Local News Briefs Thursday 8/21/14

Oshkosh Police last Thursday searched two homes where drugs were being sold or manufactured and arrested seven people. Police say it began in the 800 block of Jackson Street where they were looking for a 35-year-old Oshkosh man who was wanted on a warrant. They found him outside and got a warrant for the residence where they found heroin, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. While they were there they learned about a residence in the 800 block of Wright Street where meth was being manufactured. They were allowed to do a consent search of that residence and found it was being used as a meth lab. Police determined there was no concern for public safety. The seven people who were arrested ranged in age from 29 to 42 years of age. Two children were found at the residences. A 13-year-old boy was turned over to family and a 14-year-old girl was placed in shelter care until living arrangements could be made. For more information click here.

Hubertus Man Found Guilty Of Teen’s Murder

A Washington County jury this week found a 20-year-old Hubertus man guilty of killing a former high school classmate in Hartford.  The jury found Daniel Bartelt guilty of 1st degree intentional homicide in the strangling death of 19-year-old Jessie Blodgett.  During the trial Blodgett’s mother testified that Blodgett was at a theater group’s cast party last July. The next afternoon she found her teenage daughter dead in her bed.  Bartelt will be sentenced on October 14th and faces a mandatory life term, but the judge can set a date for a possible supervised release at least 20 years down the line.

FDL Will Host World Ice And Snow Sailing Championship

Fond du Lac will be hosting the World Ice and Snow Sailing Championship next February on Lake Winnebago. Fond du Lac Convention and Visitors Bureau President Craig Molitor says they will be teaming up with the Winnebago Association of Kiteboarders, Wind Power Windsurfing and Kiting Center to host the event February 9th through the 14th. He says they were able to beat out another country, Sweden, to get the championships. Russia hosted the championships this year.

He says the event will be held just before the sturgeon spearing season creating another exciting winter event for the area. Past participants in this world championship have come from Russia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Canada and the U.S, along with 11 other countries. Molitor says it’s an exciting sport sort of like windsurfing on ice. It will be the 35th year for the championship event.

Fondy High Spirit To Be Featured On Good Day Wisconsin Friday Morning

Fox 11’s Good Day Wisconsin will be at Fruth Field Friday morning with the Fond du Lac football team and students. Principal Michelle Hagen and Athletic Director Kevin Deering say they are excited the high school has been selected as the Fox 11 Football Game of the Week.  As part of the morning show, the students have been asked to demonstrate their school’s spirit on FOX 11 who will be doing live feeds from 5:30 to 8:30 am at Fruth Field. In order to promote school and community spirit, it is hoped that students and community members will come to Fruth Field to help kick-off the high school football season.  Fruth Field will open at 4:45 a.m. and individuals who would like to participate should plan to arrive at Fruth Field by 5 a.m. and sit in the home bleacher section. In support of Fondy High, participants should wear red clothing or Fondy gear.  To add to this festive environment, the school district will be joining the ALS Bucket Challenge for the closing segment of the show. All students or community members wanting to participate in this challenge should bring a small bucket, towel and change of clothes. The Cardinal’s Nest will be selling concessions for the student body with proceeds being donated to ALS. The football game is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the Fondy Cardinals playing at Appleton North. Coverage of the game will be heard on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ beginning at 6:30 Friday night.

NFDL Parking Restrictions Approved

The North Fond du Lac Village Board this week approved the amending of parking regulations. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says it had to do with trailers, semi-trailers, recreational vehicles, motor homes, camping trailers and boats that were being parked in municipal parking lots.  He says people are allowed time to park them on the street if they are being packed or unpacked for the season. He says when they began limiting parking them on the street for up to 24 hours they created another problem. People started parking them into municipal parking lots. Under the new restrictions those vehicles can only be parked in a municipal lot for 2 hours and if they are parked there for 72 hours or more they are considered abandoned. He says there are exceptions for park and ride situations.

Hoarding Dangerous In Fire Situations

The Division Chief of Fire Prevention for the Fond du Lac Fire Department says hoarding can be dangerous for people living in a home, but also for firefighters in the event of a fire. Troy Haase says they recognized that hoarding can be a mental health issue, but it’s also dangerous in the event of a fire. He says they’ve had a few occasions where people had a tough time getting out of homes during a fire because they couldn’t get to exits. Haase says it’s an issue for families to try and resolve for the sake of their loved ones. He says people have to have a way to exit their homes if there is a fire. Haase says during a fire visibility is limited and firefighters have to feel their way through a home to make sure everyone has safely made it out, which can be very difficult with a bunch of clutter. He says during the past year they had a fire where they had to rescue a person through a window because there was so much clutter in the home.

United Way Kickoff Breakfast Coming Up

The Kickoff Breakfast for the Fond du Lac Area United Way’s annual campaign is just a few weeks away. This year’s pacesetters are Fives Giddings & Lewis and Brenner Tank. The Honorary Chair for the campaign is Kevin Lichtenberg who is Fives Executive Vice President and General Manager. United Way Executive Director Tina Potter says the kickoff breakfast will be held at Marian University’s Stayer Center on September 11th with a 7:30 a.m. breakfast and the program starting at 8 a.m. She says it will feature a couple of speakers who have benefitted from United Way agencies. Those agencies were Habitat for Humanity and the Adult Literacy program. Those who would like to attend the breakfast can call the United Way at 921-7010 or visit their website for more information. 

Wisconsin ACT Scores Up

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-Wisconsin students continued to perform well on the A-C-T college entrance exam this year. Results released by the state’s Department of Public Instruction show an average composite score of 22.2 for Wisconsin high school seniors, out of a possible 36. DPI Director of Education Information Services John Johnson says that’s up a tenth of a point from last year. Johnson says the results also show that there are still some gaps in achievement. He says that’s something that need’s to be addressed. He says that’s something they are trying to do. That report is due out next month. Participation was also up, with 73-percent of the class of 2014 taking the test this year. Johnson notes that all high school juniors will be taking the ACT next year.

FDL County Labor Day Hours

All Fond du Lac County offices in the City/County Government Center, the Sheriff’s Office Lobby Window, the Portland Street Annex including the Veterans Service Office, the Department of Social Services and the Highway Department will be closed on Monday September 1st in observance of Labor Day.