Local News Briefs Wednesday 8/19/15

The 37-year-old migrant worker who allegedly stabbed a co-worker has been charged for the incident. Roberto Castillo-Noyola was charged in Washington County Court this week with attempted 1st degree intentional homicide and 1st degree recklessly endangering safety. Castillo-Noyola believed the other man had stolen beer and money from him. He grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim six times. The victim ran from the home in the Town of Farmington and called 9-1-1. Bond was set at $50,000 cash and a hearing has been scheduled for September 9th.

Ripon To Rosendale Highway 23 Improvements Funding Approved

Governor Scott Walker approved $2.8 million to improve 7.8 miles of State Highway 23 from Ripon to Rosendale in Fond du Lac County. Construction begins next Monday and will be completed by mid-November. Northeast Asphalt of Greenville is the prime contractor. Traffic impacts include closing State Highway 23 at Silver Creek at the start of construction for approximately 8 weeks. Access will be maintained to local businesses, residences and emergency vehicles. Cross traffic at the side roads will also be maintained. The detour for closure is State Highway 49 and County Highway KK. During milling and paving work the highway may be reduced to one lane of traffic using flagging operations.

Meeting On Highway 45 Improvements Tonight In Eden

The state’s Department of Transportation will hold a meeting in Eden tonight to discuss improvements to U.S. Highway 45. The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Eden Village Hall. There will be a brief presentation at 5:15 p.m., followed by an open-house meeting format.

Charity Open Winners Announced

Patients and families of Agnesian HealthCare’s Hospice Hope were the big winners in this year’s Agnesian HealthCare Foundation Charity Open. Preliminary figures indicate that a total of $294,000 was raised to support Hospice Hope’s vital healthcare services. Mike Melzer of Allenton won the grand prize in the raffle of a choice of a 2015 Ford Escape or $15,000 cash. Terry Mabee of Fond du Lac won the second place prize of $5,000 cash. Third place and $2,500 cash went to John Nash of Fond du Lac. The $1,500 fourth place prize went to Ron Sabel of Fond du Lac and Brian Twohig of Fond du Lac got the fifth place prize of $1,000 cash.

NFDL PFC Approves New Fire Chief

North Fond du Lac has a new Fire Chief and EMS Director. The Village’s Police and Fire Commission Tuesday afternoon approved the hiring of Richard Zmuda as Fire Chief. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says he still has some testing to do, which the Village will give him time to do. He says he’s a certified paramedic in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but has to be certified by the State of Wisconsin. Hornung says Zmuda was looking for a fresh opportunity and the North Fond du Lac job interested him. He says Zmuda was a Captain with the Department he was with in Pennsylvania and has a wife and kids. He says Zmuda will start for the Village next Monday.

Lake Winnebago No Place To Be During Thunderstorm

The owner of a local outdoors sporting goods store says the time to make a decision about getting off a lake isn’t when the weather has already turned bad. Four people got caught on Lake Winnebago last Friday during a storm and water flooded their 26 foot boat. Three of them managed to make it back to shore using life preservers to keep afloat. The fourth was picked up by a Winnebago County Sheriff’s boat. Tuffy Munson of Tuffy’s Outpost says it’s no place to be when lightening strikes. He says graphite rods used for fishing poles can conduct electricity if they are hit. He says no matter how much horsepower your motor has or how long your boat is you could lose the race to get off the lake and much more if you try and beat the weather. He says you have to know your boat, but what if you have engine trouble. Munson says he’s been caught on the lake a couple of times after engine trouble and his boat was being swamped by waves. He says they had 2 ½ feet of water in the boat and its not a good feeling when your boat isn’t very far above the water line.

FDL Public Health Officer On Pedal Pubs

The public health officer for the Fond du Lac County Health Department says there’s more to consider about pedal pubs than the amount of alcohol people will be allowed to drink on them. Kim Mueller the figures Police Chief Bill Lamb quoted to the City Council last week about the binge drinking rate being at 42 percent of the County is accurate. She says 42 percent compared to the national average of 17 percent is too high and it paints a picture of the culture of the County that is unflattering. She says the Drug Free Communities works to reduce underage drinking and having pedal pubs operating in the City promotes the wrong image.  She says she would be for it if there was an option for something like that operating alcohol-free. The Fond du Lac City Council will discuss a pedal pub ordinance again at next week’s Council meeting.

FDL And Waupun Schools Involved In Mental Health Project

School districts in Fond du Lac and Waupun are among 27 across the state that will participate in the Wisconsin School Mental Health Project. Participating schools in the Fond du Lac School District will include the High School, Parkside Elementary and the Sabish Middle School. In the Waupun School District participating schools will include Meadowview Primary and Rock River Intermediate School. Goals for the project are to train more school-community teams to develop policies, programs, and practices that support students with mental health challenges.