News 10.25.16
25 October 2016 News
Names have been released following a head on accident in Fond du Lac County. The accident happened just past noon Sunday on US Highway 151 at Pukwana Beach Road in the Town of Calumet. Investigation shows a northbound vehicle on USH 151, driven by 73-year-old Gary L Miller of Malone, crossed the centerline and was struck head-on by a southbound vehicle, driven by 65-year-old Christine Schwenck of Malone. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. Schwenck was transported to St. Agnes Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation, though police say Miller may have suffered a medical condition prior to the crash.
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A former employee at the federal prison in Oxford pleads guilty to smuggling marijuana into the facility. Federal prosecutors announced Stacy Lenorud of Mauston entered the plea on Friday. She also pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to bring tobacco, pornography and other prohibited items into the prison. As part of her plea she acknowledged having sex with an inmate. Lenorud faces up to 5½ years in prison when she’s sentenced Feb. 16. Her attorney has not commented.
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A choir in Fond du Lac is giving adults with disabilities a space to engage in the arts while also providing entertainment to the community. 40 people are now members of the United Singers of Fond du Lac, a choir for physically and mentally disabled adults. The nonprofit formed more than two years ago after Madison-based arts organization VSA Wisconsin cut its choir, and the former leaders reformed the group in Fond du Lac. The group practices once a week most of the year. Members perform holiday songs at a local mall in December and other widely known songs in the spring. Founder Diane Weigel says participants learn singing skills, but also become more confident and take pride in their accomplishments.
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The backlog of needed repairs in the University of Wisconsin System has grown to an estimated cost of $2 billion. The system is asking for $713.3 million in the next two-year state budget, and also asking the state to give the Board of Regents authority to manage projects that are funded by program revenues. Projects such as residence halls, recreational facilities and student unions that generate their own money don’t involve state funding. Regent Margaret Farrow says the changes would help the system save students and taxpayers money. UW-Milwaukee is seeking $7 million of the total capital projects request to renovate its chemistry building, which was constructed in 1972 and still has the original building systems. Several of the system’s campuses have residence hall renovations on the table.
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U.S. Senate Ron Johnson’s re-election campaign is again trying to reassure backers that the Republican incumbent can defeat former Sen. Russ Feingold, despite recent polls showing the Democrat ahead. Johnson’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney said in a memo released Monday they are confident in their data operation showing a close race. A Marquette University Law School poll released two weeks ago showed the race to be about even, while a Monmouth University poll last week had Feingold up by 8 points and a St. Norbert University poll showed Feingold ahead by 12. Feingold planned to vote in Middleton on Monday. His campaign spokesman Michael Tyler says in reaction to the memo that Johnson has “followed Donald Trump’s lead and dragged his campaign to the gutter with angry rants and personal insults.”
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A 1978 graduate of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has pledged to give $1 million to the school’s athletics department, marking the single largest donation in the program’s history. Fred Sitzberger says he hasn’t offered ideas on how the department should use the money, but says he’d like to see the men’s basketball program grow to become comparable with Marquette University’s. Athletic director Amanda Braun fired basketball coach Rob Jeter earlier this year and hired University of Michigan assistant LaVall Jordan to replace him. Sitzberger calls himself a casual sports fan and didn’t participate in athletics during his collegiate years. The university has an operating deficit estimated up to $35 million.
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