Local News Briefs Monday 1/19/15

Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say they were able to locate a 33-year-old Milwaukee man friends reported missing late Saturday night. He was last seen at The Boat House tavern on Chief Kuno Trail about 11:45 p.m. He had left on foot walking out onto Fox Lake. He was highly intoxicated when he left the tavern and was walking towards his cabin, which is located on the north side of the lake. Thermal imaging and ATVs were used through out the night to try and find him. Deputies eventually found him walking near Hayes Resort on Blackhawk Trail at 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning. He didn’t require any medical treatment. The man told deputies he took refuge in an unlocked vehicle to get out of the cold.

Iron Ridge Man Charged For Sexting

Bond has been set at $50,000 cash for a 25-year-old Iron Ridge man who was arrested last Wednesday for sending inappropriate text messages to a 15-year-old Oshkosh girl. Taylor D. Traeder was charged in Winnebago County Court last Friday with causing a child from 13 to 18 years of age to view sexual activity. He will be back in court next Monday and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 29th.  What Traeder didn’t know was that the teenage girl that answered his ad on Craigslist to chat and possibly meet was a police detective. The inappropriate message began on December 11th and continued until January 8th. Two search warrants were executed at his resident and work place with the help of the state’s Department of Criminal Justice and Dodge County Sheriff’s Office in Iron Ridge. He was taken into custody last Wednesday and taken to the Winnebago County Jail.

Cybersecurity Information Sharing Being Acdressed

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson says ever since he arrived in the nation’s capitol people have been talking about the need to have the government pass some type of legislation that addresses cybersecurity. He says that’s something he’s heard in hearing after hearing. He says the first step has to be the facilitating of information sharing between the government and private sector. The federal lawmaker from Oshkosh says the major hurdle in getting information sharing going is liability protection. He says now that the president is asking Congress to pass a proposal for cybersecurity information sharing something might be accomplished. He says the information has to be shared through the Department of Homeland Security, which comes right through his committee. Johnson chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Best Cities Rankings Something FDL Can Be Proud Of

The president of the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation says the County should be proud of the improvement it showed in the list of Best Performing Cities of 2014. Steve Jenkins says the County counts as one small metro area in the rankings. In 2013 the County ranked 65th and last year jumped to 26th. Jenkins says that says a lot about our economy and our resilience coming out of the recession. The Fond du Lac metro ranked 19th out of 179 for job growth, 26th for wage growth, 14th for high-tech gross domestic product. Jenkins says the County highest ranking was for the presence of high-tech industries in which it ranked 7th or 179 metro areas. The rankings were put together by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.

Open Enrollment Starts In Two Weeks

The open enrollment period for Wisconsin’s public schools begins in another two weeks. Fond du Lac Schools Superintendent Jim Sebert says the process has changed over the years expanding from a few weeks to a few months. He says people are now encouraged to use the online application process through the state’s Department of Public Instruction. He says most of the time they see a flurry of activity at both the beginning and the end of the application period. He says their open enrollment specialist is Wendy Burgess, Secretary of Attendance, Transportation and Enrollment. She can be reached by calling (920) 906-6524. The open enrollment period runs from February 2nd through April 30th.

MPTC Making Veterans Feel Welcome

Moraine Park Technical College will honor its efforts to make veterans feel more welcome during a ceremony at its West Bend campus on Thursday, February 5th. MPTC Vice President of Student Affairs Stanley Cram says for the past five years the college has been recognized as a military friendly school. He says plaques made in honor of the five branches of service will be displayed at their campuses in Fond du Lac, Beaver Dam and West Bend. The ceremony at the West Bend campus will be at 11:30 a.m. There will a color guard and flag presentation. Dr. Cram says MPTC recently hired a veterans’ specialist and that person will be located in the new welcome center at the Fond du Lac campus when it’s complete.

Commercial Drivers Can Use WDMV Drivers License Guide Online

The Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles has expanded its online Driver License Guide to include commercial drivers. The online guide allows drivers to search for information anonymously — or — people can enter their driver license number and birth date to tailor their search. The DMV’s Alison Lebwohl says either way they end up with step-by-step checklists complete with links and forms. She says they can do this for anything that they are interested in having to do with commercial licenses. It could be getting their first commercial driver license, renewing their commercial driver license, they might want to add endorsements or remove restrictions from their commercial license. Commercial drivers can also use online DMV services to upload their federal medical card, check on their tier of operation, review the CDL manual and even take a practice knowledge test.