Local News Briefs Monday 5/18/15

Washington County Sheriff’s officials say a 43-year-old Town of Trenton man suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his hands and legs after using used motor oil and gas to start a camp fire in his backyard Sunday night. As he poured the mixture into the fire pit a flare up occurred catching the gas can and victim on fire. The Newburg Fire Department took him to a landing zone and Flight for Life flew him to a Milwaukee area burn unit. Alcohol was a factor in the accident, which was reported just before 7:30 p.m.

Sheboygan Man Accidentally Shoots Himself

Sheboygan Police say a Sheboygan man accidentally shot himself Friday night while he was handling a gun inside his home in the 2700 Block of South 11th Street. The man’s injuries were non-life threatening. Police say the accident could have been much worse and remind gun owners to be careful handling firearms. They urge gun owners to take a firearms safety class.

Stalking Suspect Bound Over For Trial On Identity Theft Charges

The 24-year-old man from the Netherlands suspected of stalking a Fond du Lac High School student has been bound over for trial on two identity theft charges. Hendrikus Descendre was in Fond du Lac County Court last Friday for a preliminary hearing. He allegedly had an online relationship with the student and was charged with stalking this past February. The stalking charges stem from actions he took during a trip to Fond du Lac, which included visiting her neighborhood and showing up at her mother’s workplace. According to the criminal complaint for the new charges he used her name and photos to create a website, pretending to be her. 

Seymour Street Closure

Fond du Lac’s Department of Public Works tells us Seymour Street will be closed between Grove Street and West 11th Street. The closure is scheduled for tomorrow and that stretch of street will remain closed one day to complete bridge repairs. There will be no marked detour.

Drones Can Be A Danger To Medical Helicopters

Agnesian HealthCare and Flight for Life have teamed up to get the message out to the operators of drones to make sure they are operating them safely. Jayce Commo of Flight of Life says education is one way of preventing an unfortunate incident when a medical helicopter is responding to an emergency. Drones are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aerial systems. Commo says they aren’t worried about the experienced drone operators, but the novice who just bought one and hasn’t learned to operate it yet. One law pertaining to the operation of drones is that they can’t be operated within five miles of an airport or hospital with helipads. He says under that same law you have notify people at an airport or hospital if you’re going to be flying a drone. The FAA also has rule limiting operation of a drone to no more than 400 feet above the ground.

Click Or Ticket Starts Today

If you’re not in the habit of buckling up when you get in the car you better make a practice of it during the next two weeks. The Click It or Ticket enforcement effort starts today and runs through May 31st. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Captain Rick Olig says he’s been to enough fatal accidents over the years where a driver or passenger would have survived if they hadn’t been thrown out of the vehicle because they weren’t buckled up. He says according to the state more than half of the drivers and passengers killed in traffic accidents weren’t wearing their seat belt. He says looking back at Fond du Lac County’s statistics for fatal accidents over the past 15 years he saw a similar number. Olig says it came to 44 percent. He says for a law enforcement officer one of their worst nightmares is getting to the scene of a traffic accident and not being able to locate a driver because they were thrown out of the vehicle.

CVB President Impressed With New Holiday Inn Facilities

The President of the Fond du Lac Area Convention and Visitors Bureau says the new Holiday Inn Express and Lake Winnebago Conference Center will be a real plus for drawing business and larger conferences and gatherings to Fond du Lac. The Holiday Inn Express will open soon and Craig Molitor says it’s a very nice facility. He says the Lake Winnebago Conference Center upgraded and expanded from the previous Holiday Inn conference facility has already held a few gatherings. He says altogether the event space for those facilities is over 24,000 square feet. He says it’s nothing like Fond du Lac has ever seen before in the meeting space category. The Fond du Lac City Council this past week approved a liquor license for the Holiday Inn Express.

PTSD And AODA Support Groups Forming

Fond du Lac County’s Veterans Service Officer says support groups are being put together for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and alcohol and drug issues. Rick Patton says traditional alcohol and/or drug programs don’t always work for veterans because of the way they developed those issues. Patton says they are putting together veteran only PTSD and AODA groups, but also PTSD groups for police, fire and EMS and families. He says they need to hear from people who would like to participate to get things rolling. He says you don’t have to give your name, but should tell them which time of day works best. He says they are hoping to put together providers and find out what kind of interest there is so they can start meetings in mid-July. He says if you’re interested call the Veterans Service Office at (920) 929-3117, 929-3157 or 929-3120.

NFDL Schools Tour

The North Fond du Lac School District’s Facility Long Range Plan Committee will tour North Fond du Lac Schools tonight. The tour will kick off at 5 p.m. at the Early Learning Center followed by tours of the Horace Mann High School and Bessie Allen Middle School. Following the tour the committee will meet in the District Meeting Room and will recap what they’ve seen and plan the next meeting. The public is welcome to attend.

Commencement Exercises Held In FDL

Marian University and Moraine Park Technical College held their commencement ceremonies Saturday. At Marian’s commencement ceremony held in the Sadoff Gymnasium on Saturday, keynote speaker Mark Lasky, Chief Executive Officer of Sadoff Iron and Metal Company, congratulated graduates on their achievements, and challenged them to continue to learn and enjoy their life journey. MPTC’s ceremony at the Fond du Lac High School Field House featured keynote speaker, Agnesian HealthCare President and CEO Steven Little. The UW-Fond du Lac’s commencement ceremony is this Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Prairie Theater. The commencement speaker is Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel.

UW FDL Commencement Thursday Night

The UW-Fond du Lac will hold its annual spring Honors and Commencement ceremony at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Prairie Theater.  Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel will be the Commencement speaker. Buechel was awarded UW-Fond du Lac’s 2014 Spirit of Excellence Award for his support of education in the community. Patrick Schwoerer of Fond du Lac has been selected as the student speaker. He plans to major in elementary education with a minor in coaching and will be transferring to Marian University in the fall. The Student Choice Teaching Excellence award will be presented to Richard Klein, communications and theater arts instructor, during the ceremony. Graduates at the spring Commencement ceremony will be awarded the Associate of Arts and Science Degree. A reception for graduates and their families will be held in the University Center Commons following the ceremony.

Baby Memorial Service At WMH Tonight

Waupun Memorial Hospital will be sponsoring a memorial service and burial of babies delivered before the 20th week of pregnancy at 6 p.m. tonight. Anyone who has experienced such a loss in the past year is invited to attend a special memorial service in the hospital’s St. Francis Room. A short service follows at Cattaraugus Cemetery.