Wisconsin State Journal from Madison, Wisconsin • 21

Wisconsin State Journal City Editor: David Stoeffler, 252-6130 1D WISCONSIN Obituaries Classifieds 3D 40 5D LOCAL Monday, July 10, 1995 -Bl Passenger dies in car accident Public school teachers pass inspection Background checks find few felons One person was killed and another was hurt in a one-car accident early Sunday morning on Lake Kegonsa Road, according to the Dane County Sheriffs Office. The accident occurred about 4 a.m. during a thunderstorm, and the heavy rain could have been a factor, along with alcohol, according to sheriffs deputies. The car was traveling south on Lake Kegonsa Road near Highway 138 when the driver lost control and struck a utility pole, according to the Sheriffs Office. The lone passenger in the car, Irvy Thomas Barker, 39, of Stoughton, was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Dane County Coroner's Office.

The driver, a woman whose name was not available, was transported to UW Hospital via MedFlight helicopter. Both victims were wearing seatbelts, according to deputies. MADISON Man hurt after dive A head blow temporarily paralyzed a Janesville man after he dived from the Memorial Union pier early Sunday, UW-Madison Police officials said. Chad Hendrickson, 21, suffered head and spine injuries after hitting the rocky bottom of Lake Mendota at 2:30 a.m.. police said.

Hendrickson's friend, Bryan Weber, 20, rescued him after he became paralyzed. Police said alcohol contributed to the accident Hendrickson was taken to University Hospital, where he was in fair condition Sunday. Hospital officials would not say if Hendrickson is permanently though very few produced a record, give us the assurance that the people who are in that role (of teacher) have a strong moral, legal background," Burke said. They also likely deter those with criminal backgrounds from applying for teaching jobs in the state, he said. Teacher candidates pay for the checks as part of their application fee.

For in-state applicants, that amounts to $2 of the $100 fee; for out-of-state applicants, who must submit fingerprints to the FBI, the background check accounts for $26 Burke said the state is running about 20,000 checks per year on new teachers or those seeking to renew their licenses, good for five years. DPI is also running checks on the approximately 22,000 teachers who still hold "lifetime licenses," which the state stopped granting in 1983. The data on those teachers is not yet available, Burke said. Don Krahn, director of legal services for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union, questioned why the checks were limited to public school teachers. But he said the union has no "particular problem" with the checks.

Although the checks turned up relatively few felons, it's hard to argue that they're not worth the cost, Krahn said. "On a statistical basis, it would be questionable," Krahn said "Whether or not it creates a deterrent for people who might otherwise move into the education business to get next to kids is an open question." By Phil Brinkman Education reporter Wisconsin's public school teachers are proving to be a pretty clean bunch, according to an ongoing series of criminal background checks by the state. Since November 1993, the state Department of Public Instruction has run background checks on 27,824 teachers. Criminal records of some sort have been found on 735, or 2.6 percent, said Peter Burke, director of the department's licensing bureau. "Of those, only three or four were the kind of records that gave us cause for concern," Burke said.

The checks resulted in two would-be teachers not getting licenses. One, convicted of child abuse in a case involving his own child, was denied a license. The other was a former teacher who was not working at the time because he was serving a prison term for manslaughter. The department rejected his request for license renewal after he got out The offenses turned up were mostly misdemeanors, including property crimes, motor vehicle offenses, bad checks and nonpayment of child support. The DPI also recorded some more serious crimes, including battery and resisting arrest, Burke said.

Wisconsin began requiring background checks on teachers in November 1993 after The Associated Press reported that the DPI granted, and then renewed, a teaching license for a convicted child molester. Before that, the department relied on self-reporting of criminal backgrounds by applicants. "The background checks, even State Journal photosSCOTT SEID Regina Brown and her son, Dylan, 5, ride the Mad Mouse at Little A-Merrick-A in Marshall. Pint-size amusement park grows from love of trains Little A-Merrick-A takes on big guys By Christine Grishkin State Journal correspondent MARSHALL From his hilltop home just east of here, Lee Merrick can see the Whisky River Railway winding through his 300-acre farm. A pint-size train puffs through a tunnel, passes by the roundhouse and turntable and circles a small lake.

Llamas, sheep and a zebra roam free among the cattle and cornfields. The 2V2-mile track crawls into Merrick's seven-acre amusement park Little A-Merrick-A sandwiched between a cemetery and a cornfield. Five years ago this was mostly swampy farmland, but it now has Sorry, diapers not included Someone called our attention to an ad that ran in the State Journal Friday under "Garage Sales Suburban." "SUN PRAIRIE: Chairs, table, dresser, love seat and baby What a find. Great Circus Train gets the adrenalin flowing COMMENTARY Hands-on experience: Monona attorney Dick Rice has recovered nicely from the incident in which he sliced the skin off the top of a knuckle while sharpening a Left: The silos from Jim Herman's farm loom in the background of Little A-Merrick-A. Below: Owner Lee Merrick said he built the park so he could watch children enjoying the rides from the window of his house.

