Local News Friday 5/17/13

Oshkosh Fatal Fire Victim Identified

 

Officials in Oshkosh have identified the person who died in a fire at a duplex in the 1600 block of Ohio Street late Wednesday night. Twenty-five-year-old Theresa Schmitz was found inside an upstairs closet. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Schmitz lived in that apartment. Six others that lived in the duplex were able to escape including two that jumped out of an upstairs window. Two of those six were taken to a hospital where they were reported to be in stable condition.

 

Vehicle Fire May Have Been Suicide

 

Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s officials say it appears the 46-year-old Slinger man whose body was discovered in a burned vehicle at the Outdoor Education Center in the Town of Lamartine took his own life. The man’s body was found inside a vehicle that was engulfed in flames when Sheriff’s Deputies and firefighters arrived. The County Dispatch Center got a call about the fire just before noon Tuesday.

 

Sheboygan Stabbing Suspect Bound Over For Trial

 

(WHBL-Sheboygan)-A 33-year-old Sheboygan man who stabbed another Sheboygan man in the neck during a fight a couple of weeks ago has been ordered to stand trial.  Ollie Benton appeared Wednesday before Sheboygan County Judge Timothy Van Akkeren for a preliminary hearing.  Van Akkeren ruled there is enough evidence for a trial, after which, Benton pled not guilty to a charge of 2nd degree reckless injury.  Benton allegedly stabbed Floyd Hooks in the neck with a broken mop handle.  Hooks was flown to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee due to loss of blood and is recovering from the wound.  

 

Greenfield Man Charged For Washington County High Speed Chase

 

A 60-year-old Greenfield man has been charged with a felony count of fleeing an officer after leading Washington County authorities on a high speed chase. Jeffrey Reichert could also be facing a drunken driving charge for the incident early Tuesday morning. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department tipped Washington County officials about a driver who was heading into their County on Highway 41 at 90 miles per hour swerving in and out of traffic. That led to a pursuit that resulted in a chase that reached 105 miles per hour. Reichert was finally stopped by road spikes put down by Germantown Police on Highway 41 just north of the County line. His bond was set at $1,500 cash and he has a preliminary hearing next Wednesday.

 

Ashippun Man Arraigned On Church Embezzlement Charges

 

The 62-year-old Ashippun man suspected of stealing $162,000 from a church endowment fund was recently arraigned in Dodge County Court. Jim Schlieve pled “not guilty” to the 14 charges he’s facing. According to the criminal complaint he was overseeing the endowment fund for the Zion Lutheran Church in Ashippun when he took the money. He told investigators he used the money to pay bills and help out struggling relatives. A plea hearing is scheduled for June 7th.

 

FDL City Council Meets Briefly Today About Council Vacancy

 

The Fond du Lac City Council meets briefly this afternoon to decide how many names it wants to include in a resolution to appoint someone to fill a vacancy on the Council. The resolution will go before the Council next Wednesday night. The Council this week interviewed six finalists for the seat formerly held by City Councilman Jim Sabel. In a straw vote the Council chose Karyn Merkel, Lynn Farr and Ron Schmitz with Merkel getting four votes and Farr and Schmitz one vote apiece. The Council now has to decide whether to put all three names on the resolution or just one. They will take an official vote on the appointment during their Wednesday meeting. The person chose to fill the seat will serve out Sabel’s term, which runs through April 15th of next year. Their meeting today is at noon at the City-County Government Center.

 

Campbellsport School District Looks At Facilities Needs

 

Campbellsport School District officials are taking a look at the future needs of their facilities, which include doing something with their 77-year-old Junior/Senior High School. Campbellsport Schools Superintendent Dan Olson says they began with a needs assessment and then a facilities study committee did its work. Another committee is finishing up its work on a recommendation that will go to the School Board next month. He says they could be looking at a major renovation and the more remote possibility would be a new school. Olson says it will be up to the School Board if they’d like to hire an architectural firm to look at doing conceptual drawings and cost analysis depending on what the board decides about facility needs. The Junior/Senior High School has seen 10 additions since it was built in 1936 and next year 6th graders will be moving into it as well.

