel one of three finalists for superintendent of the Menasha Joint School District said this morning (Wednesday) the initial offer went to another candidate.

Menasha has offered the posi-tion to the finalist who is currently a superintendent. Im still a Tiger, he wrote in an email to the Com-monwealth.

Tjernagel had submitted his paperwork for consideration after being contacted by a consulting firm searching for Menashas new superintendent.

This past weekend, in an email to staff, he explained he was applying for the job.

I was not looking for any other positions, but was contacted by the consultant firm working with the Menasha [School] Board ..., he wrote. After gathering some in-formation and talking with a variety of people, I decided to submit my paperwork.

The Ripon Area School District remains in the process of welcom-ing its own superintendent Mary Whitrock to replace the retiring Richard Zimman after a nine-year run.

Zimman and Tjernagel were hired the same year.

Had Tjernagel taken the Mena-sha position, he would have become the fourth Ripon school administra-tor to leave or retire in recent weeks.

One of them was Tony Spence, director of technology. As of this week, Spence is the new chief in-formation and technology officer in the Muskego-Norway School

Dan Tjernagel

See PRINCIPAL/ page 13

ABOVE, SARAH PAEGELOW, Ripon, makes a face at Coco, while Armani looks through the fence of his kennel. Both dogs are American Staffordshire Terriers. Tim Lyke photos

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NewsPIT BULLS IN RIPON

Thats not to say all the num-bers are bad.

Take, for instance, Ripons own history with pit bulls.

Thus far, the reality of animal attacks in Ripon has been that pit bulls have not been the culprit.

Of the 662 dogs registered in the city of Ripon, only nine are pit bulls.

None of those nine have been involved in an animal complaint, according to Ripon Police Chief Dave Lukoski.

Insurance agents local ly havent dealt with pit bull bites, either.

Weve had none, and we insure a number of them, said Tim Aither of Aither State Farm the only insurance agency in Ripon that will insure pit bulls. [But] if they are trained to at-tack, we dont insure them.

Hell insure them but it doesnt mean he feels safe around them.

Pit bulls are a dangerous dog in that, when they do attack and do bite, they do more damage than most, Aither said, qualify-ing his comments to say that this is his opinion as a local agent, not the position of State Farm the company. [But] as loss frequency goes, we have many

more claims from black labs and golden retrievers thats because more people have those as pets.

Herm Leitz of American Fam-ily Insurance in Ripon, harbors greater concerns as an agent than Aither.

Any dog will bite if pro-voked, he said. ... [But] pit bulls have a higher incidence of [severe bites]. They tend to go for the face or throat.

They are on our list of ag-gressive breed dogs, and we

will not insure anyone if they own one.

Leitz was clear he sees them as being dangerous.

I would say so, yes, he said. There have been too many in-stances of unprovoked attacks of the breed.

But as others have said in Ripon, he feels fortunate hes never had to deal professionally with such a bite.

Fortunately, no, Leitz said. We have had dog bite claims, and many of them are nips ... but

not near as severe as an attack from a pit bull.

Thats similar to statistics the Ripon Police Department has recorded. Take these recent statistics, for example.

We had eight dog-bite cases in 2012 along with two har-boring vicious dog incidents in 2012, Lukoski said. So far we have had four dog bite cases in 2013.

None involved the pit bulls.Other areas in the state have

pit bull problems, according to veterinarian Dr. James Bednarek of the Veterinary Clinics of Ri-pon/Berlin.

When I worked in Milwau-kee [years ago], the pit bulls were all bad, he said. Then I moved up here, and the first pit bull I see is with an 80-some-thing-year-old woman and it is as sweet as can be.

And thats the way its been since.

SHELTER DIRECTOR: PIT BULLS ARE NOT A CONCERNThis does not surprise Ja-

nine Rubeck, director of the Green Lake Area Animal Shelter (GLAAS).

