Verona Press The
Thursday, January 25, 2018 • Vol. 53, No. 36 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1
Call Today! 30 years in Verona Area School District! 608.575.3290 bdawson718@tds.net
Serving Verona Home Buyers & Sellers
Barb Dawson adno=535566-01
City: NCS building not in danger
Verona Area School District
Mayor, administrator reassure crowd after misunderstanding JIM FEROLIE
Inside North plan gets mixed reactions Page 13
Verona Press editor
Photo courtesy Wisconsin Athletics
Jace Christensen, in his Wisconsin Badgers basketball gear, gets ready for a high five from Badgers guard Brad Davison.
Kindness challenge tips off Glacier Edge Elementary School students tipped off their Great Kindness Challenge with a visit from five Wisconsin Badgers basketball players last Wednesday, Jan. 17. The basketball players talked with the students and read books about friendship and kindness.
Spring elections 2018
Forum introduces candidates Inside Read “quotables” from each candidate Page 16
JIM FEROLIE Verona Press editor
Ten candidates for office got to introduce themselves to Verona Jan. 17 at the Verona Senior Center. The League of Wome n Vo t e r s - m o d e r a t e d forum, hosted by Bernie Sanders-inspired political group Our Wisconsin Revolution, didn’t get deep into any particular issues, but audience members asked city candidates about the pool, school board candidates about vouchers and county candidates about the looming jail project. With only 90 minutes
scheduled, each candidate spoke for roughly five minutes, getting opening and closing statements, a question about qualifications, a question about priorities and a couple or three questions from audience submissions, each with a one-minute time limit. None of the candidates directly challenged one another, and most of them chatted amicably afterward with supporters and opponents alike. Some wished for deeper discussions of the issues, something mayoral candidates
will get in two months at the Verona Press forum. But the Wednesday night affair gave a broad look at an unusually robust slate of candidates. All but two in contested local elections attended, and one of those who didn’t make it – incumbent school board member Tom Duerst – sent a stand-in to speak for him. All the planned questions were standard and repeated for each race, but candidates were able to distinguish themselves from one another for the most part.
Diaz
Verona Press editor
Mayor: Beres vs. Diaz Mayoral candidates Luke Diaz and Dennis Beres both bring significant political experience to the race. Diaz has been an alder in District 3 for the past five years, and Beres was a 15-year member of the Verona Area school board who spent seven years as president before stepping down last April. Both relished the idea of taking their skills,
Turn to Forum/Page 16
Turn to NCS/Page 12
Library begins Sunday hours next weekend JIM FEROLIE
Beres
for development. But the reality was closer to the opposite. The 100-year-old building is in no immediate danger, and in fact, it could be getting its unofficial landmark status written into a city contract. That upcoming contract is actually what had preservation supporters worried. The building is part of a site that’s being negotiated on for a 2020 land swap – after the new Verona Area High School is built – between the city and school district in exchange for a $5 million “contribution” to a road the district needs to build to access the new school. Key to the negotiations
T h e Ve r o n a P u b l i c Library will be open on a Sunday for the first time Feb. 4. And it will be open from 1 - 5 p . m . e a c h S u n d a y through the school year, with some exceptions (Easter Sunday, the day before Memorial Day) according to a Jan. 16 news release. After a break in the summer, it will resume through the fall, with no decisions made beyond 2018. “Adding Sunday hours will be a real benefit to many people in the
2018 Sunday hours 1-5 p.m. Feb. 4 through May 20 Sept. 9 through Dec. 30 Not open April 1, Dec. 23 community,” director Stacey Burkart wrote in the release. “We expect to be very busy.” The Verona library is one of the busiest in the county, and many patrons have requested Sunday hours for years, particularly after it
Turn to Sunday/Page 14
The Verona Press We’ve Only Just Begun - Carpenters Remembered This show re-creates the original sound of the Carpenters who are one of the most successful recording acts of all time. Led by Michelle Berting Brett and accompanied by her 4-piece Nashville band.
Saturday, February 17, 2018 7:30 pm Verona Area High School PAC
adno=540300-01
10 of 11 candidates in contested races are represented
An apparent case of “misinformation” brought about 25 people to Mond a y ’s Ve r o n a C o m m o n Council meeting in support of saving the New Century School building from a danger it wasn’t yet facing. City leaders gave assurances both in the beginning and – even more strongly – at the end of the meeting that there was no need for alarm. And, they promised, any agreement regarding the school building will be discussed in open session before there’s action. A social media discussion over the weekend had led to an appearance on television news Monday evening and helped spread the perception the council might be on the verge of having the school destroyed
300 Richard St.
Verona Area Performing Arts Series
Tickets available at: www.vapas.org, State Bank of Cross Plains-Verona, Capitol Bank-Verona or 848-2787