 

Logging Started Wildfire

 

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-A massive wildfire in northern Wisconsin was sparked by a piece of logging equipment. The Department of Natural Resources says the fire, which burned 8,131 acres of land in Douglas and Bayfield Counties, started at the site of an industrial timber harvesting operation. The operator of a piece of logging equipment noticed smoke coming from a cutting head of the machine, and tried to extinguish the fire while another crew member called 9-1-1. The DNR says fire crews were on the scene in less than ten minutes. An investigation has determined there was no negligence involved and the fire was not intentionally set. As a result, the Douglas County district attorney has recommended no criminal charges be filed.

 Hydrant Flushing Next Week In FDL

 

The Fond du Lac Water Utility will begin its semiannual water main flushing next Monday in the northeast section of the City. Flushing will continue in a clockwise rotation with southeast neighborhoods on Tuesday, the southwest area on Wednesday and finish in the northwest quadrant on Thursday. Flushing operations will take place each day between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The city is divided into quarters with Main Street, 4th Street and Western Avenue as boundary lines. If unexplained problems occur, the schedule could extend into Friday.

 

EMS Open House At FDL South Main St Station Saturday

 

Emergency Services will be spotlighted during an open house at the South Main Street Fire Station in Fond du Lac Saturday afternoon. Assistant Fire Chief Todd Janquart says the event will run from noon to 3 p.m.  He says if weather permits and they aren’t out on a call the Flight for Life helicopter will be there. Look for a Jaws of Life demonstration. There will be other demonstrations including the Red Cross showing people how to do hands-only CPR. Animated robotic mascots patches and pumper will be on hand for the kids, but Janquart says there will plenty of other chances for kids to have some fun. Everyone can also tour the station and there will be some light refreshments served. The theme for this National EMS Week is “EMS: One Mission, One Team.”

 

MPTC And Marian Have Commencement Ceremonies Tomorrow

 

Moraine Park Technical College President Sheila Ruhland says they are excited to have Kondex Corporation President and CEO Jim Wessing as the speaker for their graduation ceremony tomorrow morning. She says she knows Wessing’s message to the graduates will be encouraging. About 300 students will be graduating during the 10 a.m. ceremony at the Fond du Lac High School Field House. Meanwhile Marian University will have their ceremony Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. on the University Quad. The speaker is Dr. Bruce Prall, professor of Chemistry at Marian. He will be retiring following the spring 2013 semester after 42 years of service to the University.

 

Marinette County Man Survives Bear Attack

 

(Wisconsin Radio Network)-A northern Marinette County man is recovering from a black bear attack. Gerre Ninnemann was attacked by the bear Wednesday afternoon outside of his Town of Silver Cliff home. The juvenile black bear first went after the family’s dog. Ninneman intervened and was chased down and attacked as he tried to run into his home. He and his wife eventually managed to fight the bear off and a responding Marinette County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the animal. Ninneman suffered bite wounds and was taken to Bay Area Medical Center for treatment. The D-N-R plans to test the bear for rabies.  According to the incident report, Ninneman’s wife struck the bear with an unloaded gun.

 

Target Donates Flags To The FDL Police Dept

 

The Target Store in Fond du Lac donated two National Police Officer Memorial flags to the Fond du Lac Police Department in honor of National Police Week. The flags are being flown at the Police Department and the Public Safety Memorial in Hamilton Park during this National Police Week. Chief Bill Lamb and members of the Police Department’s Honor Guard accepted the donations from Brian Perry and Rick Circo of Target. Target has bee a proud supporter of Law Enforcement and National Night Out.

 

Salvation Army Says Thanks With Donuts

 

The crew at KFIZ and other businesses in Fond du Lac got treated to donuts from Bob & Bonnie’s earlier this week as part of National Salvation Army Week. Denise Shaffer is the Community Development Director for the Salvation Army she says it was just their way of thanking the people who support them in the community. She says donuts are a tradition with the Salvation Army that began during WW I when it rained for days on end while U. S. Soldiers were in France and Salvation Army volunteers cooked up some donuts for the troops. The Fond du Lac Salvation Army has another event coming up towards the end of the month a civic luncheon on May 29th that they’ve sent out invitations for.