Local News Briefs Tuesday 12/30/14

Washington County Sheriff’s officials say a 27-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested Monday after selling heroin to an undercover officer in Germantown. The suspect fled the scene nearly striking police with his vehicle who tried to take him into custody. There was a brief high speed chase on Highway 41, but police cut it off. Unmarked squad cars followed the suspect’s vehicle to a parking lot in Milwaukee. He fled on foot into a store and was caught while trying to hide in a storage room.

Winnebago County Program Could Be Expanded Statewide

State Senator Rick Gudex says legislation he’s working on would expand a successful alcohol and drug treatment and diversion program piloted by Winnebago County. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says the “24/7” absolute sobriety program has been a success for the program and he’d like to see funding made available to make the program available throughout the state. The program is employed by the judge and administered by the Sheriff’s Department in Winnebago County. He says there would be very little cost to taxpayers for the program. It would be a voluntary program administered through grants. Offenders pay for the monitoring services in the program. He says it’s almost revenue neutral.

Alternate 41

The state has designated some of Fond du Lac County’s larger highways as alternate routes for Highway 41. State Patrol Inspector Scott Hlinak says it’s a designation for occasions like a major accident or road repair. He says they are pre-planned detour routes with posted signs. Signs guide drivers on highways designed for larger traffic. He says for instance Highway 49 to Highway 151 and Highway 26 to Highway 23 or Highway C back to Fond du Lac are a couple of the Highway 41 alternates.

Snowmobile Trails Closed

The ATV Trail along Wild Goose State Trail is now open in Dodge County from Highway 60 to Highway 49. The trail has been determined to be sufficiently frozen.  The 2 year trial for UTV’s or Utility Terrain Vehicles will continue for the 2014-2015 season.  Registered UTVs will be permitted to use the County ATV trail on the Wild Goose State Trail subject to the current ATV Trail rules and restrictions.   Snowmobile trails in Dodge and Fond du Lac County are closed.

NFDL Schools App Available

North Fond du Lac School District residents can now find out what is going on in the schools through an application for their cell phones. It’s available at Google Play, the Apple Store or nfdlschools.org. It will take the user to sports, calendars, the district’s Twitter and Facebook pages and more. North Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says families got a mailing that will help access password protected student information. He says the App is a great way for one-stop information on the school district. He says you can customize it for your own experience.

Living Lab Culls Research From Play

Marian University students are learning about behavior through a program that partners them with the Children’s Museum of Fond du Lac. Museum Executive Director Andrea Welsch says the “Living Laboratories” program allows the students to observe children at the museum. She says similar programs have seen remarkable success across the nation. She says students learn a lot from the kids while they are playing with them and conducting research on the topics they’ve picked to research. She says the students could be doing research on how children share, build and create or draw conclusions. She says the kids don’t usually realize what they are participating in, but the students learn from the way they are responding.

Holiday Hours Early Office Closings

Fond du Lac City and County offices and services will be closed this Thursday for the New Year’s Holiday.  County Offices in the City-County Government Center, the Department of Social Services, the Veterans Service Office and the Department of Community Programs will close at noon on Wednesday. The Sheriff’s Office Lobby Window will close at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The UW-Extension Office will be closed all day on Wednesday and Thursday. The City offices in the City-County Government Center will close at noon on Wednesday. Fond du Lac Transit will operate until noon on Wednesday. The Senior Center will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday. The public library will close at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The Municipal Service Center will close at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Refuse and recycling will be collected on Wednesday, but the collection normally picked up on Thursday will be picked up on Friday January 2nd along with that day’s normal collections.

CitizensFirst Oshkosh Move

In an effort to provide greater convenience to its Oshkosh members, CitizensFirst Credit Union will be relocating one of its branches from just north of the city to a more accessible location. Currently located at 2655 North Main Street in Oshkosh, the branch will move just over one mile to 215 West Murdock Avenue, the former location of Vitale’s Italian Cuisine. The restaurant’s recent decision to sell its property has made the branch relocation possible. CitizensFirst expects the new branch to be operational by the end of summer or early fall of 2015.

STEM Academy Tours

The Fond du Lac School District’s STEM Academy will hold tours for potential students and their parents during three sessions over the next two months. Students attending the STEM Academy are in grades three through five. Tours will be held on Tuesday, January 13th, Thursday, January 22nd and Tuesday, February 10th from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tours will begin every 15 minutes. Daytime tours are also available on Friday, January 16th and Tuesday, February 10th from 2 to 2:45 p.m. The open enrollment period for the 2015-16 School Year for the STEM Academy is from February 1st through 28th.  More information about STEM Academy, 401 S. Military Road, is available on the Fond du Lac School District’s website: www.fonddulac.k12.wi.us — select “Schools” then “STEM Academy”, or by calling the school at 920-906-6722.