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A Middleton woman has ac-

cused her employer of age dis-crimination, according to a

claim filed with the U.S. EqualEmployment Opportunities

Commission.Kathleen Kate Lee, who is

66 years old, was fired from herjob as a registered nurse at St.

Marys Hospital on May 13,2015. According to a complaint

filed by Kramer, Elkins & Watt,a Madison law firm, on her be-

half, Lee was terminated fromher job due to her age.

According to the same docu-ment, Lee was ostensibly fired

for violating HIPAA (Health In-surance Portability and Ac-

countability Act), the federallaw intended to protect the per-

sonal information of patients.But Lee believes she was actu-

ally fired, following more than33 years as an exemplary em-

ployee at St. Marys and 45years in nursing, so that the hos-

pital could save money by hir-ing a younger, less experienced

replacement.In fact, we are aware of

multiple instances in the casesof other employees who com-

mitted clear violations ofHIPAA not even debatable vi-

olations, much unlike Ms. Leessituation - and the employees

were not terminated, the filingstates. Therefore, St. Marys

has taken the same purportedviolation and treated Ms. Lee

differently, resulting in a cost-

savings to St. Marys who cannow hire a much younger nurse

to replace Ms. Lee at a muchlower rate of pay.

According to her legal coun-sel, Lee had planned to work at

St. Marys for at least anotherthree years. She is seeking dam-

ages equal to three-years ofcompensation.

Lee began working at St.Marys in 1981. Her employee

file includes letters lauding herwork, and she was chosen to

serve as one of the faces of St.Marys in a recent billboard

campaign.But on May 2 of this year, ac-

Racism and racial disparities

have been a persistent and stub-born reality in our communities

and our nation. In DaneCounty, the unemployment rate

for African Americans is fourtimes higher than that of whites.

41% of African Americans livein poverty, compared to 10% for

whites. African Americanadults are eight times more

likely to be arrested than whitesand black youth are fifteen

times more likely.Now, five community leaders

have come together to initiate acommunity-wide effort to ad-

dress these concerns.They are Percy Brown (Di-

rector of Equity and Student

Achievement, Middleton-CrossPlains Area School District),

Charles Foulke (Middleton

Chief of Police), Rev. MirandaHassett (Rector, St. DunstansEpiscopal Church), Rev. James

Iliff (Pastor, Middleton Com-

munity United Church of

Christ), and Al Ripp (ExecutiveDirector, Middleton Outreach

Ministry).

The response of our commu-nity to these issues began onOctober 12 when the Middleton

Public Library sponsored a

community panel discussion to

address issues raised in thebook Just Mercy, by Bryan

Stevenson. It was the featured

book in this years Go BigRead program, co-sponsored

VOL. 123, NO. 45 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.25

www.MiddletonTimes.com

Too old to work?

Workshops will tackle

racial inequities next week

Middleton woman says she was fired because of her age

Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger

Kathleen Lee, pictured above outside her Middleton home last week, believes St. Marys Hos-pital fired her because of her age - not because of a HIPAA violation. She has worked as a nursefor more than four decades, including 33 years at St. Marys.

Community leaders to gather November 14

by MATT GEIGER

Times-Tribune

by REV. JIM ILIFF

Times-Tribune

See LEE, page 8

See RACE, page 8

Harmony in

the state

Assembly

You read that cor-

rectly: Longtime Mid-

dleton resident and

UW Marching Band di-

rector Mike Leckrone

was recently hailed by

the state assembly as

a Hometown Hero.

Read more on page 2.

Young

Asian

leaders

visit

City leaders in Middleton

welcome visitors from Singa-

pore and Malaysia. Read

more on page 4.

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The Wisconsin State Assem-bly Chamber rang out with

brass, winds, cymbals, anddrums as lawmakers hailed

Middletons Mike Leckrone asa Hometown Hero.

Leckrone, the beloved UWMarching Band director, pro-

vided a welcome show of har-mony as the Assembly was

called to session on Oct. 27.

Middleton Democratic stateRep. Dianne Hesselbein, who

nominated Leckrone for thehonor, introduced him from the

dais as a Wisconsin icon, a su-perb musician and showman, as

upbeat today as when he firstraised the baton.

She traced Leckrones 47-year career at UW-Madison

from 1969, when band member-ship was at an all-time low to

its current national popularity.

She told how he had opened the

ranks to women, made it an all-volunteer band, emphasized fit-

ness and showmanship, createdthe annual band concerts at the

Kohl Center, and formed thesmaller Varsity Band to play at

home basketball and volleyballgames.

I cant tell you how thrilledand honored I am, Leckrone

told the lawmakers. I dontconsider what I do to be heroic.

Im just a band director. But Im

very grateful that this Assembly

feels that I have contributed tothe culture and state of Wiscon-

sin in a positive way over theyears. You cant know how

gratifying it is for me to under-stand that.

He said from the first day, heunderstood that I had a great

responsibility and privilege tobe working for one of the great

universities of the world, andthat his mission would have to

be to infuse his students withthe desire to be seeking and

searching for excellence ineverything they do. He said he

is proud of what his thousands

of former student-musicianshave done with their lives.

Throughout his career, Leck-rone has always lived in Mid-

dleton with Phyllis, his wife of60 years. Education runs in the

family. Phyllis had a careerteaching special education, and

daughter Mika retired this yearfrom teaching Middleton first-

graders. Mike Leckrone said heplans to stay on as band director

for a little bit longer.Phyllis attended the cere-

mony and received her ownstanding ovation - along with

daughter Mika, granddaughter

Kami Jo, and great- grand-daughter Lyra, who wore pink.

Leckrone told the lawmakersthat the favorite moment of his

career was during the 1992Rose Parade in Pasadena. The

Rose Bowl directors had sug-gested to him the night before

that during the two-hour march,he could have his band play

when you see patches of yourfans along the parade route.

Leckrone paused andgrinned. We played On Wis-

consin ninety-seven times thatmorning.

With that, the UW VarsityBand marched into the cham-

ber, trumpeting the famous fightsong. The legislators jumped to

their feet.

McCrea, a former Madison

journalist, is a member of Rep.

Dianne Hesselbeins Capitol

staff.

PAGE 2 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

by RON MCCREA

Special to the Times-Tribune

Photos by Greg Anderson

University of Wisconsin Marching Band director Mike Leckrone was honored by the Wisconsin State Assembly on October 27. Leckrone has lived in Middleton throughout his career.

State lawmakers honor Mike Leckrone

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 3

Plan commission wants 26,500 TIF

The Middleton Plan Com-mission last week approvedusing tax increment financing

(TIF) to fund up to half, or$26,500, of a traffic impact

analysis for a proposed majorredevelopment of Old Middle-

ton Centre.Typically the traffic impact

analysis is financed by the de-veloper of a proposed project,

however, given the scope of theparticular proposal and the ef-

fect it could have on downtowntraffic the plan commission rec-

ommended to the commoncouncil approval of funding half

the traffic study.In August the Middleton Plan

Commission approved the con-cept for a downtown redevelop-

ment from developer UptownMiddleton, a sub-tier LLC of T.

Wall Enterprises. The UptownMiddleton proposal is a com-

plete rebuild of Old MiddletonCentre on the block of Terrace

Ave., Parmenter St., and Hub-bard Ave.

The proposed development

features seven mixed-use build-ings with more than 200 resi-

dential units, 62,000 sq. ft. ofcommercial and office space,

and 380 parking stalls includingunderground parking.

The development would bebuilt in three phases over three

years, with phase one beginningas early as spring 2016. Phase

one would be the corner Par-menter and Hubbard and would

make up a majority if the officeand commercial space, phase

two would be next to the postoffice on Aurora St. and Elm-

wood Ave. and have four and

five story mixed use buildings,Phase three would be the Ter-

race Ave. area and contain threethree-story residential build-

ings.Under city standards the proj-

ect would be 128 parking stallsshort, but the developer says the

ratio of commercial and resi-dential alleviate the shortage

since used stalls would be offsetby the different peak parking

times.Alder Hans Hilbert said in an

earlier plan commission meet-ing that the developer should try

to design a plan with 128 more

stalls regardless of cost and per-haps the city could partner to

help in financing.In the latest plan commission

meeting they approved coveringhalf of the traffic study because

it encompasses many intersec-tions that are important to the

circulation and vitality of thedowntown. They decided re-

gardless of whether the projectmoves ahead information ob-

tained from the study can beused to identify future improve-

ments and their recommendedtiming.

According to city guidelines

the intersections in the study

area will be analyzed based on

existing traffic volumes, andprojected traffic volumes for

2020 with and without the pro-

posed redevelopment project.

A motion to recommend the

common council approve fund-

ing one-half the cost of the

downtown traffic impact analy-

sis, up to a maximum of

$26,500, with tax increment fi-

nancing district (TID) #3 funds

passed unanimously.

