Local News Briefs Thursday 2/27/14

The jury trial for a 39-year-old Fond du Lac man suspected of supplying a fatal dose of heroin to a Fond du Lac County man has been adjourned while he get’s a new lawyer. Defense counsel for Jason Van Norman has withdrawn for the case, which was set for a three day jury trial next week. Van Norman is charged with 1st degree reckless homicide and heroin trafficking in the death of Devin Perry, a Town of Springvale resident, in October of last year. Van Norman and 26-year-old Joshua Mulder of Waupun are both suspected of supplying the heroin that led to Perry’s death. Van Norman has three open cases involving heroin trafficking. Mulder faces similar charges for Perry’s death. Van Norman is being held in the County Jail on $500,000 cash bail.

FDL Man Faces Second Arraignment Next Month

The 44-year-old rural Fond du Lac man who is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and weapons charges maintained his innocence recently on weapons charges. Jeffrey MacMillan was arraigned in Fond du Lac County Court. He’s charged with 12 felony counts of felon in possession of a firearm. He’s also facing 11 other charges in a separate case, which involved the alleged sexual assault of the child. He will be arraigned on those charges on March 14th. Charges in both cases stem from a call to a home on Betty Lane and search of it at the beginning of January.  A motion hearing is scheduled Friday afternoon for the case involving the weapons possession charges.

Fatal Snowmobile Crash In Winnebago County

Winnebago County Sheriff’s officials say a 63-year-old Menasha man died in a snowmobile accident in the Town of Clayton Sunday afternoon. The man was on the Friendship Trail at Fairview Road and didn’t yield at a stop sign. His sled was hit by a vehicle. He was taken to a hospital, but died later from his injuries. The accident happened shortly after 4 p.m. that afternoon.

Charges Being Considered In Puppy Incident

Police in Fond du Lac continue their investigation into an incident last weekend where an 8-year-old boy doused several puppies with bleach. Assistant Police Chief Steve Klein says they have forwarded their reports to the District Attorney’s office for charges against both the boy and his mother. He says both the boy and his mother are looking at potential misdemeanor charges for now. The boy is facing mistreatment of animal charges and the mother being a party to the crime charges. He says other charges are being looked at and whatever the DA might decide. The incident happened at an apartment complex and was reported to police Saturday. The District Attorney’s office received the original police report, but is awaiting supplemental and medical reports before making a charging decision. 

Plymouth Man’s Appeal Denied In Reckless Homicide Case

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-A state appeals court Wednesday upheld a verdict that sent a 28-year-old Plymouth man to prison on a reckless homicide charge. In 2012 Joseph Lengling was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the heroin overdose death of 22-year-old Tabitha Thede of Plymouth. She died in May of 2011. He had raised questions regarding his sentence, the jury verdict, and the sufficiency of evidence used in the case.  The court of appeals ruled there are no other potential issues for appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence. Lengling will also be on extended supervision for 8 years following his prison sentence.

FDL City Council Approves Special Use Permits For Hampton Inn And Kwik Trip

The Fond du Lac City Council approved special use permits last night for two developments. A 73-room Hampton Inn will be built on the former Dartmoor Motor Inn site at 77 N. Pioneer Road. Council President Sam Meyer says along with the Holiday Inn project the City is seeing more rooms becoming available through the pair of projects. The Council also approved a special use permit that will allow construction of a new Kwik Trip on South Hickory Street near the Highway 41 and Hickory Street interchange. Meyer says it will be more than a convenience store. He says the $3 million Kwik Trip will also be a truck stop. The Council last evening also approved improvements to East Arndt, 15th and West 2nd Streets and the assessments for those improvements. No one spoke out against those improvements during a public hearing the Council held prior to taking action on the resolution. 

ALC Recommending Denial Of Nightclub Liquor License

Fond du Lac City staff had several reasons to recommend the denial of a liquor license for a proposed nightclub at the corner of Scott Street and Highway 45. The City’s Alcohol Licensing Committee this week voted 3 to 1 to recommend to the City Council denying the license application from the owners of what would be the Mexico Lindo Night Club. Assistant Police Chief Steve Klein says the building has a capacity of 180, but could hold more with renovations, which would make it one of the City’s largest nightclubs. Plus the proposed owners have no previous experience managing, owning or working in a licensed establishment. Klein says there were also concerns about the business plan. He says there were concerns about addressing potential security issues. He says most concerning was information left out of their application about previous drug convictions for one of the proposed owners. He says convictions for drug and marijuana trafficking that had been reduced down to misdemeanor charges were not mentioned. The Council takes up the license at their March 12th meeting.

Airport Bill

A bill currently working its way through the State Senate and Assembly would give local government more control about who makes decisions regarding land use around airports. State Senator Rick Gudex says Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris approached him and State Representative Michael Schraa with some concerns. Currently Winnebago County’s park commissioner makes recommendations about land use around Wittman Regional Airport. Gudex says a person without the proper knowledge shouldn’t be making those decisions. He says given a change in the law Winnebago County would be able to set up a board with the proper personnel to make those recommendations. He says the bill shouldn’t see much resistance in the state legislature because it’s about creating a safer process for such land use decisions.

Street Closure

Fond du Lac’s Public Works Department shutdown Military Road between Cotton Street and McWilliams Wednesday for sanitary sewer repair. Residents will, in most cases, have access to their driveways. City officials say the street will be open to traffic by the end of the workweek. No detour is being used during the repair work.