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Parents and a MiddletonHigh School (MHS) student last
week pleaded with the citycouncil to do whatever it took to
stop the so-called “Jesus
Lunches” from continuing at
Fireman’s Park during the MHSlunch hour. Parents said theyfelt their parental rights were
being disregarded and studentsof minority faiths were being
marginalized.The lunches have been oc-
curring periodically for a coupleyears now, but once school dis-
trict officials went public withconcerns regarding the events a
debate erupted that ended up re-ceiving national news coverage.
The school district has alongstanding lease of the public
park, and claims it can enforceschool rules during school
hours. However, the agreement
is non-exclusive and allows thepark to remain open to the gen-eral public during the same
time.That means, as of right now,
any group – including atheists,Muslims, Buddhists and Chris-
tians – can legally use Fire-man’s Park.
Superintendent Don Johnsonsays it has been his understand-
ing under the lease agreementthat district policy must apply
during the school day. That pol-icy prohibits religious instruc-
tion on school grounds andparents from organizing events
A driver who was fleeing
from law enforcement seriouslyinjured two children in the City
of Middleton last week, accord-ing to authorities.
At approximately 3:45 p.m.on Thursday, April 21, a Dane
County Sheriff’s deputy wit-nessed a white truck driving er-
ratically and speeding on CTHM near Oncken Drive in the
Town of Westport . The deputyattempted to make a traffic stop,
but the driver, who was lateridentified as 31-year-old Ross
Cotter-Brown, a former Middle-ton resident who now resides in
Edgerton, refused to stop.Moments later, at 3:52 p.m.,
the Middleton Police Depart-ment was notified of the vehi-
cle’s flight. Near theintersection of Century Avenue
and Branch Street, in the City of Middleton, the Dane County
Sheriff’s Department termi-nated their attempts to stop the
vehicle while the eluding truckcontinued to travel westbound
on Century Avenue.At the intersection of Century
and Frank Lloyd Wright Av-enue, the driver of the fleeing
vehicle struck two middleschool-aged children who were
walking in the crosswalk and at-tempting to cross Century Av-
enue. Both children receivedserious injuries and were trans-
ported to a local hospital.According to the Middleton
Police Department, the drivercontinued westbound on Cen-
tury Avenue, causing additionalaccidents, until the vehicle be-
came disabled in the area of the7300 block. It was there that
members of the Middleton Po-lice Department and Dane
County Sheriff’s Departmenttook the driver into custody.
Based on the complexity and
VOL. 124, NO. 17 THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.25
www.MiddletonTimes.com
by CAMERON BREN
Times-Tribune
by MATT GEIGER
Times-Tribune
Cotter-Brown
Celebration of faith Raba mahāna hai (“God is great”) - that is the melodic phrase repeated over and over as members of the local Sikh com-
munity ceremonially lowered, washed, and re-raised the flagpole at the Century Avenue Gurudwara on the morning of Sunday, April 17. See more images from the annual celebration of the festival of Vaisakhi on page 10.
Ethics complaint
against Town
Board member?An ethics complaint against a
member of the Middleton TownBoard and creating the first tax
incremental finance (TIF) dis-trict dominated discussion at the
Town of Middleton’s annual
meeting held April 19.The town board hired an at-
torney in November to repre-
sent the town and town boardafter it received a letter alleging
“ethical issues affecting the rep-utation of a board member.”
Larry Siefert asked town
chair Bill Kolar why the townwas hiring an attorney if an al-
legation was brought againstonly one board member.
Kolar deferred the responseto Tom Voss, town attorney,
who declined to disclose whobrought the allegation or any
specifics beyond it involved“unfair dealings.”
Voss said the letter was not apublic document now and the
matter has remained in “quasiopen status,” since November.
Fleeing driver hits
two young girls
See ETHICS, page 4
See LUNCH, page 4
See HIT, page 11
by KEVIN MURPHY
Times-Tribune
Citizens to council:
Stop Jesus LunchesOpponents of events at Fireman’s Park speak out
Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger
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The Middleton Public Li-brary is currently holding an
iPod drive for the Music andMemory project, an initiative to
bring personalized music intothe lives of the elderly or infirm
through digital technology.Anyone with a gently used
iPod or iPhone is encouraged todrop it off at the library’s circu-
lation desk. All donations aretax deductible. Music & Mem-
ory has provided hundreds of personalized playlists via do-
nated iPods to residents of long-term care facilities around the
state, and now the library ispartnering with the Dementia
Friendly Communities Coali-tion to bring the project into the
Middleton community.More information about the
project, which began in NewYork State in 2010, can be
found at musicandmemory.org.
The library is also looking for
tech-savvy volunteers to help
individuals or their caregivers
create and download a playlist.
According to Jim Ramsey, thelibrary’s Head of Reference and
Adult Services, the project is an
excellent opportunity for tech-
savvy youth to get involved in
their community and make a
positive difference in the lives
of their neighbors. “One of the
library’s goals is to foster inter-
generational learning and coop-
eration in our community and
this program is a perfect way to
accomplish that,” Ramsey said.
“Every generation has some-
thing of value to share with
members of other generations.”
Those interested in volun-teering should contact the li-
brary’s Help Desk at
608-827-7402 to register for an
informational session to be held
on Thursday, May 26th, at 4:30
PM in the library’s Archer
Rooms.
Online registration is avail-
able via the library’s events cal-
endar: midlibrary.org/events.
The Bruce Company has an-
nounced the acquisition of Landscape Care Company, lo-cated in Verona.
“The Bruce Company’s vi-sion centers on growth and I
can’t think of a better fit for ourcompany than Landscape Care
Company,” said Bliss Nichol-son, long-time CEO of The
Bruce Company, headquarteredin Middleton.
Landscape Care’s reputationas a unique provider of land-
scaping for complicated andlarge commercial properties
brings consistency to The BruceCompany portfolio of business,
said Nicholson. The ten em-
ployees of Landscape Care will join The Bruce Company’s 350employees effective immedi-
ately.Mike and Kathy Simon, own-
ers of Landscape Care, willtransition to The Bruce Com-
pany in leadership positionssimilar to those at their former
company.“We’re excited to partner
with The Bruce Company, oneof the most respected landscap-
ing companies in Wisconsin,”said Mike Simon.
The acquisition advances TheBruce Company’s goal to grow
the family business without
compromising customer serv-
ice, said Seth Nicholson, presi-dent, chief operating officer andsecond-generation leader at the
64-year-old company. He saidno employee jobs will be lost in
the changeover and the com-pany will be looking to hire
more qualified individuals toassist in caring for our cus-
tomer’s landscape needs.“We have been Madison’s
outdoor living experts for 64years,” said Seth Nicholson.
“We owe employees, customersand our communities The Bruce
Company’s best effort to pros-per for at least another 64
years.”
The Bruce Company beganin 1952 and offers residentialand commercial landscape de-
sign and construction, land-scape maintenance,
interiorscapes, ponds and waterfeatures, irrigation, landscape
lighting and snow and ice man-agement in addition to its retail
garden center at 2830 Par-menter St. in Middleton which
is one of the nation’s top 50 in-dependent garden centers. The
Company also operates a 500-acre nursery and wholesale fa-
cility south of Madison in theTownships of Verona and Mon-
trose.
PAGE 2 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Bruce Co. is growing again
Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger
Above, the Bruce Company’s retail store in the City of Middleton.
Middleton-based company buys Landscape Care
Music and Memory project
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Spring has arrived in DaneCounty, and with the warmer
weather we can expect the mos-
quitoes to be coming soon. Pub-lic Health Madison and DaneCounty (PHMDC) wants to re-
mind the public about the im-portance of preventing
mosquito bites and getting ridof standing water where mos-
quitoes can breed.Mosquitoes have often been
in the news for diseases likeWest Nile Virus, but more re-
cently, Zika virus has been inthe spotlight. To date, in Dane
County and in Wisconsin, therehave been no cases of Zika
virus, which is spread to peopleprimarily through the bite of an
infected mosquito.According to John Hausbeck,
PHMDC Environmental HealthSupervisor, “In over ten years of
monitoring, we have not foundthe two species of mosquitoes
in our community identified asZika carriers, but we are moni-
toring for them.”However, as this is a situa-
tion that is still unfolding, re-ducing areas where mosquitoes
can breed, and preventing beingbitten are the best strategies for
people to avoid becoming ill.PHMDC advises individuals
to prevent mosquito bites bydoing the following: wear long-
sleeved shirts and long pants;install or repair screens on win-
dows or doors to keep mosqui-toes outside; use EPA-registered
insect repellents, followingproduct instructions; and treat
clothing and gear with perme-thrin or purchase permethrin-
treated items.Additionally, people are ad-
vised to empty standing waterfrom flowerpots, gutters, buck-
ets, pool covers, pet waterdishes, discarded tires, and bird-
baths on their property on a reg-ular basis, in order to prevent
breeding grounds for mosqui-toes.
