News 04.15.16
15 April 2016 News
Opponents of a large wind farm in Fond du Lac County say they will continue to raise health concerns about the development, despite a state study that shows no conclusive ill effects on residents who live near the turbines. The findings compiled by the Public Service Commission were presented at a recent Fond du Lac County Board of Health meeting. The report doesn’t sit well with neighbors of the 88-acre WE Energies wind farm in Calumet and Marshfield townships. Members of the Concerned Citizens of Fond du Lac County, a group of citizens who live near the site, claim they suffer from chronic illness due to the constant, low-frequency noise from the wind turbines. State Rep. Jeremy Theisfeldt says he plans to push for a scientific study.
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Neenah Paper will pay $33,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of an employee who has a seizure disorder. The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused the papermaker of violating federal law by refusing to allow Kristoffer Gauthier to return to his job on the production floor of its paper mill in Munising, Michigan for seven months because of his seizure disorder. USA Today Network says the EEOC claimed Neenah Paper required Gauthier to take his anti-seizure medication under observation in order to return to work. The agency says the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating against workers because of medical conditions.
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The sister of a Fond du lac woman convicted in the shooting death of her husband and accused of helping her sister dispose of the body is free on a signature bond. Tina Ewell made her initial Fond du Lac court appearance Thursday on charges of party to the crime of hiding a corpse, resisting arrest and harboring a felon. Judge Gary Sharpe ordered a $5,000 signature bond citing Ewell’s strong ties to the community. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled. Ewell is the sister of Eve Nance. Nance was convicted in January of first degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. She will be sentenced next month. Police say Nance shot and killed Timothy Nance at their Fond du lac home. Police believe Ewell knew about the homicide and helped her sister dispose of the body.
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A Neosho man receives probation for stealing from a Good Samaritan who let him sleep on his couch during a December snowstorm. Forty-eight year old Brian Krieger pleaded no contest to a charge of taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent. A theft charge was dismissed and read into the record. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Steven Bauer ordered 3 years of probation and imposed and stayed 3 years in prison and 3 years of extended supervision. Dodge County Safe Ride driver Ronald Gafner, picked up Krieger, who had too much to drink at a Beaver Dam bowling alley on a cold and snowy night in December. Gafner first drove Krieger to a Beaver Dam residence and when he couldn’t make contact with anyone in the building, offered to let Krieger sleep on the couch at his home. When he got up the next morning, Gafner’s flat screen television was gone and a minivan he uses had been stolen. The van was subsequently recovered in Milwaukee, and a television was donated by an anonymous citizen and delivered to Gaffner on New Year’s Eve.
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Two Wisconsin girls accused of trying to kill their friend as a sacrifice to the horror fiction character Slender Man are seeking their release after nearly two years in custody, saying they’re not dangerous and can return to family. An attorney for one of the girls adds that his client is a vulnerable inmate at a county detention center where she was sexually assaulted last year. A judge will consider the girls’ requests today. The girls were 12 years old when the attack happened. Authorities say they lured their friend into the woods after a birthday sleepover and stabbed her. The victim survived.
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Chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin’s deer population is growing geographically and in prevalence. The Department of Natural Resources says more than 9 percent of white-tailed deer tested last year were positive for CWD. The agency says the prevalence rate is the highest since the disease was discovered in Wisconsin in 2002. More than half of the state’s 72 counties now have infected deer. Democratic Reps. Chris Danour, of Trempealeau, and Nick Milroy, of South Range, are calling on Gov. Scott Walker to work with the DNR on new plans to stop the disease from spreading. Currently, the DNR does sporadic, voluntary testing. The neighboring state of Illinois has taken a more aggressive approach to eradicating CWD, including sharpshooting in areas where deer are known to have the disease.
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