Hometown Broadcasting News Thursday 4/23/20
23 April 2020 News
Waite Appointed Waushara County DA
Governor Tony Evers this week appointed Laura Waite to serve as Waushara County District Attorney. She currently works as an assistant district attorney in Wood County and her background includes extensive experience working with survivors of domestic abuse and child abuse. Her appointment fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Steven Anderson and will fill the remainder of the unexpired term that ends next January.
Too Soon To End Social Distancing And Other Preventative Measures
A member of the Ripon Community COVID-19 Task Force says it’s too soon to end social distancing and other preventative measures intended to stop the spread of the pandemic. Jeff Puhlmann-Becker says the curve hasn’t flattened enough and the frequency of increases in the number of people testing positive is still too high. “We haven’t seen the declines that we need to be confident that people aren’t going continuing to spread this round and since you can carry it for five days, I think it is 47 percent of the people show symptoms within five days and 97 percent show within 11 days, you can carry it around a long time and not even know you are sick.” He says there are parallels to the Spanish Flu of 1918 when a second wave of the flu was even deadlier that the first. Puhlmann-Becker says people at that time felt they too had already seen the peak of the flu.
Testing Will Have Role In Reopening Wisconsin For Business
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says testing for COVID-19 will have an important role when it comes to reopening for businesses. Toney is member of the County’s task force creating a plan for reopening. He says testing is the best indication of whether a person has or had the virus. “It will be very important for expanded testing not just the availability of test kits, but who is eligible for testing and we start to hear more about antibody testing where that may be able to show has somebody had COVID-19 before but maybe did even realize that they had it because their symptoms were so mild that maybe they were asymptomatic.” Toney says he’s also become aware that not every county has the same relationship with labs to get the testing done as quickly. He says the safety needs of Fond du Lac County will not always align with other parts of Wisconsin.
Jim Lovell Special Guest At Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet
(EAA AirVenture photo)
The commander of the Apollo 13 mission will be the special guest at the EAA’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet in Oshkosh on Friday, December 11th. Jim Lovell commanded that mission 50 years ago this month, which could have ended in tragedy after an oxygen tank exploded early in the flight, but the ingenuity of those involved in the mission got it home successfully. Dick Knapinski of EAA AirVenture says Lovell is a long-time member of EAA and will tell the tale that evening. Knapinski says it’s something for people dealing with today’s pandemic to look forward to. “But we wanted people to know that even in these days hey there are events coming up, there are things you should be excited about there are things to be enthused about. So let’s look forward to some those things and certainly Jim Lovell joining us in December for the Wright Brothers Banquet at EAA is one of them.” Tickets for the banquet go on sale this fall and are $60 for EAA members and $80 for nonmembers. There’s a social period at 5 p.m. that evening with dinner and the presentation at 6:30.
Oshkosh Yard Waste Collection Begins Next Monday
Starting next Monday the City of Oshkosh will be collecting yard waste and will continue to do so through May 15th. Brush and yard waste including leaves must be place in paper biodegradable bags or must be bundled and tied. No other container of bags will be collected. Bags must be out for collection by 7 a.m. on your regular garbage collection day. Residents can also take yard waste and brush to the City Yard Waste drop-off center located on West 3rd Avenue. Permits are required for the drop-off center. They are available at Kitz and Pfeil Ace Hardware at 427 North Main Street.
Mercury Marine Earns Energy Efficiency Award
In honor of 50th Anniversary of Earth Day Wednesday Focus on Energy® presented its annual Energy Efficiency Excellence Awards. Thirteen businesses were recognized for their efforts to reduce energy waste. Among them was Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac. Through projects from 2018 to the present, Mercury Marine is saving 2.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity and 169,000 therms of natural gas annually, enough to power 478 homes a year. The company is also saving more than a quarter of a million dollars annually from energy reduction.
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