Board of education

kicks employee

compensation model

back to committee

The school districts board of

education voted last week todefer a proposed compensation

plan back to the advisory com-pensation committee. The com-

pensation model is the result ofmonths of several hour-long

meetings between teachers, dis-trict staff and administration,

school board members and con-sultants.

The boards decision to holdoff on approving the proposed

compensation plan was basedon feedback they got from

teachers and staff in the district.Many teachers submitted com-

ments to the board asking formore information and raised

concerns with the proposedplan.

Board member Anne Bauer,who worked on the compensa-

tion model on the committee

said many of the concerns were

addressed and discussed in thecommittee, and while not easy

choices, each item was consid-ered carefully.

West Middleton 4K teacherand teachers union vice presi-

dent JoEllen Pauls worked ex-tensively on the proposed

compensation model. Whileshe praised the board and staff

for all the work theyve put intoit, she said she feels that teach-

ers need more time to review itto make sure it works out for

everyone.As Pauls notes the new com-

pensation model is a result if the2011 law, Act 10, that basically

dissolved most public publicunions and changed the way a

district negotiates with its em-ployees.

Its an understatement to saywe have struggled since Act

10, Pauls said. Across the

by CAMERON BREN

Times-Tribune

by CAMERON BREN

Times-Tribune

See TEACHERS, page 8

Unanimous vote in favor of TIF for Old Middleton entre traffic study

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When dedicated and brightyoung Southeast Asian govern-

ment leaders are paired with

staff in the City of Middleton,its a win-win situation, accord-ing to those playing host as part

of this cultural exchange ofideas.

For a second time, the City ofMiddleton was chosen as a key

partner in the Young SoutheastAsian Leaders Initiative

(YSEALI). YSEALI is thePresidents signature program

to strengthen leadership devel-opment across the Association

of Southeast Asian Nations,(ASEAN) and to strengthen

people-to-people ties betweenthe US and Southeast Asia.

Last year Middleton hosted

participants from East Timor.This year, young leaders fromSingapore and Malaysia are en-

gaging with city government of-ficials and citizens, learning

how our community deals withsome of the common challenges

of governance, sustainability,cultural diversity and resource

management.Brian Patrick Tan of Singa-

pore and Ong Siou Woon ofMalaysia were chosen for this

years exchange with Middle-ton, which runs from October

10 through November 7.Their track records of leader-

ship and positive impact ontheir communities gained them

one of 75 spots in the programthat over 1,000 other young

Southeast Asian leaders appliedfor.

Tan is currently the senior as-sistant director of the Center for

Livable Cities based in Singa-pore. Its mission is to distill,

create and share knowledge onlivable cities in the hopes to

make them better. The agencyswork spans three main areas in-

cluding research, capability de-velopment and advisory and

knowledge platforms.

In the future, Tan hopes to beinvolved in some level of gov-

ernance in Singapore. Hisfocus, while here, is to learn

more about the engagement ofcitizens in government and to

learn about Middletons worktoward sustainability.

Middleton is a perfect fit forTans focus, he said. In 2010, it

was recognized as a finalist foran All-America City Award for

projects related to workforcehousing, sustainability, and

public outreach.Middleton is much more

transparent in its processes thanSingapore. And Singapore is

much more transparent thanMalaysia, observed Tan.

You have many more meet-ings to inform citizens and that

let them voice their opinions toinfluence the decisions that city

leaders will make here, hestated. I was surprised how

few people attended some of themeetings. Maybe it is because

there are so many meetings togo to.

Ong concurred. InMalaysia, what the government

does is very private, Ong said.Even statistical records like

population and other data col-lection is not readily shared at

least for five years. Govern-ment emails are never open to

the public.Ong is the senior executive

officer of the Penang Institute inPenang, Malaysia. According to

the organizations website, thePenang Institute seeks to spur

bold thinking in the key areas ofeconomics, socio-politics and

sustainable development.The Institutes approach as-

sumes three main thrusts:The first is to undertake re-

search and analysis of publicpolicies in order to provide

input and influence for strategicplanning in Penang and the re-

gion in general.The second is to provide a

platform for intellectual and

professional exchanges on crit-ical, current and strategic issues

concerning Penang and its sur-rounding region.

The third is to maintain acomprehensive databank and

resource center as well as toproduce and disseminate publi-

cations and research findings in

order to enrich public discoursein the areas of economics,socio-politics and sustainable

development.Because of Malaysias tight

hold on government informa-tion, reaching the goals is not

always easy.If a person mentions some-

thing that the government doesnot want mentioned, there is a

risk of being arrested for sedi-tion, Ong said. And, there is

no due process. The ruling gov-

ernment decides what is sedi-tious.

Malaysia and Singapore haveclose ties. For a short time, Sin-

gapore was part of Malaysia.There were differences in

philosophies, said Tan. Peoplefrom Singapore wanted more of

a race-blind country. You have

affirmative action for minoritiesin the US. Malaysia has affir-mative actions for the majority.

Ong added, And Malaysiawanted a stronger centralized

government. Even the decisionof where a bus can stop has to

be made at a federal level.According to Ong, a lot more

young Malaysians are wantingchange that includes more dis-

cussion available to the public.Very brave people are chal-

lenging the system, Ong said.

Mostly its news reporters andpolitical leaders who are tar-

geted for sharing informationthat might be considered as

making the government morevulnerable and so is considered

to be seditious.Mark Opitz, Middletons as-

sistant planning director and

zoning administrator, is facili-tating the YSEALI exchangefor Ong and Tan. In addition to

government meetings, Opitzhas helped arrange social and

cultural visits.Some of the highlights of

their time in the Middleton areaso far have been apple picking,

an organic farm tour, a visit toState Street in Madison, and a

hike through Pheasant BranchConservancy.

The McCluskey farm tourwas a special treat for me, said

Tan. There is only one dairyfarm in Singapore as were a

very small country. There are afew vegetable and poultry

farms. Most of our food isbrought in. We cant just go and

see if the food is really beingraised organically like you can.

The pair also toured Taliesinin Spring Green, Olbrich Botan-

ical Gardens and the ChazenMuseum. Theyve eaten at

many Middleton restaurants aswell as had a welcoming recep-

tion at the Pleasant View GolfCourse.

When asked why Middletonhas applied to participate in the

YSEALI program, Opitzpointed to what he wrote in an

application form: We hope tolearn more about how East

Asian countries are responding

to issues facing their countries,especially population growth,environmental challenges and

food security and other issuesrelated to poverty. The City of

Middleton is interested in op-portunities for the exchange of

municipal/technical expertiseand hopes this fellowship pro-

gram will help to further thoseopportunities abroad.

On a personal level, Opitzadded, I am also particularly

intrigued by how developingcountries are deploying new

technology - in terms of infra-structure development, energy

sources, and communicationsystems - while having the op-

portunity to skip some of theincremental steps - and associ-

ated mistakes - taken by moreindustrialized nations. When I

visited Chinas Yunnanprovince in 1994, I noticed

some of the tragic environmen-tal and safety impacts arising

from rapid development of coalplants and highways, but in re-

cent years its been hearteningto read about a number of

Southeast Asian countries thatare modernizing their infra-

structure based on more sustain-able energy (e.g., wind and

solar power) sources and wire-less communications, thereby

enabling them to reduce pollu-tion increases and potentially

(hopefully) improve citizen ac-cess, education and quality of

life.

PAGE 4 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

City welcomes Southeast Asian Leaders

Photo by Mark Opitz

Brian Patrick Tan of Singapore and Ong Siou Woon of Malaysia are scheduled to depart fromMiddleton on Saturday.

by DEB BIECHLER

Times-TribuneFor more information

about the YSEALI pro-

gram, go to their website

at:

exchanges.state.gov/non

-us/program/yseali-pro-fessional-fellows-pro-

gram

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 5

Mystery author Ernst returns to library

The Middleton Public Li-

brary will welcome authorKathleen Ernst on Thursday,

Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. to read fromher latest Chloe Ellefson mys-

tery,Death on the Prairie.

In this, the sixth novel in thepopular series, amateur detec-

tive Chloe Ellefson takes cus-tody of a quilt once owned by

Laura Ingalls Wilder. Hoping toprove that Wilder stitched it her-

self, she and her sister Kari setout to visit all of the historic

sites associated with thebeloved author. But death

strikes as the journey begins,and trouble stalks their fellow

travelers, a strange cast of Lit-tle House devotees including

academic critics, greedy collec-tors, and obsessive fans.

