Local News Briefs Thursday 1/8/15

Bond was set at $10,000 cash for the 26-year-old North Fond du Lac man who hit a house in Fond du Lac with his vehicle and then tried to flee to scene. Zachary Robbins was charged in Fond du Lac County Court this week with 2nd degree recklessly endangering safety, fleeing an officer and obstruction. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday, January 15th.  During the December 30th incident Robbins allegedly drove away from the scene with heavy front-end damage and a missing rear tire. He then lost a second tire trying to get away from police. Police eventually arrested him at gun point. The pursuit was a little over a mile. A 34-year-old woman who was a passenger in his vehicle was not charged.

Third Milwaukee Man Pleads To Charges For Town Of Auburn Robbery

A third Milwaukee man involved in the robbery and attack of a Town of Auburn couple has pled “no contest” to several charges stemming from the December 2013 robbery. Twenty-two-year-old Dominic Cloyd entered the pleas in Fond du Lac County Court Wednesday to robbery, theft and disorderly conduct with a dangerous weapon charges. A burglary charge was read into the record and dismissed. Twenty-four-year-old Danny Morris of Milwaukee entered an Alford Plea last week to an armed robbery charge. He was accidentally shot in the upper torso by a third suspect, Derrick Johnson, during the incident and is now in a wheelchair. Cloyd will be sentenced in March and Morris is scheduled for sentencing next month. Johnson was sentenced to prison in November for his role in the robbery.

SUV Goes Through The Ice On Lake Winnebago

A Neenah man got lucky Tuesday night when his SUV went through the ice on Lake Winnebago and he was able to safely escape and walk back to shore. Winnebago County Sheriff’s officials got a call about the SUV submerged up to its dashboard off Fresh Air Park on the northern end of the lake Wednesday morning. No one was in it and the driver was located a short time later. He apparently had gone out on the lake looking for a fishing spot when the SUV broke through the ice. Sheriff’s officials caution that the ice on the lake is dangerous because high winds have caused some shifting.

First Flu Death Of Season Reported In Milwaukee

The Department of Health Services and the City of Milwaukee Health Department have confirmed that a child in the city of Milwaukee has died from complications related to influenza.  In Wisconsin, deaths from influenza are only reportable if they are pediatric (under age 18) deaths. Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. The flu vaccine helps prevent complications that can be caused by the flu, such as pneumonia or hospitalization. Flu season for Wisconsin generally occurs between late October and May, with peak activity around late January or early February.

Open Seats For Town Chairman In Calumet And Osceola

Residents in the Fond du Lac County Towns of Calumet and Osceola have until Friday at 5 p.m. if they would like to file papers to run for the Town Chair positions. In both cases the Town Chairman decided to run for a Town Supervisor’s position instead. Also Bill Benson decided not to run for the Supervisor #1 position for the Osceola Town Board so people can file papers for that seat through Friday afternoon.  If non-candidacy papers are not filed by an incumbent it extends the deadline for nomination papers by 72 hours. Those interested in the seats in the Towns of Calumet and Osceola should file papers with the appropriate clerk.

JC Penny Closing Oshkosh Store

J. C. Penny is closing two more stores in Wisconsin including one in Oshkosh. The store in Oshkosh will close in April, which will affect 79 employees. A J.C. Penny store will also close in Racine that will affect 77 employees. Severance benefits and transition programs will be offered to qualified employees. J.C. Penny closed five stores in Wisconsin last spring including the store that was located at the Forest Mall in Fond du Lac.

Grothman Responds To Bloggers Criticism

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-Conservative blogger Erick Erickson criticized Wisconsin Congressman Glenn Grothman’s vote supporting House Speaker John Boehner, claiming that Grothman’s conservative bent is “all talk.” Grothman is responding by saying that if the party wanted to replace him, the time for that should have been right after the November elections, but Boehner won election. Grothman says a solid majority party behind the House Speaker is needed if you want to pass legislation targeting government spending, Obamacare and the Keystone pipeline.

FDL Fire Department Keep The Wreaths Red

The Fond du Lac Fire Department for the second straight year was able to keep the wreaths at their three fire stations red throughout the Christmas Holiday season. Division Chief of Fire Prevention Troy Haase says the goal was to keep from having to replace lighted red bulbs with white bulbs for each home fire from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Haase says there were other incidents, but no house fires. People use a lot of candles during the holidays. According to the National Fire Protection Association the top three days for home candle fires were Christmas, New Year’s Day and Christmas Eve.

Tobacco Control Programs Can Not Afford To Ease Off On Efforts

The program coordinator for the 5 Counties for Tobacco Free Living, which includes Fond du Lac County, says tobacco control programs can not rest on their laurels when it comes to gains in the number of people who have quit smoking. Sandy Bernier says they did make progress over the past few years with fewer adults smoking with that number reduced to 18 percent compared to a previous low of 20 percent. She says fewer youth are also smoking though there are increases in the use of smokeless tobacco and little cigars.She says with the gains they’ve made they can’t afford to ease off on prevention education and helping people to quit smoking. She says a lot of the gains they made came over a 50 year period since the first Surgeon General’s report.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day In FDL Sunday

Efforts to make residents aware of the problem of human trafficking will get a boost in Fond du Lac where Sunday has been declared National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. A proclamation was made at last month’s City Council meeting designating that day. Sister Sally Ann Brickner of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes is part of the anti-human trafficking effort. She says it may not seem like a local issue, but some officials say it is to some degree. She says human traffickers will target runaways and the state does have a number of runaways each year who could become potential victims. The local Fair Trade group will host a presentation on human trafficking Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the Fond du Lac Public Library. It’s estimated that at least 27 million adults and children worldwide are currently in forced labor, bonded labor, or forced prostitution. Eighty percent of the victims are women and girls and 50 percent are younger than 18 years of age.