Local News Wednesday 5/8/13

New Charges Brought Against Fond du Lac Man

 

Two felony sexual assault of a child charges have been brought against a 50-year-old Fond du Lac man who is already serving time in prison. John Wagner made his initial appearance in Fond du Lac County Court yesterday on the two counts of 2nd degree sexual assault of a child. Wagner is currently at Oshkosh Correctional. This past January he was sentenced to a year in prison for videotaping a teenage girl while she was nude. However, bond was set at $10,000 cash on the new charges in case he completes his sentence before the current case is resolved.  A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 14th.

 

Waupun Man Gets Probation For Library Incident

 

The 47-year-old Waupun man who threatened to bring a gun to the Waupun Public Library has been sentenced to three years of probation. Ricky Gerber pleaded guilty to a charge of battery to a Workforce Development employee in Dodge County Court this week. The charge stemmed from an incident last December 21st incident. He was upset with a rehabilitation counselor he was working with when he allegedly made the remark about going home to pick up a gun and bringing it back to shoot everyone because he had nothing to lose. Gerber was upset during the meeting because he was informed he could do some light lifting and work rather than being eligible for total disability. Police arrested him while he was snow blowing in front of his home.

 

Food Stamp Reform Bills Pass

 

Two State Senators from the area are applauding the Senate’s passage of a bill that would help to prevent trafficking of food stamp program benefits. Senator Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac was a co-sponsor of the bill. He says, “Taxpayers deserve to know their money is being spent to help those who are truly needy, and that those who game the system and unfairly stigmatize FoodShare beneficiaries are going to be properly penalized.” State Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau says putting penalties in place for trafficking of the benefits will deter those actions and ensure that those individuals and families actually in need of assistance are receiving the necessary resources. The bill passed on a bipartisan vote of 28 to 5. It’s now on its way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. Meanwhile the Assembly passed a bill that would require those on “food stamps” to purchase healthier foods.

 

FDL City Council Preview

 

Fond du Lac City Manager Joe Moore will review the City Council vacancy selection process for the Council when they meet tonight. The City is currently taking applications for the vacancy created by the resignation of Councilman Jim Sabel whose terms runs until April 15th of next year. The deadline for applying is this Friday. Also during the Council’s meeting the Council will be asked to go on record supporting funding in the state Department of Transportation budget for construction of an interchange and north frontage road at Highway 151 and Fond du Lac County Highway V. The Council meets at 7 p.m. at the City-County Government Center.

 

ADVOCAP Getting More Than $800,000 In Housing Assistance Grants

 

ADVOCAP of Fond du Lac will be getting more than $828,000 in state grants for low to moderate income housing assistance. The state’s Department of Administration recently announced the Housing Cost Reduction Initiative grants and Homebuyer and Rehabilitation grants. ADVOCAP serves Fond du Lac, Green Lake and Winnebago Counties. ADVOCAP will get $733,641 in Homebuyer and Rehabilitation grants and $95,000 in Housing Cost Reduction Initiative grants. Overall between the two programs the state is awarding $12.7 million in grants.

 

NFDL Village Board Creates EMS Manager’s Position

 

The North Fond du Lac Village Board has opted to go in a different direction when it comes to someone overseeing the fire department and EMS services. The Board Monday night voted to create an EMS Manager’s position. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says the position will be posted internally to start with. He says there is already some interest in the department in the position. He says to take some of the pressure off the manager other positions will be beefed up to handle some of the day-to-day operations of the department. Gene Prellwitz resigned in February as Fire Chief and EMS Director. Hornung says they hope by restructuring the position they will be able to keep people in the job longer.

 

Cooking Food Shouldn’t Be Left Unattended

 

The Division Chief of Fire Prevention for the Fond du Lac Fire Department says the apartment fire on West Scott Street last week is a reminder of why cooking food should not be left unattended. In this particular case cooking oil was being heated. Troy Haase says foods cook differently and should be monitored. He says if you’re cooking in the oven the fire may be quickly extinguished, but cooking on top of the stove bears watching. Haase says hopefully people will learn something from the recent fire, which displaced over 25 people in an apartment building.

 

Dead Bird Hotline Reactivated

 

State health officials have reactivated the statewide, toll-free Dead Bird Reporting Hotline at 1-800-433-1610. State Health Officer Dr. Henry Anderson says, “Certain dead birds can act as an early warning system for West Nile virus activity in an area.” He says finding the virus in birds indicates that West Nile virus is present in the local mosquito population. Anderson says anyone who sees a dead bird can call the hotline and arrange to have the bird tested for the West Nile virus. In 2002 the state documented its first human infections with 52 human cases. From 2003 to 2011 the state averaged 10 cases per year. In 2012 there was a significant increase in West Nile virus illnesses compared to previous years, with 57 cases of human West Nile virus infections reported.

 

Spring Into Wellness At The Forest Mall Today

 

News-Talk 1450 KFIZ will be participating in the annual Spring Into Wellness event at the Forest Mall in Fond du Lac today. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and gets started with a continental breakfast. Sue Riegert is the Mall’s guest services manager and a marketing assistant. She says more than 30 vendors will be participating. The theme is “A Day at the Movies” and vendors will incorporate that theme into their booths. She says it’s about people’s health and well-being and is educational and entertaining. Bob Hoffmaster will be there to do the Morning Show from 9:30 a.m. to Noon and KFIZ’s Wade Bates will co-host the 10 a.m. Fashion Show and call bingo at 1 p.m. There will also be demonstrations, music and the Elks will be selling box lunches. Door prizes and the Grand Prize will be given out starting at 2 p.m.

 

Battle Of The Stars/Operation Dress 4 Success

 

Organizers of “Operation Dress 4 Success” plan a full day of fun Saturday capped by the “Battle of the Stars” celebrity dance competition. Julie Wilson of Shut Up and Dance came up with the fundraiser, which will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Fond du Lac Saturday getting underway with a volleyball tournament at 10 a.m.  At 7 p.m. that evening some of her dancers will be putting on a history of dance. Then at 8 p.m. there’s the “Battle of the Stars” with 11 local celebrities paired with 11 of her dancers. Proceeds from the day’s activities will go towards “Operation Dress 4 Success,” which will help purchase new school clothes for needy kids next fall. You can vote for your favorite dancers or find out more about Saturday’s activities at the “Operation Dress 4 Success” website.

S.S. Badger Returns For Another Season

 

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-An old friend returns to port in Manitowoc. An official welcome home ceremony for the S.S. Badger Car Ferry is scheduled for later this month; however, a huge crowd welcomed it to port Monday for another season of sailing. The ferry pulled into Manitowoc from Ludington, Michigan with about 100 passengers on board. Bob Manglitz is the CEO of Lake Michigan Car Ferry Service. He says he’s pleased for all the people who are affected by the S.S. Badger. The 60th season was very much in doubt as pressure mounted to have the S.S. Badger – the oldest steamship on the Great Lakes – either find a cleaner way to dump its exhaust or shut down. A new two year deal with the federal EPA lets the ship keep dumping waste ash into Lake Michigan. Manglitz says he believes the S.S. Badger will continue to operate for a long time to come.