8/27/24 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
27 August 2024 News
HEAT ADVISORY TODAY
A Heat Advisory will be in effect from 11 am this morning to 7 pm tonight for Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, and Sheboygan Counties. Heat index values or feels like temperatures could be from 104 to 108 degrees. Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses.
SEARCH FOR MISSING KAYAKER REACHES TWO WEEKS
Green Lake County Sheriff’s officials say this weekend’s efforts to recover the body of a missing Kayaker were not successful. The 44-year-old man went kayaking on Sunday, August 11th and failed to return that night. An initial search found the overturned kayak with a life jacket attached. Since then a water bottle, a tackle box and a fishing rod belonging to the man have also been found. Sheriff’s officials Monday said Bruce’s Legacy and Recovery continued their search using sonar. Yesterday they continued a grid search of the area. The towable sonar needs consistent speed and direction so other boaters are asked to give them ample space. Bruce’s Legacy crew will be working the next few days, and the Sheriff’s Department will continue their daily aerial search each morning with the drone. (Green Lake County Sheriff’s photo)
ERIK METZIG PLEADS NO CONTEST TO PARENT’S MURDER
The 27-year-old Fremont man charged for the murders of his parents in their Town of Wolf River home withdrew his pleas of not guilty by reason of mental disease to a pair of first-degree intentional homicide charges. Monday Erik Metzig pled no contest to both charges. The prosecutor then recommended 50 years in prison on each count, but that sentence to be concurrent or running at the same time. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing hearing scheduled for October 30th. Metzig was suspected in the shooting deaths of 72-year-old David Metzig and 71-year-old Jan Metzig on March 18th of 2023. They were found dead of gunshot wounds during a welfare check. Erik Metzig was living with his parents at the time of the shooting.
MORE DETAILS ON FDL COUNTY DRUG INVESTIGATION
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s officials have released more details about a traffic stop on Interstate 41 on August 18th that included the seizure of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The female passenger, a 23-year-old Milwaukee woman, was subsequently arrested for the drugs. She was out on bond from a couple of cases in Manitowoc and Marathon Counties on drug and weapon charges. When she was searched at the Fond du Lac County Jail 45 grams of crack cocaine and several Percocet pills were found on her person, which led to additional charges. She is currently in custody on a $5,000 cash bond. In the days following the stop it was determined the driver of the vehicle, a 34-year-old Milwaukee man, was also involved in the possession of the drugs and charges have been referred to the Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s Office against him. He is also currently out on bond from a Brown County case involving cocaine trafficking and bail jumping. (Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s photo).
RIPON COMMON COUNCIL REVIEWS ATV/UTV ORDINANCE
The Ripon Common Council reviewed the city’s ordinance for all-terrain and off-road vehicle use last night. When the ordinance was approved last August there was to be a review after one year. During the public comment section of the meeting a member of a local ATV/UTV club urged the council to reconsider hours of operation and parking restrictions. Police Chief Bill Wallner said over the past year his department has only handled 11 complaints about ATV/UTV use which included disorderly conduct, traffic violations, and the age of the driver to name a few. He told the Council if they do consider expanding hours of use they should be consistent and not have different hours on different days. Some Council members felt expanding the hours to as early as 5:30 in the morning or as late as 11 o’clock at night might be too much. Council member Ellen Sorensen says there is plenty of parking in the blocks off of Watson Street and it is only a short walk. Mayor Ted Grant said in fashioning the ordinance the hours and parking were a major concession to get the ordinance approved. He urged the ATV/UTV club member to have the club write a letter and send it to the city expressing their reasons for wanting a change to hours and parking. Since it was a review of the ordinance no action was taken.
RIPON LIBRARY DIRECTOR RESIGNS
The Ripon Public Library Board of Trustees Monday announced that Desiree Bongers, who has served as Library Director for over 19 years, has decided to step down to pursue a new opportunity. Library Board President Mary Madderom says, “We are deeply grateful for Desiree’s nearly two decades of committed service.” She added that while they are sad to see her go, they wish her all the best in her future endeavors. The board will begin the process of recruiting a new Library Director immediately. The search for a successor will be a thorough and comprehensive process.