I cant remember the last

DANGEROUS/No bites by pit bulls locally continued from page 1

See DANGEROUS/ page 17

ARMANI IS AN American Staffordshire Terrier, a breed that is considered a pit bull. He lives near Jackson Street. Tim Lyke photo

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time I got a pit bull with a bite history, she said.

Sometimes, when owners find their dog is a biter, their next stop is GLAAS.

We get dogs with bite his-tories regularly, Rubeck said.

In her experience, these dogs run the gamut of breeds even those traditionally thought of as cuddly, family-friendly animals.

Two or three dogs ago, it was a golden retriever, she said. ... When they get surrendered here with a bite history, its rarely a pit bull.

But what about the argument that, when pit bulls do attack, they are more vicious than other animals?

Do their jaws lock when they bite? Myths and misinformation, Rubeck argues.

Pit bulls do not have locking jaws thats a myth, she said. They just have strong jaws.

Not that pit bulls are any more muscular than another breed, she explained.

Its not any more or less powerful than another dog at the same weight, she said. An 80-pound pit bull is the same as an 80-pound golden retriever. Theyre physiologically the same creature.

Either dog, she said, is ca-pable of hurting someone.

If you are exercising and working on training your dog, they certainly will be more pow-erful, Rubeck said.

Does that mean GLAAS is just as likely to place a pit bull it has with a prospective owner as any other dog?

Not really.If anything, we hold pit bull-

type dogs to a higher standard because they have such a bad reputation, Rubeck said. So we only want to place the abso-

News

lute best of the breed.She chooses only what she

describes as ambassadors of the pit bull to go to homes, to help combat what she perceives as a negative bias in the public about the breed.

Rubeck does admit, though, that they can be a difficult breed to place because they are headstrong, so she also is care-ful to give them only to homes where the owner is willing to take charge.

20-YEAR STUDY SUGGESTS A DANGER WITH PIT BULLSNumbers found on the Center

for Disease Control website, however, suggest a different story.

According to a study re-leased in Sep-tember 2000 by the Journal of the Ameri-c a n Ve t e r i -nary Medical A s s o c i a t i o n found on the CDC website, pit bulls and cross-breeds that include pit bulls account for a dispropor-tionate amount of deaths caused by dogs bites.

It stated that between 1979 and 1998, 76 of the 238 dog bite-related deaths (32 percent) were attributed to pit bulls and related dogs.

It also looked at 1997-98 in specific and noted numbers from those years indicate that rottweilers and pit bull-type accounted for 67 percent of hu-man [deaths by dog bite] in the United States between 1997 and 1998. It is extremely unlikely that they accounted for any-where near 60 percent of dogs in the United States during that

same period and, thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities.

DOC: PIT BULLS ARE MORE DE-STRUCTIVE THAN OTHER DOGS

Dr. Michael Combs, an emer-gency room doctor with Ripon Medical Center, believes he knows the reason for this dis-parity.

He admits hes never seen a pit bull bite in his career and hes thankful.

We see dog bites here all breeds, from little tiny dogs to big dogs. Usually, its just a puncture wound: they just nip at you, Combs said, noting pit bull bites are vastly different. Theyre known for grabbing and shaking and causing lots

of tissue dam-age when they shake you up.

Pit bulls in specific have a reputa t ion in the medical community, he explained.

The talk about pit bulls is they have tremendous jaw strength, more than other dogs, Combs said. They bite down and crush tis-sues which are deeper down, and then shake.

Their bites usually are more destructive than other dogs.

Dr. Michael Herrick, a veteri-narian at Associated Veterinary Clinic in Ripon, agrees pit bulls are capable of inflicting great damage.

I think the potential would be there, yes, he said, though he added he believes rottweilers and chow-chows also are worth

being concerned about. Pit bulls do have very strong skull and jaw muscles, so when they lock on, it can be more difficult to break the bite.

Bednarek agreed.What gets them in trouble

is when they bite, they dont let go right away and shake a bit, he said.

Does this mean more damage to a potential victim?

