Local News Briefs Tuesday 5/12/15

A theft suspect led Sheboygan County Sheriff’s deputies on a high speed chase that reached speeds of 120 miles per hour Monday night. It began as a report of a woman who had stolen a purse at the Walmart Store in the Town of Sheboygan about 10:30. A deputy spotted the suspect’s vehicle on I-43 as it was turning onto Highway 23. Efforts to try and stop her were unsuccessful. Deputies cut off the chase when the suspect’s vehicle went the wrong way on Highway 57. Eventually the chase ended when the suspect ran over a tire deflation device that flatted all four tires on her vehicle. She was taken into custody. She was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

Oshkosh Sex Offender Released

A 32-year-old sex offender is being released to live at 1105 Jefferson Street in Oshkosh today. Delond Blunt’s victims include a 13-year-old boy and 19-year-old man. He was convicted twice in 2008. He will be on GPS monitoring for life. Active supervision by the state’s Department of Corrections will end on May 16th of 2023.

Sheboygan County Crime Of The Week

The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a burglary in the Town of Sheboygan. A garage was broke into at 816 N. 38th Street on Monday, May 4th. Taken during the break-in was a hand held Garmin GPS unit, 2 St. Croix fishing rods with Abu Garcia reels, a G-Loomis fishing rod with a Daiwa reel, and a tackle box full of larger size lures. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheboygan County Crime Stoppers program at 1-877-283-8436.

FDL School Board Approves Issuing Of Teacher Contracts

The Fond du Lac School Board Monday approved the issuing of teacher contracts for the next school year. District Superintendent Jim Sebert says they have seen quite a few retirements, but there is uncertainty with the state budget. He says because of that uncertainty they will hold off on posting some teaching positions as a buffer with the budget uncertainty. He says their goal is to make cuts when they have to away from cutting people or programs and for them their people are their programs. The Governor’s initial two-year budget would have cut aid to the Fond du Lac School District by $1.1 million in the first year of the budget.

Sebert Reports On 25 Year Dinner

Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert says last week’s 25 Year Awards Dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall was a very nice event. He says it’s one of the things he looks forward to each year and this year they welcomed 31 people into the club who have given at least 25 years of service to the district in some capacity. He says if you’re in the club you can attend the dinner each year. This was the 59th year for the dinner. Sebert gave the School Board a report on the dinner at yesterday’s meeting. Quite a few of the board members who attended the dinner also commented on how well organized and fun the event is. 

DARE Effective

Two local law enforcement officials say the D.A.R.E. program is effective in teaching kids about making smart choices. Fond du Lac Police Officer Steve Olson has been a D.A.R.E. instructor for 14 years. He says it’s been revised several times since its inception in 1983. The latest was in 2012 and it’s now approved for school curriculum. In North Fond du Lac 78 fifth graders will graduate from the 10 week course this Friday. North Fond du Lac Police Chief Darren Pautsch says it teaches kids about making the right choice whether it’s about drinking, drugs, bullying or the people you hang around with. Olson says the Fond du Lac D.A.R.E. program is supported through non-profit organization support, business and individual contributions. Olson says it’s great to run into someone who took a D.A.R.E. class years ago who still remembers the experience fondly. 

Thiesfeldt Tour Appreciated

State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he was happy to set up a recent tour in Fond du Lac for Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. During the visit the Lt. Governor and Thiesfeldt toured Mercury Marine, the STEM Academy and Institute, Marchant Schmidt, Sadoff Iron and Metal, and stopped at Schreiner’s Restaurant. Thiesfeldt says she was impressed. He says Mercury isn’t the only business they toured that does international business as well. He says students at the STEM Academy and Institute led them on the tour there. He says the charter school won’t work for everyone, but it suits the students there.

Dodge County Will Host Alice In Dairyland Finals Next May

Dodge County will host the 69th annual Alice in Dairyland Finals events next May. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Ben Brancel made the announcement Saturday during the Finale event for the selection of the 68th Alice in Dairyland in Manitowoc County. Agriculture provides 19 percent of the jobs in Dodge County, and $2.9 billion in economic activity. That amounts to more than one-third of the county’s total economic activity. The county consistently ranks among the top five in Wisconsin for conventional crops such as corn for grain, soybeans, peas, tobacco, and winter wheat, as well as livestock such as hogs and pigs. It is also among the top ten Wisconsin counties in milk production, cattle and calves, and pheasants sold in the state. Alice in Dairyland is a communications professional who works to educate the public about Wisconsin agriculture. Each year, a new Alice is selected from a group of finalists during a months-long public job interview, and, each year, a different county hosts the finals. Teyanna Loether of Sauk City will start work June 1 as the 68th Alice. Throughout her year, Loether will attend numerous events in Dodge County to promote its agricultural industries and the events leading up to the selection of the 69th Alice in Dairyland, which will take place May 5-7, 2016.

Ballweg Appointed

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos recently appointed State Representative Joan Ballweg to the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.  The board was created in 1983 by the legislature to develop and fund strategies that prevent child maltreatment in Wisconsin. Board Executive Director Michelle Jensen Goodwin said, “The Board is very fortunate to have Representative Ballweg as its newest member. She brings a wealth of knowledge and a personal commitment to advancing policies that promote safe, stable, and nurturing environments for Wisconsin’s children.” Ballweg has served on the Policy Advisory Council for Mrs. Walker’s Fostering Futures, the Speaker’s Task Force on Mental Health, and chaired the Legislative Council Symposium on Early Brain Development.

Wisconsin Poet Laureate Speaks At FDL PL And THELMA Tonight

Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser will stop at the Fond du Lac Public Library for “A Conversation” event at 6 p.m. tonight.  Blaeser will discuss the role of poetry in public life as well as the importance of the poet laureate position in Wisconsin. Then, at 7 p.m., she will give a reading and talk across the street at Thelma Center for the Arts. Both programs are free and open to the public; no registration required. Blaeser, Ph.D., teaches Creative Writing, Native American Literature and American Nature Writing at UW-Milwaukee. Her publications include three books of poetry: “Trailing You,” winner of the first book award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas; “Absentee Indians and Other Poems;” and “Apprenticed to Justice.”  Of Anishinaabe ancestry and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Blaeser grew up on the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota and worked as a journalist before earning her master’s and doctorate from Notre Dame. Blaeser’s poetry, short fiction and personal essays have been widely anthologized and translated into several languages, including Spanish, Norwegian, Indonesian, and French.

UW FDL Presentation On Make It Yourself Movement

The community is invited to a free presentation by Pete Prodoehl from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. this afternoon in University Center Room 131 on the UW-Fond du Lac campus.  Prodoehl is a member of the Milwaukee Makerspace, a place for people who like to build, invent, tinker and/or learn new skills and expand their minds. His presentation will discuss various aspects of the Do it Yourself or Maker movements. Prodoehl has been making things or trying to make things since he was a child. Along the way he’s built robots and lasers that didn’t work, screen printed thousands of t-shirts, built 3D printers, edited a few technical books, published thousands of photos, and sold over 200 USB keyboards that only type one character.