Hometown Broadcasting News Wednesday 4/8/20
8 April 2020 News
No Tourists Please During Pandemic
In an effort to prevent further spread of the new coronavirus Fond du Lac County officials are encouraging tourists to postpone travel plans to the county. County Executive Al Buechel says people who have cabins or summer homes in the county should avoid visiting until some progress has been made with the COVID-19 outbreak. “We’re asking please don’t come here until this epidemic, pandemic starts mitigating or they find some solution whether it be some treatment, more testing those kinds of things.” He says there is no real enforcement action they can take, but District Attorney Eric Toney is looking into what he can do to discourage Vacation Rental By Owner properties in the Town of Empire. The county is asking lodging entities to consider reducing the risk to its neighbors by not accepting new reservations and cancelling those that exist to temporarily discourage people from traveling to the area.
Hit And Run Driver Drives SUV Into Lake Winnebago
Oshkosh Police are investigating a hit and run accident that occurred on South Main Street and 6th Avenue in the City of Oshkosh late Tuesday morning. A passenger car was rear ended by an SUV. The driver of the passenger car pulled over to the side of the road, but the SUV driver took off. The passenger car driver followed the SUV. The man driving the SUV drove it off the boat ramp of the 24th Avenue boat launch into Lake Winnebago. The Oshkosh Fire Department got him out of the vehicle and drove him to a local hospital. The man driving the passenger car and a woman who was his passenger were not hurt in the hit and run. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Oshkosh Police Department at 920-236-5711.
State Highway 23 Project Gets Under Way Again Monday
Officials with the state’s Department of Transportation say the expansion of the State Highway 23 between Fond du Lac and Plymouth to a four-lane highway will continue this year. Monday work started last year in Sheboygan County will continue with completion of grading in the Town of Greenbush to County Highway P in the Town of Plymouth. Highway 23 will remain open for travel on the existing lanes. The Sheboygan County portion of the expansion project will be completed in mid-2021 and the overall project the following year.
COVID 19 Mental Health Intervention Website
Comprehensive Service Integration of Fond du Lac County has created a website that contains a list of local and national resources for individuals that are struggling with the COVID-19 outbreak. Tammi Kohlman is the coordinator of CSI’s Destination Zero Suicide Prevention Initiative. She says they’ve seen an increasing number of mental health-related crisis calls and suicides in the county in recent weeks. The website includes some phone numbers for crisis intervention lines including one for Fond du Lac County. “You know so we do have the crisis numbers that are listed right on the page. So there are a number of different ones there’s the Disaster Distress Helpline, there’s the Suicide Prevention Lifeline that is also a phone or online chat number. There’s a Crisis Text Line.” The site also includes basic tips on how to cope with the stress created by the outbreak and how to help others and links to other sources on the topic. It can be found at the csifdl.org website.
Ripon Area United Way Reaches Fundraising Goal
The President of the Board of Directors for the Ripon Area United Way says about a month ago he was pretty sure they would make their campaign goal of raising $85,000 then the COVID-19 outbreak hit. Jeff Puhlmann-Becker says they were able to reach their goal by the end of March, but he had his doubts with the pandemic. “We surpassed $85,000, we have $85,354 which the last time I was on your show a couple to three weeks ago and I was very hopeful at the time. A whole lot has happened between then and now and I wasn’t sure we were going to hit it, but at the last minute we did.” He says they are very grateful to everyone that gave to their campaign including the Ripon Rotary their pacesetter partner that gave 10 percent of the funds they needed for their goal. The Ripon Area United Way is helping 17 area agencies that provide services in the community.
Herb Kohl Luncheons Cancelled
The COVID-19 outbreak has led to the cancellation of another annual event this one looked forward to by high school seniors, teachers, and educational leaders. The Herb Kohl Educational Foundation has cancelled its 2020 award recognition luncheons due to the ongoing public health emergency. The events were scheduled for April 26th in Eau Claire, May 3rd in De Pere, May 9th in Milwaukee, and May 26th in Baraboo. Because of the potential long-term need for social distancing, and restrictions on large group gatherings, the events will not be rescheduled.
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