Combs argues yes.The pit bulls are the [great-

er] area for concern, he said. I dont think they bite any more than other dogs, but when they bite they cause more damage ...

Its just the jaw strength and the hold-and-shake type of bite thats really nasty.

The result? Longer recovery times and greater instances of long-term damage.

It may take a month for that to heal up as opposed to a week, he said of a bite wound. ... A lot of them end up with a surgeon needing to watch over a patient for devitalized tissue [that wont recover]. It makes it even worse if its a hand.

If they grab your hand and shake, it can tear all the tendons and ligaments out of your hand and make it almost useless.

Given these concerns, does Combs feel fortunate he has not yet had to deal with the end result of a pit bull attack?

His answer was simple:Yeah.But does this mean they

should be banned in the city of Ripon?

Read part two of the story in next weeks issue, in which experts answer that question.

Their bites usually are more destructive than other dogs.

Dr. Michael Combs

DANGEROUS/Physicians see pit bull bites as being worse than most continued from page 16

JACOB LANCOUR, RIPON, gives a hug to Armani, one of Ripons nine registered pit bulls. City ordinance requires him to wear a pink collar, designating him as a potentially dangerous dog. Tim Lyke photo


Single copy $1Thursday, July 11, 2013 Ripon, WI 54971

Ripon Commonwealth Press Issue No. 28www.RiponPress.com Serving the Ripon community since 1864



INSIDE

Our Views

Home-grownThese days, it doesnt seem hard to turn a Tiger into a Red Hawk. Numerous RHS players plan on taking their talents across town.

See page 14

School mattersWhat began as a class project is turning into a community celebration as Brandon School celebrates its big 6-0.

See page 9

Sports

Education

Helping handsSeveral Ripon-area residents went to Oklahoma and put a homeowner there in tears tears of joy, that is.

See page 4



Quiet 4th Few illegal fireworksIn a sense, it was an easy weekend for the Ripon Police Department as most heeded its warning not to shoot off fireworks for Independence Day.

See page 3

Should pit bulls be banned in Ripon?by Ian Stepleton

[email protected]

This is the second of a two-part series that aims to shed light onto concerns many have with pit bulls.

In part one of the story last week, experts disagreed over whether pit bulls are dangerous dogs.

This week, experts answer the question the Ripon Common Coun-cil likely will discuss later this month: should pit bulls be banned in the city of Ripon?

Some argue pit bulls are won-derful family dogs.

Others, such as a local emer-gency room doctor, note that whats more important is the tremen-dous damage they can do if they do attack.

But does this mean the city of Ripon should choose to ban pit bulls?

Most experts in Ripon agree the answer is no, though their reasons vary from believing its wrong to ban any particular breed, to suggesting a breed-specific ban simply wont work.

And the passion people feel for keeping the dogs legal in Ripon varies as well.

Take, for in-stance, Damon Marquart, a Ripon resident and pit bull owner, who feels strong-ly pit bulls

should stay.If you want a ban on a

specific breed, its a subtle racism, he said.

PIT BULLS HARD TO DEFINEGreen Lake Area Ani-

mal Shelter director Janine

Part two of a two-week SerieSby Aaron Becker

[email protected]

A downtown Ripon business that defaulted on a contract with the Ripon Area School District recently was sued for allegedly defaulting on another agreement in Portage County, Wis.

That same business also owes $750,000 to the city of Ripon in the next several years to repay a development loan.

Last month as a result of a 2011 Portage County civil case court judgements for tens of thousands of dollars were filed against three partners of Granite Broadband, whose website lists the address 305 Watson St.

The men are Riponite Frank Cumberbatch, along with James Connelly and Mark Dodge, court records show.

According to transcripts of judgement filed last month, the amounts owed are: Cumberbatch: $54,448 Connelly: $65,614 Dodge: $65,604Cumberbatch, the president of Granite, said the parties involved are

working through this.Were aware of it, Cumberbatch said Monday. Its an ongoing pro-

ceeding. Attorneys are handling it.Cumberbatch and Connelly, meanwhile, are principals with Boca

Grande Capital, which has purchased numerous buildings in downtown Ripon.

