By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Each year, the world around us seems to change – sometimes in a heartbeat.
In 2015, news came from all over the area. It came in various forms – both good and bad, happy and sad.
And as 2015 winds to a close, the Burlington Standard Press brings you the top stories of the year for the Burlington area.
No. 1 – Andrew Obregon leads area law enforcement on three-week manhunt
According to Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, Andrew Obregon was well-known to law enforcement before Sept. 21.
However, on that day Tywon Anderson was reported missing in Kenosha, two days after he was last seen. On Sept. 26, his body was found in a cornfield along Highway A in Paris Township – and police began searching for Obregon as a “person of interest.”
Over the next three weeks, Obregon led law enforcement on several high-speed chases – including one that went through downtown Union Grove as school was close to dismissing on homecoming evening – robbed at least two businesses, stole numerous vehicles in an attempt to get away from police and sought aid from his mother that resulted in her being arrested and jailed.
On Oct. 13, police received a 911 call from a woman who said she had gone to check her father’s home and had been beaten by Obregon.
The police chased Obregon in the woman’s Chevy Spark into Illinois, where Lake County picked up the pursuit.
At about 4 p.m. that day, police announced over the radio, “In custody.” Moments later they added, “He’s in custody and it’s Andy Obregon.”
Since his capture, Obregon has been charged with 32 different counts in the state of Wisconsin, and more in Illinois. He allegedly confessed to all but the murder charge he is facing in the death of Tywon Anderson.
He remains in jail on a $5 million cash bond.
No. 2 – City of Burlington sees revolving door of positions
In the latest of a year of turnover within City of Burlington staff members, a press release from the city announced Dec. 22 that Fire Chief Perry Howard would resign as of June of 2016.
However, while the press release said Howard’s last day would be June 4 of 2016, questions remained earlier this week of how and where Howard would be working.
Howard’s departure was the latest in a string of changes of city staff in 2015. City Administrator Kevin Lahner announced late in 2014 that he would be departing for the same position in Waukesha. A lengthy, contentious process ensued with Lahner’s contract, and it was revealed in early 2015 that instead of owing the city money from breaking his contract, he actually received money for his vacation payout.
Hired in March to replace him was Carina Walters, the former Lake Forrest, Ill., assistant city manager.
In April, Police Chief Peter Nimmer – who had been tied to other top-cop job positions in southeast Wisconsin – announced that he was leaving to take the Chief of Police position in Shorewood. Nimmer had been hired in the winter of 2010.
Replacing Nimmer was Lieutenant Mark Anderson, a long-time city police employee. From there, the city police promoted a new sergeant and also hired a new officer – both in November.
Finally, Director of Public Works Craig Workman left the city in June to take the same position in Whitefish, Montana.
Workman said the position was “too good to pass up,” and it would take him to an area known for its outdoor opportunities.
Hired to replace him late in the year was Jim Bergles, the former assistant in the Village of Waterford.
No. 3 – Burlington Community Pool reaching end of its life
After allocating $25,000 for needed repairs in May of 2014, the City of Burlington Common Council knew a decision would need to be made about the Burlington Community Pool.
However, the process proved to be anything but smooth, as the contractor chosen to perform a multi-stage study that could have led to a referendum to pay for repairs or renovation did not pan out.
Boosters of the pool raised additional funds with a fundraiser in 2014, and all signs pointed to Burbach Aquatics taking the city on the next steps of the journey.
The city and Burbach, though, could not reach an agreement on the contract – most notably, what the city might owe Burbach if the contract was not followed to the letter if the city chose not to go ahead with Burbach’s recommendations for the planned pool.
The city broke off negotiations with Burbach and the process took something of a back seat through the summer. However, a group of concerned citizens pushed forward a petition urging the city to renew its efforts in September.
When the city’s budget was finalized in November, included in it was a request for proposals to find a new company to take over the pool study and future plans.
No. 4 – Traffic fatality on bypass leads to arrows being installed at troublesome intersection
After a pair of accidents in about a month at the intersection of Highway 36 and South Pine Street on the Burlington Bypass, City of Burlington staff told the Department of Transportation things needed to change.
And they did. While it was later shown that Tyler Brott – the 21-year-old killed in the second accident – had been driving while intoxicated, the DOT made the decision to install dedicated turn arrows at the intersection.
Many area residents felt the move was long overdue, and Mayor Bob Miller said he was thrilled to have the intersection finally be addressed.
However, the lights installed didn’t exactly match expectations. Only one of the four directions got a dedicated green turn arrow. The other three got blinking yellow turn arrows.
The Common Council asked the city to look into further requests from the DOT – including speed limitations – but Miller said the DOT has data showing that lowering the speed limit would have very little effect on the number of accidents.
No. 5 – Beloved doctor let go by Aurora Health Care
Numerous patients at the Aurora Clinic in Burlington were forced to find a new doctor after Dr. Katarzyna Zaremba was asked to leave in March.
Zaremba’s departure was shrouded in secrecy, as Aurora would not release details and Zaremba herself was loath to discuss the incident as she attempted to work out details with Aurora regarding her departure.
