Local News Briefs Saturday 12/13/14

The Brownsville teen suspected of robbing the BP Gas Station in Brownsville has been bound over for trial. Alec James Ryan waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Dodge County Court this week and entered a “not guilty” plea when he was arraigned on charges. He allegedly told the clerk at the gas station on November 17 that he had a pistol in his waistband.  The clerk never saw the weapon. He then fled on foot with a carton of cigarettes.  He will be back in court next month.

Grant Will Help With Expansion Of FDL Bike Loop

Fond du Lac City Manager Joe Moore says the Fond du Lac Bike Loop is a big deal. It was one of the things he highlighted in a Year End Review he did for the City Council this past week. Moore says a lot of individuals and organizations contributed to the bike loop. Although he didn’t reveal specifics about the donor he informed the Council that a local grant will help with improvements to the bike loop in the next two years. He says the local grant from a private entity will be over $200,000, which will help expand the loop and pay for improvements to it in 2015 and 2016.

RMC Donating Some Equipment And Furnishings During Move Into New Facility

Officials at the Ripon Medical Center will complete their move into their new facility on Parkside Street this weekend. Ripon Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Katherine Vergos says not all the medical equipment and furnishings will be making the move with them. She says they’ve been working with a non-profit organization that will take any medical equipment that won’t be used in the new facility and find a use for it. She says in addition to that donation they will be donating some office furnishings to a couple of other local non-profits. She says Habitat for Humanity and Diverse Options will benefit from those donations. The new Ripon Medical Center and Wellness Center together represent a more than $46 million investment in the community.

Quite An Investment For Ripon K9 Team

Ripon Police Captain Bill Wallner says people don’t realize the types of expenses associated with a K9 unit. An effort to raise $85,000 to form a K9 unit for the Ripon Police Department was realized this week. Wallner says there’s the cost of purchasing the dog, equipping a police car for it and training the officer who will handle it. He says the training for the officer with the dog takes about 6 weeks. Fund raising for the K9 unit will continue to pay for ongoing costs. Wallner says the K9 unit should start patrolling the streets of Ripon this summer.

Culver’s CEO Frequent Visitor To The Area

Culver’s CEO Craig Culver visited Fond du Lac this week to help the East Johnson Street Culver’s celebrate being one of the four finalists in the Culver’s Crew Challenge. Culver is no stranger to the area. He’s visited their restaurants, but also done some motivational speaking. He says he always looks forward to the visits. Culver says he has a home in Green Lake and his mother grew up in the area. The winning Culver’s restaurant in Culver’s Crew Challenge will be selected in February during an annual convention for the restaurant chain. The winning restaurant and its crew will get the top prize of $50,000 with the three runners up each getting $10,000 checks.

FDL Public Library 3D Printing Demonstration

The Fond du Lac Public Library will be giving a chance to use 3-D printers at the main library on Sheboygan Street Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The library’s 3-D printers will be available to the public to print projects at no charge. Library staff will be on hand to facilitate the printing. No registration is required, but due to heavy volume, most print projects will be ready for pickup at the library at a later date.