Local News Briefs Wednesday 8/20/14

In other Fond du Lac County Board notes. County supervisors unanimously voted in favor of having the County spend $3,000 to participate in an initiative with Winnebago and Outagamie Counties and the City of Oshkosh on an aerospace cluster study. That’s the 10 percent match for each for a $30,000 grant that would be used to find explore the expansion of the aerospace sector in the region to replace jobs lost through recent layoffs at Oshkosh Truck. Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel says it would also be a good way for the County to find other potential business for its aeronautical park and diversify job opportunities in the area. The board also approved union contracts for the highway workers and social service workers and an increase in differential pay for nursing staff who work second and third shifts. That brought up a question about why the County waited until mid-way through the year to settle union contracts. Buechel tod the board it would remain that way because the state allows unions until January 30th of each year to recertify. The board also approved supporting the Ripon Noon Kiwanis fundraising effort to raise an estimated $250,000 in donated labor, equipment, materials and cash for the construction of a splash pad in Riggs County Park.

FDL Woman Escaped Injury In Sheboygan County Traffic Accident

Sheboygan County Sheriff’s officials say a 25-year-old Fond du Lac woman is lucky she wasn’t hurt when her car went down an embankment during the peak of a thunderstorm Monday night. Mariajuana Durandepineda’s lost control of her vehicle when it began to hydroplane on State Highway 23 west of Greenbush. It traveled down an 8-foot embankment. She wasn’t hurt in the mishap.

Waupun Teen Gets Probation For Restaurant Burglaries

The Waupun teen who broke into two restaurants in the City was recently sentenced to two years of probation. Andrew Biever broke into Chang Jiang’s Restaurant last February and Helen’s Kitchen last April. He was caught when police got a call from a bank in the City after the 17-year-old tried to exchange a large amount of coins for paper money. He later confessed to Waupun Police Detective Brian O’Donovan. He was originally charged with two counts each of felony burglary, misdemeanor criminal damage to property and misdemeanor theft.

Catalytic Converter Thefts

Sheboygan County Sheriff’s officials say they received more reports last weekend about catalytic converters being stolen from under pickup trucks. The latest thefts occurred in the Howards Grove area and the Town of Sheboygan. Authorities say in the past two months they’ve gotten complaints about the theft of catalytic converters from trucks parked in dimly lit areas. The thief uses a power tool to cut them off. The thefts occur during hours of darkness.  Anyone with information is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.

N. Park At Winnebago Drive Closed In FDL

Fond du Lac’s Public Works Department tells us a portion of the intersection of Winnebago Drive and North Park Avenue will closed at 6:00 a.m. this morning to fix a water main leak. As a result traffic heading east on Winnebago Drive will be closed with vehicles diverted around the construction site via East Scott Street and North Park Avenue. South bound Park Avenue will be closed. Vehicles exiting Lakeside Park will be required to turn east or west on Winnebago Drive.  For north bound Park Avenue traffic there will be no left turn allowed on to west bound Winnebago Drive. For traffic heading west on Winnebago Drive no left turn will be allowed on to south bound Park Avenue. Repair work will take place Wednesday with new concrete pavement poured on Thursday. The intersection will re-open to traffic on Monday.

NFDL Village Board Discusses CIP And Budget

The North Fond du Lac Village Board has begun discussions about their capital improvement needs and the budget for 2015. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says after receiving bids for street resurfacing they decided to not do any resurfacing this year because of the high costs. He says their main street project next year will be on Harrison Street. He says one of the purchases they will have to make is to replace an aging ladder truck for the Fire Department. He says it’s almost 30 years old and its ladder isn’t long enough for some of the buildings in the village. Hornung says they also need to discuss whether they need to replace police squad cars every four years. He says discussions on the capital improvements plan and budget will continue for the next few months before the board approves both.

FDL County Board Special Recognitions

The Fond du Lac County Board last night honored seven county employees who have recently retired. Between them they worked 194 years for the County. Those employees are Cathy Blank, Ann Hermann, Margaret “Peggy” Kuhnz, Laura Little, Patricia Marx, Mary Montag and Linda Schmitz. Also honored during the meeting were Winnebago Lutheran Academy student Christopher Colla who won the WIAA Division 2 Boys Golf Tournament and the Oakfield High School softball team who won the WIAA Division 4 State Championship. For the Oaks it was their fourth state title in six years.

Ad Hoc Committee Will Take A Look At Sheboygan County Voting Results

 We can do better.  That’s what Sheboygan County Administrator Adam Payne told supervisors Tuesday night regarding the timely reporting of election results. The past few elections have seen the county be one of the last in the state to report full results, including last week’s primary when a computer problem prevented full results from being made public until after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Payne said he’s confident the solution will come from within, and he’s in the process of creating an ad-hoc committee of county leaders, IT specialists, and past and present clerks to review the current reporting system and suggest new ideas.

Hospice Hope Cancer Care Charity Open Winners Announced

Patients and families of Agnesian HealthCare’s Hospice Hope and Community Cancer Care are the big winners in this year’s Agnesian HealthCare Foundation Hospice Hope Cancer Care Charity Open. A total of $267,000 was raised to support these vital healthcare services. Dave Gitter of Mt. Calvary won the grand prize his choice of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Latitude FWD or $15,000 cash. Paul Huenink of Fond du Lac won the second place prize of $5,000 cash and The MT Club of Eden received the third place prize of $2,500.