Local News Briefs Saturday 10/3/15

Grande Employee Treated After Chlorine Spill

An employee at Grande Cheese’s Brownsville facility had to be treated by emergency crews after inhaling chlorine Thursday morning. Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say EMS personnel responded to the plant on Dairy Road shortly after 8 a.m. A minor chlorine spill was contained.

State Grants Helps With Highway 23 East Traffic Enforcement

Fond du Lac County’s Highway Safety Coordinator hopes a $13,000 state grant will help with traffic enforcement efforts on Highway 23 east of Fond du Lac. Sheriff’s Captain Rick Olig says deputies from both Fond du Lac and Sheboygan County Sheriff’s deputies will do patrols during peak travel times over the next 11 weeks looking for aggressive and dangerous driving. He says they’ve tried educating motorists, an expansion project has been held up, so now they will try enforcement. Olig says in the first 9 months of the year there have been over 20 accidents on the stretch of Highway 23 between County Highway UU and the Sheboygan County line resulting in 19 injuries and two deaths.

Grothman On Bill To Rename FDL Post Office After WW II Hero

Congressman Glenn Grothman says if a bill he introduced is successful the post office in Fond du Lac will be named after City native and World War II hero James “Maggie” Megellas. Grothman says in addition to being a hero during the Battle of the Bulge Megellas returned to Fond du Lac and got very involved in the community. Grothman says Megellas was a pillar of the community and his efforts to destroy a German tank during the Battle of the Bulge should have earned him a Medal of Honor.  Megellas graduated from Ripon College and was Fond du Lac’s first City Council President. He lives in Texas with a daughter, but occasionally makes it back to Fond du Lac.

NFDL Schools Administrator Retiring

The North Fond du Lac School Board this week accepted the resignation of Friendship Learning Center Principal Melanie Cowling. She also did the district’s curriculum instruction assessment. District Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says Cowling gave them early notice of her retirement, which doesn’t take effect until the end of next June so they could begin searching for a replacement. He says she’s been in education for more than 30 years and over half of that has been with the North Fond du Lac School District. He says Cowling is the epitome of working together for the benefit of all and will be greatly missed.

Winnebago County Register Of Deeds Position Opening Up

Governor Scott Walker is seeking applicants for the Winnebago County Register of Deeds position. Julie Pagel will be resigning from the position on January 5th. The appointee will complete her term, which runs through January 1st, 2017. To apply you have to live in Winnebago County at the time of the appointment. A cover letter and resume should be submitted with your application. Applications can be found at the Governor’s website under the apply tab.

United Way Campaign Update

The Fond du Lac Area United Way fall fundraising campaign has now raised 17 percent of its goal. Marty Chy is the Vice President of the United Way’s Board of Directors. He says they’ve raised over $127,000 of their $756,000 goal so far this fall. During the past year the United Way has gotten requests for funding amounting to over $900,000. Chy says they appreciate the donations and pledges, but every year they get more requests. He says it sounds like a lot of money, but he says everyone who has donated time or money should know it’s absolutely needed.