KFIZ News Wednesday 1/18/17

Illinois Man Will Be Sentenced Today For Infants Death In FDL

A sentencing hearing will be held today for the 30-year-old Bellwood, Illinois man found guilty of killing a 14-month-old boy and injuring his infant brother in Fond du Lac. Last September a Fond du Lac County jury found Daniel Griffin guilty of charges stemming from an incident at the Maplewood Commons Apartments on July 7th of 2015. The toddlers’ mother, 25-year-old Airrealle Smart, is also facing charges. Her six-day jury trial is scheduled to begin March 27th.

Waupaca HS Student Arrested For Threat

Police in Waupaca have arrested a 17-year-old Waupaca High School student for allegedly threatening to “shoot up a school.” Some one called a Waupaca County Crime Stoppers line to report the threat.  Police ay comments were also posted on Facebook. The student faces a possible charge of making a terrorist threat. Last week two teens in Fond du Lac and three in the Oshkosh area were arrested for alleged threats.

Badger 5 Winner In FDL

Lottery officials say two lucky players matched all five numbers in the Badger 5 drawing on Saturday to split the night’s $179,000 jackpot and one bought their ticket in Fond du Lac. In fact that player bought that ticket at the Speedway Super America Store on West Johnson Street in Fond du Lac. The other winner bought their ticket at a Stop-N-GO Store in Madison.  Winners at all prize levels have 180 days from the drawing to claim their prizes by mail or in person at the Lottery’s Madison or Milwaukee offices. Saturday’s winning Badger 5 numbers were 2, 4, 14, 17 and 29.

Icy Sidewalks And Parking Lots A Challenge

Icy sidewalks and parking lots should start thawing with warmer temperatures, but an official with Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue says you should still use caution until that ice is gone. Division Chief Troy Haase says they got quite a few calls at the start of this week for people who had fallen. He says it isn’t so much the air temperature as the ground temperature, which causes the wet surfaces to refreeze. Haase says it actually helps to walk like a penguin. By that he means keep your weight over your feet and take small steps. He says if you walk with a cane or crutches put your hands out a little bit.

County Crews Battled To Keep Ice Off Roads

Fond du Lac County road crews were busy keeping up with icy roads over the past few days. Patrol Superintendent John Zettler says they had a number of trucks both Monday and Tuesday. He says they used 34 trucks during the day and 10 trucks overnight. He says they use salt brine along with the salt they put on the road to reduce the ice. He says the salt brine is sprayed on the salt and dropped directly on the road. He says they had to continually salt the roads because they kept refreezing.

State Senate Minority Leader Disagrees With State Of The State Assessment

The State Senate Minority Leader doesn’t agreement with Governor Walker’s assessment of how the state is doing after 6 years of him leading the state. Jennifer Shilling says she doesn’t agree with the Governor’s assessment during last week’s State of the State Address that Wisconsin has been better off with him in office. She says she and her colleagues respectfully disagree with that assessment. She says for the last five years Wisconsin has been below the national average for job creation. Shilling says the Governor hasn’t lived up to his promise of creating 250,000 new jobs. She says he was supposed to accomplish that by the end of his first term and he’s been in office for six years. Shilling says there are serious concerns about transportation funding, UW System funding, K-12 public school funding and more as they tackle another State Budget.

Senior Snowball Dance Coming Up Saturday

Area senior citizens are invited to the Fond du Lac Family YMCA’s Senior Snowball Dance this Saturday at the Lakeside Park Pavilion. Joyce Sesing is the Active Older Adult coordinator for the YMCA. She says you don’t have to be a member of the YMCA to attend the dance. She says it will run from 5 to 10:30 p.m. with a champagne toast at 6 p.m., a deejay and dancing. This is the fourth year for the event. She says the first Snowball was held at the YMCA gym, but they moved it to the pavilion at Lakeside Park as it has gotten bigger. She says it is a community event. Tickets are available at the front desk at the YMCA and will also be available at the door the night of the dance.

Wayward Beagle

Thanks to a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy and Village of Jackson police officer a wayward beagle has been returned to her owner. The Sheriff’s deputy checked on a report early Sunday afternoon that the missing dog might be hiding out in a barn. The deputy caught the dog and the Jackson police officer recognized the description as Marcie, a dog that had been reported missing. Marcie had chewed through her leash two weeks before. She was reunited with her owner.

Ripon Medical Center Consultants Laboratory Receives Accreditation

Consultants Laboratory of Wisconsin, LLC, at Ripon Medical Center has achieved a two-year accreditation by the Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists. The accreditation is based on the results of a recent on-site inspection in Ripon. Consultants Laboratory – including sites in Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun – is one of the more 7,600 CAP-accredited laboratories worldwide. The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, begun in the early 1960s, is recognized by the federal government as being equal to or more stringent than the government’s own inspection program.