Financial woes grow at Granite

Offer made on current RMC site


A local developer is interested in becoming the next owner of the city-owned hospital building.

The city received an offer June 22 to purchase the building, located at 933 Metomen St., and considered it during a closed-session discussion Tuesday night.

Who that developer is, however, remains unclear.

But, when the council went into closed session to review the offer Tuesday, it was joined by Green Lake developer Alex Zabel.

The only other person to enter with the council was Dr. Robert House, who was there about a sepa-rate issue regarding his Rolling Hills subdivision on Ripons west side.

Its also unknown what proposal was made for the hospital, which is expected to be vacated around late 2014. Thats when RMCs parent company, Agnesian HealthCare, completes construction on a replace-ment hospital.

At that time, Agnesian plans to start moving services to the build-ing. Not all services would move immediately.

Once the move is complete, the city will be left with an empty, aging health-care facility unless it finds an appropriate suitor.

One such buyer possibly Zabel has stepped forward. City Administrator Lori Rich confirmed Monday an offer has been tendered.

Yes, yes, she said when asked about it, though that was nearly all she could say.

When asked about the nature of the offer given, or its impact on RMCs ongoing operations, she ex-plained, I wish I could share.

After checking with legal counsel, Rich added, It is a local developer in-terested in purchasing the property.

Mayor Gary Will, meanwhile, agreed Monday little could be said at this time about the offer.

No, its way too early, he said. All it is, is an offer right now. Its very, very preliminary.

Its just somebody showing interest in the building and doing something with it.

Because the offer to purchase could lead to negotiation with the party interested, the discussion was held in closed session at Tuesdays Common Council meeting.

Following the meeting, Will could only say the council reviewed the offer, and could not confirm the identity of the developer who made the offer.

Rich, meanwhile, admitted Mon-day she knew little about what the

New superintendent: Schools set up success

Ground broken for new biodigester


Ripon schools must provide strong role models, ample support and good options for the youth it serves every day.

Mary Whitrock emphasized these traits as she gave one of her first public appearances since becoming the Ripon Area School Districts new superintendent July 1.

Speaking to the Ripon Noon Kiwanis club Tuesday, Whitrock interwove tales of her childhood with comments on her philosophy as an educator.

Take, for example, a childhood friend who sat by her in grade school.

She recalled how he was a bud-ding artist and how she lost track of him over the years.

When she reconnected with him recently via Facebook, she explained, Whitrock discovered her old school-

mate had found a way to utilize those art talents as the puppeteer for Maxwell, the pig in Geico com-mercials.

To Whitrock, its an example of how schools can either foster or

suppress a passion a child has.

Having role models around chi ldren [ is key], she said to the Kiwan-ians.

In another tale, she re-called how, as a

fifth-grader, she began dance classes much later than her best friend but that the dance school she attended allowed kids to take as many classes as they desired for a single fee, so she

3 For a letter related to this story, see Responsible pit bull owners are not the prob-lem, page 5.

See BANNED/ back page

See GRANITE/ back page

See RMC/ back page

by Tim [email protected]

What had been a partnership on paper for nearly four years became a $4 million reality Tuesday morning as ground was broken for a biodi-gester eight miles east of Ripon.

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation, with private partners Milk Source and BIOFerm Energy Systems, began construction on a new biodigester at Rosendale Dairy.

The biogas plant will serve as a renewable energy source while pro-viding learning and research opportu-

nities for university students, accord-ing to speakers during the 20-minute ceremony at the building site.

Jim Ostrom, co-founder and partner of Rosendale Dairys par-ent company, Milk Source, said his company is excited to move forward with the project for several reasons.

Our community partners and Rosendale residents, since the begin-ning, have asked [for] and some of our most vocal neighbors have demanded a digester, he said. We have kept them informed of our efforts as it was prudent and we have walked them through all of the steps toward this agreement by attending

numerous town board meetings and hosting various events and tours at Rosendale Dairy.

