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News 8.8.17

8 August 2017 News


A second person dies following a seaplane crash at EAA last month. Ray Johnson of Marshall, Minnesota died at an area hospital last week following injuries he suffered when the seaplane he was in flipped over on Lake Winnebago. Authorities say the plane was going 80-miles-per hour and failed to get high enough off the choppy waters – possibly hitting a large wave before flipping over. 71-year-old Diane Linker of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota was also killed in the crash. A third person escaped with non-life threatening injuries.

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A Fond du Lac county prosecutor says a Milwaukee man convicted in a heroin overdose death case was dealing drugs from his jail cell. Stephen Jordan was sentenced to 10 years in prison for supplying the heroin that led to the overdose death of an Oakfield man in 2015. Assistant District Attorney Dennis Krueger says investigators were able to use cell phone records to link Jordan to the sale. Krueger says he believes a long prison sentence was appropriate.

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President Donald Trump’s administration decides to extend funding to house homeless veterans at state homes in King and Union Grove. State officials learned late Friday they would receive the money for another year to give them time to consider overhauling its programs to qualify for more permanent funding. State officials learned in June that federal reimbursements for the homeless housing programs at King and Union Grove would end in September. The funding system was changed to make money available through competitive grants. Other states changed their operations but Wisconsin didn’t. State Veterans Affairs Secretary Daniel Zimmerman says he didn’t make changes because federal officials assured him Wisconsin’s funding was safe.

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A new program at a Wisconsin university aims to make it easier for students to get fresh produce. The University of Wisconsin-Madison recently began the Campus Food Shed program. The program has four refrigerators spread throughout campus. Pictures of donations in the fridge are posted on Facebook to let students know what’s available. Founder Hannah DePorter says produce is usually gone within 24 hours of being put in a fridge. She says the program aims to reduce food waste and increase food security. The senior was inspired to create the program when she was an administrator director for a sustainable agriculture organization on campus. DePorter says she hopes to expand the program by working with local farmers who have extra produce.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to release a draft report on possible measures at a crucial site in Illinois that could prevent invasive Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan. The report due out this week is expected to list options for upgrading the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet. The complex is on the Des Plaines River a few miles downstream from electric barriers intended to prevent fish in the Mississippi River watershed from reaching the Great Lakes through Chicago-area waterways. Brandon Road is considered a bottleneck where structures or technologies could be used to strengthen defenses against Asian carp, which have infested the Mississippi. Scientists say if they reach the Great Lakes, they could cripple a $ 7 billion fishing industry by crowding out native species.

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