Kathleen Ernst is an award-winning and bestselling author,

educator, and social historianwho has published more than 30

novels and one nonfictionbook. Her books for young

readers include the CarolineAbbott series for American

Girl. Honors for her childrensmysteries include Edgar and

Agatha Award nominations.Kathleen worked as an Inter-

preter and Curator of Interpre-tation and Collections at Old

World Wisconsin, and her timeat the historic site served as in-

spiration for the Chloe Ellefsonmysteries. Ernst served as proj-

ect director/scriptwriter for sev-eral instructional television

series, one of which earned heran Emmy Award. She lives in

Middleton, Wisconsin.Copies of Kathleens books

will be available for purchase atthe event, and the evening will

conclude with a book signing.For more information or to reg-

ister for this special event, visitmidlibrary.org/events, email

info@midlibrary.org, or call608-827-7403.

Death on the

Prairie writer

will read

next week

Photo contributed

Kathleen Ernst is the author of more than 30 novels.

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The

Murderer

I remember my dad, holdinga rifle and rocking in an old

wooden chair as he peered outof the second story bedroom

window. The farm where welived was miles from the nearest

streetlight, so he was primarilylooking into a reflective glass

void in which the ghost of amiddle aged man in a flannel

shirt sat in a chair, cradling agun and occasionally sipping

whiskey.There was a murderer on the

loose, and my dad was going toshoot him, I figured.

Living in a small town on theNew England coast, excitement

of this variety was in short sup-ply. My companions were med-

itative cows, emotionallydistant barnyard cats, and a pet

dog who, if let loose, would lit-erally run in a straight line until

he died, was caught and re-turned, or circumnavigated the

earth and ended up back at hisfood dish.

The most homicidal thing Idever seen, up until that day, was

the zip-line I tried to build be-tween two tall maple trees in a

nearby wood. That and my dadwhen I returned home from

using the zip-line, asking ifsomeone could help me search

for all the missing skin that had

been flayed from my hand.

But this was a real, humanmurderer. Two law enforcement

agents in gray suits hadknocked on our door that morn-

ing and explained the situationto my parents.

From my listening spotaround the corner I had to cob-

ble together the informationfrom various conversational tid-

bits. But the basics were clear.A maniac had escaped custody,

and his pursuers chase had ledthem to our front door.

Surrounded by 1,000 sprawl-ing acres of land and dozens of

old, vaguely English agricul-tural buildings, this was an es-

caped convicts dream cometrue. There were moss-covered

stone walls behind which toduck. Musty hay lofts in which

to sleep. Cows to milk if he gotthirsty, and horses on which to

gallop away to freedom if hewas not too busy stabbing us all

to death in our beds.It was the greatest event of

my young life. As night closedin around us, it blotted out the

equipment and buildings in thebarnyard, replacing them, in my

minds eye, at least, with thiscrazed and violent man. Every

lowing of a cow meant he wastip-toeing through the muck.

Every rustle of the leaves washis weight shaking the tree he

scaled in order to leap onto ourroof. Every silence was him

holding his breath as he plotted

something extraordinarily

bloody.I had been planning a career

in either baseball or maskedvigilantism for years, and it ap-

peared fate had made the finaldecision for me. Now was the

time to reveal myself as a topflight crime fighter.

I played the situation overand over in my head. Each one

ended in the same way, with methe hero. Like most of my life

goals then and now, the storyfollowed the same narrative arc.

I would avoid putting myself inany real danger, but chance

would eventually deliver thecriminal to me in some way.

Perhaps I could stick my legout around a corner as FBI

agents chased him by, trippinghim so they could cuff him and

haul him away. Or maybe hewould fall asleep and I could

creep out of the food pantry andhit him over the head with a fry-

ing pan. Or maybe he wouldsimply crumple of exhaustion at

my feet just before the police ar-rived.

However it went down, theywould find me with my arms

crossed and one foot restingatop the fallen villain.

Was this something for whichI should put on my Batman cos-

tume? No, that would be ridicu-lous.

I would dress as Zorro.Slashing a Z into this mans

torso would be a fitting way to

cap my victory over evil.

Wait, no. I would be InigoMontoya from The Princess

Bride. The FBI agents hadntmentioned anything about this

man having six fingers, whichMontoyas nemesis did. But

they hadnt said anything abouthim nothaving six fingers, ei-

ther. In fact, they had been sur-prisingly silent about how many

digits he had. Probably becausehe had six and they didnt want

to sound politically incorrect bybringing it up, I reasoned.

In hindsight, my dad showedcommendable restraint by not

shooting me that evening, as Irepeatedly sprang out from be-

hind him and yelled: Hello!My name is Inigo Montoya.

You killed my father. Prepare todie!

He just smiled, sighed, andturned his attention back to the

window.In all my excitement, I dont

remember feeling any actualfear. My dad was there, after all,

and he would make sure anyharm that befell me would be

the wholesome, skinned kneevariety, not the terrifying,

hacked to bits with a cleavertype.

It is in the absence of fearthat we are all at our best. Being

afraid, after all, is the most toxicemotional state. Its why the in-

ternet is such a weird place

because thats where everyonegoes to express their most hy-perbolic terror. Republicans are

scared of the government. De-mocrats are scared of Republi-

cans. The old are scared of theyoung, and so on.

When afraid, we cower andloose sight of all that is good.

But when your dad is calmlyguarding your home from an es-

caped lunatic, you can put on

your best cowl or cape, let your

imagination go wild, and reallymake the most of the situation.

I sometimes hear other par-ents pointing out all there is to

fear in the world. Stay awayfrom strangers, animals, televi-

sion, cell phones and above all,wheat, they advise. Just gen-

erally remember that everythingon earth is dangerous.

My message to my daughteris a little different, at least dur-

ing these early years. There aretwo potential scenarios she will

encounter until shes oldenough to venture off on her

own.The first is that everything is

fine. The second, like thatevening with the murderer on

the loose, is that everything isnot fine, but she doesnt need to

worry or be afraid because Imhere to make sure everything is

okay.Its merely an extension of

our first year and a half to-gether.

For the first year of her life,my daughter was essentially a

backpack. An inanimate object.The key to successfully parent-

ing was the same as the key tosuccessful backpack ownership:

If you ever set it down, makesure you pick it up again before

you leave.But people, most of them

women, marveled at me when

they saw me doing it.Look at that man, their

eyes said. Hes carrying some-

thing that weighs 20 pounds andhes buying a loaf of bread.

Wow!Their adoration made me

wonder if their husbands, whensent to the grocery store to fetch

diapers, often came home with-

out the baby but with a pet gi-

raffe or a giant new tattoo. Ormaybe they made a habit of for-

getting their infants in the or-ganic produce section, left with

only a smug sense of culinarysuperiority to keep them com-

pany.These people look at me as

they would a chimpanzee wear-ing glasses or a dog riding a

skateboard. Impressed merelyby the fact that Im doing some-

thing, but the bar set so low theydont even bother to check if

Im doing it well.But keeping your kid alive

comes naturally, whether thatmeans not forgetting her at the

supermarket or arming yourselfand fighting off a violent es-

caped convict.And he never did kill my

family, by the way. The policefound him a few days later,

shivering and afraid, in a barn afew miles down the road. At the

time, I thought the importantthing was that my dad had kept

him away.Today, I know I was wrong.

My dad didnt sit there all nightto keep the murderer away. He

was there to keep out the fear.To fend off the most useless of

emotions.And it worked, of course. Be-

cause sometimes things are fine,and sometimes monsters lurk in

the shadows. And while you

cant actually protect your kidsfrom every bump and bruise,you can protect them from fear.

Because when you are veryyoung, you should be beyond

fears reach. And when it triesto get in, its good to know there

is someone there, standingguard, looking into the darkness

and keeping it at bay.

PAGE 6 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

by Matt Geiger

GEIGERCounter

LLETTERETTER TOTO THETHE EEDITORDITOR

Special thanks to voter registration deputies

A special thank you to the municipal

clerks who have graciously taken their timeto provide training for a group of Middleton

Action Team members to become certifiedas Special Registration Deputies.

To register students at Middleton HighSchool who will be 18 by February 16,2016, we needed to have certification fromeight municipalities.

Clerks of these municipalities coopera-

tively worked to make that process as easy

as possible. These hard working clerks anddeputy clerks are to be commended: Lori

Burns- Middleton, Sara Ludtke- Town ofMiddleton, Marybeth Witzel-Behl- Madi-

son, Matt Schuenke- Village of CrossPlains, Nancy Meinholz- Town of Cross

Plains, Brenda Kahl- Town of Berry, Car-olyn Hacker- Town of Springfield, Tom

Wilson- Town of Westport.

We salute you and your service to the

communities you serve.Your work is greatly appreciated,

Tom & Sandi Vandervest

City of Middleton

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Dane County will deploy anew system to essentially elim-

inate phosphorus from cow ma-nure while turning the manure

into water clean enough todrink, if a provision in County

Executive Joe Parisis 2016

budget is adopted this fall. TheCounty has selected a Wiscon-sin company, Aqua Innovations

of Beloit, to install this cutting-edge manure treatment system

at the site of the highly success-ful Cow Power digester just

outside of Middleton owned byGundersen Health System.