PHMDC will continue tomonitor this upcoming season
for mosquito species that trans-mit diseases such as West Nile
Virus, in addition to watchingfor the specific species that
transmit Zika virus. DaneCounty has had a mild winter
and wetter than usual spring,which means mosquito num-
bers in our area could be high.During mosquito season in
Dane County, approximatelylate May through September,
PHMDC routinely monitorsadult and larvae mosquitoes.
Zika virus is transmitted topeople primarily through the
bite of an infected Aedes ae-
gypti or Aedesalbopictus species mosquito,but can also be transmitted
through blood transfusions andsexual activity.
Symptoms occur in one infive people infected with Zika
virus and include fever, con- junctiviti s (red eyes), rash,
and/or joint pain. The illness istypically mild and
resolves within one week. How-ever, Zika infection in pregnant
women can cause congenitalmicrocephaly and other prob-
lems.“Public Health Madison and
Dane County is in close contactwith our partners at the Wiscon-
sin Department of Health Serv-ices and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and payingclose attention to continually
evolving guidelines and bestpractices related to Zika virus to
keep Dane County residentshealthy,” says Janel Heinrich,
Director of PHMDC.
Middleton-Cross Plains AreaSchool District director of eq-
uity and student achievementPercy Brown and director of
bilingual services Mandi Serschrecently reviewed equity efforts
and goals with the board of ed-ucation.
Brown and Sersch explainedthat they’ve been developing
and implementing professionaldevelopment training for teach-
ers and bolstering and expand-ing mentoring programs for
students struggling academi-cally or behaviorally. They said
the would also like to start re-viewing curriculum to ensure it
reflects diversity and inclusiv-ity.
Sersch said they have put to-gether professional develop-
ment programs they call the“hidden curriculum.” One
looks at the racial binary codeof black and white and the other
at the latino experience in the
U.S. They are also planning for
the second annual equity insti-tute with more than 100 teach-
ers already registered.Sersch said the district is
working with University of Wisconsin at Madison to be
able to start offering a social justice certificate for teachers
who participate in two hiddencurriculum classes as well as
the equity institute and the UWSocial Justice Summit.
Sersch also said they areplanning to offer interested
teachers time over the summerto develop a bank of culturally
and linguistically responsive re-sources that all teachers in the
district can use in their class-rooms.
“It’s really taking some of that knowledge and building it
in to practical day to day class-room application that everyone
will be able to benefit from andhave access to,” Sersch said.
Brown spoke on the successof the mentoring programs
they’ve established with men-
tors who are alumni of African-
American Fraternity andOmega Psi Phi and Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority as well asother black community leaders.
Students from Edgewood Col-lege are mentoring at Glacier
Creek Middle School everyother Thursday during lunch, he
added.“We really want to strengthen
the framework of the mentoringprogram and the different initia-
tives around it, so that it is sus-tainable, so that we do have
ongoing mentors that are com-ing in,” Brown said. “I really
think that can move the needle.”Brown shared some details of
a trip he went on with 38 stu-dents to New York City. They
went on a civil right tour inHarlem, a hip-hop tour in
Brooklyn and the Bronx andvisited other historical loca-
tions. He said they ended thetrip with a emotional debriefing
session.“At the end of that debriefing
session about 30 of the 38 kids
male and female were crying
and they were hugging eachother and shaking hands,”
Brown said. “The conversationdidn’t stop, they were in two
rooms till about one o’clock inthe morning.”
Brown said he saw the stu-dents connecting in a way he
hadn’t before.“When we were on the way
back you saw black boys sittingwith latino boys, you saw white
boys sitting with black boys,and [the] same with the girls
and they just kept switching itup,” Brown said.
MHS staff member AntonioHoye gave the students a chal-
lenge, Brown said. It was greatthat they had come together, but
the real challenge is when theywalk back into the high school,
Hoye told them.He said it is easy for them to
go back to their comfort zoneand cliques, but challenged
them to push their friends andthemselves to interact more
with racial and ethnic groups
other than their own, Brown
said.Brown noted that the students
are working on a documentarythat will detail the experience
they had.Brown and Sersch explained
that in order to meet their futuregoals they feel the district will
need to increase hours frompart-time to full-time for the
district translator and interpreterand add second full-time posi-
tion.They also requested the
board approve hiring two full-time instructional resource
teachers. These teachers woulddevelop and implement the cur-
riculum around identity devel-opment, social and political
awareness, character educationand also be a bridge for the kids
that are in the gaps with theircore teachers, Brown said.
They would help coordinatementoring programs.
Brown explained to the boardwhy he feels such work is
needed in the district.
“Most of our textbooks do
not reflect the diversity of thestudents who are coming into
our schools,” he said. “It is soimportant for our students to see
themselves in the curriculum.”Brown pointed to a study
done a Stanford University thatdemonstrated minority students
improve achievement when thecurriculum is more diverse.
Brown underscored that thedistrict still has a lack of
African-American and Latinoteachers. Despite the chal-
lenges that remain, Brown andSersch thanked the board for
their support which has allowedthem to develop what they
have.“We couldn’t be visionary or
thinking outside the box if youall as a board decided you
wanted to stay cautious,”Brown said.
Brown said he believes thedistrict has gone beyond the
surface level with the work heand his colleagues have been
doing.
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 3
Update on racial equity efforts in schools
Public Health officials on the lookout for Zika virus
by CAMERON BREN
Times-Tribune
by CAMERON BREN
Times-Tribune
‘It is so important for our students to see themselves in the curriculum,’ says Brown
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“Once it’s resolved it will be
out there,” Voss said of the alle-gation.
Siefert also wanted to knowwhat the town had spent on
legal expenses regarding theethics matter since it involved
tax dollars.Neither Voss nor town ad-
ministrator David Shaw knewthe amount at the moment, but
on Monday of this week Shawsaid the Boardman & Clark law
firm had been paid $3,188 to
date to represent the town andtown board.
Voss said specifics about the
allegation would not be dis-closed now as it could weaken
the town’s defense if the matter
went to court. The explanationdid not satisfy Siefert, who said
the allegation and the town’sdefense were two separate
things.Minutes from the Nov. 21
town board meeting duringwhich the Boardman firm was
hired noted that before theboard went into closed session
board supervisor Tim Roehl ex-cused himself from the meeting
and left the building.
Asked after the annual townmeeting if the ethics allegationinvolved him, Roehl declined to
answer.“Tom’s answer is the board’s
answer,” Roehl said.
Asked if he had an attorneywas representing him individu-
ally in the ethics matter, Roehlsaid he had attorneys to repre-
sent him as a real estate agentand in other matters. Roehl de-
clined to say if he had an attor-ney representing him
specifically for the ethics com-plaint.
On Monday, Shaw said an at-torney representing the com-
plainant had notified the town
about the ethics allegation lastfall. Because the complainanthad not dropped the matter the
town board considered it an on-going situation and would not
discuss it now, Shaw said.
Asked when the allegationwould be made public, Shaw
speculated it could wait untilthe statute of limitations ex-
pired.Some state statutes address-
ing unfair dealings have a six-year statute of limitations
against enforcement.
TIF IN
TOWN?Since state law has recently
changed to allow towns to TIFdistricts some residents wanted
to know if the town was again
interested in putting undevel-oped land along Seybold and
Watts roads into a TIF.While the town board heard
presentations on creating a TIFwith the city of Madison in
2013 for some parcels near thewestside Woodman’s Foods
store, Kolar said he would needa better understanding of the
risks and rewards of TIFs be-fore any decision would be
made.
Municipalities create TIFs toprovide long term financing forstreets, utilities and other im-
provements a developer other-wise would fund. Taxing
entities including towns, schooland technical college districts
and the county agree to delaygetting the increased tax rev-
enue as the property developsuntil the improvements are paid
off.The risk to the taxing entities
occurs when the development isdelayed and the TIF becomes
“distressed” or “extremely dis-
tressed.” This has occurred inseveral communities in recent
years and in response the statehas lengthen the payback period
for TIFs from 27 to 40 years.“We’ve begun to educate
ourselves on TIFs,” said Kolar.The town board has plans to
hear presentations from thoseinvolved in financing, engineer-
ing, development and legal as-pects of TIFs in the coming
months.
PAGE 4 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
without the district’s permis-sion.
The city council spoke inclosed session with legal coun-
sel before hearing from resi-dents. No action was taken and
it would have to be done in anopen session if it were.
City administrator Mike
Davis explained that it is a mat-ter of constitutional rights thatthe city cannot supersede.
“It’s not the lease that allowsthe lunches to continue,” Davis
said. “It is constitutional rightssuch as free speech and reli-
gious expression that allow thelunches to be run by adults not
under the purview of schoolrules. Constitutional rights in a
public park can’t be supersededby a lease so long as the park re-
mains public.”Former school board presi-
dent Ellen Lindgren was thefirst to speak to the council.
