Verona Press The
Thursday, March 28, 2019 • Vol. 54, No. 45 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
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Verona Area School District
Boundary options to 3 Committee will make final recommendation after public input SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
The final three options for new elementary and middle school attendance boundaries, beginning in 2020, are set. The Attendance Area Advisory Committee, which has been meeting since October to discuss potential options and data, selected the three options Tuesday, March 19, to present to the public next month. The 29-person group will reconvene April 24 after two public input sessions to consider feedback
from its two scheduled public sessions, April 9 and 16, and make a final recommendation of up to three options to the school board. The public will be able to offer “pros and cons” to each option for the committee to review, something the committee made its own list of March 19. The options that will go to the public next month are: • A1, which is generally similar to today’s maps and mostly unifies the Verona Road-area neighborhoods; • D1, which would have Sugar Creek and Country View partner, with one serving grades K-2 and the other 3-5, but keep the Two Way Immersion program housed entirely at SC and Glacier Edge;
Turn to Boundary/Page 8
Photo by Jack Spitser
Beata Nelson beat defending national champion Ella Eastin of Standford with nearly a two second personal-best in the 200yard indiivdual medley Thursday, March 21, at the NCAA championship meet in Austin, Texas. The second UW-Madison swimmer to win a national title, Nelson went on to add the 100 and backstroke titles as well.
Can’t Beata Badger
Verona’s Nelson has best-ever finish for UW with 3 NCAA wins JEREMY JONES Sports editor
City of Verona
Fifth hotel up for approval JIM FEROLIE Verona Press editor
Verona could have a fifth hotel a year from now. A plan for a four-story, 120-room facility with an events center, a bar and a pool is up for review at the Plan Commission on Wednesday, April 3, and possible approval by the Common Council the following week. It’s the final piece of the Sugar Creek Commons redevelopment of the 500 block of West Verona Avenue, which has gone back and forth with the city for more than two years over a variety of issues, including apartment density, displacement of the current tenants and several million dollars’ worth of requested taxpayer funding. The
10-acre redevelopment plan would tear down a long-abandoned truck stop, a former auto repair shop, a car wash and several small apartment buildings and replace them with apartments, retail shops and the hotel. The hotel was included in the general development plan of the site, which is the second of three public phases of the planned-unit development process, which allows for variations from zoning in exchange for a more detailed approval process and more control over architectural design. The GDP covers the overall site concept and such aspects as building size and shape, traffic and parking. The third phase,
Turn to Hotel/Page 3 The
Verona Press
Junior Beata Nelson needed one week in Austin, Texas, to cement her legacy as the most decorated swimmer in UW-Madison’s history. Her performance at the NCAA Championships on March 20-23 gave the swimming and diving team’s Twitter account occasion to have all sorts of fun celebrating the former Verona Area High School standout. She was called Bruce Banner for
her uncanny ability to smash records like Banner’s alter ego, the Hulk, and then she was pictured next to the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones with a long, Daenerys Targaryen-style name that included “Mother of Badgers.” Even though she had shut her phone off for most of the meet, she kept the Wisconsin swimming notifications on because of all the hilarious Tweets. “They’re all funny,” she told the Press on Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t really know anything about Game of Thrones, but those Tweets
made me laugh.” The one nickname, or rather acronym, that is likely to stick with Nelson is GOAT, or Greatest of All Time. Nelson became the second national champion in the program’s history (after Maggie Meyer) and the first to win multiple titles, bringing three gold medals back to Madison, in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 and 200 backstroke. “It’s been pretty crazy the last few
Turn to Nelson/Page 11
Verona Area School District
Bringing smiles to Savanna Oaks Podcast captures students’ highlights of their week SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Every few Fridays, it’s “time for the weekly smiles” at Savanna Oaks Middle School. Whether it’s someone getting an “exceeds mastery” on a recent project or their team doing well in a
competition, the SO Smiles podcast highlights the good things that happened in a given week for students around the school. “Middle school can be an amazing place for some and harder for others,” eighth-grader Denali Kraemer wrote in an email to the Press. “This podcast really helps students realize that even little things can mean a lot to peers and helps kids from all different backgrounds feel they have a voice in this school.” Kraemer, along with students
Angela Miller and Maizy Auger, perform the interviews and then send their audio files to student Isaac Jorgensen, who mixes the audio and finalizes the podcast – or, as Miller said, “magically puts it all together.” The idea came last year from teacher Stephanie Symes, who said she’s “surprised how professional our podcast sounded” with Jorgensen’s help. “It is bringing some of his talents forward,” Symes said.
Turn to Podcast/Page 13
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