One pound of phosphorus ispowerful enough to grow 500

pounds of toxic algae. Manurecontains phosphorous and due

to Dane Countys large familyfarm economy, phosphorus re-

duction is critical to the effort toclean up our lakes. Manure di-

gesters remove about 60% ofthe phosphorus found in ma-

nure. The new system achieves

nearly 100% phosphorus re-moval. This means less phos-phorus filled manure and

digester byproduct being spreadon fields sensitive to runoff in

the Yahara watershed.Dane County Executive

Parisi has included funds in hisbudget next year - $500,000 - to

pay for construction of a facilityto house the technology. Dol-

lars for the technology and sys-tem - known in the industry as

a nutrient concentration sys-tem - were approved in the

County Executives prior budg-ets and depending on a final

contact with Aqua Innovationswill cost an estimated $1.3mil-

lion.

From the very basic likeworking with farmers on howfields are planted, to the very

complex like this system thatprocesses brown waste product

into purified, clear water, weknow it will take a wide range

of solutions for us to have con-tinued progress in cleaning the

Yahara Chain of Lakes, Parisisaid.

Should the final dollarsneeded for the new phosphorus

eliminating technology be ap-proved in the county budget this

fall, construction of the newtechnology could get underway

in early 2016. Pending County

Board approval of a contractwith Aqua Innovations, the sys-

tem would be activated in 2016and begin purifying the manure

byproduct of digestion process.As a Wisconsin-based com-

pany, Aqua Innovations is ex-cited and honored to partner

with Dane County to help the

county, its citizens and farmersuse our technology which hasbeen proven 100% effective at

turning manure into clean waterfor the past 10 years. Said Joe

Cecala, CEO of Aqua Innova-tions. Aqua Innovations has en-

gineered and manufacturedwater treatment systems glob-

ally that increase usable waterand increase human survival

with a special concentration onusing its new and transforma-

tive technology to eliminateagricultural waste and pollu-

tants in the dairy industry.The County Executives

budget for 2016 also includes

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 7

EENGAGEMENTNGAGEMENT

Westport needs new supervisor

The Westport Town Board

has voted unanimously to begin

advertising to fill current andfuture openings on town com-mittees and the town board.

This action was taken after anannouncement that current

board supervisor Bill VonRutenberg potentially moving

out of the township as early asmid-November an in-depth dis-

cussion on the current availablepositions on town committees.

Discussion centered on theprocedure in which the empty

position would be filled prior tothe next election. Town admin-

istrator Tom Wilson advised theboard that according to state

statutes, the responsibility of

filling the position falls to the

remaining supervisors and thetown clerk.

Board supervisors also votedby split decision to oppose

Dane County OrdinanceAmendment 16 by adopting

Town Plan Commission Reso-lution 15-98, labeled Rejection

of Certification of Dane CountyFarmland Preservation Zoning

Ordinance Revisions.How do you justify approv-

ing one because it might helpsome of our farmers, com-

mented Board Chairman JohnVan Dinter, but rejecting all the

rest of them?Van Dinter cited the position

that the entirety of the DaneCounty Zoning Code is in need

of complete revision, and thatthe Westport board has repeat-

edly rejected potential zoningcode updates out of hand in

favor of such a revamp.Board Supervisor Ken

Sipsma opposed the amend-ment, and stated he did not

agree that the town should op-pose an amendment that could

potentially assist town resi-dents.

The vote passed the board ona vote of 4-1.

Board Administrator Wilsonprovided the rest of the board

with an update on the status ofthe proposed budget and that

budget meetings for the town-ship is scheduled for Tuesday

November 10th, starting at7:00pm.

Weve got a little bit ofwork to do yet, commented

Administrator Wilson on thedraft of the upcoming budget,

but it does balance.As of the October 19 board

meeting, no updated mill ratewas available as budgetary

items were still being reportedto the Administrator, though

discussion centered on howlong-term changes at the

WAEMS and the WaunakeeArea Fire Department may have

significant impacts on the future

town budget.Wilson additionally stated

that the upcoming budget maybe affected by loan payments

for the new Public Works Facil-ity, in addition to any increases

in EMS service cost.Before adjourning, the town

board did pay the outstanding

bills for the township, hear up-dates from supervisors who are

members of town committees,and discussed landscape work

that is nearing completion nearRiveredge Road prior to ad-

journing the board until No-vember.

by MICHAEL DREW

Times-Tribune The Town of Westport is actively searching for qualified applicants to serve on the Towns

Board of Supervisors.

Eligible candidates must live in the Town of Westport and have a demonstrated interest in local

government. The Town Board meets on the first and third Mondays of the month and members

are expected to attend regularly. A few other Committee/Commission/Board meetings are neces-sary as well.

The Town is also accepting information for those interested in filling potential openings on the

Town Plan Commission, Town Park Committee and the Town Historic Preservation Commission.

Interested parties should send their resume with letter of interest to Thomas Wilson

at twilson@townofwestport.org or Michelle Kumar at mkumar@townofwestport.org

Contact 608-849-4372 with any questions. All paperwork must be received by Town staff no

later than November 9, 2015 by 4:00 p.m. to be considered.

David Roessler and Luanne Leverentz of Cross Plains, togetherwith Charlie Brandt and Donna DeMeo of Baraboo, announce the

engagement of Allison Kay Roessler and Anthony Charles Brandt.Allie graduated from Middleton High School, and earned her

bachelors degree in early childhood and special education fromthe University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is currently employed

as a kindergarten teacher in Milwaukee.Anthony graduated from Baraboo High School, and earned his

bachelors degree in biochemistry from the University of Wiscon-sin-La Crosse. He is currently attending graduate school for bio-

medical science at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.The two of them live together in New Berlin, WI. Their wedding

date is set for July 16, 2016 in the Wisconsin Dells.

Leverentz

and Roessler

to wed

Manure into drinkable water?

Thats the countys plan in Middleton

See MANURE, page 9

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PAGE 8 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

cording to the complaint, shelearned that a friend and fellow

employee at St. Marys, hadsuffered a stroke. The friend

had posted information aboutthe stroke and his health status

on the social media site. That

evening, Lee shared the infor-mation with mutual friends andcolleagues, in several cases via

email. But while Lee intendedto send one message to a mu-

tual friend for whom she did nothave a personal email address -

in a private Facebook message,she says she unknowingly

posted it to that persons time-line or wall, which is visible

to all friends on Facebook.

When Lee learned on May 3that her post was visible onFacebook, she removed it.

The friend who experienced

the stroke was not a patient of

Lees, nor was he a patient on

her floor of the hospital. Ac-

cording to her complaint, Lees

knowledge of his stroke had

nothing to do with her job as a

registered nurse at St. Marys

.

On May 7, Lee was contactedby St. Marys about the inci-

dent. On May 11, during a four-

minute conference call with her

employer, she answered ques-

tions about the incident.

Two days later, on May 13,

representatives for St. Marys

called Lee and terminated her.

Ms. Lee does not know how

or why St. Marys determined

that she violated HIPAA be-cause she clearly did not, the

complaint states. St. Marys

shipped the contents of Lees

work locker to her, as well as

sending her a termination letter.

Although Ms. Lee did

everything in her power to

properly submit a grievance in

an effort to prove to St. Marys

that she did not commit a

HIPAA violation, and to saveher reputation and her career,

Ms. Lees grievance was never

considered by St. Marys, al-

leges her complaint.

The complaint goes on to say

the alleged HIPAA violation

was merely a pretext for age

discrimination.

Both the federal Age Dis-

crimination in Employment Act

and the Wisconsin Fair Employ-ment Act prohibit age discrimi-

nation against anyone over the

age of 40.

by the University of Wisconsin-

Madison and the Madison Pub-lic Library. Panel members at

the October 12 event includedBrown, Foulke, Urban League

CEO Ruben Anthony, DaneCounty Sheriff Dave Mahoney,

and Dane County Judge JosannReynolds.

As a follow-up to this event,a community workshop has

been planned. Equity vs.Equality: an examination of

racial inequities that exist inDane County. It will be held on

Saturday, November 14, from

9:00 am to noon, in the court-

room in the Middleton PoliceStation, 7341 Donna Drive,

Middleton, Wisconsin. It willbe co-led by Brown and Laura

Love, Director of SecondaryEducation, MCPASD.

By using national and localhistory, participants will explore

the roots of racism in Americaand learn how it has manifested

itself through time and contin-ues today. Through presenta-

tions, videos, and discussion,participants will examine cur-

rent instances of racial in-

equities in Dane County, get a

glimpse at work being done inthe MCPASD to address these

issues, and begin to identify ad-

ditional opportunities to address

racial inequities in our schoolsand community.

In speaking of this event,

Chief Foulke offered these

words of support: The racialand ethnic disparities in our

country, county and communityare getting the attention and ac-

tion that are sorely needed. TheEquity vs. Equality training is a

logical step in maintaining themomentum that community

leaders have been building toaddress this very real problem.

