Local News
KFIZ News Wednesday, September 7th.
Dennis Brantner Will Be Retried in Beck Murder Case
Prosecutors plan to re-try Dennis Brantner for the 1990 murder of 18 year old Berit Beck. That’s what Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said in court Tuesday in a motion hearing for the 63 year old Kenosha Man accused of killing Beck. However, since Brantner was not in court Tuesday, no trial date was set and a status conference was scheduled for next week. Brantner’s lawyer, Craig Powell, asked the Judge to acquit Brantner, saying to try him again would be double jeopardy. Meanwhile, Toney says he has new evidence, testimony of a former girlfriend of Brantner’s, to offer at trial. A jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict during a trial in June and was dismissed. Beck’s van was found in Fond du Lac parking lot in July of 1990. Her badly-decomposed body was found six weeks later in a ditch outside of Waupun.
City And County Splitting Cost Of Pioneer Road Project
Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel says work should go quickly on improvements to Pioneer Road in Fond du Lac next year. He says quite a bit has already been done in preparation for the project. He says right-of-way and pre-engineering has been done. He says the storm sewer movement work will include some work this fall. He says the project costs will be split between the City and County with each paying around $3 million. He says unlike the work that was done previously from South Main to Hickory there is no state and federal money for this section. The federal government paid $6 million for a railroad bridge on the previous project. The section of Pioneer Road that will be improved next year is from the roundabout on Hickory to Military Road.
Highway 175 Project to Begin Monday
A culvert replacement project will begin on Highway 175 in Fond du Lac County on Monday. According to the Wisconsin D-O-T, the project will begin Monday, September 12th and is expected to finish by the end of the month. Work will be done on Highway 175 just south Highway 151 near Panorama Drive in the City/Town of Fond du Lac. The $130,000 project includes replacement of two culvert pipes and retaining walls with a 60 inch culvert pipe. Highway 175 will be closed starting Monday with a marked detour of County Highway B to Interstate 41 to US 151. Access will be maintained to local businesses and homes throughout the project.
Fire Drill At City County Building
Employees at the Fond du Lac City-County Government Center will be participating in a fire drill tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 8:30. Employees will be temporarily evacuating the building and reporting to one of three reunification sites. The Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue, the Fond du Lac Police Department, and the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office will be assisting with the drill. Services within the City/County Building may be limited for roughly 20 minutes during the drill. In the event of inclement weather, the fire drill will be postponed until Friday morning.
Community Narcan Training in FDL County
A group in Fond du Lac county is partnering with the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin to provide free Narcan training to community members. The Fond du Lac County Opioid Initiative is made up of community partners and was formed to reduce the negative impact of opioid addiction in the county. The training is targeted at friends and family members of those facing addiction to opiates such as prescription pain relievers or heroin. The first training date is scheduled for Tuesday, September 27th at 5:30 pm at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Division Street in Fond du Lac. Additional training dates are set for October 13th at Families United in Ripon and another at St. Paul’s in Fond du Lac on January 14th. More are planned for 2017 as well. A limited number of free training kits are available, so an RSVP is required. To RSVP, call the Fond du Lac County Health Department at 920-929-3085.
Legacy Winners Benefit FDL Community
The Fond du Lac Area Foundation will honor three individuals for their philanthropic support of the community during the annual “Celebration of Giving” dinner. This year’s dinner will honor Dr. Willard & Dolores Henken and JoAnn Ward with Legacy Awards. Foundation Executive Director Sandi Roehrig (ROAR-hig) says JoAnn Ward started or helped start many of the community events people look so forward to. The Henken’s started a fund to benefit the high school golf team in memory of their son Dick and also started an unrestricted fund to help with grant requests the Foundation receives. A third fund was started in memory of their daughter Susan who was a nurse. It funds a scholarship for nursing students at Marian Park Technical College. The celebration gala will be held at the South Hills Golf and Country Club at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 13th. You can get tickets through the Foundation.
Habitat Building Home In Ripon
Habitat for Humanity of Fond du Lac is building a second home in Ripon this fall. Habitat Executive Director Tom Wilhelms says they already completed a home in Fond du Lac this summer. He says the home being built in Ripon will get some help from a group from Connecticut. He says there will be about 20 volunteers who will be working five days a week for three solid weeks so they expect the house to go up fast. He says the group has worked on a Habitat home before in the County. He says they worked on a build in Ripon three years ago and enjoyed it so much that they asked him to come back and work on another build. He says the group will be disbanding after the home in Ripon is built. Wilhems says there is the possibility of one more project for Habitat this fall, but details are still being worked out.
Veterans Honor Walk In FDL
The Fond du Lac Honor Walk will be held on Saturday, September 17th at 10:30 AM at Taylor Park in Fond du Lac. The walk is an Honor Ceremony and short inclusive walk to recognize all veterans. It will include a special ceremony to recognize Vietnam Veterans. St. Mary’s Springs High School band members will play patriotic music and there will be special appearances from Congressman Grothman and the Fond du Lac Fire Department. The ceremony will include a military style mail-call, Color Guard, pinning ceremony and more. The event is open to the community. People interested in volunteering or with questions can call Bryan Johnson at (920) 904-0754 or email BRJOHNSON@hcr-manorcare.com. Heartland Hospice and ManorCare Health Services of Fond du Lac are sponsoring the event.