In fact, in letters to patients, Aurora never acknowledged they were behind Zaremba leaving, noting only that Zaremba had “left her practice.”
Zaremba said the abrupt closure of her practice with no transition services was disastrous for her patients, particularly the very sick who fell through the cracks. She was forced to wait 90 days to practice elsewhere, and told she could not practice within the area.
She eventually went to work for Beloit Clinic, continuing her work in internal medicine.
No. 6 – Burlington Area School District School Board seats in demand
A wild BASD School Board election ensued during the spring, as one candidate said he would not run – and then decided to run – and one of the two seats open was decided by less than 20 votes.
Newcomer Kevin Bird earned the most votes in the spring election – and a seat on the board – but the story came in the battle for the second open spot.
In January, School Board member Roger Koldeway said he would not seek re-election, citing an ever-increasing work schedule. Koldeway and Phil Ketterhagen were both elected three years prior running on the promise of fiscal conservativism.
However, in March, Koldeway said he had been informed by so many people that they would write him in as a candidate that he decided to run so the votes would not be wasted.
There turned out to be 596 write-in votes in the election, but the real battle developed between Ketterhagen and newcomer Barry Schmaling.
Ketterhagen ended up edging Schmaling, 1,854 votes to 1,837, and Schmaling chose not to challenge the results.
In October, though, Larry Anderson announced he would retire following the regular November School Board meeting, and the board needed to select a candidate to fill Anderson’s position until the next spring election.
That turned out to be Schmaling, who was voted in ahead of Jim Berndt – who has run twice – former School Board member Susan Kessler, and newcomers Pattie Reda and Kristine Gohlke-Lairy.
No. 7 – Facilities study undertaken for Burlington Area School District
After completing a stakeholder driven strategic planning session through the Wisconsin Association of School Boards in the late winter and early spring, the Burlington Area School District knew it had to address aging facilities within the district.
With a number of different options on the table, the School Board opted to go back to Plunkett Raysich Architects – a firm the district has worked with for decades – to start the process of analyzing the current school buildings, as well as looking at how best to configure grades within the district to fit the buildings.
The grade study was completed first, with the staff completing it giving both pros and cons to the current grade set-up at the various BASD schools, and changing those set-ups.
In the end, the staff conducting the study wanted to present the options – and then let the facilities’ study fill in the holes.
In December, Plunkett Raysich came back with a 125-page report that outlined everything from critical repairs to cosmetic work.
No. 8 – Aurora breaks ground on new health care facility
City officials and Aurora staff participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking at 709 Spring Valley Road for the $83 million outpatient surgery and medical building in April.
The building sits on the edge of the city and just over the border into Walworth County. As of December, it appeared most of the outside work on the building had been completed, and the City of Burlington Common Council had approved financing of a $450,000 loan to cover about $300,000 in cost overruns on its part of the project.
The new facility – expected to house a cancer center, as well as an accredited breast care program, outpatient surgery, endoscopy, physical rehabilitation, imaging, orthopedics and sports medicine, a pharmacy and lab services – is expected to open in 2016.
No. 9 – Naming rights turns into elongated battle in school district
After working to create a new policy and disagreeing on details for more than a year, the Burlington Area School District School Board finally heard the first reading of a new naming rights policy in December.
It was a long year and a quarter for the policy, which originally came under question in the spring of 2014 when a group petitioned the school board to allow the Burlington High School football stadium to be named for former football coach and athletic director Don Dalton.
While that movement eventually gained enough momentum to pass, questions about the naming rights policy were raised – and a committee was formed to research options and suggest changes.
Those changes ultimately resulted in a proposal that failed to gain a consensus in March, after being forwarded to the full board because the two Policy Committee members present the previous week couldn’t reach a consensus either.
School Board Member Rosanne Hahn proposed two amendments that ended up passing. The first was that all references to school district approval should be changed to School Board approval.
The second involved removing schools from the potential list of naming rights for sale. That would include current names – such as Dyer and Karcher – being off-limits.
Both passed, but there was some discussion on what was meant by schools.
No. 10 – Domestic violence death underscores need for newly opened shelter
After fighting through the fall of 2014 – and failing – to open a western Racine County shelter/service site in Burlington, Women’s Resource Center submitted a new plan for the former Dover School.
That site was eventually approved, and opened in October. The opening was marked with a visit by Gov. Scott Walker, who toured the facility as part of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The new facility was expected to being offering services by the end of October, but the shelter portion of the former school was still a few months away.
The need for the facility was underscored in March when Burlington resident Francisca Quintero-Montoya was killed in an Illinois hospital by her husband.
Her husband, Javier Bahena-Arellano, a McHenry, Ill., resident, was immediately taken into custody. The Cook County States Attorney’s office charged him with one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony murder.
According to reports, Bahena-Arellano believed his wife – from whom he was separated – was having an affair. He cornered her in a bathroom at the hospital and allegedly stabbed her multiple times with a screwdriver.
-
-
-
-
-