“I have a big passion for pub-lic education and the work our
administration has done tomake our district as inclusive as
possible to all students,” Lind-gren said. “I realize I have a dif-
ference of opinion with youabout the leasing of the park,
but I hope some of you can ac-tually go see what goes on at
lunch there and observe thatthere is becoming a venom in us
which the administration hasworked so hard to prevent in
high school and across the dis-trict.”
“I really am urging you to dowhat you can to resolve this
issue because right now you are
all responsible for the healthand safety of those kids,” Lind-
gren addedRabbi Bonnie Margulis and
mother of a senior at MHS saidJewish and Muslim students
have felt ostracized by thelunches and the controversy
they have caused.
“Whether or not you agreethat that should fall underschool jurisdiction it has be-
come decisive - it has becomescary for the kids,” Margulis
said. “The kids who are in theminority, the Jewish kids, the
Muslim kids particularly feelintimidated, harassed and in
some cases attacked.”Margulis said she has been
picking her son up early every-day at his request and will con-
tinue to until the lunches stop.Gary Gomez, an attorney and
parent of a MHS student, toldthe council that parents have
rights in making decisions fortheir kids including to deter-
mine whether or not they re-ceive religious instruction and if
so how they will receive it.“I can tell you that our family
believes that our parental rightare being violated by having
adults come to our children’sschool and proselytize to them
while we are not there,” Gomezsaid. “No one has asked for our
consent to do this. No one askedif we think it is a good idea.”
“We take very seriously andits very personal the values we
want our children to hold andthe truths that we want them to
grow up with and our ideals are
being disregarded by individu-als who want to come on to the
school and give their own mes-sage to our children about what
they should believe,” Gomezadded.
MHS student Peter Opitzsaid he started a petition against
the “Jesus Lunch” and made a
video demonstrating religiousdiversity at the high school. Healso organized and led a stu-
dent protest earlier that day. Hesaid he has two major problems
with what is going on.“Firstly it is run by adults;
there is no student leadershipinvolved in Jesus lunch,” Opitz
said. “These adults are provid-ing free food to hundreds of mi-
nors in exchange for listening towhat they consider to be the
truth. They distribute biblicalliterature which directly violates
a federal precedent establishedby the Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals that rules that very dis-tribution unconstitutional.”
“Secondly, in conversationswith students of the Jewish and
Muslim faith and those with nofaith I continually hear that they
feel marginalized and discrimi-nated against - something we
should never allow in our publicschools,” Opitz continued. “Our
school is being divided and stu-dents experience hate speech
daily from both sides of thisissue.”
Peter Opitz asked the councilto intervene or clarify the lan-
guage in the lease agreement.Johnathan Biatch, father of a
MHS senior, said he thinks it
would be worthwhile for the
city to ask the courts to defineclearly who owns the particular
park during particular hours of the day.
“But I think it is more worth-while for us as a community to
protect the kids at the school,”Biatch said. He said his son is
very afraid of being in theschool right now.
“I’m not particularly happyabout the proselytizing of stu-
dents who are in the school, be-cause it is happening I believe
on school property,” he added.Kris Powers, mother of two
MHS students, said she also be-lieves school rules should be
enforced during school hours.“The notion that unknown
and un-vetted adults can use the
park as an opportunity to inter-act with large numbers of our
children without their parents’knowledge or consent is unset-
tling,” Powers said. “This is es-pecially disturbing as this
opportunity for interacting withour kids can and is explained
for the purpose of advancingideological, political, commer-
cial and religious messages.”Powers acknowledged that
some might say her position isalarmist, but argued that areas
that draw large numbers of teens are easy targets and unfair
targets for those attempting toproselytize.
Kristine Burke, an attorney,mother of an MHS student and
longtime resident, said she
could not understand why therewas any question about the
terms of the lease agreement.She said in her reading it states
clearly that school rules wouldbe imposed during school
hours.“That was not put in place by
any ideological bend, it wasn’tput in place to stop religious
freedom or political thought inFireman’s Park,” Burke said. “It
was put in place to protectschool students during the
school day when parents entrustto the school.”
The school district says it isexploring legal options and met
in closed session with legalcounsel Monday.
LUNCH continued from page 1
ETHICS continued from page 1
Times-Tribune photo by Cameron Bren
Former Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board president Ellen Lindgren, speaking to theMiddleton City Council last week, said Jesus Lunches have become a “venom.”
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The Knights of Columbus inCross Plains will be hosting a
Mother’s Day Brunch on May 8from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the
Fellowship Hall at St FrancisXavier.
The menu includes: freshfruit, scrambled eggs, sausage,
ham and more. The cost is $12
for adults, $6.00 for children 6thru 12 and children 5 and
under are free. Advance ticketsare $11.00 for adult and $5.00
for children 6 to 12.Tickets are available at the
St. Francis Church office, or bycontacting Vern Acker at 225-
9301.
Proceeds from the brunchwill help support Boy Scout
Troop 87 and other charitableworks of the Council. Special
Mother’s Day roses will also beavailable to purchase in order to
help support the Women’s CareCenter, Madison.
Please come enjoy a greatbrunch, honor your Mom, and
support these worthy causes.
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 5
Once Upon A MattressMiddleton Drama will present Once Upon a Mattress May 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Per-
forming Arts Center. Written by Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson and DeanFuller, this musical comedy tells the real story of the Princess and the Pea.
Over one hundred twenty Middleton High School students have participated in this pro-duction from painting sets to building costumes to playing in the pit orchestra and performingon stage. Filled with wonderful songs, raucous dances, romance, and plenty of shenanigans, Once Upon a Mattress is sure to entertain.
Tickets are now on sale at www.middletondrama.org/tickets and are $8 for students/seniorsand $10 for adults.
The “Just Ducky” Founda-
tion’s 15th Annual ‘Herb Tar-lek’ Golf Open will take placeSaturday, June 4.
The tournament is a threeperson best-ball played on the
Par Three Course at PleasantView in Middleton. All pro-
ceeds provide scholarships forSeniors in the Middleton-Cross
Plains Area School District whoplan on further studies in the
fields of teaching, education orcounseling.
The primary source of fund-ing for the scholarships is the
golf tournament with a silentauction which is staffed by un-
paid volunteers who canvass thearea for hole prizes and auction
items and also help organize ontournament day.
The “Just Ducky” Founda-tion was established in 2004 to
commemorate Fritz Kaump, a
teacher and counselor in theMadison School District for30+ years. Fritz had begun the
tournament three years earlierto raise funds for people who
needed medical financial aid. If you asked him how he was
doing he invariably would reply“Just Ducky.”
He was also a fan of theWKRP in Cincinnati TV show.
The show’s character of HerbTarlek dressed in elaborate out-
fits that didn’t quite make it inthe minds of the people who
saw them. The entrants of thegolf tournament can participate
in a contest for “best dressed”character.
Organizers would also like toremember Dan Florey, who was
a trustee of the Foundation andwho spent many hours organiz-
ing every aspect of the
fundraiser. Without his dedica-tion there would not be a “Just
Ducky” Foundation or a HerbTarlek Golf Outing.
If you could contribute an
item that we could sell at thesilent auction or give for a hole
prize it would be greatly appre-ciated.
The Just Ducky
fundraiser returnsThis is a 100%
return non-profitorganization.
Tax ID#800111421Trustee is
Rocky Duhr:(608)[email protected]
1812 Park StMiddleton WI 53562
Mother’s Day Brunch
Clocks in Motion, a percus-
sion quartet based in Madison,will perform at the Middleton
Public Library on Wednesday,May 18, at 7 p.m. in the li-
brary’s lower level ArcherRoom.
Founded in 2011, Clocks inMotion’s performances include
new music from living com-
posers, classical repertoire from
the 20th century, and experi-mental sounds with handmade
instruments.Registration for this event is
appreciated, online at midli-brary.org/events, by email at
[email protected], or byphone at 608-827-7403.
Time for ‘Clocks in Motion’ at the library
Photo contributed
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PAGE 6 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Am I
wrong?I had to go to the doctor last week
for a cancer screening. The circum-
stances surrounding the event havingwoven themselves into a baroque tap-estry of anxiety and existential dread, I
took off my clothes and readied for theworst.
The highlight of the afternoon wasprobably when I was given a clean bill
of health.But it’s possible that the real apex of
my day actually came 20 minutes be-fore that, when the woman who was
prepping me for the procedure smiledkindly and said, “I hope this isn’t weird
for you, but I just want to say howmuch I enjoy reading your stories in
the newspaper.”
It was weird. It was also wonderful.In fact, I think it was the nicest thing
anyone has ever said to me while I waswearing only socks and a very large
paper towel.I forgot why I was there for a mo-
ment and basked in the strangeness of my current situation. Scary is bad.
Scary and weird, though? That, to me,is infinitely more bearable.
