Local News Briefs Monday 1/11/16

FDL School Board Preview

The Fond du Lac School Board will meet for the first time in the New Year tonight. During a workshop that will follow the 5 p.m. the board will discuss a State Assembly Bill that would place restrictions on school districts’ referenda ballot dates and impose a waiting period following a failed referendum. The board will also discuss revisions to the number of designated spaces available for regular education and special education for the 2016-17 school year under the state’s open enrollment law. The board meets at the District Administration Center Board Room at 72 West 9th Street.

Krasin And Anderson Get Leadership Roles In New UW Administrative Model

Two UW-Fond du Lac officials were recently named to leadership positions for the new Northeast Region administrative model of UW two-year colleges. Laurie Krasin who had served as director of marketing and communications at the UW-Fond du Lac campus has been appointed regional director of communications. Renee Anderson who served as executive assistant for Dean John Short at the UW-Fond du Lac will serve as regional executive assistant. Also Suzanne Lawrence has been appointed regional director of continuing education. She was previously the director of continuing education at the UW-Manitowoc and UW-Sheboygan campuses. All three began their new positions last Monday. The Northeast Region includes UW-Fond du Lac, UW-Fox Valley and UW-Manitowoc.

Primary Election A Chance To Try Out New Election Equipment

Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg says a statewide primary election for the State Supreme Court next month will give voters a chance to use next voting equipment in the County. She says she is expecting a low turnout that day at the polls. She says voters will also have to show their ID at the polls as voter ID goes into effect. She says this week people will be coming in to set things up for the posting of election results. She says the hardware is ready to go, but they still have to finish up on the software. The Primary Election is on Tuesday, February 16th.

Grothman Votes To Repeal Obamacare

Congressman Glenn Grothman was among the Republican members of Congress last week who sent a bill to the president’s desk that would repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. He expected the president would veto it, which he did Friday, but he says it shows Congress will support a repeal of Obamacare if a Republican president is elected. He’s please most House Republicans voted for the bill. He notes only 3 Republicans voted against it. He says it’s also important that Republicans are united over the defunding of Planned Parenthood. He says the Republican Party realizes how offensive it is both for abortions and some of Planned Parenthood’s opinions.

Tobacco Placement Sends Message

The program coordinator for the 5 Counties for Tobacco Free Living says product placement is important in the sale of tobacco products. Sandy Bernier says cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are regulated and are generally placed behind a sales counter. She says the same isn’t true for little cigars or even e-cigarettes and other products can be placed in a self-service display. She says their youth group did an environmental scan to see just where some of those products are placed. She says they documented where some of those products were. She says the results were interesting. She says the candy-flavored little cigars were placed between M&M’s and Cheerios with Sunflower seeds placed below them. She says where they are placed sends out a different message.

United Way Captains Play An Important Role

Some of the unheralded heroes of the United Way campaign are the team captains. Marcia Snyder of Hometown Bank has been a United Way captain for years. She says it’s all about establishing connections with businesses and makings things fun. She says it’s also important to make sure the campaign stays on track, but gently nudging businesses for their contributions and making suggestions to help their campaigns. United Way Executive Director Amber Kilawee says any businesses that would like help with the campaign this fall you should contact her at the United Way office. You can call the local office at (920) 921-7010. They also still need contributions to make their $756,000 fundraising goal.

Human Trafficking Awareness Program At FDL Public Library Tonight

The Fond du Lac Public Library will host a program tonight on Human Trafficking Awareness. The 6:30 p.m. program is free and you don’t have to register to attend. Community Information Coordinator Terri Fleming says the program won’t just focus on the problem, but there will be a discussion on how to do something about it. She says it’s a worldwide problem that has even reached Fond du Lac in the past year with a couple of arrests. Presenter Nancy Irizarry will focus on the issue in our area and explain how anyone can be targeted for slavery. Irizarry is chair of the Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking Consortium and a member of the statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. January is national Human Trafficking Awareness Month.