I am pleased to be part of theplanning team for this training

and feel the Middleton PoliceDepartment can be part of the

solution.

Registration forms are avail-

able at the Middleton OutreachMinistry office (3502 Par-

menter Street) or the MiddletonPublic Library (7425 Hubbard

Avenue). You may also registeronline at http://equity-vs-equal-

ity.eventbrite.com.The cost of for the event is

$10. Scholarships are availableto those who need them.To have a registration form

sent to you, to apply for a schol-

arship, or to have your ques-

tions answered, contact Jim Iliff

at jiliff1955@gmail.com.

LEE continued from page 1

RACE continued from page 1

TEACHERS continued from page 3

state teachers have been faced

with a profound level of unfa-miliar change that has led to un-

certainty, handbooks, revisedcompensation models, de-

creased morale, increased pres-

sure to do more with less,increased class size, decrease inclassroom budgets, increase in

health care premiums and con-tributions to pensions, increase

in early retirement and mid-ca-reer job shifts, and most telling;

a significant drop across thestate in college enrollment in

the field of education.Pauls said she understands

that the most of the changes andreduced funding has come from

the state, but asked the board torealize that the work teachers

put in hasnt changed and hasmany feeling stressed.

I know the bottom line is the

budget and the money needs to

be there to increase compensa-tion, Pauls said. I know the

money is not there, but we are.We are still here giving more

than what we have to give and

that is the one thing that has notchanged.

The overwhelming concern

with the compensation model isthat we are doing more for less

and for longer and at this pointthat is our bottom line, she ex-

plained.Pauls acknowledged that de-

ferring the plan back to thecompensation committee would

create more work for everyoneinvolved including herself but

felt that was the right thing to dogiven the feedback theyve re-

ceived.I appreciate the opportunity

to kick it back to the committee

if necessary, even if it means

more night meetings, she said.I appreciate the commitment

from both administration, theboard, and staff to make sure all

our questions are answered and

understood and to maybe knowthat we cant move forward thisyear, but we made a commit-

ment to do whats best for ourdistrict.

Joanna Cree is another

teacher serving on the compen-

sation committee and was rep-

resenting teachers at the board

meeting. She said a teacher

wanted her to tell the board they

felt teachers with experience

from other districts were being

undervalued because of the

level they would be placed at in

the new plan. Superintendent

Don Johnson explained that lev-

els are now equated to prior

salary rather than years of expe-

rience. He said he has heard

concerns about the change.

There were other concerns

brought up involving credit for

leadership roles or participation

in committees and professional

development.

Jay Barbeau, another teacher

on the compensation committee

said he know from the outset

that whatever plan they came up

with it was going to be viewed

as less.

I said at the committee,

what we develop, teachers are

going to feel like we are doing

less for more, because we all

have 2008 in our minds and its

not 2008 anymore, Barbeau

said. Things have changed for

you and for us and I think thats

where the disconnect comes

from.

He told the board that as the

plan got closer to being final-

ized the more concerns he

heard.

When this compensation

package became real, the voices

grew louder, at least in my

room, Barbeau explained.

Im hoping we can go back to

the drawing board a little bit as

a compensation group and talk

about it.

Im very happy that its on

the table that we are going to

send it back to the compensa-

tion committee, because I defi-

nitely think that is the

appropriate thing to do, said

board member Paul Kinne.

Their background knowledge

in this after all those meeting is

so much deeper than anything I

could dotonight, it only makes

sense to me.

A motion to defer the com-

pensation plan back to the com-

mittee passed unanimously.

ADA access earns Middleton park award

The Park Design Awards,

Outstanding Young Profes-sional of the Year and Outstand-

ing Professional Award of theYear will be presented at the

Annual Conference in Wiscon-sin Dells on Thursday, Novem-

ber 5 at 9:30 a.m.The presentation will be

made at the Kalahari Resort.

Wisconsin Park & Recreation

Association Park Section An-nounces 2015 Park Design

Award WinnersAmong the winners is the

City of Middleton Public LandsDepartment, which won the

Park Design Award of Merit forthe ADA accessible EZ Dock

Launch at Graber Pond.

Trail users in Middleton

welcome the installation of anADA accessible kayak/canoe

port and fishing pier, by theEagle Scouts of Middleton,

wrote WPRA. This is the firstof its kind in the State.

The EZ Dock Launch usesan innovative adjustable bench

and guide rails to accommodate

users of all ability, it contin-

ued. Rollers along thekayak/canoe port allow the use

of guide rails, allowing users tomaneuver with their upper body

as they enter and exit the pond.Because the dock is floating, the

water level relative to the pierremains unchanged, and be-

cause the dock only requires a

little over an inch of depth to

float, ice cover will not damagethe structure during the northern

winter.WPRA is a statewide, non-

profit service organization ded-

icated to extending the social,

health, cultural and economic

benefits of parks and recreation

through its network of recre-

ation/park professionals and

civic leaders. There are approx-

imately 2,500 WPRA members

who include state and local ex-

perts on recreation, urban plan-

ning, aquatics, at-risk-youth,

therapeutic recreation services,

and parkland development and

services.

CHURCH NOTES

City of Middleton teamed up with Eagle Scouts to install EZ Dock Launch for users of all abilities

O b i t u a r y

Luella W.

Scheele

Luella W. Scheele, age 100,

passed away peacefully onMonday, Nov. 2, 2015. She was

born in the town of Berry, on

December 13, 1914, the daugh-

ter of Herman and Rosa

(Marten) Wille, Sr. She was

united in marriage to the love of

her life, Clarence C. Scheele on

Nov. 2, 1937, in St. Lukes

Lutheran Church, Middleton.

Luellas family was the center

of her life. She loved and gave

unconditionally. She was so

proud of her family. Luella al-

ways had time for you and the

time was quality. She was a

mother, grandmother and great

friend. As a woman of strong

faith Luella mastered the art of

living and passed it on to her

family with kindness and grace.

Luella is survived by her

daughters, Marilyn Nicholson

and Mae (Gary) Sailing; eight

grandchildren; 15 great-grand-

children; ten great-great-grand-

children; three

great-great-great-grandchildren

and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by

her husband Clarence; son-in-

law, Dale Nicholson and grand-

son Steven Nicholson. Funeral

services will be held at ST.

MARTINS LUTHERAN

CHURCH, 2427 Church St.,

Cross Plains at 11 a.m. on Sat-

urday, Nov. 7, 2015 with the

Reverend Kirsten Curtis presid-

ing.

Visitation will be on Saturday

from 10 a.m. until the time of

the service at the church. The

family wishes to extend a spe-

cial thank you to Dr. Daniel

Jarzemsky and the staff of

Heartland Country Village. Me-

morials in Luellas name may

be given to St. Martins

Lutheran Church. Online con-

dolences may be made at

www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Cross Plains

Funeral & Cremation Care

2421 Church Street

(608)798-3141

As a follow-up to this event, a community workshop

has been planned. Equity vs. Equality: an examination

of racial inequities that exist in Dane County. It will be

held on Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 am to noon,

in the courtroom in the Middleton Police Station, 7341

Donna Drive, Middleton, Wisconsin.

Community workshop on race also planned

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 9

Photo contributed

The cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee clowns around during a recent rehearsal at Middleton High School.

Middleton High SchoolDrama presents The 25th An-

nual Putnam County Spelling

Bee on Nov. 12, 13, & 14at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC. Tickets

are available in advanceat www.middletondrama.org.

They are $8 for students andseniors and $10 for adults.

The 25th Annual Putnam

County Spelling Bee by William

Finn, Rachel Sheinkin, RebeccaFeldman, and Jay Reiss is the

heartwarming story of sixquirky pre-adolescents vying

for the championship title attheir local bee. The kids spell

their way through round afterround of words, hoping never to

hear the soul-crushing sound ofthe bell, which signals an error

and the end of the ride for thatparticular speller. Along the way

the kids reveal insecurities andsuccesses, joys and failures,

hopes and heartaches in the hi-larious and touching musical

presented by Middleton HighSchool.

See the show Nov. 12-14 atthe Middleton PAC or travel to

the Wisconsin High SchoolTheatre Festival on Nov. 20 to

see Middleton Drama in theShowcase performance. Mid-

dletons production of The

25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee will be presentedat the Young Auditorium on

the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Campus at 4pm and

8pm Check out www.middle-tondrama.orgfor more informa-

tion.

Putnam County Spelling Beecomes to Performing Arts Center

Putnam County will take place Nov. 12, 13, &

14 at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC. Tickets are available

in advance at www.middletondrama.org.

$8 students/seniors and $10 for adults.

Manure From 7

dollars to study the feasi-bility of developing a

similar system at the siteof the Waunakee Digester.

