Local News Briefs Saturday 1/24/15

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has sent a letter to the President urging him to name a permanent inspector general for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He notes the VA has only had an acting inspector general for more than a year. He says over the past year the country has become aware of many problems at VA medical facilities including the improper prescribing of medications at the Tomah VA Medical Center. The federal lawmaker from Oshkosh says he wants to get all the facts about that particular case. He says the Inspector General would fully understand what happened there and could do a study and report what really happened. Meanwhile U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is calling for a Senate hearing on what happened at the Tomah VA Medical Center.

Congressman Grothman Opening FDL Office

Congressman Glenn Grothman says he will have a central base of operation in Fond du Lac. He succeeds Tom Petri in representing the 6th Congressional District and like Petri will have an office in Fond du Lac for constituent services. Grothman says he had an office in Fond du Lac during his campaign for Congress and has found someone to run that office. He says Fond du Lac is centrally located in the district and he will probably end up seeing more people in the Fond du Lac area than other residents in the district. The former State Senator lives in the Campbellsport area.

Senator Gudex Prefers Clean Budget

State Senator Rick Gudex says he’d like to see a clean budget when the Governor introduces his state budget proposal to legislators next month. He says that doesn’t mean there won’t be some policy items in it. He says for instance he was surprised to see in the last state budget that his proposal to increase the tax credit for historic preservation efforts was included in it, but not at the levels he had proposed. The tax credit was raised from 5 to 10 percent and eventually 20 percent when another bill was passed.

Sheriff 4 A Day

There may come a time when you only need a 6^th grade education or perhaps lower to be Dodge County Sheriff. It’s no joke, but rather an idea Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt has. He says he’d like to start an essay program for kids where the winner would be “Sheriff for a Day” and would job-shadow him. He says it would require writing an essay on what the student would do if they were sheriff. He says he hasn’t determined which grade-level it would be set at yet. Schmidt brought a number of ideas into office with him when he was sworn into office early this month. He says it will take time to implement some of them.

3 Guys Liquor License To Go Before Alcohol Licensing Committee

Fond du Lac’s Alcohol Licensing Committee Monday afternoon will consider a liquor license for 3 Guys and a Grill at Trinity. The owners of 3 Guys and a Grill and 3 Guys and a Pizza Pie in Elkhart Lake will open a restaurant at the former Trinity Restaurant site in Fond du Lac. Fond du Lac Police have no objections to the license being granted. The Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon at the City-County Government Center. The Committee recommendation will go before the City-Council for their approval.

Kiel School District Gets State Trust Fund Loan

The Kiel Area School District is getting a State Trust Fund loan. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands this week approved a $1.1 million state trust fund loan for the Kiel Area School District. The district will use the loan to help refinance a Wisconsin Retirement System prior service pension liability. Overall the board approved $9.9 million in state trust fund loans this week.

Scammers Target Gas Station Operators

The state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says operators and employees of small businesses statewide should be aware of a recent phone scam that targeted a number of gas stations in the Fox Valley area. Station employees received a phone call from a scammer claiming to be a district manager for the company. The “district manager” instructed the employees to take $500 from the registers to a local drug store or retailer and purchase a Green Dot prepaid card with the funds. Once the employees have the loaded card, they are asked to call the “district manager” back with the card number and PIN. As soon as the scammer receives this information, he drains the card of its funds. By the time the business realizes it has been scammed, the money is long gone.

Two New Board Members For Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County has two new board members: Alan Hathaway of BrownBoots Interactive and Steve Leaman of Horicon Bank. Hathaway has served on a number of boards and is currently on the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership Board. Alan and his wife Sara live in Eden with their two sons. Steve Leaman is the Assistant Vice President of Business Banking for Horicon Bank serving FDL and the surrounding communities.  Leaman is involved in a number of area organizations and efforts. Steve enjoys spending time with family, sports and traveling.