The biodigester will be able to use about 240 tons of solid waste and liquid manure from Rosendale Dairys almost 9,000 cows to gener-ate, capture and combust methane that will create up to 1.4 megawatts of electricity enough to power the equivalent of approximately 1,200 homes.

Two cylindrical anaerobic diges-tion reactors built by Viessmann Group, parent company to BIOFirm

See GROUND/ back page

See SUCCESS/ back page

Mary Whitrock

A RENDERING OF the new biodigester plant at Rosendale Dairy shows an education center and two cylindrical, anaerobic digestion reactors, which may be operational by December. submitted graphic

Thursday, July 11, 2013

News

Rubeck, meanwhile, argues it simply would be a foolish enterprise.

When referring to pit bulls, she explained, were referring to a type of dog, not a breed.

It can refer to several related breeds and sometimes other dogs that just happen to look like pit bulls as well.

The Humane Society describes them as three breeds of dog and their mixes: the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Terrier.

But that doesnt mean people only identify those three by sight as pit bulls.

Who decides whats a pit bull and what is not a pit bull? Rubeck said. In my mind, the American bull dog is not that different than a pit bull. The average person may look at them and see a pit bull.

She facetiously said if a city were to adopt a breed-specific ban, it would need to put someone on staff all day, every day, and do cheek swabs of any dog that looks like a pit bull.

NOT THE ONLY DANGEROUS DOGMarquart, an owner of two Ameri-

can Staffordshire Terriers, added other breeds are just as dangerous as pit bulls, if not more so.

You get chows and sharpies and theyre specifically bred to fight and theres no ban on them, he said, adding that pit bulls are muscular, they are very strong, but said that doesnt mean pit bulls should be banned.

Dr. James Bednarek of the Veteri-nary Clinics of Ripon/Berlin agrees.

I would say, on the whole, no, pit bulls are not more dangerous, he said. We see quite a few pit bulls in here, and over 90 percent of them are fine.

Rubeck suggested an alternative to targeting that breed.

Ninety-seven percent of dog bites are unneutered male dogs, she said. Its not necessarily the pit bulls that do the biting. Its unneutered male dogs.

BITES NOT NECESSARILY FROM UNPROVOKED SITUATIONS

Meanwhile, while Ripon Medical Center emergency room Dr. Michael Combs has concerns with pit bulls, he agrees their owners usually are more vigilant about their dogs because they can be dangerous.

People usually keep pit bulls pretty well secured, he said. They usually make fairly good family pets: they usually dont bite their owners or families.

From what hes heard through the medical community, its other people and dogs that must look out due to pit bulls territorial and protective nature.

They are bred for fighting, so

they dont like ... [other] dogs in their territory, he said, adding people who enter a property with a pit bull also could be a target. A lot of bites we see are people trying to break up fights between a pit bull and another dog.

Marquart believes dogs such as his can be good dogs.

These dogs they are like my kids, he said. They are a part of my family.

Both his pit bulls are rescue dogs, having come from bad situations. Before they came home with him, he had them tested for temperament, and thus he felt comfortable to allow them around his young daughter and other children in the family.

But he knows not everyone is that careful and thats why he believes the target of any city law should be owner behavior, not dog breeds.

Its really the owners, he said. If somebody is doing nefarious activities like fighting dogs, take [the dogs] out of their hands ...

[But] bringing specific legisla-tion [against pit bulls], I think its damaging.

Bednarek agrees Ripon should not have a specific pit bull ban, but rather there are specific dogs that need it.

REASON FOR CAUTION EXISTSCombs, though, believes extra

caution is merited with pit bulls.Any large dog can be dangerous

to have around, but I guess the con-cern would be the bites are so terrible that you need to be extra cautious, Combs said.

Dr. Michael Herrick, a veterinar-ian at Associated Veterinary Clinic in Ripon, agrees pit bulls should receive

extra caution but doesnt take the stance they should be banned.