The future is now inour fight to clean up our

lakes and I look forward

to working with home-grown, Wisconsin inno-vators on taking our next

bold step as leaders incleaning our lakes, Parisi

concluded.Dane County and its

partners took 4,000pounds of phosphorus out

of the Lakes Mendota andMonona watersheds in

2014.The project now in its

second year of operationconsists of digesters and

generators to create en-ergy. Cow manure from

Blue Star Dairy Farms,

Hensen Brothers Dairyand Ziegler Dairy Farms,is processed in three air-

tight digester tanks. Thefacility generates approx-

imately 16 million kilo-watt hours of electricity

annually which is addedto the local grid in Dane

County through MadisonGas and Electric. The

electricity purchased byMGE is enough to power

approximately 2,500homes.

Because of themethane released by un-

treated manure, the di-gester will also reduce

greenhouse gas emis-sions. The state DNR es-

timates that by treatingmanure and generating

renewable electricity, thedigester will reduce cli-

mate-changing emissionsby 22,000 tons per year

equivalent to the CO2emissions from over

4,000 cars.

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Tara Franklin tried putting

off the decision as long as

possible.

She tried throwing it on the

back burner this summer. She

did whatever possible not to

think about it this fall.

Finally, Middletons long-

time and extremely successful

girls track and field coach had

to face facts. Her 19-year

tenure as the Cardinals boss

had to end.

Franklin became a mother

for the first time to twins

Paxton and Keska in

January. And with her chil-

dren now dominating her

world, Franklin knew there

simply wasnt enough room in

her life to coach track and

field.

I poured my heart and

soul into it, Franklin said. I

absolutely loved being with

the kids.

I loved every bit of it, cold

days, rainy days. I felt like a

Mom to so many of the kids

and Ive built so many life-

long connections and relation-

ships. But Ive never had my

own kids, and if I kept coach-

ing, I was going to have very

The long and proud history

of Middleton girls golf

started by the great Dewey

Stendahl, then taken to evenloftier heights by Jeff Kenas

and now Becky Halverson

is one of the most storied in

the state.

Names like Lindsey

Solberg, Heidi Hinners, Jill

Ries and Halversons will live

in infamy.

But the magnificent career

of Loren Skibba rivals any the

school has ever seen.

Skibba guided Middleton to

the second WIAA Division 1

state title in school history this

fall. She also finished second

at state individually, after win-

ning the crown herself in

2014.For her sensational season,

Skibba was named the state

Player of Year by the Golf

Coaches Association of

Wisconsin. Ries, the states

Co-Player of the Year in 2000,

is the only other Middleton

athlete to win that award.

I could not be more proud

of Loren to be the All-State

Player of the Year, said

Halverson, who just finished

her third year as the Cardinals

coach. She should be very

proud of her accomplishment

after all her hard work on the

course. Its definitely exciting

for our program.

Skibbas honor highlighteda bevy of awards that have

poured in for Middletons

golfers since winning state on

Oct. 13.

Middleton junior Alexis

Thomas was also named first-

team all-state, while juniors

Morgan Miles and Morgan

Narowetz were named honor-

able mention all-state.

Skibba was also named the

Big Eight Conferences Player

of the Year, while Thomas and

Narowetz joined her as first-

team all-conference selec-

tions. Miles was named sec-

ond-team all-conference and

sophomore Payton Hodsonwas named honorable-mention

all-league.

Skibba, a Northern Arizona

recruit, averaged 74.65 this

season, which was the lowest

in the state. Skibba finished

first at seven of 13 tourna-

ments during the regular sea-

son and was never lower than

eighth.

Skibba was then second

individually at regionals, sec-

tionals and state.

Loren had an unbelievable

career, Halverson said. Im

so proud of her for being

named Player of the Year for

the Big Eight Conference. It

was a privilege being able tocoach her these past three

years and I think she will do

great things for Northern

Arizona University.

Thomas took her game to

new heights during a brilliant

junior season.

Thomas averaged 78.56,

won the Big Eight Conference

tournament and finished

fourth individually at state.

Thomas fired a remarkable 1-

under-par, 71, on the second

day of the state tournament,

which keyed Middletons run

to the title.

Thomas was in the top-five

in 11 of the 14 tournamentsshe competed in, including

eight top-three finishes.

Alexis really excelled this

PAGE 12 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Follow RobReischel onTwitter at@robreischel

Skibba is Player of the Year

Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld

Middleton girls golfer Loren Skibba was named the states Player of the Year by the GolfCoaches Association of Wisconsin.

MHS golfer

wins states

highest honor

by ROB REISCHEL

Times-Tribune

See GOLF, page 20

Franklin says goodbye

Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld

Tara Franklin, who coached Middletons girls track and field team the last 21 years, wontreturn in 2016.

Track coach

steps away to

focus on familyby ROB REISCHEL

Times-Tribune

See FRANKLIN, page 16

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The conditions bordered onmiserable. Rainy, slippery,

soggy, muddy.But the day itself was a his-

toric one for Middletons boyscross country team.

The Cardinals finishedfourth at last Saturdays WIAA

Division 1 state meet held atRidges Golf Course in

Wisconsin Rapids. That wasthe highest finish in school his-

tory.The boys had a very suc-

cessful cross country season,Middleton coach Cindy

Bremser said. It took them thefirst month to have all the play-

ers run on the same team andthen they improved each com-

petition.Cardinals junior Gus

Newcomb, who led Middletonwith a fifth place individual

finish, thought the Cardinalscould crack the top-three. But

Newcomb was still happywhere Middleton finished.

Fourth at state was goodfor us, said Newcomb, who

finished the 5,000-meter coursein 15 minutes, 5.15 seconds.

We wanted to wait longer tosee Middleton show up on the

scoreboard after the race, butwe still moved up from last

year (sixth), which is great onsuch a tough day.

Kimberly won the boys titlewith 80 points, while Madison

La Follette (99), West BendWest (114), Middleton (133)

and Milwaukee Marquette(180) rounded out the top five.

Newcomb ran a sensationalrace, hanging around eighth

place most of the way.Newcomb then made a late

charge and moved up to fifthwith a terrific finishing kick.

Newcomb improved by 28positions from last year and

bettered his time by 31 sec-onds.

A top-five finish to memeans a lot, Newcomb said.

To be on the podium in crosscountry is so sweet, sweeter

than the podium in track in myopinion.

Admittedly, my goal wasto be in the top-three, but it did-

n't happen for me and I'mproud I gave a good effort on

the day. Now, I need to think ofthe race as a stepping stone,

learn from the positives andnegatives of the race and apply

them. I'm excited to go back tothe drawing board.

Cardinals senior PerrinHagge was 36th overall in

16:45.24, while sophomore

Jack Rader was 39th(16:46.08).

Perrin improved his posi-

tion toward the finish,Bremser said. Jack Rader

again ran very aggressive, run-ning with the lead pack through

one mile at 4:57. He lost somemomentum in the second half

and finished in the same placehe finished last year.

Sophomore Sam Jaeger fin-ished 53rd (16:57.13) during

his first trip to state. And seniorDavid Marrone was 74th

(17:11.14) and improved histime from last year by 51 sec-

onds.

Sam Jaeger ran his first

year at state like a veteran,Bremser said. He ran a very

even pace.David Marrone ran a

strong even race. He coveredthe last mile with power and

was covered with mud in theend.

Middletons terrific per-formance at state capped an

unforgettable season.Second at conference, first

at sectionals and fourth at statewill be a year they will never

forget, Bremser said.On the girls side,

Middleton senior SamValentine was eighth individu-

ally in 18:53.57. Valentinewent out with the leaders,

remained strong and held onfor a big finish.

This season has no doubtbeen one of my better ones,

Valentine said. Im thankful to

have stayed healthy throughoutand been able to continuously

improve.Reaching top-10 at state

was definitely a big preseasongoal of mine that I wasn't even

sure was attainable at that time,but throughout the season I

gained my racing confidenceback and knew what I could

achieve. Now, having reachedthat goal, it's a wonderful end-

ing to my senior season.Cardinals sophomore

Charlotte Sue was also 72nd in20:09.99.

Charlotte Sue experiencedher first competition at state

and ran a very controlled race,Bremser said. Running her

first mile in six minutes had herin 50th place. This is a little

faster than she is use to startingout, but she maintained compo-

sure and finished with a very

good time.

WIAA STATE MEETAt Wisconsin RapidsSaturdays results

DIVISION 1BoysTeam scores: Kimberly 80,

Madison La Follette 99, West Bend

West 114, Middleton 133, Milwaukee

Marquette 180, Hartland Arrowhead

196, Madison Memorial 213, Stevens

Point 217, Mequon Homestead 229, SunPrairie 278, Hudson 281, Germantown

310, South Milwaukee 319, Neenah

323, Schofield D.C. Everest 377,

Franklin 379, Waukesha North 385,

Muskego 393, Onalaska 412, Green Bay

Preble 414.

