Friday 12/7/18
7 December 2018 News
Dodge County Murder Suspect Back In Court Later This Month
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in Dodge County court for a 20-year-old Portage man suspected of shooting a Beaver Dam man to death in the Town of Lebanon on Halloween. Nigel Schultz will be in court for that hearing on December 20th. He’s accused of killing 36-year-old Bradlee Gerke and leaving the body in a shallow grave in a cow pasture off Redwing Road. During a hearing this week it was determined Schultz is eligible to be represented by a public defender. Schultz is being held in the Dodge County Jail on a $5 million cash bond.
Sheboygan County Barn Fire
No one was injured and the pigs inside a barn in Sheboygan County’s Town of Herman were rescued during a fire Wednesday night. Eight fire departments battled the blaze on the second floor of the barn off Highway 42 north of Howards Grove. There was some structural damage, but no other loss of property was reported. Investigators believe the fire was the result of an electrical malfunction.
Sales Tax Meetings Not Well Attended
The chairman of the Fond du Lac County Board’s Finance Committee says the information meetings they’ve been holding on the County sales tax are an opportunity to find out more about why they would like to keep it in place. Marty Ryan says the three meetings they’ve had including the latest in Ripon have not had many attendees. “So far they’ve gone very well. This is the third one we’ve had. They’ve not been extremely well attended, but they’ve attended well by people who have an interest. We’ve had some great conversations and the people who have come have had some great questions. It’s been well worth out time to come into the communities and have these sessions. “ Ryan says they have been able to clear up some confusion about how the sales tax works. The tax will sunset at the end of 2021 unless the County Board repeals the sunset. County officials say a total of eight people have attended the three information meetings in Campbellsport, Waupun and Ripon.
Waupun Considers Phosphorous Reduction Options
The city of Waupun has secured $37-million dollars in federal grants and loans to address water and wastewater infrastructure. The bulk of the funding from the USDA, $33-million dollars, will be used to reduce phosphorus in their wastewater treatment facility. The Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Natural Resources are requiring waterfront communities like Waupun to place strict limits on the phosphorus that is released into local waterways, in this case the Rock River by 2025. Waupun Utilities is considering two options to meet requirements. The frontrunner would be a nutrient recovery system. Waupun Public Utilities Finance Director Jared Oosterhouse says the system would generate revenue for a municipality by taking phosphorus from wastewater and converting it to an algae-based biomass. Oosterhouse says the other option being considered is a mechanical filtration process is more costly and would be harder on the equipment. Waupun’s current wastewater treatment facility was constructed in 1951. Since that time, the facility has received three upgrades.
Congressman Grothman Attends Bush Funeral
Congressman Glenn Grothman was among the mourners who attended President George H.W. Bush’s funeral in the nation’s capitol this week. He was impressed with the eulogy Bush’s son 43rd President George W. Bush gave. “It’s kind of really the end of a generation. His father was 94, there’s still many out there, but sadly less every day the World War II veterans that made us the great country we are and allow us to have really the spoiled life that we have today.” Grothman says former Senator Alan Simpson’s speech was entertaining, but he didn’t get to hear much of it because they put Congress off to the side and they couldn’t hear things as well as some of the listening public. A second funeral was held yesterday in Texas.
Meeting In Oshkosh About Change To Permitted Phosphorous Levels In Wastewater
The amount of phosphorous in water that flows from the Upper Fox and Wolf River Basins into Lake Winnebago will be changing. A public information hearing will be held at the James P. Coughlin Building in Oshkosh next Wednesday about the study and implementation plan that is being put together. The meeting will be from 2 to 4 pm. DNR Water Resource Specialist Keith Marquardt says they will outline the changes to the plan based on the public comments they’ve received so far. The DNR is taking comments through January 18th. Surface water from the Upper Fox and Wolf River Basins ultimately flow into Lake Winnebago.
Berlin Students Learn About Weird And Wonderful Science
Seventh graders at the Berlin Middle School got some lessons in real world science Wednesday. Special guest educator Bill Harris of the Renewable World Foundation visited Angela Beck’s science classroom. Students learned about magnetism, induction transformers and Tesla coils and more. They even found out how to cook your own lunch in a magna-cooker, using nothing but solar and bicycle power. The foundation is a non-profit organization that also sponsors an annual trip for a group of Berlin students to Isle Royal National Park.
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