Local News Briefs Tuesday 4/1/14

Oshkosh Police say a 30-year-old Fond du Lac man was among nineteen men arrested during Operation Vanguard’s three-day internet crimes against children task force. Altogether nineteen people were arrested during the large scale effort with 6 of them in Brown County, 5 in Wausau, 4 in Oshkosh, 3 in Shawano County and one in Outagamie County. The operation ran from last Thursday through Saturday. The Fond du Lac man is facing a child enticement charge. Also arrested in Oshkosh were 17, 32, and 60-year-old men from Oshkosh who are also facing child enticement charges.

Appleton Man Pleads Insanity In Chase Charges

The 37-year-old Appleton man who led police on a 45-mile high speed chase that went through Fond du Lac County and ended in Dodge County entered pleas of “not guilty by reason of insanity” during his preliminary hearing.  Maxwell Verkuilen was in Fond du Lac County Court for the hearing last Friday. During the chase he ran into a Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s squad car driven by 46-year-old Trevor Driscoll causing the car to roll over. Driscoll was treated for minor injuries at St. Agnes Hospital and released. Another Sheriff’s deputy was able to run Verkuilen into a snow bank near some outbuildings on Oakwood Road in Dodge County and take him into custody. Earlier in the day law enforcement officials got information that he had a gun and intended to go out with a bang. No gun was found. The chase covered about 45 miles. Verkuilen is being held in the County jail on a $10,000 cash bond.

Armed Robbery In Oshkosh

Oshkosh Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred in the 600 block of Central Street early Sunday morning.  Police say a 21-year-old Oshkosh man claims he was walking in that area of the city when he was robbed by two men at knife point. After a brief struggle his jacket and cell phone were taken from him and the suspects fled. Both suspects were white. One was about 6 foot 1 inches tall with a stocky build and the other had blonde hair. Both had buzz haircuts. No arrests have been made yet. Anyone with information is asked to call Winnebago County Wide Crime Stoppers at (920) 231-8477.

Sheboygan Falls Woman Critical Following Accident

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-A Sheboygan Falls woman remains hospitalized in critical condition following a collision with a milk truck last Friday west of Haven.  The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department says 30-year-old Tara Kutney went through the stop sign at County Y and FF and collided with the milk truck late Friday morning.  She had to be freed from the SUV and was flown to Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah.  Her two children, ages 1 and 4, suffered minor injuries.  The truck driver wasn’t injured.  A spokesperson at Theda Clark said Monday that Kutney is in the intensive care unit in critical condition.

Severed Deer Heads Found In Dodge County

The state’s Department of Natural Resources is investigating the discovery of three severed deer heads in Dodge County. The heads with sawed off antlers were found in the Town of Beaver Dam over the weekend. Sheriff’s officials say the body of a deer with its head removed was also discovered near Parker and Shaw Hill Roads Saturday night. 

Election Turnout Expected To Be Low

The turnout at the polls for the elections today is expected to be low. The state’s Government Accountability Board is only expecting 12 percent of registered voters to participate. Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg is expecting a little better turnout in the County, which features 21 contested races. She is expected 15 to 17 percent of the County’s registered voters to make a trip to the polls for this election. She says more people usually turnout for elections in the fall, but the spring elections are when the majority of local races and issues are decided. She says across the County there are 89 different ballot styles that will be used for today’s election.

FDL County Board 21st Supervisory District Race

One of the four contested races for the Fond du Lac County Board is for the privilege of serving the 21st Supervisory District. Retired County Sheriff’s Captain Dean Will is challenging incumbent John Meyst for the seat. Will says serving on the board would be a chance to give back to the community that gave him so much over the years. Will was with the Sheriff’s Department for nearly 33 years. Meyst has served on the Empire Town Board for more than 20 years and the past two years on the County Board. He believes county supervisors should use all the tools they have at their disposal on behalf of the county.

Thiesfeldt Okay With Governor’s Use Of Partial Veto On Absentee Voting Hours Bill

State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he’s fine with the governor’s use of partial veto in signing a bill into law that limits in-person absentee voting in the two weeks prior to an election. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says the bill accomplishes its main purpose of limiting hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Fridays. Governor Walker changed the maximum hours for that voting from the 45 in the bill to 55 hours. Thiesfeldt says it will help clerks in smaller municipalities that don’t have the staff for those hours or weekend voting. He says cities, towns and villages that can’t offer in-person absentee voting for all those hours will have to publish ahead of time the hours they can offer the voting.

NFDL Going To Different Grading Scale In 2014-2015 School Year

The North Fond du Lac School Board recently approved a new grading scale for the 2014-2015 School Year. District Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says the scale they’ve been using was adopted in the late 1980s or early 1990s. He says more districts are basing their grading on competency and standards. He says it’s unfair to students competing for scholarships after high school because students in other districts are earning grades through a standard that isn’t as strict. He says it will be better for the district and students.

Sheriff’s Record System Going Paperless

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department is moving towards a more paperless method of records keeping. Sheriff’s Secretary Donna Whitty says they began scanning their paper records in January and have moved all their records since 2009 to computer servers and a Cloud system. She says that’s about nine file cabinets of paper work. She says that they will still being using hard copies for current cases until they are closed and then they too will be scanned into the system. Whitty says they have records going back 50 years of more for some of their bigger cases. Whitty says eventually it will be more cost effective, plus it’s a more secure system of records keeping protecting their records from a natural disaster like a flood or even a fire. She says deputies also have the advantage of calling up olds records through their computer system.