Hometown Broadcasting News Thursday 12/31/20
31 December 2020 News
Ripon Man Charged For Spitting On Police Officer
Charges have been brought against a 41-year-old Ripon man for spitting in a Ripon Police Officer’s face and other actions taken while officials were trying to bring him under control at the Ripon Medical Center and later at the Fond du Lac County Health Care Center. According to the criminal complaint the incidents on December 15th began when Shandy Hein allegedly made some threats and was arrested on a probation hold. At the Ripon Medical Center he twice urinated on the floor and later at the Health Care Center tossed some furniture around. The spitting occurred while officers were trying to bring him under control at the Health Care Center. Hein has been charged with discharging bodily fluid at a public safety worker, two counts of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer. During his initial court appearance Wednesday bond was set at $5,000 cash and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for next Thursday.
Plan A Safe Ride Home
Law enforcement agencies throughout Wisconsin will continue their participation in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, which runs through New Year’s Day. Last year in Wisconsin there were 6,058 alcohol-related crashes that injured 2,918 people and resulted in 140 deaths. Those planning on celebrating tonight or tomorrow are asked to plan ahead to have someone else drive if they will be drinking. A designated driver, safe ride home program, or taking a taxi are all options for getting you home safely.
COVID Vaccine Acceptance Growing
As more people are being vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus there seems to be a growing acceptance to get the shots. Health care workers and people in long-term care facilities are among the first to receive it. Jeff Puhlmann-Becker of the Ripon Community COVID-19 Task Force says the more people that receive the vaccine the more it becomes accepted. “A few weeks ago people were talking maybe in the range of 60 percent of people were willing to get the vaccine, that number has increased significantly because one the vaccine has been decoupled from the election. There is a lot of high-visibility people that have gotten it.” He says in two weeks 2 million people in the U.S. have gotten vaccinated, but with 330 million people in the country we need to have about 3 million vaccinated each day for it to become most effective.
Communications Software Upgrade A Big Project For FDL County
One of the biggest capital improvement projects for Fond du Lac County in 2021 will be a software upgrade for the county’s emergency communication system. County Executive Al Buechel says at $2.2 million it’s not cheap, but the software they needed for the system. “Believe me that is not an extreme price when you look at, because we did go out and get proposals from several different vendors and in fact it could have cost more if we went with a different package, but this one serves the best.” He says among those using the package will be county dispatch, public safety departments, police and fire throughout the county, and the county jail. Buechel says whether Ripon decides to go with county dispatch or not they need the software upgrade as well.
Successful Year For Envision Greater FDL
Envision Greater Fond du Lac President and CEO Sadie Parafiniuk considers 2020 a successful year for the organization that provides Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development-type services for businesses throughout the county. She says given the challenges facing businesses during this pandemic year they rose to the challenge. “I am thrilled at what we have been able to accomplish and what we continue to do. We never closed our doors; we did work remote for a time being during the safer at home orders, but we never closed our doors.” She says their 16-member team went above and beyond. She’s also proud of the fact that their member retention rate remained pretty stable.
FDL County Offices Closed For The Holiday
Fond du Lac County government offices will be closing early today for the New Year’s holiday. The City-County Government Center in Fond du Lac and Sheriff’s lobby/records office will be closed all-day on Friday, January 1st. The county offices in the Government Center will close at noon today and the Sheriff’s lobby/records office at 11 am this morning. The Department of Community Programs, Department of Social Services and the Veterans Services Office are closed today and tomorrow. The Highway Department will be closed all day tomorrow. The Moraine Lakes Consortium call center will be closed all day today and tomorrow.
Oshkosh Garbage And Recycling Reminder
The City of Oshkosh Sanitation Division is reminding residents that due to the City’s observance of the New Year’s Day holiday, there will be no garbage or recycling collection tomorrow. Garbage and recycling scheduled for pickup tomorrow will move to Saturday instead. Regular services will resume on Monday.
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