It was a small moment in her day,I’m sure, but it’s one that will stay with
me for a long time, because she re-framed my experience in a way that
made it more manageable.The universe allowed me to leave
with my health, and she allowed me toleave with a great new story. It was, in
every sense, a good day.That, the ability to tell stories in our
own unique voices, is our species’greatest accomplishment. The power to
make the terrible funny, or the funnytragic, or the mundane magical - all
through a series of grunts, growls andthe occasional adverb. These are the
kinds of powers usually reserved formythological deities.
We tend to call the most powerful of
these narratives “scripture.” Some havepower thought to be so great that the
books themselves are treated as magi-
cal items.The thing about religion – the beauty
of it, I think – is that it is cloaked in
mystery. It can be frustrating, but itsopacity and arcane attributes leave in-
finite room for the narrator. That iswhy, after thousands of years of reli-
gion on Earth, you have so many peo-ple telling so many slightly different
stories about God. (“Theology” liter-ally means, “words about God.”)
Anyone who tells you they, and theyalone, hold the key to these mysteries
is probably trying to sell you some-thing.
Everyone tells, reads or hears thesetales, including Christians, Muslims,
Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists, Atheists
(whose adherents, ironically, are some-times the most preachy), and Agnostics(it may be the most logical position on
the matter, but my goodness it is amissed opportunity to feel passionately
about something).The great thing about scripture, and
the one thing all World Religions havein common in their teachings, is the co-
existence of mutually exclusive ideas.The same book will teach love, toler-
ance, hatred, war, fear, death, immor-tality, vengeance and forgiveness.
The Christian bible, for example,says God doesn’t want you to wear a
poly-cotton blend shirt, and that youwill only further irritate Him if you
plant tomatoes and broccoli in the
same field. The same book goes on tosuggest that both tax collectors and
prostitutes are on their way to heaven.
In the bible, God tortures Job, an inno-cent man of great faith, in whatamounts to a mean-spirited prank. The
same God later suffers and bleeds, bychoice, for the salvation of all of hu-
manity.While God, or the lack thereof, re-
mains a mystery to us, the way thatpeople give and receive their religious
stories can tell us a lot about who theyare. Everyone worships one form of
God or another. It can be Ganesh,Jesus, Free Speech, the Right to Bear
Arms, or the Almighty Dollar.Someone who likes carnage tends to
latch onto those parts of their particularholy book, while those who wish to
live in a world of tenderness can recite
all those verses by heart.And because the idea of God is such
a vast enigma, we all get to do it. Every
single human being on the planet. Eventhose who believe with absolute cer-
tainty that there is no supreme deitycan thank this mystery, because it al-
lows them to feel passionate convictionwithout the need for concrete proof.
God is an idea that is simply too bigfor one religion, one book, or one po-
litical party.It all revolves around faith, however,
and that is the most treasured trait inany audience, regardless of the narra-
tive.I am not foolish enough to take a
stance on the Jesus Lunches at Fire-
man’s Park. I like free speech, I likefreedom of religion, and I like the sep-
aration of church and state. I also like
people, on most days, and I feel a cer-tain empathy when I see a bunch of them yelling at each other on a Tues-
day afternoon.I will say that how people tell a story
matters, and so does how they listen.Being right or wrong is not everything.
Nor is it the only thing. You can be si-multaneously correct and insufferable.
You can even be wrong yet kind.The philosopher Jeffrey Lewbowski
once illustrated as much during aheated exchange with Walter Sobchak:
Sobchak: “Am I wrong?” Lewbowski: “No, you’re not
wrong.”Sobchak: “Am I wrong?”
Lewbowski: “You’re not wrong,
Walter. You’re just an @$$%*!#.”So when you are staking out your
vehement position on God, or politics,
or Jesus Lunches in the City of Middle-
ton, try to be right, of course. But also
know that being right, or being wrong,
aren’t the only things that matter. In the
end, at least when it comes to the big
questions in life, we never really get to
find out who had it right anyway.
But the way you are right or wrong
– and the way you choose to worship
your personal Gods – says a lot about
you. And that remains true regardless
of the altar at which you bow down.
What a nice juicy topic to
sink my teeth into; the so-called“Jesus Lunch.” I’m the tenth of
eleven children; if I didn’t standup for myself I didn’t eat, so I
have a pre-disposition towardsfighting for the underdog and
those oppressed by big businessor the government or the politi-
cally correct who, in Madison, just insist on imposing their will
onto others.Frankly, I come from the
more libertarian side of conser-
vative thought; live and let live.The inverse being - mind yourown business.
There are so many reasonswhy those opposed to the free
lunches should mind their ownbusiness, but of course, the
whole issue has been blow outof proportion, especially by the
misinformation disseminated bythe Wisconsin State Journal,
which omitted many factsthereby misleading the reader.
Here are the facts. Thelunches are being held in a pub-
lic park, open to the public andanyone who wants to hold a
barbecue or picnic anytime they
wish. That’s why they call it a public park. Americans have aconstitutional right to practice
their religious beliefs in public.The constitution says “freedomof religion”, not freedom from
religion, (sorry, Annie Gaylor).
You could go into the statecapitol building and hold a
prayer session if you wanted.There’s no law against it. What
the constitution does protectagainst is the governmentcreat-ing a government sponsored oroperated religion, just as Henry
the 8th, the king of England, didwhen he broke away from the
Catholic Church and started hisown state sponsored religion,
the Anglican Church. At thetime, the king was both head of
his new church and head of thegovernment. He then went on
to oppress other religions andthat is why, starting in the
1600’s the God loving people of England chose to risk their lives
to cross an unknown ocean, set-tle in a wild land, and leave all
behind, so that they could prac-tice their religion without the
state crushing their practices.There’s a big difference be-
tween a private party practicingtheir religion in public and the
government imposing its reli-
gious beliefs and practices on us
along with prohibiting us frompracticing our own religion.
The former is protected fromthe government by the constitu-
tion and the latter is effectivelyprohibited by the constitution,
i.e. it is illegal for a local gov-ernment or school district to
prevent students from practic-ing their religious beliefs.
Now for the local facts. (Un-like some media outlets, I actu-
ally looked up the facts.)The school district leased
Fireman’s Park in the year 2000(the lease was signed by Mayor
Dan Ramsey) (Exhibit A wasmissing from my copy) and in
paragraph #1 it says the schooldistrict “shall not have exclu-
sive use of the Leased Prem-ises,” which means that the
district cannot stop a family orgroup from enjoying the park.
In fact, right after that the leasesays that the school district un-
derstands that the park shall besubject to “contemporaneous
use by the Lessor (the city) andmembers of the general public”
clearly stating that the schooldistrict cannot stop others from
using the park.In paragraph #3, the lease
says that the district has the
right to enforce rules - the dis-
trict’s rules (only) - against its
own students, employees, and administrators . The districtdoes not have the right to en-
force its own rules against thegeneral public. The lunches are
not organized by the students,they’re organized by others -
parents/the public who are notsubject to school rules. So the
statement by the district in lastweek’s Middleton Times that
the district has the right to en-force its rules on others is not
true. In fact, the opposite is trueas you will read next. Likewise,
the district’s claim that it canprevent parents from organizing
events on “school grounds” isalso not true, because the park
is not school grounds. The dis-trict claims that the park is
school grounds, but in fact, thelease makes it clear that the dis-
trict cannot stop the public fromusing the park.
Interestingly, in paragraph #2the lease says that the lease is
one year in length and its auto-matic renewal is subject to the
school district “observ(ing) allof the terms, covenants and con-
ditions required to be performedor observed by the Lessee (the
school district) hereunder the
lease”, in which case the lease
will then renew for consecutiveone year terms. That means that
if the district attempts to denythe public access to the park, the
city would not only have theright, but the obligation to give
notice of default and then termi-nate renewal. The district’s at-
tempts to deny public access tothe park will be the cause of the
demise of the lease!The lease also grants the dis-
trict the right to enforce its ownrules against its students on the
leased premises (the park),which is interesting since the
district, in my opinion, is tryingto pawn this whole matter off
on the city as if it’s the city’sproblem. It seems if the district
doesn’t want the students to at-tend the once a week lunches,
the district can close campusand prevent students from leav-
ing the building during lunch.What the district cannot do is
say to students, “you can leaveto eat at Subway or at home, but
you can’t leave to eat in the parkat the Jesus Lunch.”
Paragraph #4 also requiresthe payment of $1.00 in rent per
year to the city. If I was an at-torney for the parents, I would
verify if the school district
made such payments after the
first year (2000), because if thedistrict has not, the lease would
be in default.Other facts include that the
Jesus Lunches have been goingon (I am told by a person in au-
thority) inside the cafeteria of the school building since some
time in 2014, until they weremoved outside and then to the
park. Apparently the districthad no problem with a small
group of students and parentsholding a lunch group inside the
building, but now that they arebeing pressured by a small
group of naysayers, the districtfeels compelled to appear to act,
but they don’t really know whatto do (by my observation).
