2/15/22 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
15 February 2022 News
Former Camp Counselor Bound Over For Trial On Child Sexual Assault Charge
The 32-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man suspected of touching a 10-year-old’s genitals at a religious camp in Waushara County pleaded not guilty Monday to a first degree child sexual assault charge. Remington Nystrom is suspected of committing the act at the Mount Morris Camp and Retreat Center in Waushara County in July of 2009 when he was a camp counselor. A police detective testified during a preliminary hearing for Nystrom who was bound over for trial. A status conference is scheduled in the case on April 5th. The victim reported the assault to the Attorney General’s Clergy and Faith Leader Initiative. The victim had not reported the assault to either church or legal authorities before that. Nystom was added to the state’s sex offender registry in 2019 after pleading no contest to fourth- degree sexual assault of a child and causing mental harm to a child charges in a separate Waushara County case. (Pictured Department of Corrections photo)
Reeseville Man Sentenced On Sexual Assault Charges
A 48-year-old Reeseville man has been sentenced to 8 years in prison and 8 years of extended supervision for having sex with a fifteen-year-old girl while he was working as a farmhand in Dodge County. According to prosecutors the sexual assault of a child happened while Marcus Statz worked at a farm in the Town of Emmet. Statz had sex with the girl after he finished milking the cows. It went on from October of 2020 through January of 2021 when the two were working together on the farm. Statz admitted to investigators he knew having sex with the girl was crossing the line. Statz was sentenced in Dodge County court Monday.
New Ripon Senior Center Closer To Reality
It may have started out as a dream, but a new Senior Center in Ripon is taking steps toward reality. Last week the Ripon Common Council approved a base bid of nearly $2 million for construction of the Grace and Lloyd Mitchell Senior Activity Center. It has to be approved by state and federal authorities because of the funding that’s tied into it, but that is considered a formality. Ripon Senior Activity Center Executive Director Noreen Johnson says a neighborhood investment fund grant the city applied for of $1.2 million would pay for trail extensions, a kiosk and things needed for the trailhead portion of the project and odds and ends for the Senior Center including furnishings. The city has American Recovery Plan Act funds it can use if the grant doesn’t come through, but otherwise could use those ARPA funds for other improvements in the city. She notes other money committed toward the project like the endowment by the Mitchell estate would have been lost if the city had not approved the construction bid. The city will learn next week whether it will receive the neighborhood investment fund grant.
Public Hearing In Ripon On CDBG Funding
A second public hearing will be held on Community Development Block Grant money the City of Ripon is using for both the Vermont Street and Parkway Terrace improvements and Senior Center projects. It will be held on Monday, February 28th at 7 pm at the Ripon City Hall. Discussion items will include a review of the current CDBG program activities, the project progress and construction activities. Questions and suggestions about the CDBG program will be taken. Community Development Block Grants provide funding for programs that benefit those on low to moderate incomes.
Monitoring Health Staff For COVID Related PTSD
Fond du Lac County Public Health Officer Kim Mueller says they constantly monitor staff at the County Health Department that were involved in the battle against COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic for PTSD or mental health issues. She says during the first year of the pandemic they weren’t getting much help from the state and worked around the clock without much time for themselves or family. She says they were fortunate to have an extremely supportive County Executive and leadership team. Mueller says things have improved greatly in the work environment for department members still involved in the battle against the coronavirus, but they continue to monitor them to make sure they get help if stress becomes too much.
Wastewater COVID Testing
One of the newer ways of gauging how much communities are being affected by COVID-19 is to test a city’s wastewater. Jeff Puhlmann-Becker of the Ripon Community COVID-19 Task Force says that might sound odd or extreme, but it provides a broader snapshot of how badly a community is being affected by the coronavirus and its variants. He says with various testing sites and at-home testing there is a question about the accuracy of what is being reported to county and state health departments. He notes not everyone who tests at-home is going to follow through with a county health department to tell them whether they tested positive or negative. As for the wastewater it is treated with chemicals before it is cycled back into watersheds.
SSM Health Treffert Studios
The SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac Region is partnering with Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac to open the SSM Health Treffert Studios. The $2.75 million project in Fond du Lac will begin construction soon and will open in early summer. It will build upon the legacy of Dr. Darold Treffert a world-renowned autism and savant syndrome expert. The Treffert Studios will expand clinical services and offerings to young adults with a focus on strengths and neurodiversity. Its focus will be to help them develop skills to secure gainful employment. The studio will provide a vibrant space for creativity, performances, education and training. The Agnesian HealthCare Foundation is supporting the Treffert Studios with a $250,000 gift.
FOCUS Program Goes Virtual
The Trauma Center at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah will transition to a virtual presentation for the FOCUS program this spring. Trauma Medical Director Dr. Ray Georgen says due to the latest surge in cases due to the Omicron variant over recent weeks they feel it is best to offer the program virtually this spring. Each year, students from dozens of school districts gathered together to watch the program at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, show students the process of a trauma situation what it is like to be airlifted and to need emergency surgery. More than 79,000 students have gone through the program since 1998. The program sheds light on the dangers of risky driving behaviors and their often life-changing outcomes. The program was previously known as the P.A.R.T.Y. at the PAC.
Sturgeon Season Day 3
| The Sturgeon Spearing season on the Upriver Lakes is coming to a close because Monday the 90 percent trigger cap for adult females was achieved. The season on those lakes will close at 1 pm this afternoon. A total of 324 fish including 85 adult females have been taken out of those lakes. Meanwhile, on Lake Winnebago 513 fish have been speared. Monday saw 92 harvested from Lake Winnebago and 32 from the Upriver Lakes. Four more fish weighing 100 pounds or more were speared including the biggest fish of the day a 148.2 pound adult female that measured 79 inches in length taken by Stacey Beach on Lake Poygan. |
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