Local News Briefs Thursday 11/12/15

FDL Man Now Facing Child Sexual Assault Charges In Two Counties

Bond was set at $25,000 cash for a Fond du Lac man suspected of sexually assaulting a young girl. Christian Dassow made his initial appearance in Fond du Lac County this week. He’s facing two counts of 1st degree sexual assault and eight counts of exposing himself to a child. He’s back in court for a preliminary hearing on December 18th. Dassow is being held in the Calumet County Jail in Chilton where he is also charged with 1st degree sexual assault of a child. 

Theft Reported In Downtown FDL

Fond du Lac Police are looking for a man involved in a robbery at the Focus store early Monday afternoon. Assistant Police Chief Steve Klein says a woman went into the store at 75 South Main Street and distracted the clerk while a man who was with her removed money from a cash register. A community service officer who was nearby spotted the couple getting into a vehicle in the Library parking lot and followed it until an officer could stop the car. The couple had gotten out of the car by then. The officer took the woman and a second man who was driving the car into custody for questioning. The man who took the money from the cash register is still at large.

FDL Director Of Administration Retiring

The City of Fond du Lac’s Director of Administration will be wrapping up a little over 14 years with the City when he retires at the end of January. City Manager Joe Moore announced Hal Wortman’s impending retirement at the conclusion of Wednesday night’s City Council meeting. It came as the City completed work on the 2016 City Budget by passing it. Moore noted Wortman has managed a lot of City assets during his time with the City. He says it’s come to more than $1 billion in City and taxpayer funds. Wortman told the Council that Fond du Lac has been a great place to work and he’s enjoyed working for the County, the city manager and the residents of the City. Wortman says the City has taken great strides to improve its financial condition in the last few years and the City is in good place.

FDL County Supervisors Increase Pay For Committee Meetings

For the first time in several decades Fond du Lac County Board supervisors will be getting an increase in pay. Their base pay of $3,000 a year will remain the same, but the per diem or pay they receive for committee and board meetings will increase from $35 to $45 a meeting. County Executive Al Buechel says that’s for boards and committees other than standing board committees supervisors serve on. Buechel says that pay increase will also affect County residents serving on County committees that aren’t board members. He says that for instance would affect people who serve on the department of community programs board. County Board Chairman Marty Farrell got a laugh when he told supervisors it’s the first increase in meeting pay he can recall in his 21 years on the board. One supervisor yelled out that’s a very long time and Farrell replied yes we used to play with the baby dinosaurs back then.

Dodge County Budget Approved

Dodge County’s Board of supervisors this week approved the 2016 County Budget and a tax levy of nearly $33 million. The levy increased a little over a quarter million dollars over 2015. Property owners will see a one cent decrease in their tax rate to $5.68. Major capital improvement projects in 2016 will include a $2.9 million highway shop replacement in Neosho and a security upgrade at the County jail and courthouse that will cost $2.3 million.

Fewer Applying For Teaching Vacancies

Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert says it’s become more difficult to fill teaching vacancies in the past few years. He says part of that is due to fewer people seeking degrees in education. He says they are still getting quality people for teaching positions, but they aren’t seeing the number of applicants they have in the past. He says there are certain areas that are harder to fill than others. He says for instance in the technical education field and special education depending on the type of program. He says on the other hand people that substitute teach are finding full-time positions. Sebert says that circumstance is also drying up their substitute teaching pool.

Kroger Purchasing Roundys

The Kroger grocery store chain is purchasing Milwaukee-based Roundy’s. Roundy’s stores include Copp’s, Pick ‘n’ Save, Metro Market and Mariano’s. Fond du Lac has two Pick ‘n’ Save stores. Through the merger Kroger and Roundy’s will operate 2,774 stores in 35 states employing 422,000 workers. The $800 million merger agreement is expected to close by the end of the year.