April 2013

Middleton’s boys track and field team finished 42^nd overall at last Saturday’s WTFA State Indoor Championships held at UW-Whitewater.

Green Bay Preble won the event with 63 points, while Mequon Homestead (29), Madison Memorial (26), Kettle Moraine (25) and Arrowhead (22) rounded out the top five.

Middleton finished with two points.

“In the end, it wasn't the day we were hoping for to end our indoor season,” Middleton coach Isaac Mezera said. “The bright side is there's a lot of track left and we're hungry for the outdoor season to start.”

Middleton’s points came from Steven Harris, who was seventh in the 800 meter run (1:59.84). Monroe’s Ethan Moehn won the race in 1:56.81.

“Steven Harris was in one wild 800,” Mezera said. “He had a tough time establishing position and ended up running more than 800 meters in all of his attempts to get around and through the pack.  

One day, as Robert Love watched the opening sequence in a hit video game for which he’s written the script, he realized his aesthetic sensibilities would have prompted him to choreograph some of the action differently.

An enthusiastic adherent to the “learn by doing” philosophy, Love, a writer and voiceover director at Raven Software in Middleton, figured he’s try getting behind a camera, and he started making short films.

Fast-forward to March 24 of this year, when Love’s debut feature film, “Dead of the Night,” premiered before a sold out crowd at Sundance Cinemas in Madison.

“This was a three-year project. It’s probably good I didn’t know from the start how much work it would be, or I might not have done it,” he says, pausing to correct himself with a grin. “I definitely still would have done it.”

First the snow came — and refused to leave.

When there was finally a break on that front, the rains followed.

As far as springs go, this one has been a nightmare for coaches, athletes and the schedule makers.

And with most sports already a few games behind, the next six weeks will be a scramble. That’s because by mid- to late-May, all sports are into their postseasons.

“The problem is there’s an end date that we have to be done with everything with by,” Middleton athletic director Bob Joers said. “We’re trying to be creative … and we might have to eliminate some non-conference stuff. But it’s been a great challenge.”

Indeed it has.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the girls softball team had already postponed its first five games. The boys baseball team had postponed its first four contests.

A violent road rage incident interrupted Tuesday morning’s local commute, causing a lengthy delay for many drivers.

According to Capt. Noel Kakuske, of the Middleton Police Department, rush hour traffic into Middleton and Madison was affected when Theodore Malchert, age 41 of Poynette, became enraged and assaulted another motorist with his vehicle and his fists, then used a windshield wiper to shatter another motorist’s window.

The incident occurred on the eastbound Beltline Highway, between Parmenter Street and Airport Road.

Reports claim Malchert followed the other driver, cut in front of him, and deliberately struck the front quarter panel of the vehicle. The collision caused the other driver to lose control and spin out on the highway, coming to rest facing the opposite direction of eastbound traffic.