Local News Briefs Saturday 2/7/15

Disorderly conduct and bail jumping charges were brought against a Minnesota man who caused disturbances at two Fond du Lac businesses while he was drunk. Forty-year-old Jon Clennon of Austin, Minnesota was charged in Fond du Lac County Court this week. A $500 cash bond was set.  Clennon allegedly threatened to shoot customers after grabbing a customer. The disturbance occurred at Family Video and Marco’s Pizza. His blood alcohol level was nearly four times the legal limit. He is currently out on bail for a third drunken driving charge in Juneau County.

Iron Ridge Man Who Threatened Estranged Wife Bound Over For Trial

The 65-year-old Iron Ridge man who allegedly threatened to kill his estranged wife while holding a handgun to her head has been bound over for trial. Charles Kaepernick was in Dodge County Court this week for a preliminary hearing, which he waived. He also pled not guilty when he was arraigned. Charges stem from an incident last month when he forced his way into his soon to be ex-wife’s Hustisford home and threatened to kill her because she ruined his life. He also allegedly fired several shots into the floor next to her.

Wiltzius Takes Role As Interim Assistant Principal At Sabish

Jon Wiltzius’s hiatus from the Fond du Lac School District didn’t last that long. The Former Fond du Lac High School principal will serve as interim assistant principal at Sabish Middle School starting Monday.  Wiltzius will serve in that capacity for the remainder of the school year.  He replaces Jill Mussett. She resigned last month to take a position in the Freedom School District.  Wiltzius left the school district last June to take ownership and operate a campground.

Goals Set For FDL City Manager

Some goals were set for Fond du Lac City Manager Joe Moore during the City’s Council’s annual performance review for him. Among his goals for 2015 is reducing the city’s cost of health insurance by 10 percent. He will continue to seek and exploit opportunities to increase occupancy in the downtown. He’s also being asked to implement and maintain consistent methods designed to strengthen the organizational makeup of the City. He will also be tasked to make sure city staff supports the work of the Lakeside Park Exploratory Committee and Team Vision. Both efforts are long term strategies, one for the park and one for the downtown. Finally he is being asked to work with community partners to develop a plan to tackle the heroin issue in the City. During Moore’s performance review he averaged a 4.81 out of a possible 5 on 15 different elements of performance and leadership.

Common Core

State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says there are a couple of proposals included in the state budget having to do with Common Core educational standards. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says he proposed one of them. He under his proposal local school board would have to have an item on their agendas each year declaring what educational standards the district was going to operate under. He says the other came from the Governor. He says Common Core can not be repealed because it wasn’t a piece of legislation the legislature acted on; it was something the Department of Public Instruction adopted. He says the Governor’s proposal in the state budget would prohibit the DPI from adopting any more Common Core initiatives.

Senior Center Transition

Fond du Lac Community Development Director Dyann Benson says there were a few days of transition between a change in Senior Center Directors. Dottie Winkelmann retired late last week and Cathy Loomans replaced her this past Monday. Benson says Loomans got a couple days to work with Winkelmann before the change. Loomans was one of about 20 candidates for the job. She had previously works as the Ripon Senior Center Director and has nine years in the long term care field.

Lakeside Park Food Concessionaire Narrowed Down

Fond du Lac Public Works Director Jordan Skiff says they have narrowed down the field of candidates for a food service concessionaire in Lakeside Park. Skiff says they got several responses to the request for proposal they put out in December. He says some of the applicants withdrew, but it looks like they may have one that will be ready for the summer. He says they are working up a contract for that man so they should be ready by Memorial Day when the summer season starts at the park.  Their former concessionaire decided last fall he didn’t want to provide the service any more. The main food service concession will be in the pavilion with the possibility of a satellite location elsewhere in the park. The contract if accepted is for this year and next with an annual renewal process after that.

Do It Yourself Films At The UW FDL

The theme for the UW-Fond du Lac this semester fits in nicely with the annual film festival the campus hosts each spring. UW-Fond du Lac Dean John Short says the theme for the semester is “Do It Yourself.” He says students will be encouraged to make their own movie for a student film festival. He says the students don’t really need to have experience and will be given cameras to make a film. He says the winners of that film festival will be shown during the Black Maria Film Festival at the Prairie Theater on April 16th. Short says it’s the only venue in the State of Wisconsin for an international juried short film festival.