I feel for the administrators;they are caught between a rock
and a hard place; in a no-winsituation, but that is of their own
making. The district shouldclearly state the rights of every
citizen to practice their religionwithout interference from the
government or harassment fromothers. This is a teachable mo-
ment - clearly state the rights of religious people under the con-
stitution and inform those stu-
by Matt Geiger
GEIGERCounter
by TERRENCE WALL
Up Against the Wall
Wall: Jesus Lunch is an important exercise in religious freedom
See WALL, page 7
Letter to the Editor,
I was just reminded of thedifference between being an ob-
server and that of a participant,particularly as it relates to my
own local government. As anobserver, I subscribe to +my-
Connections, a service the Cityof Middleton
provides by way of email. Apassive way of staying abreast
of everything from new devel-opments, TIF applications,
awards, accolades, missed op-portunities, Pleasant View Golf
Course, public works, transit,sustainability, the
library, recycling, public hear-ings and so much more.
This tool, found onCity of Middleton’s homepage
is the conduit for as much real-time information as you choose
to garner.More than ever, I now realize
how important my actual activeparticipation is required. My
chance as a third generationMiddleton resident to have my
voice heard about my hopes forMiddleton’s growth and future
instead of Bruce Weisman, aresident of McFarland, who, at
the April 19, 2016 CommonCouncil meeting spoke in sup-
port of the proposed downtownparking plan.
He stated he believes that thenew design addresses extra
parking and greenspace forresidents of Middleton.
Really? Mr. Weisman fromMcFarland? Really?
Lightbulb moment. Whywas some guy from McFarland
the only voice heard regardingthis subject. A guy from Mc-
Farland influencing elected of-ficials in my
community? About develop-ment in my neighborhood?
Here is a call to arms for allof the good neighbor’s residing
in the City of Middleton. Takethe time to learn about what’s
going on in your own commu-nity, in your own
backyard, make a choice to par-ticipate in it’s outcome before
some guy from McFarland orsome developer with deep
pockets manipulates to his lik-ing, the landscapes of every par-
cel money can buyincluding our already congested
downtown.
Amy BlaschkeMiddleton
Take the time to learn about what’s happening in your own backyard
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dents protesting the peaceful
enjoyment of the park to ceaseand desist their actions. If they
want to hold their own Atheistlunches in the park, feel free,
but they don’t have any legalright to molest or disturb those
participating in the Jesus Lunch.And the protestors’ twisted
idea that the lunches are a “di-visive force” is hogwash. The protestors are the divisive force.
The lunches are a quiet, peace-ful event. If I were the admin-istration, I’d focus my time and
energy on the drugs, gangs,crime, bullying and other nega-
tive influences on the students.Frankly, the school district has
enough to deal with without thisissue.
Another fact: The park has adeed restriction (I am told) that
requires that it be open to thepublic, which means that if the
city or the school district try toshut down the lunches, they’ll
be in violation of the restrictionand the ownership of the land
would revert to the ancestors of
the original owners. Surprise!
I was also at the councilmeeting (just before leaving) in
which eight, that’s right, onlyeight people showed up to op-
pose the Jesus Lunches. Wouldsomeone please explain to me
what right eight people have tostop over 400 people from the
quiet enjoyment of a publicpark? The protestors in Madi-
son never cease to amaze me
how they think they have theright to impose their beliefs oneveryone else. The student pro-
testors fein a burden on them,but let’s not be fooled; they had
to make some effort to leave thebuilding, walk across the park,
and engage those at the lunch!The protestors had to go out of
their way!Now let’s get to my opinion.
I believe in live and let live. If Christians or any other religious
group wants to enjoy the park,feel free. While you cannot ha-
rass or molest or disturb thepeace (that’s a crime) of anyone
else in the park, you can host
your own lunch.
And where does it stop?Think about it; if you used the
protestors’ own arguments, theywould stop students from even
saying a prayer before they eattheir lunch inside the school
building.The school district, obviously
embarrassed by the 400 stu-dents attending the lunches
(once a week) and pressured by
a few “offended students,”wants this all to go away, but atsome point people in govern-
ment have to not only stand upfor what’s right, but enforce the
constitution and the local lawsthat allow all citizens the right
to use the park and practice theirreligion. They don’t have to en-
dorse their religion, but they arelegally bound to defend our
rights.Besides, whatever happened
to these protestors supporting
handouts for everyone under the
sun?! They’re the same peoplethat are all for the government
handing out free food andmoney to everyone, but they
ironically oppose the privatesector giving away free healthy
lunches to students. For manyChristian and non-Christian stu-
dents, it’s an opportunity tostretch their limited lunch
budget, and it’s also good food!
(Apparently it’s better than theschool’s offering since the stu-dents have voted with their
feet.)Count me in for standing up
for the rights of citizens to prac-tice their religious beliefs.
Count me in for the underdog.
Count me in for supporting re-
ligious peoples everywhere.This nation was founded on
Judeo Christian values, and ourfounding fathers stated the ob-
vious, that our rights are de-scended from God. The
alternative is to believe that ourrights are descended from the
government, and if that is true,then the government can take
away our rights anytime it
wants.As compared to the socialist
and environmental-worshipping
agenda being taught in theclassrooms and universities
around the country, theselunches are a quiet lesson in re-
ligious tolerance and a positive
impact on students who are
being lured by drugs, alcohol,and gang activity. Isn’t it time
for Christians (and all religiouspeople) everywhere to stand up
and be heard?And remember, the school
district works for us; not theother way around.
Up Against the Wall is a
monthly column written by Ter-rence Wall and does not reflect
the views and opinions of the Middleton Times-Tribune or its
editorial staff. Responses and rebuttals are welcome and can
be sent to [email protected].
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 7
WALL continued from page 6
Corrigan wins second term as county board chairDane County Board supervi-
sor Sharon Corrigan, of Middle-
ton, was elected to a second
term as Chair of the Dane
County Board of Supervisors at
the board’s biennial organiza-
tional meeting last week.
Judge Juan Colas adminis-tered the oath of office to all Su-
pervisors, including newcomers
Haley Young, representing the
UW campus area; Richard
Kilmer, representing Madison’s
near west and near south sides;
and Danielle Williams, repre-
senting the Cottage Grove area.
“Decisions we make really
have impact on the lives of peo-
ple in the county,” Corrigan said
in accepting the second term.
“I’m proud to serve with all of you. We have a hallmark of
what we do, doing things inno-
vatively and achieving good
government. We don’t always
agree. We don’t all vote the
same way. But we’ve each felt
that we were working toward
the common good and trying to
improve the quality of life for
people in Dane County.”
Supervisor Jeff Pertl was
elected First Vice Chair. “He’s
so eloquent,” said former FirstVice Chair Carousel Bayrd in
nominating Pertl. “He’s suc-
cinct, he’s professional, he’s
thoughtful. I think we will be
wonderfully served with him as
our First Vice Chair.”
Supervisor Shelia Stubbs was
elected Second Vice Chair. Su-
pervisor Mary Kolar, in nomi-
nating Stubbs, called her “a
leader who leads from the
heart.”
Supervisors Nick Zweifeland Maureen McCarville were
re-elected as Sergeants at
Arms.
Corrigan will announce com-
mittee appointments later this
week.
The 37-member, nonpartisan
Dane County Board of Supervi-
sors represents the needs and
welfare of all citizens of Dane
County, Wisconsin, and sets
policy for County operations in
the areas of health, humanneeds, infrastructure, criminal
justice, the environment and
County finance.
The Board meets twice
monthly.
In the past six months Green-way Station celebrated five
grand openings including themost recent opening of Fuji
Sushi & Hibachi.Fuji’s opening marks the start
of a series of developments atGreenway Station which will
include the launch of new social
media platforms, hefty prizegiveaways, a robust spring pro-
gramming calendar, and thegrand opening of Biaggi’s Ris-
torante Italiano.Fuji Sushi & Hibachi is now
open in the 5,692 square footspace at 1610 Deming Way.
Local owner and restauran-
teur, Jimmy Lin, says he is ex-cited about his business after a
successful soft opening onMarch 20. Fuji Sushi & Hi-
bachi offers “a distinctive, high-energy and entertaining dining
experience with unmatchedseafood, steak, and other Japan-
ese cuisine options.”
Fuji opens at GreenwayRobertson Plastic Surgery and Robertson
Skin and Laser Center has announced the relo-cation and expansion of the Middleton clinic,
currently located at 3205 Glacier Ridge Rd.Construction is slated to begin this month at the
corner of Greenway Blvd. and Deming Wayand the relocation is slated for winter, 2016.
“We are very excited to expand operationsand relocate to a larger facility in a more con-
venient location,” said Dr. Kevin Robertson.
“The move has been inevitable for a while. Wehave simply outgrown our space in Middleton,
even with a second location in Sun Prairie. Thenew clinic will allow for more treatment rooms,
expanded staff, and most importantly, willallow us to better accommodate our growing
client base more effectively andefficiently.”
