Local News Briefs Saturday 4/5/14

A Fond du Lac County jury this week found a 40-year-old Fond du Lac man accused of beating a man with a hammer not guilty of 1st degree reckless injury and false imprisonment. Maintaining a drug house and cocaine possession charges also brought against James Graham were dismissed. Charges stemmed from an incident in October of 2008 when a man showed up with a hammer at Graham’s residence looking for drugs. Graham was hit in the head, but managed to take the hammer away from the man and in turn struck his attacker in the head a number of times.  It took about 70 staples and stitches to close the man’s wounds.  Graham failed to show up for a preliminary hearing in the case in May of 2009 and wasn’t located until this past January when he was taken into custody as a suspect in another case.

FDL County Improves In Health Rankings

Fond du Lac County improved in some categories when recent County health rankings were issued. Joyce Mann is the Public Health Nurse Supervisor for the County. She says the County improved from 36th last year to 32nd this year in health outcomes among the state’s 72 counties. She says the health outcomes category is a look at the County’s health overall. The County ranked 29th in health behavior, but was 18th in both health factors and social and economic factors. The rankings are put together by the UW Population Health Institute and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.

FDL Fire Dept Putting Together Fire Investigation Team

Besides being out front as a media contact for the Fond du Lac Fire Department Division Chief of Fire Prevention Troy Haase has been drafting some policies. He says some of that had to do with developing policy for fire investigations in which they work with the police department. He says they are also forming a fire investigation team so he has other members of the fire department he can work investigations with. It was about a year ago that Haase succeeded Tom Wendt as the department’s Division Chief of Fire Prevention.

Thiesfeldt No Regrets Over Legislative Session

State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he has no regrets when it comes to what the state legislature accomplished during the recently ended session. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says they managed to pass into law 7 or 8 different initiatives and give back more than $500 million in income and property tax money to state residents. He says he would have liked to pass one more piece of legislation he’s tried to push through during two sessions now. He says that has to do with a bill he authored to reform post employment benefits for public workers. He says if he’s reelected he will give it one more try.

Huge Flag In Sheboygan Going Back Up

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-The huge Acuity flag in Sheboygan will be returning after a 5 year absence, but in a different location.  Acuity said the flagpole is currently under construction east of its building as a symbol of gratitude to our country and those who defended it.  The pole will tower 400 feet high and carry a flag measuring 60 by 120 feet.  The pole is 11 feet in diameter at its base.  Acuity raised its first flag in June of 2003, but it was toppled by the wind.  A new pole was then erected in July of 2005 billed as the tallest flagpole in the country, but that was dismantled after it began swaying in the wind in April of 2009.  The new pole currently under construction requires a foundation over 10-feet deep containing nearly 700 yards of concrete.  That pole is 11 feet wide at its base.

Cathedral Choirs In FDL Sunday Benefits St. Lawrence Seminary Music Department

The public is invited to attend the Cathedral Cocerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Division Street in Fond du Lac Sunday afternoon. The Concert Treble Choir and V-JaM Singers will be performing at 1:30 p.m. with Sarah McVeigh conducting. At 4:15 p.m. there will be a prelude that at 4:30 p.m. the Cardinal Singers will be performing. Cory Schneider will be conducting. Both concerts are free, but a free will offering will be taken at each concert to assist the music department at St. Lawrence Seminary, who lost their entire department during a recent fire.