Hometoum is a weekly feature about people and places in the PAT SIMMS member of the loading crew guided the wagon by moving its tongue as it was pulled to the first flatcar. Then the rope was attached to a Caterpillar tractor, which slowly pulled it to its designated point on the flatcar, where it was secured. Loading the 75 wagons took about 10 hours, said Burdick, who has worked for Circus World Museum for 20 years and directed train loading for 11 years. Burdick is also responsible for the loading and unloading of the wagons in Milwaukee and their movement to the parade starting point, about two miles from where they're unloaded. The return trip to Baraboo will be July 19.

In addition to the wagons on the train, the museum sends three semi-trailer loads of equipment to Milwaukee for the parade, he said. Animals taking part in the parade also make the round-trip by truck. Burdick said some loading crew members have helped load wagons since the 1960s. "Volunteers come back year after year. They have the circus in their blood.

We all do," Burdick said. The train travels between 20 and 25 mph "for the safety of the train and wagons and so that people can see it coming down the tracks." "It's a beautiful sight," he said. "This thing is gorgeous." By Roger A. Gribble Wisconsin State Journal BARABOO "The adrenalin gets flowing whenever I do this," said Harold "Heavy" Burdick, as he checked the chocks and straps that secured a colorful Circus World Museum wagon to a flatcar. "It's just as exciting as it was the first year I did this," said the burly Burdick, who supervises some 20 workers in the tricky task of loading 75 wagons on the Great Circus Train, which rolls into Madison today.

Three two-horse teams, Caterpillar tractors and the skill and muscle of the loading crew were used to load the 19 flatcars on Saturday and Sunday. Dozens of spectators watched Sunday as the wagons were carefully pulled from one flatcar to another, then fastened securely for the 172-mile journey to Milwaukee for Sunday's Great Circus Parade. The 27-car train will leave here at 9:15 a.m. today. It will be in Madison from 11:15 a.m.

to noon at the railroad yard between Fordem and Pennsylvania avenues on the city's Northeast Side. During Sunday's wagon loading, teams of Percheron draft horses pulled wagons up a ramp with the aid of a pulley and a long rope. Once the first wagon was aboard the flatcar, another team of horses pulled it to the first flatcar. A ihbmhh chain saw. The scar matches the other one, which was an accidental attempt to whack off his thumb.

No sharp objects for this man. Truth in politics: Remember the other day when U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold responded to the possibility that Gov. Tommy Thompson might run against him in 1998, with the statement, "It would be a Someone told Thompson that Feingold said he would look forward to such a race.

"Yeah, I bet he would," said Thompson. Kid at heart: Dane County Board Chairman Mike Blaska was seen negotiating the turns on the go-cart track at Little-A-Merrick-A amusement park in Marshall during the Dane County GOP summer picnic. Just practicing his zigzagging. Phone: (608) 252-6126; E-mail: snoopstatejournal.madison.com sprouted roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, merry-go-round, haunted house and 19-hole mini-golf course. "I built this park for kicks in my old age," said Merrick, 76.

"I know I built it in the wrong place, but I built it here because I own the land and I have a business here (Marshall Stock Removal), my home is here and my life is here. "I didn't build it to make money," he said. "It is a place to have fun and to see my train go by my window and hear its music. This park is for little people with a small income. I have businesses in other places and if I had to make money with this, we'd be in trouble.

I haven't made a nickel since we started." But money obviously isn't Merrick's single motivation. "Next year we actually may make a profit instead of breaking Please see PARK, Page 2D Circus train route If you go to Little A-Merrick-A 1 Portage 4.10 p.m. arrival 9 a.m. departure Baraboo 9:15 a.m.lV Poynetie 2:30 p.m. Lodi 9:55 a Ill.T m.V Dane 10:22 a ES I Columbia County Deforest Oconomowoc I 1:15 p.m.

Wau Waunakee 10:35 a.m. i 2:05 P-' are $1 For unlimited rides except go-carts and mini-golf, 5-hour passes are sold for $6 for children ages 6 and younger; $1 0 for 7 and older. There is no admission or parking fee. Rides include the Scrambler, Ferris wheel, Tilt-A-Whirl, Mad Mouse roller coaster, Swiss toboggan roller coaster, bumper cars, and kiddieland rides. There also is a merry-go-round and a haunted house.

The park is open noon to 8 p.m. daily, Memorial Day through Labot Day. Groups or companies can reserve a building for picnics or parties. For information, call 655-3181 Little A-Merrick-A is 14 miles east ot Madison, just outside Marshall. To get there, take I-94 and exit on Highway and turn left, then right on Highway TT.

Take that to Highway 19, then turn right and continue to the park at 700 E. Main St. (The more direct route from Madison is I-94 to Highway 73, north to Marshall, then to Highway 19, but Highway 73 is closed because of construction.) Tickets for the train ride, go-carts, and 19-hole miniature golf course are $3 each. All other rides Pewaukee 1 p.m. Milwaukee Amtrak 2:40 p.m.

TUESDAY Portage to Milwaukee TODAY Baraboo to Madison to Portage Washington 3:15 pi Lakefront: 4:15 p.m. i .1 i Mike Blaska takes a spin around the go-cart track at Little A-Merrick-A amusement park. WSJ WSJ graphic.