I think potentially aggressive and dangerous dogs should be judged on an individual basis, rather than with a breed, he said. Certainly I know there is a history of problems with pit bulls. But that does not mean pit bulls are a problem ... We may con-demn animals that dont need to be condemned.

Rubeck, though, agrees with Combs that there may be cause to add extra levels of precaution for pit bulls.

There is something to be said of changing the requirements in the city of Ripon [to include] spaying/neutering, and that they need to have completed some kind of obedience class.

Besides, Rubeck suggested, breed-specific legislation just doesnt work. Because people who have a bad pit bull ... are not vacci-nating or training their dogs. People who go to City Hall to register their dogs, its not going to be their dog [that does the biting].

CDC WEIGHS INThe CDC also warned against us-

ing the data it offers to move toward breed-specific bans.

It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic, the CDCs dog bite page said. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available infor-mation about breeds involved in dog

LAWSUIT ALLEGES DEFAULTThe Portage County civil case

began in 2011, with RMM Leasing LLC suing Granite Broadband, and specifically Cumberbatch, Connelly and Dodge.

RMM headquartered in Wausau, Wis. is engaged in the business of leasing technology solutions and services, court docu-ments state.

A seven-page civil complaint reads, in part:

Granite and RMM entered into a lease agreement signed by Cum-berbatch as president of Granite on Aug. 18, 2009, and signed by Rimon Moses as member of RMM on Aug. 20, 2009 ... The lease pre-scribes a down payment by Granite to RMM of $50,000 followed by 36 monthly payments from Granite to RMM of $3,301 in exchange for RMM performing a router/network project for Granite. Pursuant to the lease, and as part of the router/network project, RMM agreed to purchase certain electronic equip-ment to be rented from RMM to Granite ... Pursuant to the default provision in the lease, Granite de-faulted by failing to pay monthly rental payments ...

RMM then decided to accelerate the rental payments, and notified Granite with a written letter, the complaint states.

Following receipt of the notice letter, Granite made payments from time to time to reduce the outstand-ing balance ... On or about May 18, 2011, in an attempt to reduce the balance owed by Granite to RMM, Connelly signed and delivered a credit card authorization, permit-ting the withdrawal of up to $5,000 per month from Connellys personal American Express account ... On or about June 30, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and RMM exercised its right under the credit card authorization to withdraw $5,000 from Connellys personal American Express ac-count. As of July 15, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and thus, on July 22, 2011, RMM exercised its right under the credit card authorization to with-draw $5,000 from Connellys per-sonal American Express account.

Then the situation changed, the complaint alleges.

As of Aug. 30, 2011, RMM had not yet received payment from Granite, and RMM attempted to ex-ercise its right under the credit card authorization to withdraw $5,000 from Connellys personal American Express account. However, RMMs attempt to withdraw funds from Connellys personal American Ex-press account was declined. Upon information and belief, Connelly cancelled the credit card authoriza-tion to prevent RMM from continu-ing to withdraw payments ...

In September 2011, RMM sent a letter to Granite in an attempt to resolve the matter and collect the total unpaid amount owed more than $43,000 at that time, the complaint states.

No payment has been received by RMM from Granite since the demand letter, reads the complaint filed in November 2011.

RMM sought a judgement for $44,386 plus interest, costs and expenses, including attorneys fees, the complaint states.

... Cumberbatch, Dodge and Connelly are each jointly and sev-erally liable for the entire amount owed by Granite to RMM, includ-ing, without limitation, all costs and expenses such as attorneys fees, the complaint states.

Asked about the allegations of missed payments, Cumberbatch

did not comment specifically. He indicated he didnt fully understand all the legalities.

That is difficult for me to admit or deny, he said.

He acknowledged having civil judgements for tens of thousands of dollars is serious.

Exactly, which is the reason theyre working on it, how to re-solve it, he said.