Plastic surgery center to relocate
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More than 30 businesses and
250 students participated in theinaugural MHS Job Fair on
Thursday, April 21.The Job Fair was a joint ef-
fort between the high schooland the Middleton Chamber of
Commers. MHS business in-
stuctional leader Cherie Hellen-brand and Terry Healy-Lemke,a chamber member and branch
manager at Celerity StaffingSolutions, worked together on
the event.Check out this 90-second
video to learn more about theJob Fair.
Hellenbrand originally wasplanning on developing a Ca-
reer Fair but decided to go witha Job Fair after talking with Su-
perintendent Don Johnson."I believe the students en-
joyed the fun give-aways at thebooths and the opportunity to
see the different job available to
them,'' said Hellenbrand, whoadded she has heard from a
number of businesses who wereimpressed with the turnout.
Johnson raved about the JobFair during his superintendent's
report at the Board of Education
meeting on April 25."It was a great opportunity
for students to learn types of
jobs exist in the area,'' he said."We think this can grow. The
chamber is really excited aboutthis as well.''
Hellenbrand hopes demandresults in more businesses and
students attending in Year 2.“It was great working with
the Chamber and especiallyTerry,” she said. “I want to build
on this. We are fortunate to livewhere we do and have the sup-
port of the chamber and sur-rounding businesses.”
PAGE 8 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Photo contributed
Back row (L-R): Sam Jaeger, percussion (Orchestra), Kian Djamali, trumpet (Band), Titus Smith, trombone (Orches-tra) Henry Cryns, clarinet (Orchestra) Meghna Datta, violin (Orchestra); Middle Row (L-R): Nitin Somasundaram, viola (Alternate – Orchestra), Calvin Guse, viola (Orchestra), Maureen Sheehan, viola (Orchestra), Leta Landucci, violin(Orchestra), Rachael Lee, violin (Orchestra), Katie Stigler, flute (Band), Kylie Peters, soprano, (Treble Choir); FrontRow (L-R): Balaji Veeramani, violin (Orchestra), Michael Xie, viola (Orchestra), Jahnavi Gali, viola (Orchestra), AnnaNordhaus, flute (Band), Kei Kohmoto, trumpet (Orchestra).
Not pictured: Haiwen Dai, percussion, (Orchestra), Tim Dusek, trombone (Band), Adam Goren, percussion, (Orches-tra), Kirby Heck, trombone (Band), Hanna Noughani, oboe (Orchestra), Alex Warholic, percussion (Orchestra). Photocontributed.
Middleton High School, the Wiscon-sin School Music Association, and the
High School State Honors Staff would
like to congratulate the MHS music stu-dents who have been invited to be amember of the 2016 High School State
Honors Project.Each of these students auditioned for
an ensemble in the WSMA State HonorsMusic Project in February. Twenty-two
MHS students were selected for one of
the honors ensembles and one other waschosen as an alternate.
Students selected for the WSMA State
Honors Music Project participate in athree-and-a-half day summer camp in
June and perform in Madison during lateOctober as part of the Wisconsin State
Music Conference.
The WSMA State Honors Music Proj-ect is nationally recognized as one of thefinest musical opportunities for young
people.
MHS students invited to WSMAState Honors Music Project
First MHS
Job Fair
draws ravereviews
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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 9
Celebrating fine arts at Middleton High School
Photos contributed
MHS held its annual Fine Arts Week April 11-15 in the Per-forming Arts Center with more than 100 students performingover the four days. Classical music, rock bands, acoustic guitar, folk music, comedy and drama, dance and movement arts, jazz, other musical styles and spoken word were all among the stylesdisplayed on the stage.
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PAGE 10 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Sikh community celebratesLocal Sikhs celebrated the festival of Vaisakhi April 15, 16 and 17, listening to readings sung
from the Guru Granth Sahib, enjoying communal meals, and ceremonially washing and raisingthe local Gurudwara’s flags.
Vaisakhi is one of the three festivals chosen by Guru Amar Das to be celebrated by Sikhs, theothers being Maghi and Diwali. The festival bears significance for Sikhs because on the Vaisakhiday in the year 1699, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, laid down the foundationof the Panth Khalsa. It is also observed as a celebration for those accepting the five articles of faith - Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachera and Kirpan - worn by Sikhs.
Times-Tribune photos by Matt Geiger
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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 11
Photo contributed
Oratorical Contest winners announced Friedle, Meyer win contest
The winners of the 2016 Middleton Optimist Club Oratorical Contest were honored last week at SOFRA Bistro. Sydney Friedleis sophomore at Middleton High School and is very active with the dance team. JJ Meyer will graduate from MHS this spring
and attend the University of Iowa to study Chemistry and Creative Writing. They were judged first and second, respectively, forthe 2016 contest. Joining Sydney and JJ in the photo are Curt Fuszard (left), Club President, and Attorney Eric Baker, head of the Club's Oratorical Committee.
seriousness of this incident, the
investigation of the event wasled by a County Wide Investiga-
tion Team. The County WideInvestigation Team, which is
comprised of investigators fromlaw enforcement agencies not
involved in the initial incident,will manage, lead and conduct
a thorough investigation intothis incident, authorities said.
Cotter-Brown was expectedto face felony charges related to
hit and run and reckless endan-germent.
Both of the victims who werestruck - a 12-year-old female
from Middleton and a 13-year-old female from Middleton -
were reported to be in stablecondition with non-life threat-
ening but significant injuriesafter the incident, according to
police.A second serious crash oc-
curred several blocks west of the pedestrian crash on Century
Avenue at Northbrook Drive,which disabled the suspect’s ve-
hicle. It was a head-oncrash. The driver of that vehicle
was also transported to the hos-pital with non-life threatening
injuries.Funds have been established
to help both of the children al-legedly injured by Cotter-
Brown.One, established by Middle-
ton Fire Chief Aaron Harris, de-tails the heartache caused by the
events that unfolded last week.“On Thursday, April 21, Hay-
ley Krause and another younglady (Ari) were crossing the
street near their school whenthey were struck by a reckless
driver who was eluding law en-
forcement,” Harris wrote. “Hestruck the girls without stop-
ping, speeding away and caus-ing another accident and injury
less than a half mile away. Bothgirls were seriously injured in
this tragic hit-and-run incidentand were emergently trans-
ported to the hospital. ““The individual who hit these
girls has no license and carriesno insurance,” Harris contin-
ued.Hayley’s father is Lieutenant
Tim Krause of the MiddletonFire District, according to Har-
ris. Members of his fire depart-ment family responded to the
scene, treating and transportinghis daughter to the hospital.
“As his extended family, themembers of Middleton Fire
Company No. 1 are standingstrong for both Hayley and Ari
as they recover,” Harris contin-ued. “While we are enraged at
this reckless incident, we aresteady and committed to sup-
porting Hayley, the Krause fam-ily, Ari and our community.”
“In addition to other ongoingefforts by our fire family, we are
seeking to help the Krause fam-ily with the mounting expenses
involved in recovering from thisawful situation. We ask that you
contribute whatever you can, assoon as you can, to help the
family devote their time and at-tention to Hayley’s recovery
and well-being,” Harris added.“A separate GoFundMe account
has been established for Ari byher friends and family and we
encourage you to support herthrough ‘Ari’s Medical Fund.’”
HIT continued from page 1
Donations for the childrenstruck can be made at: gofundme.com/29khp6hv
and/or
gofundme.com/strongforhayley
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Twelve months ago, aneffort like this would have
never been good enough.But this isn’t your 2015
Middleton baseball team.Not even close.
The Cardinals toppledMadison West, 5-3, last
Thursday in an effort they allagreed was far from their best.
But that’s the differencebetween Middleton today and
last spring.A year ago, the young and
inexperienced Cardinals had tobe at their best each time out.
That didn’t happen enough asMiddleton went 10-16 overall.
Today, Middleton has beensharp almost every time out, as
its 8-1 record will attest. Buteven on a day like last
Thursday, when the Cardinalswere just mediocre, they still
knocked off the Regents.
“Last year we would havegotten creamed in a game likethis,” said Middleton ace Alec
Morrison. “Now, we’re pullingoff wins.”
They sure are.The Cardinals won four
games last week, routing BigEight Conference rival
Madison Memorial, 14-1, lastWednesday before dumping the
Regents one day later. Then onSaturday, Middleton swept a
doubleheader from Marshfield,4-2 and 8-7.
The Cardinals are 6-1 in theBig Eight, good for second
place, one game behinddefending state champion
Janesville Craig (9-0, 7-0).Middleton was also ranked
10th in the first WisconsinBaseball Coaches Association
poll of 2016.“We’re another year bigger,
another year stronger,” saidsenior third baseman Brennan
Schmitt. “That definitely helps.“We were a really young
team last year and we had areally good offseason in the
weight room. You can see thedifference.”
You most certainly can.In the Cardinals’ win over
West, Morrison didn’t allow ahit until the fourth inning.
