Local News Briefs Friday 2/28/14

The puppies doused with bleach by an 8-year-old Fond du Lac boy are making progress in their recovery. The Fond du Lac Humane Society released a short video on their Facebook page yesterday showing the puppies at play. According to the post the pups will be on antibiotics for a while, but chemical burns to face and head are healing nicely. They are also eating and drinking on their own. Society officials say donations to the Sweetie Medical Fund are helping them with medical treatment for the puppies. Humane Society Facebook page. 

Sheboygan Fire Victim Died Trying To Save Cat

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-The Sheboygan woman who died in a mobile home fire early Wednesday morning may have gotten out of the mobile home, but died trying to save her cat.  Sheboygan County Coroner Dave Leffin says 39-year- old Dawn Bourdeau died of smoke inhalation and multiple burns.  Bourdeau lived with her parents and a sister in the mobile home in the Indian Trails Mobile Home Park off of South Business Drive.  Her parents and sister got out safely after the trailer erupted in flames.  Sheboygan firefighters say the mobile home was engulfed in flames when they arrived on the scene.  Fire Chief Mike Romas says the family told firefighters that Dawn had gotten out of the trailer safely, but had gone back in to save her pet cat.  Romas says the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Meanwhile the cause of the fire has been determined to be careless use of smoking materials.

DNA Evidence Leads To Arrest Of Ripon Man

Ripon Police say DNA Evidence led to the arrest of 21-year-old Ripon man for a rash of criminal damage to property and theft that occurred on May 11th of last year. The damage to yard decorations, vehicles and a camper occurred in the area of Carol Avenue and John Street. DNA on evidence recovered at the scene matched that of a suspect Brett Williams.  Two counts of criminal damage to property and two counts of theft have been filed against him. He will make an initial appearance in Fond du Lac County Court on Tuesday, March 25th.

Reeseville Man Arraigned On 8^th Drunken Driving Offense

A Dodge County man pled “not guilty” when he was recently arraigned on his 8th drunken driving offense. Fifty-four-year-old George Gamboeck of Reeseville was hurt in a 3-vehicle accident last December on Highway 19 in the Town of Portland. Authorities say when he was given a breath test his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit for intoxication (.25). He is being held in the Dodge County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond.

Oshkosh Sex Offender Moving

Oshkosh Police say a 57-year-old sex offender will be moving to 1746 Iowa Street today or later. Thomas Peralta Jr., was convicted in 1999 for sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl and showing pornographic videos to an 11-year-old boy. He knew both victims. He was also convicted for sexually assaulting developmentally disabled men. He will be on GPS monitoring for the rest of his life.

Solutions Center In Good Hands During Search For New Director

The Solutions Center in Fond du Lac couldn’t be in better hands while they search for a new executive director. The center’s board of directors recently appointed Maggie McCullough interim executive director replacing Lindee Kimball who says she too was ready to go in a new direction. McCullough is a veteran with more than 30 years of nonprofit experience. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Solutions Center and says she’s glad to be back. She says over the next several months they will be doing an evaluation of all their services and programs. She says they are in good financial shape and there’s been a lot of growth under Lindee’s leadership. She says they continue to grow and need to take a good look at that and continued growth. The Solutions Center operates four shelters in Fond du Lac, a men’s, women’s, family and warming shelters.     

Ag Showcase At FDL County Fairgrounds Saturday

Food, wine, presentations and the best of area agriculture will be on display at tomorrow’s Agricultural Showcase at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds Recreation Building. Brenda Gudex is the Director of Agricultural Programs for the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce. She says there will be plenty of cheese and sausage to sample. And there’s plenty more with about 65 vendor booths. She says you should also bring along some money to buy products at the different booths and in case you want to pick up a root beer float. Alice in Dairyland Fond du Lac County native Kristin Olson and the Cooking Mom Amy Hanten will also be giving presentations. The cost to attend is $2 which supports the Ag Ambassador program in the schools. Hours for the Agricultural Showcase are from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Bids Awarded For Ripon Street Projects

The Ripon Common Council this week approved bids for three street projects. City Administrator Lori Rich says the biggest of the three is the Thomas Street project, which she says will cost about $350,000 with money coming from the General Fund. She says utility work for the project will be picked up the City’s utilities. She says a bid for the repaving of the City Hall parking lot came in the $65,000 to $70,000 range, much less than the anticipated cost of $90,000. She says the project was part of the agreement they struck with Commonwealth Development, which is building an apartment complex next door and will allow Commonwealth to use some of the parking available in the City’s parking lot. A bid was also awarded for the sanitary sewer work on Carol and John Streets.

New Wildlife Biologist For The Area

The Department of Natural Resources has a new wildlife biologist for Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties. Rachel Piette began with the Oshkosh Field Office in September and holds the job Mark Randall used to. She’s a native of Freedom, Wisconsin in Outagamie County. She says she used to go fishing and hunting with her dad in the area when she was really young. She got a bachelor’s degree in biology at the UW-Stevens Point and has done a lot of field work including a whitetail deer disease study. She’s also worked in La Crosse, Elmo and in Buffalo and worked in Buffalo and Trempealeau counties. She says she likes the variety of work the jobs offers. She says anyone with questions is welcome to give her a call at 920-424-7886. 

Senator Gudex Town Meeting In Town Of Oshkosh

State Senator Rick Gudex will be holding a town hall meeting in the Town of Oshkosh today. It will be at the Oshkosh Town Hall on Winnebago County Road Y from 11 a.m. to Noon. Gudex says he always comments from residents of the 18th State Senate District if they have ideas or concerns. He says town hall meetings and office hours help him gather information on issues that could lead to legislation. He says more office hours will be announced for this spring.