SCHOOL AGREEMENTMeanwhile, Granite Broadband

continues to owe the Ripon Area School District nearly $60,000 for wireless Internet service it never provided, district officials said.

Granite contracted with the district to offer wireless internet to students homes, thereby creating a level playing field where all stu-dents would have at-home internet access.

The service was supposed to begin in 2010-11, but it never materialized. The contract was for $84,000, of which the school dis-trict paid Granite $60,000.

There were some minor ser-vices provided, but the full service was never provided, school district business manager Rick Ketter said.

Ketter explained a small por-tion of the debt was satisfied in services that were provided, but the majority was not.

Asked why Granite cannot sim-ply return the $60,000, Cumber-batch indicated it may be a cash-flow issue.

I think its for cash-flow pur-poses, he said. We dont have it right now. But when we do have it, we will repay it.

When will that be, asked the Commonwealth.

I dont know, Cumberbatch replied. If I knew the answer to that, I would tell them. I wouldnt tell you.

What has the district done to recover the money?

At this point, we havent pur-sued any legal process, Ketter said. And that would be up to the [School] Board to do that ... Very honestly, I dont think anybodys going to get anything, because theres so much that could end up being paid in legal fees.

Its just a sad situation.CITY OF RIPON LOAN

In addition, Granite will owe the city of Ripon approximately $750,000 over the next several years to pay back a developers loan from 2009.

That loan was authorized for Granite to provide wireless inter-net in Ripon and throughout the county, Cumberbatch said in 2009.

The loan was provided to the business to provide [Internet] to whomever our customers are, he said Monday.

Right now, Granite is paying only interest on that $750,000 loan, with three balloon payments of about $250,000 each due in 2014, 2017 and 2019, City Administrator Lori Rich told the Commonwealth.

Granite has been paying that interest, she said.

Sometimes theyre paid ahead, sometimes theyre a little late, but theyre up to date except for their last invoice, Rich explained last week. ... Theyve always paid their interest payments.

The first balloon payment of about $250,000 is due Aug. 1, 2014, Rich said.

Asked whether that will be paid, Cumberbatch said, I imagine well have to wait and see ... We have a [due] date, and I imagine when that date comes around, it will be repaid.

bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.

Instead, the CDC offers a link to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Task Force on Canine Aggression and Human-Canine Interactions instead.

Many practical alternatives to breed-specific policies exist and hold promise for preventing dog bites, the CDCs site said.

NO LOCAL SUPPORT FOR BAN AMONG RIPON EXPERTS

Herrick had a similar perspective that by banning pit bulls, cities might miss other aggressive dogs. Im against breed-specific regula-tion.

Other breeds that come in here [are worse], Bednarek said. Ive seen way more good pit bulls than bad ones around here.

Meanwhile, back in Ripon, Ripon Police Chief Dave Lukoski remains lukewarm on the idea of banning pit bulls.

As far as our experience here in Ripon, we havent had any situations with pit bulls, he said. ... I am aware pit bulls are more apt to be involved in a [serious incident] than other breeds. But we havent had any situations with pit bulls. I do think the potential is there to have a situation with them.

Should that mean a ban on them?That, he said, Id leave to the

decision-makers. The decision-makers i.e. the

Common Council will take that up later this summer, possibly at the end of this month.

party interested in the building would do with the site.

Even the person who submitted the offer hasnt shared a lot of that, she said. I really cant characterize it.

If city leaders become interested in this offer, it could answer the ongo-ing question of what to do with the old building.

In the perfect world it would be great to have someone ready to take over when Ripon Medical Center vacates that property, but its a big project for somebody, said Joan Karsten, Ripon Community Devel-opment Authority (CDA) president, back in May.

The CDA sought proposals in spring from schools with architecture and planning programs, and Karsten also had been in touch with a devel-oper to see if that developer would be interested in coming to the hospital to suggest different uses or taking on the project.

In May, city leaders acknowl-edged it could be difficult to find a new use for the aging building.

