Local News Briefs Thursday 10/17/13

A felony theft from a business charge has been brought against a 61-year-old Fond du Lac woman suspected of taking nearly $3,000 from the Brothertown Nation’s Bingo Hall in Fond du Lac. According to police reports Donna Shady volunteered at the bingo hall and a total of $2,887.66 was taken last December and during the early part of January. Purchases Shady made on a credit card for the hall were supposed to be for food and other necessities used at the hall. However it was discovered that she was taking cash advances out of ATMs in Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Bowler, and Keshena at casinos and Kwik Trip stores. Confronted with the thefts she told board members she needed $400 for rent and admitted to taking another $1,600 although it turned out nearly $2,900 was taken. Shady made her initial court appearance Tuesday and a $1,000 signature bond was set. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 21st.

Parole Denied For Sheboygan Woman

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-The Sheboygan woman currently serving a ten year jail sentence for the 1957 death of her infant daughter will be staying in prison for at least two more years. District Attorney Joe DeCecco said that parole for 77-year-old Ruby Klokow has been denied.  Klokow was sentenced in May for second degree murder of her daughter – Jeaneen – and, following 1957 law, was eligible for parole after only six months. DeCecco said the person he is most pleased for is her son, James, who had been blamed by his mother for causing her to be distracted and leading to the death of Jeaneen.  James was two years old at the time of the incident. The case was re-opened after James went to Sheboygan police with his suspicions in 2008. Klokow’s next chance for parole will be October 21, 2015.

Dodge County Budget Introduced

(WBEV-Beaver Dam)-The 2014 Dodge County budget was introduced to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday night. The county would levy $32-million dollars, an increase of $100,000 from the current budget. That results in a proposed tax rate that is up two cents from last year at $5.70 per one thousand dollars of assessed value. The county portion of the tax bill on a $150,000 home would be $855, up less than four dollars from the most recent tax bill. Spending on public safety, health and human services, the highway department, the airport and Clearview Nursing Home total $97.3 million dollars and represents 82-percent of the budget.

UW Oshkosh Building Will Be Renovated

Wednesday the State of Wisconsin Building Commission approved several key building projects.  In total $157 million were approved for construction at UW campuses across the state. The UW-River Falls is getting $64.3 to construct the Falcon Center for Health, Education, and Wellness and renovate Ramer Field. Another $56 million will be used to renovate two academic buildings—UW-Stout’s Harvey Hall in Menomonie and UW-Oshkosh’s Clow Social Science Center. Also $31.2 million will be used to renovate dorms at the UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater. In addition to those UW projects a number of other projects were approved including the replacement of the La Crosse State Office Building HVAC system.

New Holstein Gets State Trust Fund Loan For Project

The state’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands this week approved nearly $3.1 million in State Trust Fund Loans to support seven municipal projects and two school projects in Wisconsin. Among the loans that were approved was an $85,000 loan for the City of New Holstein to build a fire department training tower.

Senator Gudex Says Property Tax Relief Bill Was The Right Thing To Do

State Senator Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac says he’s glad to see $100 million in property tax monies heading back to residents. He says it’s the right thing to do because it is taxpayer money. The State Senate approved the tax relief on Tuesday and it now goes to the State Assembly for approval. Gudex says the tax break is possible thanks to a bigger than expected state surplus. He says that’s due to reforms put in place working, a growing economy and the state is heading in the right direction. The tax break will be spread out over two years. The bill also puts an additional $153 million into the state’s rainy day fund.

Replacing FDL County Highway Garage

While Fond du Lac County moves ahead with a design study for a new highway garage in Campbellsport they are also looking at replacing the current highway garage in Fond du Lac. County Executive Al Buechel says they were facing some issues with the aging Fond du Lac highway garage such as safety, productivity and storage space. He says a consultant is evaluating options to replace the Fond du Lac highway garage on its existing site or building on a new site. He says if they went with an option to build on a new site they will have to look for land to do it. Barrientos Design & Consulting of Milwaukee is doing the studies for the County.

Bill Would Restrict When Referendums Could Be Held

Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg says a bill making its way through the state legislature would restrict when a referendum can be held to regular election days. She says special elections costs quite a bit to stage. As an example she says it cost the Fond du Lac School District quite a bit for school board primary a couple years ago that was the only election in the County. She says that particular election cost the school district about $8,000 and would have cost more if she hadn’t done the programming for it. Under the new bill referendums could only be held during regular election days. After all the elections in 2012, 2013 has seen very few, but Freiberg says more will be spent on elections in 2014 when there will also be fall elections.

New Sheriff’s Detective Learning The Ropes

Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Detective “Pete” Vergos is still learning about his new role in the department. He was recently promoted from Patrol to detective after five years with the department. His law enforcement career began with the North Fond du Lac Police Department where he spent five years. Vergos says he was also in the Navy as a corpsman where he was stationed at Bethesda. He says he was with the emergency medical response team and they treated casualties from the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9-11 and from the U.S.S Cole bombing the year before that. He says he’s pleased over his recent promotion. He says although he’s been a police officer for 10 years he’s receiving special training detective’s need. For more on recent Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s hires, retirements and promotions click here. 

RMC’s Vergos A Rising Star

For the second consecutive year, Becker’s Hospital Review recently named Katherine Vergos, Ripon Medical Center chief operating officer, among the Top 25 Rising Stars in its annual list of hospital and health system leaders under 40. The list recognizes men and women nationwide that have spearheaded hospital initiatives, integrated technology and overseen hospital expansions in the midst of economic pressures and healthcare reform. Vergos was named as the chief operating officer at Ripon Medical Center in June 2011. She had previously served as the vice president of Patient Services at Ripon Medical Center and as a member of the executive team that facilitated the affiliation between Ripon Medical Center and Agnesian HealthCare. Vergos has served in healthcare leadership positions over the last nine years at both Agnesian HealthCare and Aurora Health Care.  She earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Marian University in Fond du Lac, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Healthcare Administration at Park University.

FDL Leaf Collection Starts Monday

Fond du Lac’s annual leaf collection will begin next Monday in the southeast section of the city.  The collection will precede in a clockwise direction – to the southwest, northwest, and northeast sections. The leaf collection process will continue for approximately seven weeks, ending on Friday, December 6. Again this year there will be a map available on the City’s website indicating the progress collection crews have made to date. The “Leaf Collection Progress Map” will be located under the “Important Notices” menu. The map will show which areas have been covered by collection crews, and arrows will indicate which direction the crews will be moving. The map will be updated toward the end of each work day.  For more information visit the city’s website.