Local News Briefs Tuesday 3/24/15

The City of Fond du Lac will host a public information meeting tonight to present the preliminary engineering plan for improvements for a dedicated right turn lane near the southern driveway for Walmart. The meeting will be in Room G on the first floor of the City-County Government Center. It will be conducted in an open house format from 5 to 6 p.m.  The proposed project consists of adding a dedicated, slotted right turn lane along North Rolling Meadows Drive at the southern Walmart driveway location.  Construction is currently scheduled for 2016.  The northbound outside lane and southern Walmart driveway will be closed to traffic during construction.

FDL School Board Forum Tonight

The AAUW and Fond du Lac Area Retired Educators host a Fond du Lac School Board Candidate Forum tonight. It will be at the legislative chambers of the City-County Government Center in Fond du Lac at 7 p.m. School Board candidates Susan Jones and Linda Uselmann will be participating. The third candidate Eric Everson couldn’t participate because of a work conflict. Panelists will question the candidates with time allotted for audience questions. The moderator is Mike Mentzer, a former editor for The Reporter. The forum will be carried on Charter Cable channel 980 it will also be streamed on the City’s website.

Proposed Cuts To Education Budget In State Budget

Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert says there may be some movement on proposed cuts in categorical aid to public schools in the state budget. Sebert updated the school board yesterday and told KFIZ news that’s what he’s been hearing from local state legislators State Senator Rick Gudex and State Representatives Jeremy Thiesfeldt. Under the proposed state budget categorical aid for students to the Fond du Lac School District would be cut by $1.1 million in the first year of the two-year budget. Sebert says there also may be a change to the proposed $300 million cut to UW-System schools such as the UW-Fond du Lac. He says he’s holding out hope that things will improve for both public schools and UW schools.

MPTC And Marian Sign Articulation Agreement For Transfer Of Credits

Officials with Moraine Park Technical College and Marian University in Fond du Lac signed a transfer agreement last week. Marian President Bob Fale and MPTC Interim President Bonnie Baerwald signed the agreement that takes effect for students this fall. Baerwald says the articulation agreement will allow the transfer of credits in five associated science programs at MPTC towards nine different baccalaureate degree programs at Marian. She says the MPTC associated science programs are for alcohol and other drug abuse, radiology, nursing, marketing and business and management. Baerwald says the two schools will be working towards other initiatives they can partner on.

Senator Gudex Glad To See Program For Technical Education Working

State Senator Rick Gudex says he was pleased to recently see the Fond du Lac School Board adopt a policy for a program that will allow high school students to earn credit towards attending technical college. It came out of the Wisconsin Fast Forward tax credit program Gudex authored that will pay school districts $2,250 for each student that graduates through an accreditation program. He says those technical programs would also help students who plan to go to work after graduating high school. He says about half of high school students go on to college, but the other half don’t. He says businesses are willing to invest time and money into talented people they know can be successful.

Ignite Supplies FDL County Entrepreneurs With Support

The president of the Fond du Lac Economic Development Corporation says other communities want to know more about a program that fosters entrepreneurs and ideas. Steve Jenkins says they’ve gotten calls from all over the country wanting to know how the Ignite Fond du Lac County program was put together. He says it is a collaboration of 15 support and resource agencies that helps entrepreneurs get started and to grow. He says it’s important to have something like Ignite Fond du Lac County around to help with innovation especially with every changing technology. He says one of the most important components of Ignite Fond du Lac County is the constant support. Recently the Ignite Fond du Lac County website was launched to help with that support.  

Some Online Offerings During Waupun Summer School

The superintendent of the Waupun Area School District says their summer school program says is trying to offer more opportunities especially in grades 6 through 12 with the addition of some online courses. Tonya Gubin says some students would like to take more electives, but can’t during the regular school year. Gubin says for some students it’s even the chance to take care of some physical education classes. Summer school in Waupun starts about a week after regular classes in June and runs through the 4th of July.

Ferraro Film To Be Shown At UW FDL

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac are sponsoring a free showing of the film “Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way” on Tuesday, March 31st in the Large Group Instruction Room (UC-113/114) at the university. The event starts with a gathering time at 6:15 p.m. and the film showing at 6:30 p.m. Ferraro was the first female Vice Presidential nominee of a major political party in the United States. The film profiles her life and how Ferraro’s nomination changed national perception. It features archival footage and interviews with many leading political figures, both Democratic and Republican. Judy Goldsmith, former campus dean and former national president of the National Organization of Women (NOW), will speak after the film. Goldsmith led NOW when that group encouraged Ferraro to run. She is currently a member of the Fond du Lac County Board of Supervisors. UW-Fond du Lac is a higher education partner of AAUW. Any female UW-Fond du Lac student may become a student member of the organization for free. The AAUW has also purchased a copy of the film for the UW-Fond du Lac Library.