The Oshkosh Northwestern from Oshkosh, Wisconsin • Page 9

"Local r) Ideas or comments? Call City Editor Barbara Schmitz, (414) 235-7700, ext. 340 THE OSHKOSH NORTHWESTERN THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 9, 1993 Sheriff's department going to the dogs animal rights group. Brillion ranch owned by Ervin Stebane, 72, pending a Man vanished without trace Clintonville businessman missing CHILTON (AP) Calumet County sheriffs deputies have been working overtime to find some of the area's most wanted. But it's not hardened criminals they're after. They're trying to round up 45 dogs stolen after they were taken from a Calumet County dog dealer and sent to various shelters across the state.

More than 150 dogs were removed May 26 from a town of court case against him. Stebane was charged with shooting an animal and cruelty to animals after an Asian couple asked him to kill a dog for meat and videotaped the incident, Sheriff Dan Gillis said. Circuit Court Judge Donald Poppy dropped the charges when he found out the couple was paid by Last Chance for Animals, a California-based Mercy targets therapists Oshkosh hospital staying ahead of state shortage After receiving a missing persons report from Rein-hard, police searched Williamson's motel room Aug. 31 and found his belongings. Authorities said it did not appear Williamson slept in his bed Aug.

30. Police said two credit cards belonging to Williamson were discovered in a grocery store in El Paso, Texas, about 7 p.m. Aug. 31. The store manager reported he did not remember seeing anyone matching Williamson's description in the store that day.

Kelsey said there was no explanation why the cards were left in the store. "The manager found them sitting on one of the grocery shelves," he said. Reinhard said the credit cards were found in a store that is a 12-hour drive from Colorado Springs. She said her husband was in Colorado in search of surplus property for his "fish farm" business. She said the car rental agency was located four miles from the motel.

She said Williamson had no plans to go to El Paso. Reinhard said she believed he either was mugged and robbed and left somewhere, or he may have been taken against his will by someone seeking to take the rental vehicle to Mexico and sell it. CLINTONVILLE (AP) Authorities searched Wednesday for a Wisconsin businessman after he disappeared last week on a trip to Colorado and his credit cards turned up in a Texas grocery store. Sgt. Dean R.

Kelsey of the El Paso County sheriffs office in Colorado Springs, said the search was continuing for Craig D. Williamson, 48, of Clintonville and the rental car he had been driving. Police said Williamson arrived in Colorado Springs sometime after 3 p.m. Aug. 29 to conduct business for his fish hatchery business.

Williamson checked into a Super 8 motel and rented a car from the Enterprise Rental Co. Williamson's wife, Christine Reinhard, said in Clintonville that her husband had driven to Colorado in a bus that was equipped with business-related items, and he then rented a car to make travel easier in Colorado. As of Wednesday, "the car nor my husband no sign of them has shown up yet," she said. She reported she last spoke to him by telephone about 8:30 p.m. Aug.

30. He told her he was preparing to return the rental car, but the vehicle was never returned and now is listed as stolen. The dogs were ordered returned to Stebane when the charges were dropped. But they have been slowly disappearing from the shelters, Gillis said. "People who are involved in retrieving the dogs have been at it for 10 days.

And that's all overtime," Gillis said. "I'm pulling people in on their days off." In the latest incident, five UW-Madison takes 60 students from about 300 applicants each year. UW-La Crosse receives 200 to 250 applicants a year and accepts 30 into the program. Marquette in Milwaukee is the only other Wisconsin school to offer a program. The limited numbers of physical therapy graduates, Patton said, can be attributed mainly to the limited number of instructors.

They cannot consider expanding their program, she said, because they already are understaffed. Another similar problem, Patton explained, is that clinics already short on physical therapists cannot take on the training of students. "There is a perception out there in the work force that mm A'2- jip Berlin grapples with cable issue By Julie Treutel of the Northwestern Although hospitals statewide are seeing an increased shortage of physical therapists, Mercy Medical Center is bucking the trend. Michael Drees, director of rehabilitation at Mercy, credits keeping positions filled to more aggressive recruitment for physical therapists. According to a recent report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the statewide vacancy rate for physical therapists is 18.6 percent, up from 14 percent last year.

Three years ago, it took six months to a year to find a suitable physical therapy replacement when a position opened, Drees said. Since then, "We've gone to almost continuous recruitment. "The situation was that we hadn't made as many contacts with students," Drees said. Now Mercy offers summer employment and student field work positions to expose them to its program. Mercy also gives signing bonuses, averaging $3,000, Drees said, and helps with relocation and continuing education costs.

Bob Runge, a 1992 physical therapy graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, started at Mercy-Oakwood last October. Originally from Milwaukee, Runge chose Oshkosh because "it seemed like a really nice place and we were looking for a place to raise our family." As to salary considerations, Runge said, "Everyone in the Valley is comparable, at least in initial offers." Runge received a signing bonus from Mercy, an incentive offered by most of his other five job offers. Runge said his motivation to go into physical therapy was not primarily a financial one, but it was a factor. "If you can't pay your bills, you can't always do what you like," he said. Mercy currently employs 16 physical therapists and three assistants.

dogs were taken from the Coulee Region Humane Society in La Crosse sometime Sunday evening or Monday morning, Gillis said. Judge David Sebora refused last Wednesday to grant the Fox Valley Humane Association's request for a restraining order to prevent the dogs from being returned to Stebane, saying the matter legally is not an emergency. we're trying to hold down the numbers, but that's not true," said Pat Wilder, chairman of the physical therapy program at UW-La Crosse. UW-La Crosse has proposed changing their program to a master's degree. If the proposal is approved, they may expand to 60 students a year, Wilder said.