Top 10 individuals: 1, Gessner,Madison La Follette, 15:44; 2, Basten,

Green Bay Southwest, 15:55; 3, Rink,

Kimberly, 15:57; 4, Potter, Wauwatosa

East, 16:02; 5, Newcomb, Middleton,

16:05; 6, Anderson, Schofield D.C.

Everest, 16:05; 7, Bosley, Mequon

Homestead, 16:13; 8, Farrell, Janesville

Craig, 16:14; 9, Perez, Stevens Point,16:17; 10, Legg, Madison La Follette,

16:17.

Middleton results (places are list-ed among only team competitors)

Middleton 3, Gus Newcomb,

16:05; 23, Perrin Hagge, 16:45; 26, JackRader, 16:46, 34, Sam Jaeger, 16:57; 47,

David Marrone, 17:11.

GirlsTeam scores: Eau Claire Memorial

117, Hartland Arrowhead 169, Appleton

North 174, Sun Prairie 183, Milwaukee

DSHA 193, Brookfield East 202,

Whitefish Bay 206, Waukesha West 231,

Madison West 262, Oak Creek 283,

Kimberly 285, Madison Memorial 291,

Oconomowoc 294, Germantown 316,

Pulaski 330, Bay Port 332, La Crosse

Central 332, Muskego 358, West BendWest 398, Neenah 424.

Top 10 individuals: 1, Roberts, EauClaire Memorial, 17:49, 2, Davre,

Whitefish Bay, 18:28, 3, Van Wie, Sun

Prairie, 18:32, 4, Scott, Milwaukee

DSHA, 18:42, 5, Pringle, Sun Prairie,18:45, 6, Werking, Brookfield East,

18:48, 7, Roeske, Eau Claire Memorial,

18:51, 8, Valentine, Middleton, 18:53, 9,

Kalander, Mequon Homestead, 18:55,

10, Jochims, Muskego, 18:55.

Middleton runners: 8, SamValentine, Middleton, 18:53; 72,

Charlotte Sue, Middleton, 20:09.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 13

Fabulous fourth for MHS runnersMiddleton

shines at state

Times-Tribune photos by Mary Langenfeld

Perrin Hagge (left) helped Middletons boys cross countryteam finish fourth at state last Saturday. Sam Valentine(above) finished eighth in the girls race.

by ROB REISCHEL

Times-Tribune

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The goal was outlined aftertheir first practice of the sea-

son.They spent the next 10

weeks bettering themselves,and destroying almost every-

one that crossed their path.Then last Saturday,

Middletons dynamic girlsswimming and diving team

made their primary objective areality.

The Cardinals won the BigEight Conference meet held at

Beloit Memorial in remarkablyimpressive fashion. Middleton

posted a whopping 563.5points and easily outdistanced

runner-up Verona/MountHoreb (466.5). Madison

Memorial (441), Madison West(345) and Sun Prairie (246)

rounded out the top five.We knew this was a big

goal and that the girls wouldhave to put in more work than

ever before to make that goal areality, Middleton coach

Lauren Cabalka said. I havesaid all season long how

impressive this young grouphas been, day-in and day-out,

but definitely not as impressiveas they were on Saturday. This

was one of the most excitingand fun meets I have ever wit-

nessed.Middletons impressive title

marked the sixth straight year ithad won the conference meet.

To win six straight is prettyremarkable, Cabalka said.

We have had a lot of successover the years. I credit that to

great depth of talent, fantasticfeeder programs in the area and

a group of girls who continueto buy into our program's phi-

losophy and goals.Middleton had a plethora of

impressive showings up anddown the lineup.

Freshman Cora Mack wassecond in the 200-yard

freestyle (1:56.50), while soph-omore Caroline Hippen was

third (1:56.80) and seniorSamantha Roll was fourth

(1:57.38). Mack was also thirdin the 50-yard freestyle

(24.47).Freshman Hannah Aegerter

was second in the 500-yardfreestyle (5:15.63), while jun-

ior Margaret McGill was fifth

(5:22.37) and junior EliseHokanson was seventh(5:26.10).

Senior Emma Karbusickywas second in the 100-yard

breaststroke (1:07.31) andfreshman Emily Keebler was

10th (1:10.12).Sophomore Chiara

Pierobon-Mays was second inthe 100-yard backstroke

(59.28), while senior VictoriaLin was third (59.92) and jun-

ior Tryn Peterson was seventh(1:02.21).

Aegerter was also third inthe 200-yard IM (2:12.88),

freshman Makenna Licking

was fifth (2:14.89), Karbusickywas seventh (2:15.90) andfreshman Emily Keebler was

ninth (2:16.27).Middletons 200-yard med-

ley relay team of seniorVictoria Lin, Karbusicky,

Pierobon-Mays and Lickingwas third (1:49.53).

Lin was third in the 100-yard butterfly (58.82) and

Pierobon-Mays was seventh(1:00.87). Roll was third in the

100-yard freestyle (54.32),while Hippen was fourth

(54.50) and Licking was fifth(54.73).

Middleton also dominatedthe relays.

The quartet of Aegerter,

Roll, Hippen and Mack wonthe 400-yard freestyle relay

and set a new Big Eight record

in the process (3:34.38). Theprevious mark had stood since1990.

The icing on the cake cameat the end of the meet, when

our 400 free relay broke a 25year-old conference record,

Cabalka said. They swam outof their minds.

The foursome of Roll,Aegerter, Hippen and Mack

won the 200-yard freestylerelay (1:38.22). And

Middletons 200-yard medleyrelay team of Lin, Karbusicky,

Pierobon-Mays and Lickingwon the 200-yard medley relay.

Sophomore Eleanor

Mackey was also fourth in theone-meter diving, while sopho-more Sarah Dahlk was eighth.

This win was our best teamwin of the season and one that

has set an incredibly high stan-dard for years to come,

Cabalka said. I could not bemore proud of what we accom-

plished.

There truly is no greaterjoy in the world of coachingthan seeing a smile on the faces

of your athletes that is full ofaccomplishment, joy and pride.

We saw a lot of those onSaturday.

We had some fantasticindividual swims, but our

relays really stole the show. Wewere finally able to put togeth-

er 12 really great swims, all atthe same time.

On deck: V-MH will be atthe Middleton Sectional

Saturday at 1 p.m.

BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE

MEET

Team scores: Middleton 563,

Verona/Mount Horeb 466, Madison

Memorial 441, Madison West 345, Sun

Prairie 246, Beloit Memorial 59,

Janesville Craig 58, Janesville Parker 40,

Madison East 35, Madison La Follette 34.

1-meter diving: 1, Nunn, VMH,

430.35; 2, Donkle, MM, 419.00; 3, Kas-

par, MW, 380.75; 4, Mackey, M, 380.30;

5, Forrest, MW, 379.15; 6, Riggins, MM,

361.80.

200 medley relay: 1, Verona/Mount

Horeb (Nelson, Bennin, Smith, Larsen),1:47.42; 2, Madison Memorial (Meyer, A.

Center, Gomez, M. Center), 1:48.36; 3,

Middleton (Lin, Pierobon, Karbusicky,

Licking), 1:49.53; 4, Madison West (Sul-

livan, Mirus, Marty, Higgins), 1:51.15; 5,

Sun Prairie (Unmacht, Powers, Nelson,

White), 1:51.41; 6, Middleton (McCue,

Peterson, Keebler, Warriner), 1:53.02.

200 freestyle: 1, Powers, SP, 1:53.92;

2, Mack, M, 1:56.50; 3, Hippen, M,

1:56.80; 4, Roll, M, 1:57.38; 5, Seidl,

VMH, 1:57.47; 6, Lutz, MW, 1:59.67.

200 individual medley: 1, Marty,

MW, 2:09.22; 2, Donagan, JP, 2:11.38; 3,

Aegerter, M, 2:12.88; 4, Drapp, VMH,

2:13.73; 5, Licking, M, 2:14.89; 6, Eck-

erle, MM, 2:15.63.

50 freestyle: 1, Nelson, VMH, 23.05;

2, Center, MM, 23.70; 3, Mack, M, 24.47;

4, Unmacht, SP, 24.76; 5, First, MW,

24.90; 6, Center, MM, 24.98.

100 butterfly: 1, Marty, MW, 57.21;

2, Bennin, VMH, 57.87; 3, Lin, M, 58.82;4, Cole, MM, 1:00.36; 5, Peterson, M,

1:00.59; 6, Frankwicz, MLF, 1:00.69.

100 freestyle: 1, Center, MM, 52.47;

2, Seidl, VMH, 54.06; 3, Roll, M, 54.32;

4, Hippen, M, 54.50; 5, Licking, M,

54.73; 6, Parker, VMH, 54.76.

