Feb. 22 – March 4

• Last year’s snow removal expenses blew the county’s budget out of the water. The county had budgeted $445,000 for snow removal, but had to spend $555,999 thanks to heavy snow in early 2009. The Door County Board of Supervisors covered the gap by transferring $110,999 from the Undesignated Fund Balance in the General Fund.

The county budgets for snow removal based on a five-year rolling average for snowfall.

• The Memorial to Door County Fallen Veterans, Inc. donated $9,647 for maintenance, repair, and improvements to the Door County Veterans Memorial. Also, the Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament donated $2,470 to the Parks Department for the purchase of a 30-foot flag pole at Robert M. Carmody Park.

• The City of Sturgeon Bay approved updates to its comprehensive plan at its Feb. 23 City Council meeting. The plan is available on the city’s Web site at http://www.sturgeonbaywi.org.

• The Wisconsin State Senate passed BadgerCare Plus Basic health insurance plan. The plan is for people with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, with no dependent children who are on the waiting list for the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan.

The plan is not designed to be a long-term health coverage plan, but to keep individuals healthy while they wait for space in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan. More than 64,000 individuals have enrolled in the state’s BadgerCare Plus Core Plan, which suspended new enrollments in mid-October due to budget limits. Since that time, nearly 30,000 individuals are on a waitlist for the program. For more information visit http://www.badgercareplus.org.

• The Wisconsin State Assembly passed the Responsible Lending Act Feb. 16. The bill regulates the payday loan industry. The act limits loans to a maximum of $600 or 35 percent of biweekly income. It also bans rollover and auto title loans, among other aspects. The bill still requires approval by the State Senate.