Remodeling it for something is probably one of the biggest chal-lenges anybody would have with that building, hence the hospital building [a] new [facility] and not remodeling [the existing building], Mayor Gary Will said in May. Thats one of the tougher things that maybe I would see with the building. There have been so many additions to it, trying to connect everything and run every-thing or separate everything; logisti-cally, it seems like a pretty tall task.

Energy Systems, will each have a 1-million-gallon capacity.

This is the right time and the right provider for this project that will help reduce odors and potential pathogens from the dairy, develop green en-ergy and still allow us to provide the needed nutrients to more than 12,000 of the 100,000-plus farm acres within a 10-mile radius of Rosendale Dairy, Ostrom said.

UW-Oshkosh officials believe the biodigester, which they hope will be operational by December, will help the university meet its 2025 target date of achieving carbon neutrality on the Oshkosh campus.

They also said it will provide the institutions environmental sci-ence, microbiology, sociology and other students with an off-campus laboratory.

The new biodigester follows the UW-Oshkosh Foundations and Viessmanns previous, successful collaborations including launch of the first dry-fermentation (food-and-plant-waste-based) anaerobic biodi-gester in the western hemisphere on the UW-Oshkosh campus in 2011 and startup of the first, small-scale compact (livestock waste) biodi-gester at a family farm northwest of Oshkosh in 2012.

The Rosendale facility will pro-duce seven times more energy than the existing UW Oshkosh dry-fermentation anaerobic biodigester.

Not only will we be respon-sible for managing and maximizing sustainable energy on the farm, but we will also be producing future environmental and social scientists, UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Richard

BANNED/No support locally among experts for ban continued from page 1 GRANITE/Cash flow appears to be issue continued from page 1

RMC/ continued from page 1

GROUND/Aims to reduce odor continued from page 1Wells said. This energy facility and research instrument will be as beneficial to Wisconsin as it will be to our graduates.

The new biodigester will include a public education center operated by UW-Oshkosh students and faculty. It will give Wisconsin K-12 students, teachers and residents an up-close introduction to the environmental science and engineering involved in harnessing a renewable energy source from a state-of-the-art dairy farming operation.

UW-Oshkosh plans to use biodi-gester revenues to develop a new cen-ter on rural community development including a remote classroom and lab for UW-Oshkosh microbiology, biology, environmental studies and chemistry classes as well as to fund scholarships

was able to catch up with her friend in her dancing skills.

How does this relate to schools?Rules and policies we have in the

adult world create opportunity, she said. ... We, as an organization, can open doors.

Later in her educational journey, Whitrock earned her doctorate, along with a woman she referred to as Sis-ter Marie from Uganda.

Whitrock was impressed how Sister Marie received her doctorate in her second language.

So, when I think of our second-language learners, really, the sky is the limit, she said.

SUCCESS/Door will be open continued from page 1Not that everyone must follow the

same path, she explained.One thing I am very aware of is

college was the path I chose ... but it may not be the path all our students go down in Ripon, Whitrock said. Educators need to set them up well for success in whatever they choose.

The districts path, meanwhile, appears to be one toward success, she added, describing it as really sound financially.

And, as superintendent, she aims to fulfill the mission others set out for her to be very involved in the community, high-energy and collaborative and inclusive.

Whitrock plans to continue to meet with groups, such as Kiwanis, and solicit feedback in the coming weeks.

Shes midway through what she termed phase two of her entry into Ripon, during which she will speak with as many people in Ripon as possible.

This will continue through the summer. Results of a survey also seeking input will be released this fall.

Not that people cant visit with the new Riponite any other time.

My door, she said, is open to anyone who wants to come in.

DAMON MARQUART PETS one of his American Staffordshire Terriers, both pit bulls, with neighbor Sarah Paegelow, left, and daughter Lanh Marquart. Tim Lyke photo

2013 bnc entry: enterprise/interpretive reporting

Documents

ripon community

staff of ripon

ripon area school district

community members

community survey

impressions of ripon

children of ripon

mary whitrock