A typical graduate from UW-La Crosse has about five job offers before graduation, Wilder said, with an average starting salary of $33,000 to $38,000. At Madison, 15 to 20 percent of the physical therapy students have agreements with institutions to pay their tuition in exchange for working after graduation, Patton said. A typical agreement is one year of tuition money for a year of employment. said. Reichenberger called the sheriffs department back about 6:15 a.m.

Wednesday to report that her fiance, Curtis Mutter, 45, and her daughter, Shelly, 22, had just called from a home near High Cliff Park in Calumet County, the spokesman said. Mutter told her that the boat broke down early Tuesday evening near Black Bird Island on Lake Winnebago and that they had drifted all night in a northeastly direction until they finally drifted to shore near High Cliff Park, the spokesman said. Keso conviction wife, Antonia, 21, blamed each other for initiating the fatal beating of her mother Naomi Ware, 42, at her rural Ripon home Dec. 11, 1991. Each was sentenced to life in prison.

Joe Sienkiewkzof the Northwestern PHYSICAL THERAPIST BOB RUNGE adjusts the strap on a therapy machine being used by Dan Gehri to strengthen his knee. Schools unable to meet demand By Patricia Wolff of the Northwestern BERLIN Cable television is going to be a hot topic here during the next three weeks. Larry FCCDOCU-Kraklau of MENT refutes Marcus Cablevision de-Cable made cision to drop that obser- stations. Page vation to Al. the City Council during a committee meeting Tuesday night.

Marcus Cable serves 3,500 subscribers in Green Lake County. Kraklau said the cable company is negotiating with several television stations to retain NBC, CBS and Fox network programs after Oct. 6. The Cable Act of 1992 enacted by Congress last October requires cable companies to reach agreements with the stations or network programs must be dropped as of Oct. 6.

"I am not personally involved in the negotiations, but we're still holding hope that we'll have agreements by Oct. 6," Kraklau said. If no agreements are reached, Marcus Cable will drop WFRV channel 5, which By Julie Treutel of the Northwestern It seems to be a case of shortages begetting shortages. "It's a real tough time for physical therapists in some ways," said Nancy Patton, coordinator of the physical therapy program at the Uni-versity of Wisconsin-Madison. "People are saying, 'Why don't you fix this problem? Why don't you turn out more and it's not that easy." The field of physical therapy has expanded so rapidly, Patton said, that even though the number of programs in the country has nearly doubled in 20 years, schools still have not been able to keep up with demand.

i Finch is the CBS affiliate; WLUK, channel 11, which is the NBC affiliate, and WGBA, channel 26, which carries Fox Network programming. Agreements have been reached with WISN, channel 12 of Milwaukee, which is an ABC affiliate, and with independent station WVTV, channel 18, of Milwaukee. "Come Oct. 6, if we have no agreements, by federal law we'll have to drop them," Kraklau said, and other programs will be substituted. Marcus Cable sent a newsletter to subscribers explaining the changes that may occur in programming.

Kraklau said the reaction to the newsletter was favorable once the cable company explained its position. Kraklau said if the networks charge the cable company for their programs, those costs eventually would be passed on to subscribers. "In any business, if you have additional costs, it will be passed on to customers," Kraklau said. He questioned why cable subscribers should have to pay for something their neighbors receive free. Subscribers who have questions can call Marcus Cable at 800-242-0023.

Radlinger Omro 4 1: -a Day minm, ii Two spend night on lake Will President Clinton's plan to streamline government to save $108 bill work? lone Finch, Oshkosh "I'd rather wait and see what happens, but sometimes we have a long wait," she said. "But wouldn't it be wonderful to cut the pork barrel?" Katharine Day, 55, town of Black Wolf "If you believe that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you," she said. "I'm a firm believer in less government rather than more, but I don't believe Vice President Gore's Idea is going to work." Two Oshkosh residents were cold but unharmed Wednesday after spending a night stranded on Lake Winnebago, police say. Bernadine Reichenberger, 2075 Indian Point Road, reported her fiance and her daughter missing on a boat late Tuesday evening, a Winnebago County Sheriffs Department spokesman said. The sheriffs department patrolled the shoreline shortly after midnight Wednesday and then sent a patrol boat out for 2Vk to three hours to search for the boaters, he Court upholds WAUKESHA (AP) An ap-pellate court decided Wednesday there were not enough errors during a Fond du Lac man's murder trial to overturn his conviction.

Bradley D. Keso, 25, and his Page B2 Pete Moon, 26, Oshkosh "Government definitely needs changing, but I'm not sure I agree on how he's going to change it. "Start with the Congress," Moon said. "Start from the top down or you aren't going to get it done." John Radlinger, 57, Oshkosh "I like the idea of saving the money, but every politician you get in there says he's going to save money. In the end, we're deeper in debt all the time.

"I'd like them to put a bunch of farmers In there. They'd do a better job." I i "II Moon Signs of Success: High School Shows.