Local News Briefs Friday 9/26/14

The preliminary hearing for the former Oshkosh teacher’s aide suspected of having sex with a 14-year-old student was postponed Thursday in Winnebago County Court. Twenty-six-year-old Lindsey Quednow allegedly had the sexual relationship with the teenage boy while she was working as a teacher’s aide at the Merrill Middle School. It began in July and ended a month later. According to the criminal complaint their sexual encounters allegedly happened at her Oshkosh home. Her preliminary hearing has been rescheduled for October 20th.

Jury Duty Scam In Dodge County

Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say the jury duty scam is making its way around the County. Reports started coming in earlier this week from residents who had received calls from people posing as Sheriff’s deputies who said there were active warrants for those residents because they had missed jury duty. The scammers told those residents they could avoid arrest by purchasing a Green Dot card loaded with a specific amount of money. They were then instructed to take a picture of the card, text or email it, or call back and provide them the number of the Green Dot card. Sheriff Pat Ninmann says no one from there office would ever solicit funds via Green Dot cards so someone could avoid arrest.

Jimmy John’s Customer Breach In Oshkosh And Sheboygan

Customers at five Jimmy John’s restaurant locations in the state may be at risk of having their financial accounts hacked. Law enforcement officials say if you used a credit or debit card to purchase a sub at those locations in Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Milwaukee, Portage and River Falls you should check your financial accounts. In Oshkosh the restaurant is located at 70 Wisconsin Street and pertains to those who used credit cards between June 16th and August 1st. In Sheboygan it’s the restaurant located at 2633 Calumet Avenue and is for those who used their cards between July 1st and August 1st.  The store in Fond du Lac was not affected. For more from Jimmy John’s click here.

Money Appropriated To FCEDC Revolving Loan Fund

The Fond du Lac County Board this week voted unanimously to appropriate $50,000 from the sales tax collections to the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation for its revolving loan fund. County Executive Al Buechel says a business buying the spec building in the Fox Ridge Business Park is being lent money through the revolving loan fund, but the fund was short. He says the loan is for $250,000, but the loan fund was about $50,000 short of that. Buechel informed the board that since 2010 the FCEDC revolving loan fund has lent out $2.3 million, which created 615 jobs, retained 234 and led to $85 million being invested in the community. He says those numbers are much greater if you add in the retention and expansion of Mercury Marine. He says then the numbers come to up to 6,000 jobs, 2,100 new jobs and an economic impact on the County each year of more than $500 million. He says they will have to make more appropriations to the revolving loan fund next year.

Grothman Says Airstrikes Not Enough For ISIS Threat

A congressional candidate says airstrikes launched by the U.S. against ISIS in Syria may not be enough. State Senator Glenn Grothman says it may have some effect, but things might have been better if U.S. Troops had remained in Iraq. He says airstrikes are only part of the equation and ISIS should not have been allowed to get off the ground. He says removing U.S. Troops from Iraq was a foolish decision.The Republican candidate for the 6th Congressional District seat says ISIS is a serious threat to the U.S. and its residents living abroad.

Planned Parenthood Office In FDL Closes

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-About a thousand patients at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Fond du Lac will have to go somewhere else to receive care. The organization is shutting down the center because of state budget cuts. Planned Parenthood’s Nicole Safar says they have been working with patients to continue their care. She says they have centers in Oshkosh and West Bend that are options for patients if they are willing to drive to those cities to stay with Planned Parenthood. Safar says there’s no other location in Fond du Lac that offers similar care. The center is the fifth state Planned Parenthood location to close in two years.

A Different FDL

A Fond du Lac man says the City is a different Fond du Lac than he grew up in. Charles Mauch offered that opinion to the City Council this week during the public comment section of the meeting. He says he’s growing tired of hearing about shootings, gang violence, and windows being smashed. He says last year the Police Department did a presentation to the City Council on how it was using a district approach policing areas in the City when it came to crime. He says he’d like to hear what’s being accomplished because he and his girlfriend no longer feel safe in the community. Police were able to find those responsible for smashing over 60 car windows.

Enrollment Up In NFDL School District

North Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says enrollment was up a bit when they took their official count last Friday. He says they had Early Childhood had a stable enrollment, they were up about 10 to 20 kids at the elementary school and were up a few at the middle and high schools.  The state uses the enrollment count on the third Friday in September and property values to determine aid to school districts. But Sadoff says they also do another count in January. The state also uses a rolling average for the enrollment count incorporating enrollment counts over a three year period.

Senator Fitzgerald Says Wisconsin Is Making A Comeback

Is Wisconsin as the Governor contends on the comeback trail? State Senator Scott Fitzgerald, who is also running for reelection, believes that’s not an idle boast. The state lawmaker from Juneau says if numbers are any indication than the state is on the right path. He says there’s been an increase in revenue streams. He says income and sales tax collections have been steady or increasing and corporate tax collections have been increasing which means the economy is expanding in the state of Wisconsin. He says they will use those numbers when they start work on the state budget next February. He says he’s certainly seen a number of corporations in his district willing to invest in expansion.

Flight For Life 30^th Anniversary Celebration Tonight In FDL

The Flight for Life 30th anniversary celebration in Fond du Lac will include an appearance by a star of the 1970’s hit TV series “Emergency!”  The celebration will be held at the Holiday Inn from 5 to 6 p.m. The keynote speaker is Randolph Mantooth one of the stars of “Emergency!” There will be a short program at 5 p.m. One of the highlights of the day will be the sharing of stories of survival and recovery by a few of the over 33,000 patients Flight For Life has cared for since their inception in 1984. The Fond du Lac Base opened in 2008.  At the conclusion of the program Mantooth will sign autographs with proceeds going to the LA County Fire Museum for the maintenance of the original Squad 51 from the TV show.