Local News Briefs Wednesday 4/2/14

A sigh of relief from Oakfield School District officials as voters pass a referendum that will keep the district operating for at least 6 more years. District Superintendent Sue Green says they are grateful to voters for approving the referendum that will allow the district to exceed its revenue cap by a total of $6.6 million over those six years. She says they are thrilled with the results and appreciate everyone who worked to get information out on the referendum. The vote was 905 yes and 410 no.

In other referendums Oshkosh School District voters passed a $28 million spending referendum. The Town of Waupun garbage service referendum was defeated with 81 voting against and 44 in favor.

Incumbents Win Reelection To FDL City Council

All four incumbent Fond du Lac City Council members won reelection Tuesday. Gary Miller picked up the most votes with 1,723. He says he appreciates the confidence voters showed in him.

Brian Foster, Karyn Merkel and Lee Ann Lorrigan also won reelection. Lorrigan says she’s glad voters think she is doing a good job serving on the Council. Former Councilman Mick Burroughs finished out of the running.

Nett, Strand Reelected To FDL School Board

Incumbent Fond du Lac School Board members Julie Nett and Mark Strand each won second full-terms to the board Tuesday. Strand picked up the most votes in the race, just over 2,000 (2009). Nett finished 25 votes behind him and is pleased to be back for another term on the board. The third candidate was Linda Uselmann who finished with 1,760 votes.

No one officially ran for an open seat on the North Fond du Lac School Board, but there was a winner after all. District Superintendent Aaron Sadoff says a total of 194 write-in votes were cast for the seat and they will be getting the names from the municipalities today. The majority of those votes, 144, were cast in the Village of North Fond du Lac.

In other school board races Jenny Patrykus and Dylan Weber won election to the Waupun School Board representing the City of Waupun. In the Campbellsport School Board race to represent the Town of Forest Mike Bowe received 416 votes to incumbent Nicholas Schneider’s 113. All three incumbents in the Ripon School Board race Thomas Stellmacher, Barb Schultz and Sherry Muskavitch won new terms.

Everson, Schumacher, Will And Ryan Win Contested County Board Seats

Two incumbents were unseated in the four contested seats for the Fond du Lac County Board Tuesday. Sarah Everson beat incumbent Mike Gannon in the 5th district. She says she hopes she can do as well as Gannon did on the board. Thomas Schumacher defeated Kurt Schuller in 8th District. Retired Sheriff’s Captain Dean Will beat incumbent John Meyst in the 21st. Former Fond du Lac Council President Marty Ryan won by a wide margin in the 23rd over Dr. Kay Miller, but he appreciated what Miller brought to the race.

Town And Village Races

In town and village board races, Jim Rosenthal II and John Abler won terms on the Taycheedah Town Board. Kurt Krohn and Angie Smit were elected to the Brandon Village Board. Incumbents Bruce Lenz and Richard Symons were reelected to the Fairwater Village Board. Winners in the Oakfield Village Board race were incumbents Daniel Redman and Jim Eckburg and Chris Cook. All three incumbents in the race for the St. Cloud Village Board, Jeffrey Horn, Daniel Dreifuerst and Michael Born got new terms.

Low Turnout For Election

Just under 7,700 (7,656) registered voters turned out for yesterday’s elections in Fond du Lac County. County Clerk Lisa Freiberg says that works out to about 13 percent, which she says is disappointing but not unexpected. She says it costs about $15,000 for ballots for the election and if she had to estimate about $40,000 to stage the Spring Election in the County.

FDL Man Gets Fire Dept Award

The Fond du Lac Fire Department this morning will award a Fond du Lac man with its Citizen Life Safety Award. Division Chief of Fire Prevention Troy Haase says citizens can be nominated for the award if they were involved in a lifesaving effort at an emergency scene before the department arrived or provided extraordinary assistance to the department. He says Marcus Norbert’s quick thinking during the early morning hours of last December 20th helped put a fire out in the two-story English Meadows Apartments on Morningside Drive. He grabbed a fire extinguisher in the first floor hallway and was able to extinguish the main body of the fire around a coffee table in a tenant’s living room before the blaze could extend to other furnishings. He also helped evacuate the building.The award will be presented at Fire Station #1 on South Main Street. 

Sheboygan Purse Snatcher Operating

With two recent purse snatching incidents Sheboygan police are warning residents to be vigilant when visiting a pharmacy. In the latest incident a man wearing a ski mask knocked a 50-year-old woman to the ground after taking her purse and then fled on foot.  She suffered a head laceration and was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and released.  A similar incident involved a man knocking a 48-year-old woman down and taking her purse. Police are urging women to carry their purses tight to their body and wear a shoulder strap, always park in a well lit area near the door, and don’t go alone, if possible. 

Meeting On Princeton Dam

The future design of the state-owned dam on the Fox River at Princeton will be the subject of a public meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at Princeton High School. The dam impounds water that affects the level of Lake Puckaway, a large shallow lake on the Fox River. The DNR conducted a risk assessment last April after a contractor fell off the dam, but suffered no injuries. It determined the dam isn’t safe to operate in its present state. A set of procedures was established to safely operate the dam in the interim.  The DNR committed to a dam evaluation study and a firm will begin work on the study later this month. The public meeting will outline study objectives give the public a chance to question representatives of the firm and DNR staff.   The meeting format will include a brief presentation shortly after 6 p.m. followed by an open house.

FDL Police Make The Most Of Additional Community Service Officers

Five additional community service officers are freeing up Fond du Lac Police officer for more important calls. Police Captain Matt Mueller says originally it was a program they did in conjunction with Marian University and their criminal justice program students. He says the community service officers or CSOs take care of tasks that are minor or more task oriented and free up their sworn officers to take care of serious calls. He says the CSOs work four hour shifts from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. He says eventually the CSOs will be using old squad cars that won’t be equipped with all the bells and whistles. The 2014 City Budget included about $65,000 in it for the hiring of the five additional CSOs.

Entertainment For FDL County Fair Announced

Entertainment for the Grandstand at the Fond du Lac County Fair this July has been announced. On Wednesday July 16th there will be a tractor pull. On Thursday a horse pull is scheduled. On Friday, July 18th Country Music Star Jerrod Niemann will entertain. On Saturday of the Fair Collective Soul will perform and closing out the Fair on Sunday, July 20th there is demolition derby. The entertainment lineup for the Leinie Lodge has also been announced and is available at the Fair’s website.

MPTC Scholarship Deadline Approaching

The same day that’s the filing deadline for federal income taxes is the deadline for high school seniors to get in their Moraine Park Technical College scholarship applications. MPTC President Sheila Ruhland says April 15th is the deadline for high school students applying for scholarships to attend MPTC in the fall. More information about scholarships is available on the MPTC website. For more information click here.

State Announces Principals Of The Year

Three of Wisconsin’s four Principals of the Year come from the area. Associate Principal of the Year Lisa Rettler of Rubicon works at Asa Clark Middle School in the Pewaukee School District. The Elementary Principal of the Year is Jessica Johnson who works at Dodgeland Elementary School in Juneau. The Middle Level Principal of the year is Richard Appel who works at the Chilton Middle School. The High School Principal of the Year is Asta Sepetys who works at the Wisconsin Heights Middle/High School in Mazomanie.