News 03.08.18
8 March 2018 News
uthorities say a team of explosive experts will detonate highly-volatile chemicals at a Beaver Dam apartment where a man was killed in an explosion earlier this week. Police Chief John Kreuziger said a news conference Wednesday the chemicals cannot be removed from the apartment because of their volatility, so the specialists will conduct a controlled detonation. Kreuziger says the detonation could cause additional damage to the apartment building. Some tenants at the complex have been displaced since Monday’s explosion. Kreuziger says the investigation involving federal, state and local authorities continues into why the man possessed a significant amount of explosives. The police chief was joined at the news conference by officials from the FBI, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the city. He did not take any questions.
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Fond du Lac police have made additional arrests in connection with a social media threat this week referencing a shooting at Fond du Lac High School. Police say in addition to a 16 year old Arkansas boy, who was the source of the post, three additional boys have been arrested in connection with the incident. The three juveniles are all students at Fond du lac High School. Investigators say the boys are familiar with one another and concocted the idea while playing an online X-Box live game. The boys told investigators that the Snapchat post was “meant as a joke” with the intent of causing school to be canceled Monday. Police say there’s no evidence the boys were looking to inflict any actual violence at the school. The three juveniles from Fond du Lac have been referred to Fond du Lac County Juvenile Court Services on charges of Party To The Crime of Making Terrorist Threats.
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Federal health officials say emergency room visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased 109 percent in Wisconsin from July 2016 to September 2017. The state had the highest spike seen in the 16 states that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed. Wisconsin had more than 3,400 ER visits for suspected opioid overdoses during the period studied. The study found the rate of ER visits for suspected opioid overdoses rose 30 percent nationally in that time. Dr. Anne Schuchat is acting director of the CDC. She says the numbers indicate the need to enhance mental health services, medication-assisted treatment for addiction and distribution of naloxone, which is an overdose-reversing drug. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams says officials are working to decrease the supply of and the demand for opioids.
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The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point could eliminate more than a dozen majors and lay off staff to cope with a projected budget deficit of $4.5 million over two years. University officials said the 13 programs that could be eliminated include American studies, art, English, French, geography, geoscience, German, history, music literature, philosophy, political science, sociology and Spanish. The university also plans to add or expand 16 programs that have a higher demand to deal with declining enrollment and reduced tuition revenue. Those include computer information systems, graphic design and aquaculture. Vice chancellor for academic affairs, Greg Summers, said reshuffling resources toward more popular majors is necessary because of increased competition in attracting a declining pool of high school students. Democratic state Rep. Katrina Shankland of Stevens Point said she was saddened by the potential cuts. She said liberal arts and humanities majors play a critical role in today’s economy because of the critical thinking they teach. University officials say students enrolled in any major that is discontinued would be able to complete their degrees. That would include students who enroll next fall. The soonest any tenured faculty jobs would be cut is June 2020, according to the university.
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