Thursday 7/5/18
5 July 2018 News
Area School Districts Receiving More General Aid From The State
More than half of Wisconsin’s Public School Districts will receive more general aid from the state during the 2018-19 Academic Year. That includes some area school districts. The Ripon Area School District will receive a total of $11.8 million an increase of $294,414. The Oshkosh Area School District will get $2.5 million more for a total of $58.9 million in aid. Also receiving more are the Berlin School District ($102,958), Oakfield ($251,969), the Waupun Area School District ($476,465 more), and the Wautoma School District ($182,828). The Rosendale-Brandon School District will receive about $6.3 million, but that is nearly $52,000 less than the district received the past school year. According to the state’s Department of Public Instruction 235 school districts will receive more general aid this year, 182 will receive less and four will see no change in their aid.
Additional Funding Approved For Bridge Improvement Projects
State Representative Joan Ballweg of Markesan is pleased the state’s Joint Finance Committee decided last month to use $38.6 million in additional federal funds to fully fund the local bridge improvement program. Ballweg, a member of the JFC, says in addition to 113 bridges that were already approved, 70 more bridges were approved with the grant. She says they applied for more federal funds to bump up the I-94 project and to get all the bridges approved. She says, “So we were able to marshal that funding not only to do the I-94 project, but to do these local bridge projects. She says the additional funding will pay for seven more bridge improvement projects in Fond du Lac County, one in Green Lake, three in Dodge, and six in Columbia County.
Plenty Of Help Needed To Battle Town Of Ripon House Fire
The Chief of the Ripon Area Fire District says they had their hands full Sunday afternoon during a house fire on County Highway E. A total of 21 fire departments responded to the fire that destroyed the home. Chief Tim Saul says that may seem like a lot, but they have about seven different things to take care of simultaneously and it takes teams of three to five firefighters for each task during a structure fire. Crews are rotated in and out while they tackle a fire. Saul says they had a lot of obstacles that day. He says, “We were up against a large house that had lots of hidden void spaces, that had addition after addition, multiple roofs. So were were dealing with a lot of what we call “chasing the fire” it was in spots where we couldn’t get it as easy. Also we had a structural collapse.” Firefighters were also battling with heat and humidity that put the feels-like temperature in the triple digits.
Blue Green Algae Can Be A Health Threat
Blue-Green algae popping up on area lakes will continue to be a problem with hot and humid temperatures. Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says it can look like mats floating on the surface of the water, paint or just scummy. It varies in color and can be toxic to pets and cause blisters or rashes if it comes into contact with your skin. She recommends washing thoroughly with soap and water if you get any of it on you while you are in the water. Mueller also suggests staying out of the water if you harbor any doubts about whether it contains Blue-Green algae. She says, “If you are in doubt whether there is Blue-Green algae in there or not you know “When in doubt stay out.” Kind of looks like paint floating on the water if you’re kind of looking at something like that and you’re in doubt I would definitely stay out of that water.” Blue-Green algae can be fatal to dogs that swallow it and in some rare cases has also led to death for people.
Green Lake County Crime Of The Week
Green Lake County authorities are looking for tips about tools that were stolen from a work truck in Markesan last weekend. Several Dewalt power tools, sheet metal tools, and other various tools were taken from the truck last Friday night or early Saturday morning. It was parked behind SuperHeat and Cooling on South Bridge Street. The value of the tools was well over $1,000 and was a huge loss to the local business. Anyone with information is asked to call the Green Lake County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-438-8436. You can report anonymously. You can also text GETTHEM at 847411. Tips could be eligible for up to a $1,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of suspects or recovery of property.
State Highway 23 Project In Sheboygan County Approved
Governor Scott Walker recently approved $1.7 million to improve 7.5 miles of State Highway 23 from Division Road in the town of Greenbush to County Highway P in the town of Plymouth. The project in Sheboygan County is scheduled to begin next Wednesday and is expected to finish in mid to late August. State Highway will remain open during construction. Another stretch of State Highway 23 between Fond du Lac and Rosendale in Fond du Lac will be improved during a project that gets underway next Monday.
Cookie Daze A Month Away
Now that the 4th of July is in the books Ripon residents can look forward to August 4th, for the annual Cookie Daze Festival. It will be held from 10 am to 1:30 pm that Saturday at Barlow Park. This years festivities include the Bake & Taste Cookie Competition, Cookie Decorating, Cookie Hunt, Cookie Drop, Happy Ness Clowns, Fish pond, Kookie Cookie Bingo, Face Painting, Children’s Activity stations, and awards. The theme for Cookie Daze is “Superheroes” and the event will feature a visit from a number of caped crusaders and superheroes. A highlight of the event is the Cookie Drop sponsored by Alliance Laundry, Webster’s Marketplace, and Diverse Options for ages 3-12. At select times during the event the Ripon Fire Department will hoist thousands of individually wrapped cookies up a ladder truck, then Cookie Monster himself will pull the rope and thousands of cookies will come falling from the sky. New this year will be the first ever 13 and over Cookie Drop event which will allow “Kids at Heart” to participate in a cookie drop!
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