Local News Briefs Tuesday 1/26/16

Murder Trial Starts In Green Lake County

A two-week jury trial began Monday in Green Lake County Court for the 34-year-old Berlin man suspected of murdering his estranged wife and her boyfriend in September of 2014. Nicholas Tuinstra is suspected of murdering Melissa Tuinstra and Justin Daniels, both 28-years-old, at their apartment building in Berlin. Nicholas and Melissa Tuinstra had filed for divorce the week leading up to the murder. The shootings occurred the night of September 27th of 2014.

FDL School Board Approves Revisions To Open Enrollment Policy

The Fond du Lac School Board Monday approved revision’s to district policy on open enrollment. The changes were required to conform to changes to open enrollment made through the state budget. District Superintendent Jim Sebert says school administrators worked on the changes and the school board held workshops to make sure the changes were made right and fair. Cap numbers had to be set for both regular education and special education students. He says there are caps in some special education area and there were no caps put on regular education students. Sebert notes the open enrollment period, that begins February 1st and runs through April 29th, used to be a lot shorter. He says at one point it was only about three weeks long.

Thiesfeldt Bill Would Give Bigger Share Of Wind Farm Revenue To Townships

State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt has introduced a bill that would give townships a fairer share of revenues from wind farms. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says the state gets some revenue from wind farms operators and then counties and municipalities split a smaller share. He says currently counties get about two-thirds of the local share and townships the remaining third. He says his bill would split the local share 50-50 between counties and townships. He says he’s always found that kind of odd. He says it would mean less for counties, but would make a big difference for townships that have even less to pave local roads. Thiesfeldt says there might not be enough time to pass the bill during what remains of this sessions. He says if not he will try to bring it back next session.

New FDL Police Officer Started As CSO With Department

New Fond du Lac Police Officer Sandra O’Donnell started out in the department as an intern through their Community Service Officer program. She says she started as a CSO in January of 2013 and stayed on in that role for a few years then applied for a full-time position. She says she always wanted to be a police officer. She says she worked in food service for 17 years, but decided she wanted to go down the path she dreamed of. O’Donnell says she began life a military brat. She was born in Germany and was raised there until she was about 10-years-old, but her family ended up in the Antigo/Wausau area of Wisconsin. O’Donnell graduated from the Fox Valley Technical College Police Academy last December and is currently in field training with the Fond du Police Department.

MPTC IT Students Get Experience Working With Seniors

Students in Moraine Park Technical College’s IT Club have been getting practical experience helping out seniors at the Fond du Lac Senior Center. MPTC Associate Dean of Business and IT Lisa Pollard says the students do classes and one-on-one instruction with seniors. She says they are teaching basic computer skills. She says they help the seniors with questions about navigating computers or their smart phones, tablets and how do basic things like take a photo and upload it to a website. She says the program has been a success. She says it is service learning and the kind of experience they will need in the field when they are working. She says they will need to know how to work with a variety of people.

Mercury Introduces New Engines

Mercury Marine has introduced its new 40hp and 60hp SeaPro FourStroke engines. Engineered to deliver longer engine life, the 40hp and 60hp SeaPro FourStroke engines provide enhanced features and are built for high-hour applications and to withstand harsh saltwater environments. The 40hp and 60hp SeaPro FourStroke engines will be available globally in mid-2016. The new engines complement the current 75, 90, 115, and 150hp SeaPro FourStroke engines that were released in 2015.

Top Law Enforcement Exploring Post To Be Determined At Annual Conference

The Wisconsin State Law Enforcement Explorer’s will hold their annual conference at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells this weekend. Law enforcement exploring is a program open to young men and women, ages 14 to 20 that have an interest in a career in law enforcement.  At the annual conference explorer posts will compete against each other in several events designed to test their skills and training in an effort to be named the top Law Enforcement Exploring Post in the State of Wisconsin. The conference is this Friday through Sunday. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt is vice-president of the organization that advises Explorers’ posts.