KFIZ News Wednesday 1/4/17

No Primary For FDL City Council And School Board Candidates

There will be no primary election for Fond du Lac City Council or School Board candidates next month. Candidates had until 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon to file their nomination papers for public office. Fond du Lac City Council incumbents Catherine Block, Greg Giles and Brian Kolstad filed their papers along with former Councilman William Turner and newcomer Thornton Albertz. Incumbent school board member Julie Nett had already filed non-candidacy papers and incumbent Mark Strand is seeking reelection. Three challengers Greg Freiherr, Monica Walker and Dan Sitter did file nomination papers for the school board as well.

Stray Bullet Nearly Hits Lomira Man

Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say a Town of Lomira man was nearly struck by a stray bullet near his home Sunday afternoon. The bullet came within ten feet of hitting the man at a residence on County Road H. Deputies talked with a 50-year-old Campbellsport man who told them he shot a deer and the bullet must have went through the deer. The DNR took over the investigation.

Dark Store Loophole

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities is hoping state legislators will quickly close a loophole in tax law.  Some big box retailers have saved millions by successfully challenging tax assessments, claiming they should pay the same rate as a vacant or closed store.  Critics have taken to calling it the “dark store” loophole. Residential tax rates could go up to cover the lost revenue from those retailers.

Changes On The Way

Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel is expecting change with President-Elect Donald Trump, but isn’t sure how it might affect the County. He says there were certain things Trump said during the presidential campaign that seemed to change in priority with his election. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan was elected Speaker of the House. Buechel says Ryan too is talking about some changes. He says Ryan has talked about things he feels need to be done. Buechel says that will likely include regulations and how things are being funded. Buechel does feel states will be given more latitude over education and Medicaid, which he says the states are certainly looking forward to.

Gratitude Club Collecting Christmas Trees As A Fundraiser

If you need a way to get rid of that real Christmas tree you bought, there is still time to buy a tag from the Fond du Lac Gratitude Club for curbside pick up. Barb Fitch is with the club that provides a place for meetings for 12-step recovery programs. She says currently they host meetings for AA, Al-Anon, and Gamblers Anonymous. The Christmas Tree pick up is a fundraiser for them. She says for a $5 charge you get to pick which day you want the tree picked up. You have to fill out a form with your name, address and phone number and will receive a tag for the tree. Fitch says they will be picking up trees this Saturday and Saturday, January 14th beginning at 9 a.m. The Gratitude Club is located at 295 Ruggles Street in Fond du Lac.

Keeping Your Head Lights And Tail Lights Clean

A couple of members of the State Patrol urge drivers to make sure their windshields aren’t the only thing they clean off salt and road wash from during the winter. Inspector Scott Hlinak says that coating, he refers to as “Sun Wash,” also can cover your brake lights. He says there is so much dirt that builds on your stop lamps it is hard to see the brake lights when they come on. Sergeant Luke Newman says that advice doubles for your head lights as well. He says when you’re at the gas station wipe down both your headlights and tail lights because they get as dirty as the rest of your car. Newman says it is also advisable to make sure you have enough windshield washer fluid on hand because you can go through a lot during the winter.

Mercury Reaches Agreement With Supratechnic

Mercury Marine has entered in to an exclusive distribution agreement with Supratechnic, one of the largest marine distributors in Asia, based out of Singapore.  The strategic partnership will allow Mercury to expand and build a regional distribution channel in Southeast Asia that will include all of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei. Mercury Marine President John Pfeifer says, “This new relationship will allow Mercury to further penetrate the commercial market in Asia, giving us the opportunity to grow both in product range and territorial expansion.” He says they have very robust growth plans over the next three years for their commercial business and expect to see that growth immediately.

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Life Enforcement Brightens The Holidays

The founder of Life Enforcement in Fond du Lac says they got a very good response to their Community Christmas Dinner. Keywon Brown says they wanted to provide a venue for people who might spend Christmas alone. They hosted a Christmas Dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall on December 22nd and got twice as many people attending as they were shooting for. He says they wanted to feed 100 people and got more than 200. Every kid that attended got a gift. He says they also adopted three or four families and spent from $200 to $400 on each family to make sure they wouldn’t be without during the Christmas season.