Hometown Broadcasting News Wednesday 4/28/21
28 April 2021 News
Columbus Man Arrested For Sixth OWI Offense
A 41-year-old Columbus man was arrested in Columbia County over the weekend for his 6th operating while intoxicated offense. A Sheriff’s deputy pulled Brian Hellenbrand over for speeding during a traffic stop in the Village of Fall River Saturday morning. The deputy could smell the odor of intoxicants coming from the vehicle and Hellenbrand admitted drinking the night before. Hellenbrand was asked to do some field sobriety tests, which he failed. He was arrested and was taken to the Columbia County Jail. He was charged with his 6th OWI offense, operating after revocation, failure to install an ignition interlock device, and was cited for speeding.
Oshkosh Face Mask Ordinance Extended
The Oshkosh Common Council voted 5 to 2 last night to extend the city’s ordinance requiring the use of face masks for anyone 5 or older in buildings and other enclosed spaces. The ordinance went into effect March 31st after the State Supreme Court struck down Governor Ever’s executive order requiring the use of masks and face coverings because of the pandemic. The Oshkosh ordinance was set to expire April 30th, this Friday.
Ballweg Comments On Proposed State Budget
After three public hearings in Whitewater, Rhinelander, and Menominee a virtual hearing on the proposed State Budget filled up quickly for the state’s Joint Finance Committee. State Senator Joan Ballweg of Markesan is on the JFC. She says today’s hearing, which will be shown on WisconsinEye, had 200 available slots. They filled up within 15 minutes when they became available last week. She points out Governor Ever’s initial budget proposal was for a $90 billion budget, but the committee will remove policy items and present a balanced budget back to the Governor with no new taxes. “What I would expect would happen we would present the Governor with a budget that would not raise taxes and would not put in some of these additional items. They are going to be considered policy so they are going to be taken out.” The Joint Finance Committee could start voting on different pieces of the budget as early as next week.
Body Cameras Will Benefit Law Enforcement Efforts
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says body cameras are becoming an essential piece of equipment for law enforcement agencies across the country. He points out most of the major agencies in the county have them or are testing them out. He says they add a new element of evidence in prosecution of criminal cases. “It’s going to add a lot more evidence for us in cases whether its video, at times audio, a combination of those things together that is going to be incredibly helpful for prosecution of cases and also for officers when people say certain things happen there is a better opportunity for that to be captured on video as well.” He says that’s the upside with drawbacks including work associated with redaction efforts for open records requests and the costs associated with storage. Among the departments in the county that have body cams are the Fond du Lac Police Department, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office, and police departments in Ripon, Rosendale and the Town of Ripon.
COVID Recovery Years
Ripon Schools Superintendent Mary Whitrock says the next few years will be “COVID Recovery” years for the district. She says pressed into going all virtual last year during the pandemic the result is a learning gap because students do better with in-person learning. “You know when you don’t have kids face-to-face and you can’t respond as quickly to questions and have that interaction between the students we do see some drops. Our middle school and high school has been working really hard to make sure students keep their performance up.” She says high school teachers have worked especially hard making themselves available to students that need the extra help. Whitrock says the budget priority with the school board next year will be to keep class sizes lower so students can get more personalized learning.
Ripon College One Day Rally
Ripon College will hold its fourth annual #OneDayRally giving day of support today. The day is meant to bring everyone together as a community to celebrate an institution that has shaped the lives of so many in unique and similar ways. It started at 3:39 this morning and it runs through midnight; the goal is to achieve 2,021 donors in 20 hours and 21 minutes. To support the effort make a gift by contributing to the Ripon Fund, Friends of the Arts and Red Hawks Club. You can also get social by following Ripon College’s social media channels and sharing their content with your own network on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Employer Registration For Virtual Job Fair
The Fox Valley Workforce Development Board tells us regional workforce partners have announced the opening of employer registrations for the first-ever virtual job fair in the Fox Valley Workforce Development Area. The event will be held completely online from 9 to 11 am on Thursday May 6th. Registration is free and is available online. The virtual hiring event will be conducted through the Premier Virtual platform. Employers can create their own booth space to include logos, videos and links to recruiting materials. The day of the virtual fair, each employer will have the opportunity to interact with hundreds of job seekers, review resumes and even conduct an interview. For more information on the virtual job fair call 920-997-3272.
Fox Valley Area Spring Hiring Event (premiervirtual.com)
Drug Take Back Effort Successful
Ripon Police recently disposed of 129 pounds of unused and unwanted medications that were turned into the drug drop box located at City Hall. The drug drop box is available year round. The disposal of those drugs comes on the heels of the state’s drug take back day last Saturday when residents throughout Wisconsin were encouraged to safely dispose of their old prescription drugs at drug drop boxes and locations. There are 13 drug drop boxes located across Fond du Lac County at police stations and at hospitals in Fond du Lac, Ripon and Waupun.
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