KFIZ News Saturday 10/8/16

45 Ramps Closing And New County V Interchange Opening

State Department of Transportation officials remind us that Highway 45 ramps to Highway 151 will close and the Fond du Lac County Highway V/Highway 151 Interchange will open Monday night. Also the at-grade intersection at Highway 151 and County Highway V will close. A frontage road is being built from Highway 45 to the new interchange, but until it is complete there will be signed detours. 

Clowning Around Gets West Bend Middle School Student In Trouble

A 12-year-old Middle School student in West Bend was taken into custody this week after she allegedly posed as a clown and sent messages to several classmates the day before. A parent contacted Police. Several students also contacted school officials and rumors regarding the clown spread not only through Badger Middle School, but other district schools as well. The girl said she sent the messages as a joke and did not intend to scare anyone. She faces a charge of disorderly conduct and has been referred to juvenile authorities.

Sheboygan Arrest Clown Suspect

Sheboygan Police arrested a 20-year-old Sheboygan man who might have been responsible for sightings of creepy clowns in the city this week. It happened after police received a report of a man who was seen running in an alleyway wearing a clown mask. Police say he was carrying a knife and had a mask in his possession. 

Hurricane Help

The American Red Cross sent 29 volunteers from Wisconsin to the southeast U.S. to help people impacted by Hurricane Matthew.  Nine of those volunteers are from the greater Milwaukee region and will be in Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas for two weeks.  A Red Cross official says most of the Wisconsin volunteers are either retired or have jobs that allow them a lot of flexibility.  Two more volunteers took off with a truck loaded with supplies from Milwaukee Friday.

Chancellors Award An Unexpected Honor

Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel says receiving the 2016 UW Chancellor’s Friend and Advocate Award was an unexpected honor. Buechel was recognized for his support of both UW Colleges and UW-Extension since he was elected Fond du Lac County Executive in 1993. He says having the UW-Fond du Lac in the community has benefitted over 20,000 people who were seeking a degree. He says without that local connection quite a few people would not have been able to afford the school and might have missed out on getting a degree. He says the UW Extension provides an unlimited amount of services for so many people in the community.

Voter Turnout

Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg says she is expecting a heavy turnout for the November Election. She predicts about 75 to 80 percent of registered voters in the county will cast a ballot. Freiberg says that percentage could be higher, but she always orders plenty of ballots because you can’t always anticipate how many voters will be going to the polls. She says she orders enough for every registered voter in the county. The election is one month away.

Serving In Local Office Rewarding

State Senator Rick Gudex urges people to get involved and serve on their school board, village or town board, or City Council. Gudex decided not to run for a second term as State Senator for the 18th District. Prior to that he was on the Mayville City Council, served as Mayville Mayor, served on the Eden Village Board, and was on the Fond du Lac City Council and served as Council President. He says the experience was different each time. He says the way they tackled things in Eden is completely different than serving on a City Council in Fond du Lac. He says people should experience first hand serving locally rather than just complaining about the way things are done.

NFDL Village Board Considering Request For Lot

Habitat for Humanity has approached the North Fond du Lac Village Board about donating a property. Village Administrator Chuck Hornung says the village took over the property 4 or 5 years ago after the owner failed to pay taxes on it. He says a local contractor is interested in it and thought about having the Fond du Lac building trades program build a house on it. He says the contractor has been busy, but they wanted to give more time to that person because the village would be selling the land to him rather than donating it to Habitat. He says if they do donate it to Habitat a home would be built on it that would end up generating property tax to the village and utility income.