Fox Point and Bayside Week in Review: March 27 to April 2

Fox Point-Bayside Patch is featuring a weekly recap of the top stories from March 27 to April 2.

Fox Point-Bayside Patch hosted a forum at on Tuesday to help get a deeper perspective on each of the Nicolet School Board candidates and their views on the referendum, school finance and class sizes.

Morton Grodsky, Andrew Cegielski and Joe Kasle all attended and took differing viewpoints on each of the issues. But instead of focusing solely on the fate of Nicolet, Kasle and Grodsky spent much of their time questioning Cegielski and his criminal background.

Under the state's new budget repair bill, police and firefighters do not have to kick in toward their health and pension plans. But in Bayside, officers have chosen to do so anyway in an effort to help the village deal with a loss in state aid.

"I think with the police department, with those unions coming and making that stride, that helped us out tremendously trying to share the sacrifice and bring all of the pieces together," Village Manager Andy Pederson said.

A Beloit man spent a few hours holding signs and collecting signatures to recall Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) in front of Riversbend Golf Course, just outside Menomonee Falls. But not everyone was so supportive of his political choices. A man approached the petitioner and after a few choice words, the altercation progressed to a physical attack and the petitioner was punched in the stomach.

Last Sunday, a man was driving intoxicated on I-43 near Bradley Road and smashed into the back of another car. Once he abandoned his vehicle, he tried to jump onto the back of a passing van to get away.

Patch has the firsthand look at what that was like for Port Washington resident Bridget Benavides who wouldn't just pull over when he jumped onto her van.

Bayside Middle School art teacher Julie Trump was recognized for her efforts in the classrom by winning a 2011 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Fellowship.

The 15-year veteran of the school says she believes it's “ important to advocate for a hands-on creative learning process across the curriculum in addition to more traditional methods.”