Tuesday State News Roundup: Stoughton chemistry teacher recovering after burning her hand

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STOUGHTON - A high school chemistry teacher in Stoughton is recovering, after she burned her hand during an experiment in class yesterday.

Stoughton Superintendent Tim Onsager said the female teacher was showing how chemical reactions occur, when a “flash” took place. He said the teacher was treated at UW Hospital in Madison and was sent home after she had burned her right palm. Her entire class of 25 students was taken to a Stoughton Hospital as a precaution. That was after some of the youngsters suffered smoke inhalation. Onsager said the school was not evacuated. The smoke alarms never went off. And other classes continued as normal. Workers cleaned the chemistry room after the accident occurred around nine yesterday morning.

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A 20-year-old man was killed overnight, and a 19-year-old man was injured, after their vehicle hit a utility pole and flipped over in Green Bay. It happened around two this morning. Police said the vehicle was apparently speeding when the driver lost control on a curve and slammed into the power pole. Both men were ejected after the vehicle overturned. The 20-year-old died at the scene. The 19-year-old was hospitalized in critical condition at last word. The victims’ names were not immediately released. An investigation continues.

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Almost one of every five Wisconsin employers plans to hire more people from October through December. But Manpower Incorporated says it’s a slowdown from the current quarter, in which one-of-every-four companies is adding jobs. The Milwaukee staffing firm says the drop is normal for this time of year, as hiring usually slows down going into the year’s fourth quarter. Eight-percent of Wisconsin firms expect layoffs this fall, up from five-percent in the June-through-September period. But with more hiring than layoffs, Manpower expects a net employment outlook of plus-11-percent statewide from October-through-December. That’s down from 21-percent in the current quarter, but still higher than the eight-percent net from the same time a year ago. Metro Milwaukee expects a net employment outlook of 12-percent this fall, down from 29-percent in the summer. But Manpower’s Mike Steinmetz still calls the Wisconsin hiring trends solid, and slightly more optimistic than a year ago. Nationally, Manpower surveyed 18,000 employers about their hiring plans for the next quarter – and the trend is relatively stable. The national net employment outlook is 11-percent, same as in the current quarter and three-percent higher than a year ago. Seventeen-percent of employers in both the U.S. and the Midwest plan to add jobs in the year’s final quarter.

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A dozen Wisconsin baby whopping cranes are flying south this fall – and for the first time, some will fly with older cranes that have made the migrating trip in previous years. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, six baby cranes have been reared at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. And they’ve flown to the Horicon refuge in Dodge County, where they’ll take off with older cranes in mid-to-late October. Meanwhile, the other six baby whooping cranes are training to fly with an ultra-light aircraft. They’ll take off from the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area in Marquette and Green Lake counties. They’ll all spend the winter with other cranes at two locations in Florida, with the goal of expanding the endangered whooping crane population in the Eastern U-S. The project has been taking place for over a decade, and there are now 104 birds which are part of the Eastern migrating population. Officials say two dozen birds have hatched since 2006, and five fledged into the wild. All of the babies used to fly with an ultra-light pilot. But the federal government grounded last year’s trip after a former pilot complained that it’s against the rules for groups to pay ultra-light pilots. The FAA granted a two-year exemption for the crane project – but it ordered some licensing changes, and it forced this year’s planes to be upgraded.

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