News 05.25.17
25 May 2017 News
A major renovation of the historic downtown Fond du Lac Retlaw Hotel is expected to begin soon. Community Development director Dyann Benson, says developers have received word the project is eligible for historic tax credits, clearing the way for construction to start. Meanwhile Benson says the city is applying for a $250,000 Community Development Investment grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Benson says the grant money would be used to support an estimated $14 million in renovation construction costs. The hotel was purchased last summer in an online auction.
-30-
A judge in Outagamie County sets a $50 million bond for a man accused of trying to cause his girlfriend to miscarry her child nearly a decade ago. The former Kaukauna man forfeited a $750,000 bond when he disappeared in January 2008. He was found in January of this year in New York and has now been returned to Appleton to face nine charges, including attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child. Manishkumar Patel was in Outagamie County Circuit Court Tuesday when the new bond was set. He’s due back in court June 1. Patel is accused of trying to cause his girlfriend to lose her child by putting an abortion pill in her drink.
-30-
A Milwaukee man faces multiple counts for his alleged involvement in a fight that ended with police shooting another man in an Appleton bar. A criminal complaint provides some details about what led to the fatal shooting. The complaint says 33-year-old Henry Nellum and another man got into a fight at Jack’s Apple Pub early Sunday when Nellum pulled out a gun, which went off. Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas says that when officers arrived, Lt. Jay Steinke saw a man with a gun and fired at him. Steinke shot and killed 33-year-old Jimmie Sanders, who was also from Milwaukee. Nellum faces multiple charges, including attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
-30-
President Donald Trump’s administration says it’s time for state and local governments to pay for cleanups of iconic but polluted waterways such as the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. But supporters of those programs say the cleanups are already a team effort. They are fighting a proposal in the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2018 budget plan to cut $427 million for regional waterway restorations. Many members of Congress in both parties also oppose defunding the cleanup efforts, which are popular with constituents. Supporters say federal grants often require state or local funding matches. And federal agencies can help forge agreements among states that compete with each other economically and may have significant political differences.
-30-
The state Assembly’s natural resources committee is set to take comments on a bill that would establish a woodchuck hunting season. The Republican-authored measure would remove woodchucks from Wisconsin’s protected species list and establish a hunting season for them that would run from the beginning of July through the end of December with no bag limits. The bill’s authors, Rep. Andre Jacque and Sen. Tom Tiffany, say woodchucks are abundant. They say the creatures are ravaging gardens and flowerbeds and causing damage by burrowing along sidewalks, driveways and building foundations. Jacque introduced an almost identical bill in 2013. It sparked fierce backlash from animal lovers and never got out of the natural resources committee. The panel is set to hold a public hearing on the new bill Tuesday morning.
-30-
The state Department of Natural Resources’ board signs off on a fall deer hunt structure that scales back the number of counties where hunters can shoot only bucks for a fourth straight year. The 2017 season structure designates Ashland, Iron and Vilas counties and the eastern half of Eau Claire County as buck-only. The designation protects does so they can give birth and grow area herds. The DNR’s board passed the structure on a unanimous voice vote Wednesday. The board designed 19 counties as buck-only in 2014, 12 counties in 2015 and 10 counties last year. Fewer buck-only counties each year is a sign the statewide herd is growing. DNR officials say a series of mild winters has helped bolster the herd.
-30-
Share |