Local News Briefs Thursday 8/1/13

A 19-year-old Hubertus man has been charged for the strangling death of 19-year-old Jessie Blodgett and the attack of a woman in a Richfield Historical Park. Daniel Bartelt was charged yesterday in Washington County Court with 1st degree intentional homicide for Blodgett’s death and 3 felony counts for the July 12th knife attack in the Richfield Historical Park including attempted 1st degree intentional homicide. Blodgett’s mother found the young actresses body in her home Monday, July 15th. She had been acting in a performance of Fiddler on the Roof and had returned from a cast party early that morning. A roll of electrical tape was found under the footboard of Blodgett’s bed, it had Bartelt’s fingerprints on it. The two were classmates at Hartford Union High School.

 

Waupun Man Facing Possible Weapon Charge

 

Waupun Police say a charge of intoxicated use of a firearm is being referred to the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s office against a 44-year-old Waupun man. They say he was drinking and making suicidal threats Tuesday night. He fled into woods and fired off the shotgun in the woods at the Fond du Lac County Park. Family members were in contact with him by phone and managed to talk him into putting down the gun and coming out of the woods. He was taken to St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac were he was evaluated.

 

Oxford Man Sentenced To Prison For Beaver Dam Break-Ins

 

A 21-year-old Oxford man has been sentenced to four years in prison for breaking into an AmeriGas location in Beaver Dam twice in a one-year period. Anthony Kavcich was sentenced in Dodge County Court this week. He and 28-year-ood Joshua Travers of Baraboo broke into the business last January and also in March of last year. Kavcich was also given four years of extended supervision, ten years of probation and ordered to pay $3,300 in restitution. Travers reached a plea agreement and will be sentenced on August 20th.

 

St. Mary’s Springs Academy Makes Initial List Of Voucher Schools

 

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-St. Mary’s Springs Academy in Fond du Lac is one of 48 private schools and systems who want to accept voucher students this fall. Department of Public Instruction spokesman Patrick Gasper says parents interested in sending their children to those schools will have from today through August 9th to apply. The schools are spread across the state, although 15 of the systems did take part in the Milwaukee Parental Choice program last year. If more than 500 students apply, those schools will be excluded from the statewide program. The first year of the program is capped at 500 students and the 25 schools that get the most applicants. The program is open to students whose family income is below 185-percent of the federal poverty level.

 

 

Pioneer Road Project Reaches Construction Milestone

 

Fond du Lac County Highway Commissioner Tom Janke says the Pioneer Road Project reached a significant milestone Tuesday. He says they transferred traffic from the rail line to the rail bridge. He says now they can start gearing up for excavating work for the underpass. He says they also have completed major construction for the roundabout at Morris Street. It’s not fully open yet to traffic. He says the roundabout at Hickory Street is still under construction. Janke says the project is still on target to wrap up by November 8th.

 

UW-Fond du Lac Student Housing

 

The UW-Fond du Lac could see some student housing in its future. UW-Fond du Lac Dean John Short says in a survey students said they’d like to see some student housing on campus. He says those students said they’d be more engaged and would be more likely to stay and talk with an advisor, attend an athletic event or play. He says a feasibility study will be done to see how practical housing on campus would be. He says quite a few of the UW two-year campuses have housing or are developing it including Richland, Barron County, Fox Valley, Rock County, Marshfield-Wood County, and now UW-Fond du Lac. The housing survey grew out of a facilities master plan for the UW-Fond du Lac.

 

Next FDL Reads Book Chosen

 

The book for next year’s Fond du Lac reads program has already been picked out. Fond du Lac Public Library Community Information Coordinator Terri Fleming says it’s a book by Ernest Cline called Ready Player One. It takes place in the not so distant future in a bleaker world. She says in that future everyone lives in virtual reality and it involved an intense game that is played in that future. She says they will have fun with the Fond du Lac Reads program for the book tying in games and puzzles. She says the book is already the basis for a movie that is being developed about it. This year’s Fond du Lac Reads book is Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog and the Triumph Of Trust At Ground Zero, a story of personal triumph during 9-11.

 

25^th Annual EAA Quilt Show

 

Some groups plan their events around the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh each year. That includes the members of the Lakeside Quilters Guild who will have their Silver Anniversary EAA Quilt Gathering today. Noreen O’Brien of the Guild says it’s free and will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oshkosh Senior Center, North Building. She says there will be demonstrations throughout the day and you might just find something with an airplane theme in it. There will door prizes and an affordable lunch available. O’Brien who works for the Fond du Lac County U-W Extension Service says quilting is one of the lost arts you can learn about through the extension service.

 

Berger Book Bag Applications Due Today

 

Berger Book Bag applications are due today. Available to incoming and continuing UW-Fond du Lac students, the grant can award, to those selected, up to $300 to purchase textbooks and class supplies for the Fall 2013 Semester. The sole criterion of eligibility for the grant money is financial need. Berger Book Bag is a fund administered by the UW-Fond du Lac Foundation for the purpose of providing financial assistance to UW-Fond du Lac students who might otherwise have difficulty in purchasing required books and academic supplies.  The funding for this program is made possible through the generous gift made by Judith Berger O’Brien to honor the memory of Joseph S Berger, Jr., who with his father Joseph S Berger, Sr. was instrumental in the establishment of the UW-Fond du Lac campus. The application, which is available at the UW-FDL Business Office, Student Services Office and the UW-FDL Foundation office, can also be found online at the UW-FDL Internet Web site by visiting the “Scholarships” page and clicking on the Berger Book Bag link.

 

Goose Hunters Reminder

 

Department of Natural Resources officials are reminding Goose hunters wishing to hunt the Horicon zone that today is the deadline to apply for a Horicon goose permit.  They are expecting 6 tags per hunter again this fall, which successful applicants will receive via mail.