Morrison also had a three-rundouble during a four run third
inning as Middleton raced to a5-0 lead.
The Cardinals didn't have ahit over their final three at bats.
And Morrison began strugglingwith his control and allowed
West (3-3, 7-3) to score twicein the sixth to close within 5-3.
But even with Middletonstruggling a bit, it had enough
talent and moxie to prevail.“You can’t be razor sharp
every day,” Middleton managerTom Schmitt said. “But we
were good enough to win andthat’s the big thing.”
Indeed.Middleton took a 1-0 lead in
Conference championshipscan’t be won in the first half of
a season.
They can be lost, though,
and Middleton’s girls softball
team was in danger of experi-
encing that fate last Saturday.
The Cardinals traveled to
Big Eight Conference leading
Janesville Craig and dropped
the first game of a double-
header, 7-3. But Middleton
responded with an impressive
9-8 win in the nightcap and
stayed within striking distance
of the conference-leading
Cougars.
Craig is 9-1 in the league,
while Middleton sits in second
place at 7-2. The Cardinals,
who are also 7-3 overall, trav-
el to third-place Verona (6-2,
8-2) Thursday at 5 p.m. in acritical conference game.
“We wanted to win both
games, but we needed to win
at least one,” Middleton coach
Perry Hibner said. “We didn’t
play our best and I’m sure
Janesville Craig had some-
thing to do with that. But I was
happy with how we battled,
overcame some adversity and
found a way to win the second
game.”
Janesville Craig built a 5-1
lead in the second game and
appeared on the brink of
PAGE 12 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Follow RobReischel onTwitter at@robreischel
What a difference a year makes
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Drew Finley Haag and Middleton’s baseball team won all four of its games last week.
Title dreamsstill in place
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Rachel Everson and Middleton’s girls softball team is in second place in the Big Eight Conference.
Girls softball team earns
huge split at Janesville Craig
by ROB REISCHEL
Times-Tribune
See BASEBALL, page 20
Baseball Cardinals rolling
after a rough 2015 campaignby ROB REISCHEL
Times-Tribune
See SOFTBALL, page 17
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pletely up to each one of them.
The guys were very pleasedthough that they were the only
team to have four scores in the
70’s.”
Indeed.
Middleton senior Emmet
Herb led the way with an even-
par, 72. Herb tied for third
place, just one shot behind co-
medalists Brock Hlinak of
Kaukauna and Matt Bachman
of Pulaski.
Herb began his round with
two bogeys, but he quickly
found his game. Herb’s round
included an eagle, two birdies
and 11 pars, and he played the
four par-5s at 4-under-par.
“Emmet was steady all dayafter a bogey-bogey start,”
Cabalka said. “He made good
decisions as to when to be
aggressive and when to lay up
on the par-5s.” Middleton seniors Joey
Levin and Nils Arneson both
tied for 10th individually with
77s.
Levin struggled with his
putter and didn’t notch a birdie.
But he was remarkably steady
in the other areas and carded 13
pars and five bogeys.
“Joey couldn’t get many
putts to fall today, but had a
solid round of 77,” Cabalka
said of Levin. “I sure like to see
no doubles from Emmet and
Joey.”
Arneson had one of his bet-
ter rounds of the year, a per-
formance Cabalka had been
waiting for.
“It was great to see Nils
shoot a 77,” Cabalka said.
“Nils had no doubles today as
well.”
Middleton also counted a 79
from senior Brady Thomas.
“Our 305 was a very nice
showing,” Cabalka said.
The Cardinals also rolled to
an easy win at the Janesville
Parker Triangular last
Thursday. Middleton finished
with a 305 team score, fol-
lowed by Beloit Memorial
(331) and Janesville Parker
(332).
Herb and Levin led the
Cardinals with 75s. Sophomore
Andy Zucker carded a 76 and
Thomas shot a 79.
• On deck: Middleton wasat the Lake Wisconsin
Invitational Monday, then is at
the Onalaska Invite Friday
beginning at 8:30 a.m. The
Cardinals then play at the
Sparta Invite Saturday starting
at 9 a.m.
The course was sublime.
The golf was even better.
Middleton’s boys golf team
went to the Sheboygan North
Invite held at the Irish Course
at Whistling Straits in Kohler
last Wednesday. The Cardinals
then proceeded to put on a
show.
Middleton shot a scintillat-
ing 305 and cruised to the title
at the 24-team tournament.
Kaukauna (314), Notre
Dame (316), Cedarburg (317)and Lake Geneva Badger (320)
rounded out the top five.
“I think that our good play
and winning on a good golf
course against some top com-
petition means that on a good
day, we can be one of the better
teams in the state,” Middleton
coach Tom Cabalka
said. “There are many tourna-
ments left to prove or disprove
that.
“The guys know that they
need to keep improving, and
what they do about that is com-
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 13
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Middleton senior Emmet Herb shot an even-par 72 and tied for third place at the Sheboygan North Invite.
Golfers keeprolling along
Middleton wins star-studded
Sheboygan North Inviteby ROB REISCHEL
Times-TribuneGolf CoachesAssociation of Wisconsin Poll
1. Marquette2. Middleton3. Notre Dame4. Cedarburg
5. Arrowhead6. Whitefish Bay
7. Madison Edgewood8. Catholic Memorial
9. Eau Claire North10. Waunakee
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PAGE 14 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Soccer Cards make big gains
Times-Tribunephoto by Mary
Langenfeld
L a u r e nGriffin andMiddleton’sgirls soccer
team are on at h r e e - g a m ew i n n i n gstreak.
Middleton wins
three of four by ROB REISCHEL
Times-Tribune
Mary Duffy knew thiswould be a work in progress.
That the finished product
would look far better than theinitial sketch.
And that’s exactly the direc-tion things are heading for
Middleton’s girls soccer team.The Cardinals dropped a 3-2
decision to Verona lastTuesday, pushing their losing
streak to two games. ButMiddleton rebounded with
three straight wins to close outthe week.
First, the Cardinals defeatedMadison East, 10-0, last
Thursday. Middleton then best-ed DePere, 3-0, last Friday and
rolled past Oshkosh West, 5-3,last Saturday.
The Cardinals, who sufferedseveral graduation losses from
a year ago, improved to 4-2-1on the young season.
“It was encouraging to seeour fairly new to varsity squad
stepping up at whatever posi-tions we assigned and be suc-
cessful,” Duffy said.The Cardinals didn’t have
the type of success they wantedagainst Verona.
Freshman Charlotte Dunnstruck first for Middleton on an
assist by senior KatyaBoehnen.
Verona responded with twogoals before halftime, then the
Wildcats scored in the 64thminute and took a 3-1 lead.
Middleton got a late goalfrom Kristin Reikersdorfer, but
it was too little, too late.“The upside was that we
switched our formationhalfway through the second
half and we were dangerous —very dangerous,” Duffy
said. “Verona barely touchedtheir offensive half and we had
numerous shots that Verona’skeeper needed to make daring
saves for.”Middleton followed that
with an impressive win overMadison East.
The Cardinals got two goalsapiece from Reikersdorfer,
Dunn, junior forward MayaShea and junior forward Tessa
Grywalsky. Senior midfielderEmma Geppert and junior mid-
fielder Payton Houden both
added goals, as well.
“It was nice to see the girlsplay well and move the ball,”
Duffy said. “We found switch-es and scored off of corners and
crosses. However, we chal-lenged the girls to try to score
quality goals.“Some of that happened in
the second half, but what Iliked was seeing the players
that are new to the squad stepup into spots that they might
not have thought they would
play, but also start to play withcomfort on a high-demandingteam.”
Middleton followed thatwith an impressive win over
DePere.Shea had a pair of first half
goals and Dunn added a goal in
the second half.
“DePere had a solid centermidfielder and some fast for-
wards,” Duffy said. “But theirdefense, which had some very
talented outside backs, was nomatch for our offense.”
Sophomore keeper CarolinePowers had a sensational game
and was voted the player of thematch by Middleton’s captains.
“Caroline Powers’ tenaciousthree or four rapid fire stops on
a for-sure goal breakaway situ-
ation boosted our confidenceand boosted our efforts to keepthe shutout,” Duffy said.
“That’s something we had beenlacking versus quality oppo-
nents.”The Cardinals followed that
with a win over Oshkosh West
on Saturday.
West actually struck just 28seconds into the game, stun-
ning the Cardinals for amoment. But Middleton quick-
ly recovered and took the gameover.
Just one minute later, Sheascored on an assist by
Reikersdorfer. ThenReikersdorfer gave the
Cardinals a 2-1 lead with a goalsix minutes later.
Midway through the first
half, sophomore Claire Staplesscored off a cross from sopho-more Emily Duecker, who was
playing right back.Dunn added a goal three
minutes later to give Middletona 4-1 edge.
West scored a pair of second
half goals to keep things inter-
esting. But senior defenderGrace Douglas added a goal for
Middleton to put things out of reach.