500 freestyle: 1, Powers, SP, 5:05.00;

2, Aegerter, M, 5:15.63; 3, Lutz, MW,

5:16.52; 4, Henshue, VMH, 5:19.63; 5,

McGill, M, 5:22.37; 6, McKeon, MM,

5:23.25.

200 freestyle relay: 1, Middleton

(Roll, Hippen, Aegerter, Mack), 1:38.22;2, Verona/Mount Horeb (Bennin, Parker,

Larsen, Seidl), 1:38.97; 3, Madison West

(Mirus, Higgins, Cardwell, First),

1:39.51; 4, Madison Memorial (Gomez,

Houston, Cole, Center), 1:39.57; 5, Madi-

son Memorial (Bloomer, Trinkner, Bis-

sen, Spielman), 1:41.15; 6, Middleton

(McCue, Warriner, Lin, Pierobon),

1:41.80.

100 backstroke: 1, Nelson, VMH,

54.33; 2, Pierobon, M, 59.28; 3, Lin, M,

59.92; 4, Unmacht, SP, 1:00.40; 5, Drapp,

VMH, 1:01.06; 6, Frankwicz, MLF,

1:01.15.

100 breaststroke: 1, Bennin, VMH,

1:05.45; 2, Karbusicky, M, 1:07.31; 3,

Gomez, MM, 1:07.85; 4, Donagan, JC,

1:08.14; 5, Larsen, VMH, 1:09.03; 6,

Drapp, VMH, 1:09.15.

400 freestyle relay: 1, Middleton

(Aegerter, Hippen, Roll, Mack), 3:34.38;

2, Verona/Mount Horeb (Parker, Seidl,

Henshue, Nelson), 3:34.57; 3, MadisonMemorial (Cole, T. Center, Eckerle, A.

Center), 3:37.24; 4, Madison West (Hig-

gins, First, Cardwell, Marty), 3:39.49; 5,

Sun Prairie (Unmacht, White, Powers,

Lelivelt), 3:42.24; 6, Middleton (Madi-

gan, Warriner, McGill, Licking), 3:42.24.

At Beloit Memorial.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 15

Swimmers

win sixth

straight titleby ROB REISCHEL

Times-Tribune

Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld

Freshman Hannah Aegerter and Middletons girls swimming and diving team won the Big Eight Conference championship fora sixth straight season.

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little Mommy time.

Franklin was a Middleton

assistant in 1994-95, then

took the program over in

1996. Franklin led the

Cardinals to a runner-up finish

at state in 1996 her first

season as coach then led

Middleton to consecutive

state titles in 1997-98.In all, Middleton had 11

top-10 finishes at state under

Franklins guidance. And her

final team in 2014 stunned

many by finishing second at

state themselves.

She was obviously a

model of consistency being

here for so many years,

Middleton athletic director

Bob Joers said of Franklin.

Even after so many years, I

still see the passion she brings

to the sport each year.

She has been instrumental

at helping create excitement

in the program, which has

grown in participation eachand every year. We will miss

her, but I have a feeling we'll

still see her around the track.

If she must go, last years sea-

son was an amazing way to

finish her career.

When Franklin arrived,

there were 36 athletes in the

program. Last years team had

130 when the season began.

Part of that was due to

Franklins energy, passion and

love for a sport she excelled in

at Monona Grove High

School. Part of it was Franklin

helping athletes reach heights

they hadnt always believed

were possible.

I hope I made a positive

impact on track in this area,

Franklin said. I hope I

impacted the kids, just to do

better and push yourself.

Dont give up on yourself. Wedeveloped such a great pro-

gram because of the hard

work with the kids and the

assistants.

And I certainly learned

its not the trophies you accu-

mulate. Theyre fun and they

definitely help make memo-

ries. But its the connections

you make with people that

matter the most.

That may be, but Franklins

Cardinals were awfully good

at finding the podium, as well.

During Franklins tenure,

every school record was bro-

ken except for the shot put.

Several athletes competedcollegiately and brought a

level of success the program

had never seen.

The bookends, starting at

state and ending at state with

second place finishes, really

stands out, Franklin said.

And all of the things in

between were so much fun,

too.

All of the assistant coach-

es that poured their hearts out

and built the program with

me. We had so many people

seeing the vision. I was fortu-

nate to be given the opportu-

nity.While Franklin definitely

wants to focus on family for a

while, she also said she hasnt

ruled out a return to coaching

when her twins get older.

For now, though, shes

ecstatic to be a Mom and will

happily let someone else take

a turn with the program she

built.

I know its going to be in

great hands, Franklin said.

And I told the team, when

the weathers nice, you might

see me push the double

stroller over and help with

some things. I probably cant

stay away from it altogether.

PAGE 16 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld

Off and runningKevin McMahon (10) and Middletons boys volleyball team swept Beloit Memorial, 25-21, 25-17, 25-15, in the sectional

semifinals Tuesday. The top-seeded Cardinals now face second-seeded Waukesha South in a sectional final Thursday at 7p.m. at Madison Memorial.

FRANKLIN continued from page 12

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PAGE 18 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

HELP WANTEDSERVICES

RENTALS

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

SERVICES

NOTICES LAWN & GARDEN

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 19

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PAGE 20 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

season, Halverson

said. She improved almost

three strokes from last season

to this season.

Her winning the confer-

ence tournament and then the

1-under-par on day two of

state is amazing! Im thrilled

to have Alexis one more year

because if she keeps working

at her short game, she is goingto continue to do great things

for us.

Narowetz had a solid junior

year that included three top-

three finishes and a fourth

place showing at the Big Eight

Conference meet. Narowetzs

season average was 86.12.

Morgan Narowetz had

some really good nine-hole

scores this season, Halverson

said. Morgan shot in the 30s

seven times this season. She

should be very proud of earn-

ing first-team all-conference.

Miles cracked the top-10 at

four tournaments during the

regular season, then was sev-enth at regionals and fifth at

sectionals. Miles averaged an

88.72, then tied for 27th indi-

vidually at state.

Morgan Miles had a great

season and Im very happy

that she earned second-team

all-conference, Halverson

said. She shot a 38 twice dur-

ing postseason play, which

was huge for us. Her ability to

stay positive out on the course

is something that I wish was

contagious.

Hodson was the Cardinals

most improved golfer. Hodson

took more than seven shots off

her 18-hole average from 2014and lowered it to 91.64 by the

end of the year.

Im so excited for Payton

because she has such an itch

for the game right now and her

drive to improve is so excit-

ing, Halverson said.

2015 Golf CoachesAssociation of Wisconsin

Girls All-State TeamsFirst Team

Loren Skibba* Middleton

Mikayla Hauck Monona

GroveSpeedy Kent Homestead

Ashley Kulka BeaverDam

Claire Lauterbach Arrowhead

Kate Martin MukwonagoAlexis Thomas Middleton

*Player of the Year

Second TeamSarah Busey Racine St.

CatherinesCheyAnn Knudsen Milton

Taylor McCorkle OregonMia Seeman Milton

Bailey Smith VeronaStanley Wang Thomas

More

Third TeamEmily Balding Brookfield

CentralHannah Braun Kimberly

Megan Growt De PereAlexa Holland Arrowhead

Amy Holzer HartfordEmily Lauterbach

ArrowheadBailey Schmidt Gale-

Ettrick-Trempealeau

Honorable MentionKatie Arneson Edgewood;

Melissa Biesmann Verona;Elizabeth Bobinski Green

Bay Notre Dame; Erin Ericson Onalaska; Ivy Fedewa

Wisconsin Dells; Nina Galang Brookfie ld East; Rachel

Gentile The Prairie School;Megan Glaeser Fox Valley

Lutheran; Taylor Hakala Milton; Megan Hessil

Franklin; Jessica Heyrman Catholic Memorial; Sydney

Hubbard Onalaska; JennyJohnson Oregon; Lauren

Klauck Eau Claire North;Trystin Kluess Fox Valley

Lutheran; Mattie Kujawski Arrowhead; Jessica

Kuzniewski Waukesha;Ilayna Long Tomah; Isabelle

Maleki Homestead; ClareMatkom Whitefish Bay;

Courtney Matschke Franklin;Sydney Maule Appleton

North; Lexi Meade EauClaire Memorial; Lori Meyer

Freedom; Morgan Miles

Middleton; Taylor Moon Brookfield Central; Morgan

Narowetz Middleton; EmilyOpsal Verona; Erika Priebe

Fox Valley Lutheran; HannaRebholz Verona; Keaton

Schmitz Arrowhead; HaileySmoot Franklin; Stephanie

Stead Green Bay Notre

Dame; Mari Suokko UnionGrove; Kayla Thielen Marinette; Chloe Volden

Hartford.

GOLF continued from page 12

Times-Tribune

photo by Mary

Langenfeld

M i d d l e t o ngirls golfs t a n d o u tA l e x i sThomas wasnamed first-team all-state.