Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday 10/26/21
26 October 2021 News
ThedaCare Makes Major Investment In Modernization
The ThedaCare Board of Trustees, along with support from the ThedaCare Foundation Neenah, approved a $100 million investment to allow ThedaCare to enhance and expand services at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah. The modernization of the campus will transform health care for all those living in the region and allow ThedaCare to continue its commitment to keeping care local in the Fox Cities. Highlights of the transformation will include; expanding and redesigning the emergency department, creating an additional ThedaStar Air Medical Program Helipad, enhancing the specialized space to care for stroke patients, updating operating rooms and more. Construction is planned to begin in January, and the modernization is expected to be complete in the fall of 2023. The project will create the equivalent of approximately 200 construction jobs.
Girl Killed In Columbia County UTV Accident
A 12-year-old girl died after she crashed the UTV she was on in Columbia County’s Town of Leeds Sunday evening. A 911 caller reported the accident on private property at a residence on County Highway DM. The girl was trapped under the UTV and was unresponsive after family extricated her. Family immediately began life-saving medical care including CPR. Those measures continued when a deputy, Deforest Fire and Deforest EMS arrived. She was taken to the U-W Hospital where she died. The investigation into the accident was turned over to the Wisconsin DNR. Columbia County Sheriff Roger Brandner expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the girl.
Oshkosh School Threat
Oshkosh Police Monday investigated a social media post that had been circulating amongst students. At 8:26 am officers became aware of a post indicating a potential threat towards Webster Stanley Middle School. Detectives immediately began investigating the incident and additional police officers responded to the school to increase the police presence. Police were unable to substantiate the threat, but the investigation is ongoing. Oshkosh Police encourage people not to share or repost those types of posts but instead contact law enforcement if they see a threat on social media. They stressed that they take threatening posts very seriously and the safety of students.
Phony Currency Turns Up In Ripon
A Ripon Police officer recovered some fake currency Monday while on a complaint. Police ask that anyone taking cash for any transactions check it carefully. Among the phony bills were a $100 bill, $50 bill, and $20 bill. Three different spots on the face of the $100 bill are clearly labeled “Play Money.” The $50 bill has a foreign symbol on its front. Meanwhile a couple spots on the front of the $20 bill states “Copy Money” otherwise the three bills are very similar to real bills.
Health Insurance Costs Went Up For FDL County
One of the increasing expenses Fond du Lac County has to tackle in the 2022 proposed county budget is for health insurance for its employees. County Executive Allen Buechel says typically they see about a 2 percent increase in health insurance costs, but they’ve seen a spike in the amount of insurance county employees had to use over the past 18 months so there looking at a 4 ½ percent increase or about $450,000 more. He says they saw an increase in health expenses of $2.5 million in the past year, which they weren’t able to offset with savings elsewhere in the budget. The County Board’s Finance Committee begins going through the proposed budget today. The County Board will approve the final budget next month.
Vaccination Versus
Ripon Community COVID-19 Task Force member Jeff Puhlmann-Becker says some recent statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shows how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are against hospitalization and death from the coronavirus. Out of 100,000 people who are fully-vaccinated 513 will get the disease, 13 will be hospitalized, and 1 will die. On the other hand of 100,000 who are not vaccinated 2,351 will get infected, 122 will be hospitalized, and 24 will die. Slightly less than 58 percent of the population of Wisconsin has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Open Container Ordinance
Ripon Police Chief Bill Wallner says a new city ordinance will allow the consumption of beer and wine on city streets and sidewalks during special events in the city, but also puts a lot of responsibility on organizers of the event to make sure that privilege isn’t abused. The beer and wine can only be consumed in areas of the event defined by organizers, who also must provide security for the event and offer non-alcoholic beverages. Wallner says his officers walk a fine line because they want the events to be successful, but they also want to make sure the community is being responsible when it comes to the use of alcohol. The new ordinance gets its first test next week during a Wine Walk, but will also benefit events like Riponfest 2.0, Septemberfest, and Summer Concerts on the Village Green.
Redistricting Zoom Webinar
“Redistricting and its Impact on Voting” will be a ZOOM webinar presented Wednesday, November 3rd by the Center for Politics and People of Ripon College and the League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area. The webinar will run from 6:30 to 7:45 pm. Access is available at ripon.edu/voting. The November 3rd panel will explore issues related to carrying out redistricting at both the state and local levels. They will discuss whether there are ‘nonpartisan methods to determine election maps, the impact of partisan politics on redistricting, and the potential role of courts in the process. Panelists include State Senator Joan Ballweg, Fond du Lac County Board Chairperson Marty Farrell, UW-Madison Professor Jordan Ellenberg who wrote a book about gerrymandering and the moderator will be Ellen Sorensen president of the League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area.
Tax Assistance Volunteers Needed
The pandemic placed great strains on Wisconsin’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs over the past two tax seasons. These programs, offering free tax preparation services to qualifying Wisconsin taxpayers, are experiencing a critical need for new volunteers as sites statewide prepare for the 2022 tax season. There is a need to help in several positions, including reception greeters, document intake and income tax preparation. Accounting or finance experience is not necessary to volunteer. Those helping clients with tax preparation services will receive formal training. Anyone interested in giving their time to either of these programs during the tax season from January through April 2022 should, before November 15th fill out a Community Volunteer Information form on the Department of Revenue website or call 608-261-5236.
Share |