“For both (weekend) games,we were able to play all players
and continued our ability tomove the ball,” Duffy said.
• On deck: Middleton is atMadison La Follette Thursday
at 7 p.m., then heads to theTournament of Champions in
Burlington, Iowa, on Friday
and Saturday.
April 19Verona 3, Middleton 2Verona ………...........………. 2 1 — 3Middleton …………..........…. 1 1 — 2
First half: M - Dunn (Boehnen),16:35; VER - Bainbridge, 23:22;
Krogman, 44:10.
Second half : VER - Bainbridge pk,
63:43; M - Reikersdorfer, 86:25. Saves:VER (Dalma) 10; M (Gallegos 4,
Towers 2) 6.
April 21Middleton 10, Madison East 0Middleton ……...........…….. 4 6 — 10Madison East ...........…...…. 0 0 — 0
First half: M - Geppert(Reikersdorfer), 3:23; Reikersdorfer
(Houden), 19:05; Grywalsky (Shea),
19:56; Shea (Houden), 34:50.
Second half: M - Reikersdorfer,47:20; Dunn (Boehnen, Shea), 54:30;
Houden (Douglas), 63:30; Dunn(Douglas), 78:25; Grywalsky, 78:45;
Shea, 89:00. Saves: M (Towers) 1; MEa
(Richter) 17.
April 22Middleton 3, DePere 0De Pere ................................... 0 0 — 0Middleton ............................... 2 1 — 3
First half: M - Shea, 1:24; Shea(Staples), 19:54.
Second half: M - Dunn, 49:54.Saves: DP (Cerrato) 8; M (Towers) 5.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 15
The Watertown Invite has
always been a special place
for Middleton’s boys track
and field team.
And this year was no dif-
ferent.
For the fifth consecutive
year, the Cardinals won the
highly-competitive, nine-team
invite. Middleton finished
with 142 points to easily out-
distance runner-up Baraboo
(120) and the other seven
teams.“Watertown was a great
night because of the competi-
tion and the way our guys per-
formed,” Middleton coach Joe
Line said.
Middleton’s girls finished
in second place among 10
teams. Lakeside Lutheran
won the girls’ meet with 119
points, while the Cardinals
(103.5) and Hartford (97.5)
rounded out the top three.
On the boys’ side,
Middleton junior Gus
Newcomb won the 1,600-
meter run in 4:21.39 seconds
and the 3,200 (9:45.81).Senior Jack Jesse also won the
long jump with a mark of 20
feet, 10 inches.
“Gus Newcomb set a meet
record which was fun to
watch,” Line said. “Jack Jesse
won the long jump after not
jumping for over a month.”
The Cardinals had several
other stellar performances, as
well.
Griffin Gussel won the 400
(51.68) and Perrin Hagge cap-
tured the 800 (1:54.87).
Middleton’s 1,600-meter relay
team of Hagge, Noah
Roberson, Gussel and Randy
Hernandez was first (3:31.68).
Matthew Leiferman was
second in the pole vault (11-6)
and Pace Balster was second
in the triple jump (39-9 ½).Trevaun Turner was third in
the 100-meter dash (11.33)
and Max Elliot was third in
the shot put (46-2 ½).
“We scored in most of the
events and it came down to
the last two events against
Baraboo,” Line said. “The
guys wanted this one and they
looked ready when they got
on the bus.”
On the girls’ side, Sam
Valentine won the 3,200
(10:59.08), while Charlotte
Sue was third in the same
event (11:59.03).
Betsy Hathaway was sec-ond in the 100 (12.89) and
Erika Rader was second in the
1,600 (5:33.03).
Middleton’s 800-meter
relay team and its 1,600-meter
relay team were both second.
Hathaway was also third in
the pole vault (9-6).
Middleton first-year coach
Cory Christnovich was
thrilled with all of those per-
formances. He also wanted to
highlight the efforts of Sara
Gaab, Hailee Milton and
Autumn Grim.
Gaab had a bad fall while
hurdling at practice last
Thursday. But Gaab came
back to finish fifth in the 100-
meter hurdles (17.55) and
sixth in the 300-meter hurdles
(52.61).“Not too many teenagers
would have the courage and
guts to come back the next
day and be willing to run full
speed at a hurdle after the
kind of fall that she had,”
Christnovich said. “It was
impressive to watch.”
Milton keyed Middleton’s
800- and 1,600-meter relay
teams that both finished sec-
ond. Milton also finished sixth
in the 200-meter dash (27.42)
“Hailee Milton is doing
everything that is asked of her
this season,” Christnovich
said. “She is busting her buttin practice and her times are
showing it. Hailee has big
things in store for her this sea-
son.”
Grim finished fourth in the
800 (2:29.18) and continues to
lead Middleton’s distance
squad.
“Autumn Grim has
renewed energy in track this
year,” Christnovich said. “She
worked her tail off over the
winter with the distance girls
and is poised to set new PR’s
in every distance event this
year.
“She has a determinationon her face that is awesome to
see. Autumn is a sweet, caring
young lady, but when she
steps to the start line, that face
goes away and it is set to
achieve her goals.”
Track teams shineat Watertown Invite Boys finish first, girls place second
by ROB REISCHEL
Times-Tribune
Photos courtesy ofChristopher Hujanen
Kiara Cruz (top)and Jack Jesse(left) had big per-formances at theW a t e r t o w nInvite lastFriday.
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lead to 13-1 through three
periods and cruised home.Gunnar Kunsch, Mitch
Bacon, Lane Wahlgren, JakeHoskins, Raffel, Jack Stormer
and Danny Johnson Schunkall had goals for Middleton.
“Overall we played prettywell,” Middleton junior goal-
tender Tyler Dohmeier said.
“Any time you can get 16goals and only give up one
speaks to a total team effort.We certainly have areas we
need to continue to work on.”• On deck: Middleton was
at top-ranked Verona Monday,then travels to Janesville
Craig Thursday. The
Cardinals are then at MadisonEast May 2.
Middleton boys lacrosseteam exploded for eight goals
in the second period last
Thursday night and went on todrub Sun Prairie, 16-1, for itsthird consecutive win.
The Cardinals, ranked 10thin the latest LAXPOWER rat-
ings, improved to 3-0 in con-ference and 3-1 overall.
Middleton set the tone mid-way through the first period,
scoring three goals to grab a3-0 lead heading to the second
period.Senior Travis Raffel and
freshman Nate Kapp contin-ued their dominance of win-
ning faceoffs, helpingMiddleton explode for eight
goals in the second period.The defense of Justin
Sarbacker, William Braxton,T.J. Jenkins, Gray Woodward,
Erik Slater and goaltenderTyler Dohmeier was also ter-
rific as Middleton grabbed an11-0 halftime lead.
Middleton extended its
PAGE 16 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
Boys lacrosse team rolls MHS hammers
Sun Prairie
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sweeping the Cardinals.
But Middleton erupted for six
runs in the bottom of the fifth
inning against reliever Kaity
Peloquin.
Rachel Everson doubled
and with one out, then Shelby
Ballweg homered to trim
Craig’s lead to 5-3. With two
outs and runners on first andthird, Makenzie Kopp’s
grounder was booted by sec-
ond baseman Maddie Spry,
allowing Lauren Banke to
score.
Freshman Ashley Bindl fol-
lowed with a double to left
center to drive in two runs.
Bindl advanced to third when
the relay throw went to home,
and scored when another
throw got past the third base-
man.
“That was a huge hit by
Ashley,” Hibner said. “She
sure didn’t look or play like a
freshman on Saturday.”
Craig scored once in the topof the sixth and pulled within
7-6. But Middleton added two
runs in the bottom of the
inning on Banke’s two-out
double to left center that drove
in Ballweg and Hanna Fisher.
The insurance runs proved
extremely valuable after the
Cougars scored two runs in the
seventh. But Middleton pitch-
er Kopp got Julia Humphrey
to strike out to end the game.
In the first game,
Middleton overcame a 3-0
deficit with a three-run fourth
inning. Banke had a two-run,
two-out single and Bailey
Kalscheur followed with atriple to right to score Banke.
Craig answered with a run
in the bottom of the fourth,
though. Then the Cougars
roughed up Middleton starter
and eventual loser Banke for
three more runs in the sixth
inning.
“We made too many mis-
takes in the field and you can’t
do that against a very good
team like Janesville Craig,”
Hibner said. “(Craig pitcher
Jenna) Brandt also did a great
job of keeping us off-balance
at the plate. There’s a reason
they came into the game unde-
feated.”Middleton also rolled past
Madison West, 13-0, last
Wednesday in a game stopped
after five innings due to the
10-run rule. The Cardinals
also drilled Beloit Memorial,
15-4, last Thursday.
Middleton’s Banke struck
out six and threw a complete-
game, two-hit shutout in the
Cardinals win over the
Regents.
Middleton struck for eightruns in th