Local News Briefs Monday 12/9/13

Roads are snow covered and slippery this morning. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Sergeant Eric Halbach says that goes for the major highways and county roads as well. He urges using extreme caution on both on and off ramps. He says slow lanes are cleared on the major highways, but not the fast lanes they remain snow-covered and slippery. Halbach says plan to take a little more time to get where you’re going. He says two runoffs were reported on Highway 41 late last night, but no major accidents. Winnebago County Sheriff’s officials say during the afternoon and evening hours Sunday they had 9 vehicles go into ditches, 17 property damage crashes, but only one minor injury accident.

FDL Man Bound Over For Trial In Heroin Death

A 39-year-old Fond du Lac man suspected of supplying a fatal dose of heroin to a Fond du Lac County man has been bound over for trial. Jason Van Norman was in Fond du Lac County Court for a preliminary hearing last Friday. He is charged with 1st degree reckless homicide and heroin trafficking in the death of Devin Perry, a Town of Springvale resident, in October of last year. Van Norman and 26-year-old Joshua Mulder of Waupun are both suspected of supplying the herion that led to Perry’s death. Mulder faces similar charges. Van Norman is being held in the County Jail on $500,000 cash bail.

Three Bound Over On Robbery With Use Of Force Charges

There was a preliminary hearing in Fond du Lac County Court last Friday for three people suspected of robbing a woman in Fond du Lac in October. Twenty-three-year-old Joshua Gehde and 27-year-old Courtney Shelly of Fond du Lac, and 26-year-old Cori Ritz of Chilton pled not guilty to being party to robbery with of force charges during the hearing. The suspects were allegedly looking for prescription pills when the woman was jumped on a street and taken to a residence on east Cotton Street and robbed of her purse and cell phone.

Two Sheboygan Police Officers Suspected In Drunken Driving Accident

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-Two Sheboygan police officers have been placed on administrative duty after their arrest last week for drunk driving.  The officers have been identified as 25 year old Ryan Walloch and 35 year old Stephen Schnabel.  Police Captain Steve Cobb said the two were off duty and driving their personal vehicles at the time of the crash at North Taylor and Superior Avenue late Wednesday night.  Cobb said the crash occurred when one car stopped at the flashing red lights on Superior and was hit from behind by the other vehicle.  Neither officer was injured.  Cobb said they were placed under arrest at the scene and an internal investigation is underway.

AmericInn Groundbreaking In Waupun Today

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held in Waupun this afternoon for the new AmericInn hotel that will be constructed on Shaler Drive. The new hotel will feature 3 floors and 61 guest rooms, a pool area and more. The 32,200 square foot hotel is being built in the Meadowview School redevelopment area. Construction is expected to be complete next June. The hotel will be independently owned by Marshview Hospitality and operated by Lighthouse Hospitality Group of Muskego. The groundbreaking ceremony is at 3 p.m. at the hotel site at 204 Shaler Drive.

Lomira Schools Referendum

Lomira Schools Superintendent Bob Lloyd says under a $24 million referendum the district will place before voters next February two of the older parts of the K-12 facility would be demolished and rebuilt. He says the 1936 and 1952 portions of the building would be demolished. He says the 1936 portion has been built onto 11 times. He says people generally preferred building on the current site when they were surveyed. He says right now the mill rate for the Lomira School District is $8.89 per thousand dollars of value on a property, which is lower than neighboring districts. The state average is $10.19 and passing of the referendum would put the district a little higher than the state average. He says the impact would be a $175 increase in taxes for a home worth $100,000.

United Way Campaign At 74 Percent

An official with the Fond du Lac Area United Way says they saw a nice bump in donations over the Thanksgiving holiday. Amber Kilawee says they are now at nearly three-quarters of their $740,000 goal. She says so far they have raised $545,270. She says quite a bit came in before Thanksgiving in the way of company campaign envelopes. She says most of the smaller fundraising efforts on their behalf have wrapped up, but gift certificates to Salty’s, Sebastian’s and Friar Tuck’s that benefit the United Way will be available for sale soon. Last year’s campaign benefitted over 19,000 people in the community.

FDL School Board Preview

The Fond du Lac School Board holds its final meeting of 2013 tonight. During the 5 p.m. meeting the board will consider approved a 1 percent total base wage increase for members of a custodial/maintenance union. The cost of the 1 percent increase comes to $29,314. Also during the meeting Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert will review the procedures for weather-related school closings and delays. The meeting will be held at the District Administration Center board room at 72 West 9th Street.

Space Heaters Can Be Dangerous

With the colder temperatures people are trying to stay warm in their homes, but Fond du Lac’s Fire Chief says if you’re going to use a space heater make sure you use it safely. Peter O’Leary says if you’re a renter and you don’t feel your landlord is doing an adequate job of heating you can have that checked by the City. He says you should be careful about placement of space heaters particularly around kids or something that is flammable. He says if you think of it as a kitchen oven that’s on you will give it respect and be more cautious.

Salvation Army Lieutenants Enjoying Second Christmas In FDL

It’s going to be the second Christmas season in Fond du Lac for Salvation Army Lieutenants Steve and Telinda Wilson. Steve Wilson says they had just been married when they joined the Salvation Army. He says they’ve been with the Salvation Army for 11 years, the last 5 years as lieutenants. They were living and working in Indiana when they got the assignment to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He says his parent’s are also officers with the Salvation Army. The Wilsons and the Salvation Army have been busy of late with last Friday’s Bucket Brigade effort at KFIZ, the Angel Tree and Adopt-a-Family efforts.

Thousands Attend Annual Holiday Parade Of Lights In FDL

Thousand braved the cold Saturday and lined downtown streets in Fond du Lac for the annual Holiday Parade of Lights. Santa Claus always makes a bold entrance and commanded attention getting a ride in the Fond du Lac Police Department’s new SWAT vehicle. K107’s Drew the Intern had a chance to interview Santa who said he always enjoys his trips to Fond du Lac. After the quick interview Santa and Mrs. Claus counted down the crowd to the lighting of the official Christmas Tree at Veteran’s Park. K107’s Alex Schumacher and Bart Winkler had the call. If you missed the parade you can hear a podcast of it at KFIZ.com under the On Demand tab and other events section.