Local News Briefs Wednesday 1/21/15

Sheboygan County officials say a 50-year-old Town of Belgium man was killed in a farming accident Monday. Emmanuel Fergadakis got caught between the arms and cab of a Bobcat. He was using the vehicle to move hay over a fence on a Town of Wilson farm. Firefighters weren’t able to start the vehicle. To get him free they used airbags to lift the arms of the Bobcat. The death is not considered suspicious. 

Beaver Dam Couple Sentenced On Prostitution Charges

The Beaver Dam couple suspected of operating a prostitution ring out of their home has been sentenced. Forty-six-year-old Debbie Walters and her 41-year-old husband Daniel Walters were sentenced in Dodge County Court late last week. She got nine months in jail and will have to pay over $23,000 in fines and court costs. Her husband will spend 60 days in jail and also has to pay fines and court costs. She pled to 12 prostitution-related charges and he to 3 misdemeanor charges. According to the criminal complaint Debbie Walters allegedly had sex with eleven men who paid for her services.  

Number Of Rescued Cats Had To Be Euthanized

Fifteen of the cats the Fond du Lac Humane Society rescued from a trailer near Campbellsport had to be euthanized due to their medical conditions. Shelter Manager Renee Webb says there wasn’t anything they could do for those cats. Forty-two cats were rescued from the trailer on Country Aire Drive. Webb some of the remaining cats are making a nice recovery. She says they will have to do a little training for the surviving cats including teaching them to use liter boxes because of the conditions the cats got used to in the trailer.  As for the costs of taking care of all of those cats she says that could be in the tens of thousands of dollars. She says donations to the Fond du Lac Humane Society for the costs of feeding and caring for the cats are welcome.

FDL County Board Notes

The Fond du Lac County Board last night approved withdrawing from the Local Government Property Insurance Fund. By switching insurance carriers the County will save about $7,000 on property insurance and $18,000 overall on all their insurance programs. Supervisors unanimously approved the resolution. Also last evening the Board approved the sale of the existing Fond du Lac County Campbellsport Highway Garage site. Drexel Building Supply has offered the County $90,280. The money will go toward construction and costs for a new highway garage in Campbellsport. The Board also recognized Rochelle Hanson and Dwaine Loest for their service. Hanson worked for the Community Programs Department for 6 ½ years and Loest for the Senior Services Department for 9 years.

Police Overtime Costs

Fond du Lac Police Chief Bill Lamb says the unexpended wages for vacant police officer positions helped offset overtime costs to fill those shifts in 2014. Chief Lamb says the final numbers for the department’s budget for last year aren’t in yet, but in talking with the City’s financial people last week the final numbers will be about $9,000 or $10,000 in the red. He says that’s a small amount when you are talking about a department with an annual budget of about $9.5 million. Chief Lamb says the majority of the ten vacancies they’ve been dealing with were for patrol officers, which he say has been 20 to 25 percent of the 41 officers they need for patrolling depending on the fluctuation of those vacancy numbers. He says the alternative is cutting staffing levels for patrol or mission critical training. Lamb says most people would prefer to keep staffing levels for patrols and police training where they are at so it won’t affect the protection of residents.

12,000 Traffic Stops In 2014

Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s deputies conducted nearly 12,000 traffic stops last year. Chief Deputy Mark Strand says they patrol 724 square miles. He says of those stops 224 were arrested for drunken driving and 12 were arrested for causing an injury accident while driving drunk. He says efforts to crack down on underage drinking also led to arrests and citations. Strand says 99 underage drinkers were cited and 10 people were referred for social hosting. He also says there were over 650 car deer accidents with the majority of those 654 accidents happening in the fall through November. The County also finished with 10 fatal traffic accidents in 2014 compared to nine the year before.

Senator Gudex On Walker Presidential Run

State Senator Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac says he’d be more surprised if Governor Scott Walker didn’t take a run at president than if he did. He says he’s given a number of indications that he is going to run. Gudex feels the state will be in good shape if Walker does run for president. He says the governor has adopted an aggressive approach to getting the state budget done quicker than normal, but he feels the state will be okay if Walker does run for president. Gudex says what will be more interesting is how the national press will cover Walker’s bid especially if legislators tackle Right to Work legislation.