Hometown Broadcasting News Friday 1/15/21
15 January 2021 News
Winter Weather Advisory Continues Until Noon
A winter weather advisory continues until Noon today for Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago counties. An additional 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected with freezing drizzle at times this morning. Wintry precipitation is expected through the rest of the day, but additional accumulations will be fairly light. A winter weather advisory for Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, and Marquette counties ended at six o’clock this morning.
Phone Scam Continues In Winnebago County
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department isn’t the only agency that scammers are using to try and bilk the public out of their money. Oshkosh Police say they received a complaint in which a man posing as one of their officers called and told the resident there was an outstanding warrant out for their arrest, but they could get out of it by purchasing gift cards. The scammer’s phone number spoofed the Oshkosh Police Department’s non-emergency number and the scammer identified himself as “Officer Jones, Badge number J9218.” Oshkosh Police say they may call about investigations, but not about court-related appearances and certainly wouldn’t ask a resident to use gift cards to pay to avoid getting arrested on a warrant.
Vehicle Thefts In The Lomira Area
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department is warning resident s about vehicle thefts. The department has gotten reports of three vehicle thefts in the Lomira area since December 5th. Sheriff Dale Schmidt says the individuals are targeting vehicles that are unlocked with keys hidden inside of them. The suspects are also looking for unlocked vehicles with garage door openers in them, which will allow them to get into garages to look for the vehicles’ keys. Schmidt says whenever they have a rash of vehicle thefts and burglaries they usually learn the victim was targeted because of an unlocked vehicle or doors.
FDL County Sheriff’s Office Adds Deputies
With the help of a Federal COPS Grant the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department was able to hire three new deputies for its patrol division for this year. Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt says back in 2009 the County Board actually approved hiring six deputies for patrol, but it was contingent on a grant that didn’t get approved. It’s been 20 years since they’ve hired additional deputies for patrol so Waldschmidt says it has been a long time coming. “If you compare us to other counties of similar size, other counties of similar call volumes and service volumes and populations we’re actually quite a bit understaffed compared to other counties and it was long overdue.” He says currently they have 4 deputies on each shift patrolling 724 square miles of county, but they would like to up that to 5 deputies per shift because it provides personnel in case someone needs back up in a situation. The Sheriff’s Office gets a call for service every 15 minutes.
Hospitals Restored Procedures After Early Months Of COVID
The President of the Ripon Medical Center and Waupun Memorial Hospital says they have seen their patient numbers rebound since the early days of the pandemic. DeeAnn Thurmer says they elected to scale back in-patient services and surgeries last March and April, but started restoring those services last May. “We take every precaution to make sure that as our patients hear you’re safe we don’t have in-patients who are non-COVID getting any risk to them because we keep our COVID patients isolated.” Some people put off elective surgeries and procedures because of COVID-19. Thurmer says they encourage people who put off medical procedures last year to get them done now so they are not unnecessarily putting themselves at risk.
Passing Of Schools Referendum Was Appreciated
The Superintendent of the Ripon Area School District says they appreciate voters last fall approving a 6-year $500,000 a year operational referendum. Mary Whitrock says a long time ago Ripon was locked into a revenue cap that puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to the funding they receive from the state per pupil. She says the referendum puts them closer to where they should be and allows them to pay for needs they otherwise wouldn’t have the funding for. “Those dollars are used for technology, maintenance and curriculum resources and our need for that is partly because we are so underfunded by the state.” Whitrock says with revenue caps in place the district only receives funding from the state for $9,800 per student, while some districts receive as much at $18,000 per student.
Ripon College Preps For Spring Semester
Ripon College President Zach Messitte this week posted a letter to the community detailing their plans to deal with the pandemic when the spring semester starts on Monday, January 25th. The college will operate under the same precautionary guidelines that were in place during the fall. Some classes will be in person, others will be entirely online or there will be a combination of the two. Students in residence, as well as faculty and staff who plan to work on campus, will be required to have a COVID test before being allowed to begin the spring semester. More details are available at the Ripon College website.
Reunite Ripon: Our Plan for Spring Semester | Ripon College
FDL County Board Meeting Cancelled
Due to a lack of items that need action the Fond du Lac County Board has cancelled the meeting that was scheduled for next Tuesday. The Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, February 2nd at 6 pm in the Legislative Chambers of the City-County Government Center in Fond du Lac. The Board can cancel a meeting if a majority of its members petitions to cancel the meeting.
J’s BBQ Hosting Fundraiser For BBBS Of FDL County
J’s BBQ in Ripon is hosting a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County Saturday from 11 am to 2:30 pm. Take a photo of the promotion on the Big Brothers Facebook page and when you order your BBQ at J’s during those hours a portion of your order will be donated to Big Brothers. J’s at 333 Watson Street does dine-in or carry-out. You can also order on-line. Their phone number is 920-748-2232.
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