UNEMPLOYMENT UP IN FDL COUNTY
Layoffs at Mercury Marine and Spectrum did have an impact on unemployment numbers in the city and county of Fond du Lac in July. The city’s rate nearly doubled to 6.9 percent and the county’s jobless rate jumped from 3 percent to 4.7 percent last month. Elsewhere according to Federal Labor statistics unemployment rates remained steady at 2.8 percent in Dodge County, 3.1 percent in Winnebago County, and 3.2 percent in Green Lake County. It was up slightly in Waupaca County to 3.2 percent and down a bit in Waushara County to 3.4 percent. The unemployment rate remained the same in the City of Oshkosh at 3.4 percent. According to the state’s Department of Workforce Development the unemployment rate decreased or remained the same in 45 of the state’s 72 counties.
SALES TAX REVENUE DROPPING OFF
State Senator Joan Ballweg says a sign that the economy might be taking a turn can be seen in the numbers that the state is getting back for the state sales tax revenue. The state lawmaker from Markesan says sales tax revenue was down during the first five months of the year in three of those five months. She says some of the bigger items consumers have been purchasing are slowing down and as a result there have been layoffs in the tech sector and now they are beginning to see them in the manufacturing sector. She points out inflation has been cooling but prices remain high. Ballweg says municipalities now share in that sales tax revenue and if sales are dropping off that will affect how those municipalities pay for operations.
BERLIN LOOKING FOR ITS NEXT CITY ADMINISTRATOR
Berlin Common Council member Luke Dretske feels the City needs to keep its City Administrator position. Dretske recently announced he is resigning from the City Council and the Green Lake County Board of Supervisors. Berlin’s city administrator also is resigning which was the subject of a closed session on August 15th. Sometimes when a position opens up a municipality or county governing body will reconsider it. Dretske says you need someone to do the day-to-day business for the city. Dretske says he would prefer a city manager form of government like Fond du Lac has, but that isn’t in the cards. The City of Berlin does have the city administrator’s position posted on its website until September 2nd or whenever the position is filled.
Berlin-City-Admin-Ad-2024.pdf (cityofberlin.net)
SCHOOL RESUMING WATCH OUT FOR KIDDOS
Ripon Police School Resource Officer Lindsey Michels says it is time to begin slowing down again for the kiddos on their way to and back from school. The Ripon Area School District has open houses in the early part of the week and orientation for students on Thursday and Friday. She says starting next Tuesday kids will be walking or bicycling to school and buses will be picking up and dropping off students so please slow down. She says prime time for school traffic is from 7:30 to 8:15 in the morning and 2:45 to 3:30 in the afternoon. The speed limit in school zones is 15 miles an hour while students are present. Parents should remind their children to cross at cross walks and look both ways before crossing. She says they are down one school crossing guard so there will be no crossing guard on Metomen while they fill that position.
US HIGHWAY 45 PROJECT BEGINS IN FDL COUNTY
Construction began Monday to improve 7.4 miles of U.S. Highway 45 in Fond du Lac County. The stretch to be improved is from Scott Street in the village of North Fond du Lac to the North County Line in the town of Friendship. The $3.5 million project should be completed in early November. US Highway 45 will remain open during the work. Northeast Asphalt of Greenville is the prime contractor. The project involves resurfacing-level improvement which includes milling existing pavement and overlaying asphaltic pavement, and beam guard grading/replacement. Improvements also include three new cross culverts under US Highway 45 in the project limits. US Highway 45 will remain open during construction using single-lane closures and flagging operations.
HIGHWAY 76 PROJECT COMPLETE
The state’s Department of Transportation tells us all major construction is complete for the one mile of State Highway 76 from just north of County Road II to just south of Shady Lane in Winnebago County’s Town of Clayton. The $1.1 million project began on July 8th and finished on time and on budget. The project included milling and resurfacing, replacing deteriorated guardrail, repair of deteriorated sections of curb, and cleanout of culvert pipes.
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