Local News Briefs Saturday 8/17/13

A 47-year-old Waupun Correctional inmate has had a year added to his prison term for punching a guard in the head. A Dodge County jury found John Comer guilty of a battery charge in July. The charge stemmed from an incident at the prison last February when Comer punched a guard after he was told he was late for breakfast. Comer has served ten years of a 30 year prison sentence for child molestation and was also convicted in 2004 of Battery.

 

Sales Tax Holiday Bill Stalled In Committee

 

State Senator Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac says a bill he authored that would give a sales tax holiday to those buying back-to-school-related items has stalled in a Senate committee. He says the legislative fiscal bureau estimated the bill could cost the state about $14 million in sales tax revenues. Gudex says their estimates were more conservative. He was also hoping to give a sales tax holiday in November of each year for Energy Star appliances or energy efficient products. Gudex says the State of Florida actually makes money during their sales tax holidays.

 

Waupun Development

 

Waupun City Administrator Kyle Clark says they are making some headway on development in the City. He says recently they had an open house for the Taco Bell development. They have also seen some housing development. He says Dave Decker built two 16-unit apartments and they are all fully occupied. He says Decker is breaking ground for two more 16-unit apartments. Clark also notes there has been a lot of reinvestment in the facades of downtown buildings. He says with those facades they try to maintain the architectural integrity of the buildings.

 

Three Area School Districts Among Ag Education Grant Finalists

 

The America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, has selected its 2013 Finalists, and three of the 23 Wisconsin finalists are area school districts. They are the Campbellsport, Kewaskum, and Waupun Area school districts. They are in the running for a grant of up to $25,000 to enhance their math and science programs. This year’s winners will be announced on August 27th.  For the past month, a panel of educators reviewed applications and sent the strongest submissions for consideration by the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory Council. The Advisory Council, comprised of farmer-leaders with a vested interest in both agriculture and education, will select the winning grant applications from the pool of finalists.

 

Drawing For United Way Contributors This Year

 

Those who give more than $100 a year to the Fond du Lac Area United Way will have a little more incentive for this fall’s fundraising campaign. United Way Executive Director Tina Potter says everyone who gives a minimum of $104 or $2 a week will be entered into a drawing for the chance to win cash prizes. She says the drawing will be held after the campaign on January 17th with a top prize of $1,000 and three prizes of $500. Last year the campaign raised over $735,000.

 

MPTC Uses Amazing Race To Familiarize Students With Campuses

 

Moraine Park Technical College wrapped up a special way of welcoming students to campus this week. MPTC academic advisor Greg Mittlesteadt says they incorporated the popular TV show The Amazing Race during their student orientation welcome days on the Beaver Dam, West Bend and Fond du Lac campuses. He says they split students up into teams and gave them some challenges to accomplish. Mittlesteadt says they were encouraged to think outside the box to come up with a fun way to acclimate students to the campuses. He says they began brainstorming last February and eventually came up with the Amazing Race concept.

 

Back To School Supply Efforts

 

There are a couple of back to school supply efforts in Fond du Lac today. The Forest Mall will hold their “Back at It” event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and donations of school supplies can be dropped off there. Also today the Fond du Lac Evening Lions Club will hold their “Stuff the Bus” event at the Walmart Store on Rolling Meadows Drive, also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Back to school supplies will be distributed a week from today to needy families.