Local News Briefs Tuesday 4/26/16

Superintendents of two local school districts say schools try and create a climate that is safe for students. North Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says unfortunately the shooter outside the Antigo High School prom Saturday night dealt with his issues in a horrific way. He says in North Fond du Lac they work on a culture where they care about people and when something does go wrong people try to react in the best way possible. Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert says the last thing they want to do is evacuate schools because of an active shooter, but they drill for every possibility at the schools including fire and tornadoes. Saturday night 18-year-old Jakob Wagner of Antigo waited outside Antigo High School and shot two students as they left the prom. They survived, but a police officer shot Wagner and he died of his injuries Sunday.

Police Trained For Active Shooter Scenarios

Fond du Lac Assistant Police Chief Steve Thiry says events like shootings outside the Antigo High School prom this weekend is cause for concern. He says they hope to never have something like that happen here, but he says that’s why they train their officers the way that they do for active shooter scenarios. He says officers on the road are capable of stopping a higher threat before a SWAT Team is dispatched. The Fond du Lac High School prom is on May 21st. Thiry says they won’t be doing anything different that night. He says they do have a police presence for those types of events going on at the schools. Thiry says the police officer who shot the suspect outside the Antigo High School probably saved lives in the process. He says it’s no different than what State Trooper Trevor Casper did outside the Pick ‘N Save on West Johnson Street in March of last year.

West Bend Administrator Out On Bond

West Bend City Administrator TJ Justice is out of jail after posting a $5,000 cash bond connected to felony child prostitution charges. Justice recently made his initial appearance in Waukesha County Court. Court documents indicate that Justice sent text messages to a teenage girl in Muskego starting last May suggesting they meet. He is charged with Soliciting a Child for Prostitution and Child Enticement – Prostitution and faces up to 50 years in Prison. Justice is due back in Court next Monday. He is on administrative leave from his position with the City of West Bend.

Sex Offender Released In Oshkosh

Oshkosh Police say a 26-year-old sex offender is now living at 1105 A Jefferson Street. Zachary Shaffer was convicted in 2010 of 2nd degree sexual assault of a child and in 2015 of stalking. He will be on GPS monitoring and will be actively supervised by the state’s Department of Corrections until June of 2021.

Downtown Exploratory Committee Chairman Invites Public Input

The chairman of Fond du Lac’s Downtown Exploratory Committee says committee members alone can’t be expected to come up with recommendations to improve the downtown. Sam Meyer says the committee is just starting its work that will lead to an oral report for the City Council in July and hopefully written recommendations in December. He hopes the recommendations they come up with will be backed by public and private dollars. Meyer says the closing of the Retlaw Hotel may have helped spur the creation of the committee, but he feels that situation may resolve itself before the committee can make recommendations about it. He invites people to weigh in with their recommendations about downtown improvements saying the committee needs all the input it can get. He says you can also keep up to date on the committee at the City’s website. 

Heller To Be Honored At FDL County Board Meeting

The Fond du Lac County Board will pay tribute to late County supervisor Melvin Heller during their meeting tonight. A resolution will be approved honoring the former Fond du Lac Police Chief who recently passed away at the age of 90. Heller was with the Fond du Lac Police Department for 41 years and after retiring ran for County Board and served as a supervisor for 20 years. He also served in WW II. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the City-County Government Center in Fond du Lac.

Denim Day Wednesday

Drivers may have noticed something unusual hanging from light poles along West Johnson Street in Fond du Lac this month. They aren’t flags, but denim jeans. Jan McDonough is the Executive Director of ASTOP. She says it’s to publicize Denim Day on Wednesday and make people more aware of the problem of sexual assault. She says its origin is from a rape case in Italy where a judge ruled the victim aided in her own assault because she had to help the man take off her jeans because they were so tight. Women were outraged and wore jeans to protest the case. She says the jeans on Johnson Street have certainly created attention and therefore awareness. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Ten Area Companies Honored For Safety Records

The Fond du Lac Area Safety Council – a division of the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, recently honored 10 area companies for their commitment to safety in the workplace.  Six area companies were awarded a Gold Safety Honor Award. Those honorees included; Brooke Industries, J.F. Ahern, Marchant Schmidt, OHL or Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, Wells Vehicle Electronics, and WW Electric Motors. Four area companies were awarded a Silver Safety Honor Award. Those honorees included; Del Monte Foods, Manowske Welding, Shea Electric & Communications, and St. Agnes Hospital. The awards were presented at the March Safety Day. These awards were introduced several years ago to recognize area companies for their outstanding safety records.

State Stamp Show In FDL This Weekend

The 85th convention and exhibition of the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Holiday Inn in Fond du Lac. Hours of the show are Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The show is open to the public and admission is free. The show will feature as many as 20 dealers plus stamp exhibits, free stamp collection appraisals, free stamps and activities for youth and beginning collectors, hobby talks, a silent auction, door prizes, and a special pictorial postmark commemorating Wisconsin’s harvest .