KFIZ News Friday 8/26/16

Chilton Barn Fire

Eighty firefighters from seven fire departments battled a barn fire in the Town of Chilton Thursday morning. Calumet County Sheriff’s officials say the metal building on Quinney Road had 700 bales of hay, 100 bales of straw, and two pieces of machinery in it. No one was injured during the blaze. The cause of the fire is being determined. A 911 call was made about the fire at 5:15 a.m.

Former Corrections Officer Arraigned On Sexual Assault Charges

A former corrections officer suspected of sexually assaulting three inmates at Fox Lake Correctional was arraigned in Dodge County court this week. Thirty-three-year-old Alex Andre Wouts of Poy Sippi pled not guilty. Allegations were made to the District Attorney’s Office that led to an investigation at the prison last December. Wouts denied the assaults. He will be back in court on September 26th.

Initiative 41 Effort Gets Three Million Grant

A federal grant of $3.1 million will allow more than 20 partners including the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation to work on an initiative to help create greater economic diversity in the I-41 Corridor. Mark Maley is the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. He says the idea is to diversify so that companies in the region are less susceptible to declines in defense spending such as those that led to layoffs at Oshkosh Corporation in 2012 and 2013. He says it is about getting companies who are reliant on the defense industry to start looking at other products and services to offer. He says the other part is about marketing the region and its economy not just one specific community or one specific county. The effort will include implementation of an “aerospace cluster” strategy, a branding effort, a regional entrepreneurship development system, and more.

UW FDL Student Housing Project Still On Target For Spring Completion

Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel says the Fond du Lac City Council’s approval of a special use permit this week was one of the steps needed to get a 121-bed student housing facility built at the UW-Fond du Lac campus. He says permits were needed including a federal permit because it is in a flood plain and the land needs to be built up to get it to the right grade. He says the developer is also arranging financing for the project. He says the project is still on time. He says the developer will break ground some time in October and complete it during the winter. He says they would like to get it done by Memorial Day so they can market it and possibly use it to house people during EAA AirVenture and other summertime events.

Ripon Activates Deer Hunting Team

The Ripon Common Council has activated Team Ripon for another year of thinning the herd. City Administrator Lori Rich says every year they get complaints about deer in the City damaging vegetation. She says Team Ripon, a group of bow hunters, does something about the problem. She says the team had great success last year. She says they took 19 deer. During the past 9 years Team Ripon has removed 121 deer from the City. They do their hunting during the bow season.

Future2Gether FDL Mini Conference

There is still about two weeks left to register for the Future2Gether Fond du Lac Mini Conference. Melissa Worthington is the Vice President of the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce. She says the conference on September 15th at the Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts will bring together Human Resource, Young Professionals, and Fond du Lac Marketing Professionals. She says it is about building a better workforce for the future. The Keynote speaker is Jay Torke of Torke Coffee.  The other Keynote speaker is Loyalty Leader Debra Schmidt who will give the closing address. There will also be two breakout sessions. The Chamber’s website has more information about the conference and you can register for it there. The deadline for registration is Friday, September 9th.

Stretch Of Hwy 26 In Dodge County Will Be Closed For Repaving

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt is asking drivers to obey road closed signs while State Highway 26 is closed for paving. A section of State Highway 26 from Highway 33 to US Highway 151 will be closed on September 1st, 2nd, and 6th. He says there may be times during construction that the road will be opened, but is a “Road Closed-Local Traffic Only” signs are posted that means you are only allowed to drive on the closed section if you live there or have business.

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Fill The Boot Today

Fond du Lac Firefighters will wrap up their Fill the Boot campaign for the Muscular Dystrophy Association today. Members of Firefighters Local 400 have been out a couple days already collecting for the annual effort. Today they are at the intersection of Division and Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To date they have raised a little over $18,000. Donations can also be made to their webpage.