Lake Geneva native named pastor

LAKE GENEVA - David Fleischmann, a Lake Geneva native, recently was named pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran Church of Austin, Minn.

Fleischmann was recently profiled in the Austin Daily Herald newspaper HERE.

He had been an assistant grocery store manager, when he decided he wanted more from his life. A pastor he knew encouraged him to join the seminary, which set Fleischmann on a new course.

The congregations are part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Downtown Whitewater chooses new board members

WHITEWATER - Bob Herold, Lacey Reichwald and Joe Coburn have been elected to the Downtown Whitewater board of directors. Geoff Hale will return to serve for the next two years.

The new members join current members Jan Bilgen Craggs, Bruce Birling, Kevin Brunner, Jon Kachel and John Patterson.

The board oversees an annual budget of approximately $100,000, according to Executive Director Tamara Brodnicki.

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Monday, December 01, 2008

Delavan manufacturer closing

DELAVAN - A Delavan manufacturer is closing because of the sagging housing industry.

USG's Delavan substrate plant will close in early December, affecting 25 workers, according to Robert Williams, director of corporate communications.

Williams said the company has been hit hard by the soft building market, and the move is part of its cost-saving efforts.

USG also is closing five other plants nationwide.

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Better e-mail address for Dan Plutchak

The e-mail address in my column asking for stories about how Pearl Harbor affected people's lives isn't working.

Here's a better one: dplutchak@communityshoppers.com

I'll be working on the pages starting Wednesday morning, so people forward your info before then.

Thanks,

Dan Plutchak

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Swope conviction upheld

DELAVAN - Craig A. Swope, who was convicted in 2006 of killing his mother and stepfather, stealing their money and leaving their bodies in their Delavan Township house, will not get a new trial.

The Wisconsin Second District Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.

A Walworth County jury determined Swope killed his mother and stepfather, Carolee and Duane Recob, before taking nearly $43,000 from the couple's checking account.

Read story HERE.

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Lake Geneva home prices drop

LAKE GENEVA - The average price for a home sold in Lake Geneva dropped 20 percent to $589,700 in the last quarter, according to a report from the Metro Multiple Listing Service.

County wide, 238 homes were sold, two more than the previous quarter. The average price of homes sold dropped, however, to $258,800 from $337,300.

There were 1,273 homes on the market as of Sept. 30, down from 1,704 in the first quarter of
2008.

Download the full report HERE (778k pdf).

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Delavan woman pleads not guilty to embezzlement

Kari Sue Clark-Branton, 39, the Delavan woman accused of embezzling $800,000 from Home Design Manufacturing in Walworth Township pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two felony charges of business theft and 30 misdemeanor charges of forgery.

Story HERE.

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Mystery place, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008

Click HERE to for Ginny Hall's mystery place.

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Boyfriend sentenced

ELKHORN - Devis K. Osinski of Pell Lake was sentenced to 11 years in prison and 13 years probation for helping provide the heroin that killed his girlfriend, 37-year-old Rebecca Monroe of Elkhorn, in April 2006.

Osinski pleaded guilty to two felony charges of delivering heroin, felony bail jumping and misdemeanor failure to aid a victim.

Osinski was charged under the state's Len Bias law, which allows prosecutors to file a charge of homicide against people suspected of providing drugs that cause death by overdose.

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