Hometown Broadcasting News Thursday 1/7/21
7 January 2021 News
Trial For Road Rage Suspect Delayed
A motion hearing will be held in Waupaca County court January 25th for a 24-year-old Iola man facing a first degree intentional homicide charge for allegedly stabbing a man to death over a road rage incident. A seven-day jury trial was scheduled to start that same date for Tyler Knutson, but Judge Vicki Clussman said Tuesday no trials have been held in the county since last March due to the pandemic and the county isn’t ready for one yet. Knutson allegedly stabbed 42-year-old Bradley Trinwith of Mukwonago over a road rage incident that occurred on January 25th of last year. Trinwith was a passenger in the other vehicle. Knutson is being held in the Waupaca County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond.
COVID Slowing
Ripon Community COVID-19 Task Force member Jeff Puhlmann-Becker says the next week will tell us whether there is post-holiday spike in new cases in the state. But he says for now it looks like the number of new cases is slowing. He cautions that doesn’t mean cases are leveling off in Wisconsin, but we are better off than we were a few months ago. “There was a time three months ago when we were talking about how bad Wisconsin was with 17 of the Top 20 most infected cities or metro areas in the country were in Wisconsin. We haven’t been on the Top 20 list for a long time. So things have slowed down for us in Wisconsin.” He says we need only look at what California is going through to remind us to take prevention measures seriously. In California hospitals are using every available space and room for patients and EMTS in Los Angeles County are being told not to bring critical patients in if it looks like a person isn’t going to make it.
Traffic Fatalities Increase In The State In 2020
Fond du Lac County had 9 traffic fatalities in 2020 compared to 8 in 2019. Based on figures from the state’s Department of Transportation that was still below the county’s five-year average of 11 deaths. Winnebago County finished 2020 with 11 traffic deaths the same number as 2019. Dodge County had 8 deaths last year compared to 13 the previous year. Green Lake County had 3 deaths the same as the previous year after recording no traffic deaths 2017 and 2018. Marquette County had 4 deaths this past year compared to 1 in 2019. Waupaca County had 7 deaths down from 11 in 2019. Waushara County had 7 traffic deaths compared to only 2 in 2019. Overall the state had 589 traffic fatalities last year up from 550 in 2019 and higher than the 5-year average of 579 deaths.
Deer Management Recommendations
Hunters, farmers, foresters and anyone interested in Wisconsin’s deer herd can help shape deer management in Wisconsin. Now through next Wednesday the public is invited to comment on the Wisconsin DNR herd size objectives and deer management unit boundaries for the next three years. Each County Deer Advisory Council has provided preliminary recommendations to increase, decrease or maintain herd size. In addition the public has the opportunity to comment on Deer Management Unit boundary recommendations proposed by the DNR. To view the preliminary recommendations for each county and provide feedback visit the DNR’s website. Final recommendations will be presented to the state’s Natural Resources Board for approval next month.
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Hunt/cdac
State Legislators Sworn In
Wisconsin State Legislators were sworn in for new terms of office Monday including a couple of area politicians. Joan Ballweg made the transition to State Senator representing the 14th State Senate District. She previously represented the 41st State Assembly District. That seat is now held by former Green Lake County Republican Party Chairman Alex Dallman. Dallman says, “It is an absolute honor to be able to represent the hard working men and women of the 41st Assembly District.” State Senator Dan Feyen, who represents the 18th State Senate District, was also sworn in for a new term.
Police Promotions And Hires
The Ripon Police Department has promoted two of its officers to the rank of sergeant. Jesse Tipton is a 5-year veteran of the Ripon Police Department, while Brad Kurczek has 15 years of law enforcement experience including the last year with Ripon. They replace Gary Durkee and Lindsey Michels as sergeants. Durkee just retired and Michels is now a school resource officer and community liaison officer. Meanwhile the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department recently swore in three new patrol deputies; Benjamin Bigelbach, Tyler Tikkanen, and Eder Salmeron.
Share |