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The Janesville Gazette's top stories of 2008

Residents of Rock County didn’t need to look to Washington, D.C., to follow the struggles of the nation’s domestic automakers.

They could see it in their own back yard as General Motors ended production of full-size sport utility vehicles in Janesville two days before Christmas.

The end of production is the top local story of the year as picked by members of The Janesville Gazette newsroom.

GM announced in June that it intended to end SUV production in Janesville by the end of 2010 at the latest. As fewer consumers bought the big trucks built in Janesville, GM said in October that it would accelerate the end of production to December.

Earlier in the year, GM eliminated second-shift production at the Janesville plant, which built its first Samson tractor in 1919 and its first Chevrolet in 1923.

Between layoffs at the GM plant and its local suppliers, more than 3,300 workers in the auto industry lost their jobs.

About 50 workers at the GM plant continue to build medium-duty trucks in a partnership with Isuzu.

2

Summer flooding: By Friday, June 13, Rock County residents were ready to hold on for dear life.

Janesville had gotten more than 7 inches of rain in two weeks, according to The Janesville Gazette’s records, and officials were predicting the worst flooding since the U.S. Geological Survey had started keeping records in 1914.

The record level for the Rock River was 13.05 feet in Afton set in 1916.

By the morning of the 13th, city officials had evacuated homes in the Mole & Sadler’s subdivision and filled more than 13,000 sandbags. At that point, the Rock River at Afton was 11.9 feet and rising. Flood stage is 9 feet.

By Saturday, 60,000 sandbags had been distributed to property owners around the county.

Before it was over, volunteers—including neighbors, strangers and county jail inmates—filled more than 260,000 sandbags.

The river rose to a record high, cresting June 21 at 13.51 feet in Afton.

From there, the water took its sweet time receding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated public damage in Rock County at $10.3 million. The city of Janesville claimed $9.9 million of that.

3

Non-GM layoffs: As if the loss of more than 3,300 auto industry jobs wasn’t enough, southern Wisconsin also faced its share of non-auto industry layoffs as a result of the struggling economy.

A quick run through the state Department of Workforce Development site that tallies dislocated workers shows that nearly 900 people were laid off at non-auto industries companies in Rock and bordering counties in 2008.

And that doesn’t include workers—perhaps hundreds more—laid off by employers that don’t have to follow the reporting guidelines of the Worker Adjustment Retaining Notification Act and State Plant Closing Law.

4

February snowstorm: Southern Wisconsin practically shut down when a monster snowstorm dumped more than 15 inches on the area Feb. 5 to 7.

Thousands of drivers were stranded on Interstate 90/39 for as long as 12 hours without food, drink or medical supplies.

A report later that month criticized government agencies, particularly the Wisconsin State Patrol, for being slow and ineffective in responding to the crisis. The report led to several changes at the Department of Transportation, including the installation of cameras and removable ramp gates on the Interstate in Rock County.

5

New hospital: One of the economic bright spots of 2009 was the announcement of plans for a $140 million hospital and medical complex on Janesville’s southeast side.

SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and Dean Health System plan to open the 50-bed hospital and physician office in 2010.

The project is expected to provide 344 direct jobs in the community, plus an additional 155 indirect jobs. Its annual economic impact is estimated at $164 million, including approximately $40 million in payroll and $124 million in sales revenue.

6

Homicide charged: Exactly one year later, the sole suspect in the January 2007 murders of three family members was charged with the crime.

James C. Koepp, 49, was charged Jan. 11 with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the slayings of Danyetta Lentz and her two teenage children, Nicole and Scott.

Lentz and her children were found dead in their mobile home south of Janesville.

The sheriff always believed Koepp was the suspect in the case, but Koepp wasn’t charged.

Koepp was in prison for felony fleeing while the prosecutor and crime labs reviewed evidence in the case.

The prosecutor waited for all the evidence to be examined until charging Koepp a year later.

Several pretrial motions have been filed in the case.

No trial has been scheduled.

7

New city manager: Steve Sheiffer retired in September as Janesville’s city manager after 21 years at the helm.

The city council early in the year hired a recruiting firm to replace Sheiffer but was not satisfied with any of the five candidates interviewed in July.

The council started a second round of recruitment and in September interviewed another five candidates. An applicant who caught the eyes of council members George Brunner and Amy Loasching in the first time round but didn’t make the final cut was asked to reapply. Ironically, it was this candidate, Eric Levitt of Sedona, Ariz., who ultimately was chosen as Janesville’s new city manager.

The council had been determined to get a right fit even it meant a third round of interviews. But Levitt so impressed both a community panel and the council that the council offered him a job on the spot, contingent on a positive visit to Sedona. The visit convinced council members that Levitt was the person for the job.

He started his new job Dec. 16.

8

Record snowfall: The winter of 2007-08 wore out snow blowers and ravaged the backs of shovelers.

A record 70.1 inches of snow fell, beating the city's previous record of 67.3 inches, set in 1978-79.

The queen of the snowfalls hit the state Feb. 5 to 7, when Janesville got about 15 inches.

Snows also:

--Broke the city of Janesville’s snow removal budget.

--Contributed to what became the great floods of spring/summer 2008.

--Kept fields wet, delaying planting in many fields.

--Closed Janesville schools a total of four days, two of them during that February snow event.

As the year came to a close, Janesville set another record. December 2008’s snowfall was the most in 60 years, slightly exceeding the previous December record of 35.22 inches, set in 2000.

Janesville schools already have been closed for two snow days this school year.

9

Murder/suicide: The young couple had been married less than a year when Edgerton police found them dead Aug. 18 in the bedroom of their home at 29 Mildred Ave., Edgerton.

Shaun Vordermann, 25, shot his wife, Jenni Vordermann, 24, and then himself early that morning or late the previous night, according to documents from the Rock County Coroner’s Office.

It was the third time in five days police had been to the Vordermann home. Just one night before their deaths, Shaun had been taken into custody by Edgerton police and taken to Rock County Crisis Intervention for a mental health evaluation. He had been threatening to kill himself and burn his wife’s possessions, among other things.

Crisis workers found that Shaun was not a suicide risk and dismissed the emergency detention police had placed on Shaun.

On Dec. 16, Jenni’s parents started the legal process to try and claim $2.9 million from Edgerton and Rock County for Jenni’s death. Both families question why Shaun’s evaluation wasn’t longer, why his family wasn’t notified of the situation and why Jenni wasn’t told when Shaun was released from custody.

10

Serial rape suspect: After years of investigation, Janesville police in February arrested the man they believe committed six home invasions.

Michael R. Huber, 32, Janesville, is suspected of entering homes and sometimes sexually assaulting women from 1998 to 2005, according to police.

Huber was arrested Saturday, Feb. 23, after he was matched to a partial fingerprint left at a 1998 crime scene, according to police.

Police and prosecutors claim they have DNA evidence in two cases—a home invasion and rape in 1998 and a similar crime in 2003, according to the criminal complaint.

The 1998 assault led to three charges of first-degree sexual assault against one woman, who was 27 at the time, according to the criminal complaint.

The 2003 home invasion and rape led to one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child and three counts of first-degree sexual assault, according to the criminal complaint.

In both incidents, Huber threatened that he had a gun, according to the criminal complaint.

Huber is scheduled to stand trial April 13.