Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday 1/4/22
4 January 2022 News
Markesan Man Facing Stolen Vehicle And Eluding Charges
A 24-year-old Markesan man suspected of leading Fond du Lac County authorities on a high speed chase in a stolen vehicle early last Thursday morning made his initial court appearance yesterday. Hevane Richards (pictured) is facing felony charges for allegedly stealing a vehicle, eluding law enforcement officers, and a misdemeanor charge for possessing drug paraphernalia. The 23-mile pursuit involved the deployment of tire deflation devices and two high-risk traffic stops the last leading to his arrest. No one was injured during the pursuit and the only damage was to three tires on the stolen vehicle. Richards is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on a $15,000 cash bond and has a preliminary hearing on January 14th.
Names Of Shawano County Explosion Victims Released
Shawano County Sheriff’s officials say a third person injured in an explosion at an auto repair garage last Friday has died. Names were released Monday of the victims of the explosion which occurred about 12:30 Friday afternoon at the repair shop at the intersection of Highway 47 and Highway 156 in the Town of Lessor. The victims included 52-year-old Timothy Cook, Sr. of Oshkosh and 49-year-old Kenrick Larson of Neenah who died at the scene. Sixty-year-old James Moon of Keshena died last Saturday. The fourth victim 45-year-old Brandi Sprang of Keshena was injured and hospitalized. Moon and Sprang had been flown to a hospital in Appleton. A punctured pressurized container is believed to be the cause for the explosion.
Oshkosh Man Sentenced On Weapon’s Charge
A federal judge in Green Bay has sentenced a 35-year-old Oshkosh man to nearly 5 years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Judge William Griesbach Monday sentenced Kenneth Wright to 57 months in prison noting the “very serious nature of the crime” and Wright’s criminal history. Wright had already been convicted of two felony drug distribution offenses when Oshkosh Police executed a search warrant at his residence in December of 2020. Police found a handgun during the search. Wright will also serve 3 years on supervised release after he completes his prison term.
FDL Police Officer Promoted
Fond du Lac Police Chief Aaron Goldstein Monday announced the promotion of Officer Christopher Deering to Detective. Deering started working for the department in 2010 as a Community Service Officer while he was a Criminal Justice student at Marian University. He joined the department in 2012 as a police officer. In 2013 he joined the Domestic Violence Intervention team and the following year became certified as a Drug Recognition Expert and subsequently became the department’s Drone and Robot Unit Coordinator. Most recently he was assigned to the Street Crimes Unit and Lake Winnebago Area MEG Unit. Chief Goldstein says Detective Deering will be a great fit in their Criminal Investigations Division. Deering also served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2005 to 2009 including being deployed to Iraq for a year.
COVID Limits Hospital Visitors
The president of Ripon Community Hospital and Waupun Memorial Hospital says the course of the COVID-19 virus continues to dictate whether they need to decrease visitors to the hospitals or access to it for elective procedures. DeAnn Thurmer says at this time they are allowing 1 visitor per patient and are scheduling elective cases which could be rescheduled depending on the availability of hospital bed. Thurmer says for nearly two years their health care workers have had to shoulder the burden of caring for COVID patients while also seeing after their own families. She says they applaud those workers for their perseverance and caring.
Ballweg On Budget Work
State Senator Joan Ballweg is wrapping up her first year representing the 14th State Senate District. The state lawmaker from Markesan says a good chunk of her first year was spent working with the Joint Finance Committee putting together the two-year state budget. She says out of what the Governor originally proposed they crafted a budget that provided $3.4 billion in tax cuts and included investments in health care, tourism, transportation, and long term care which were previously limited because of budget constraints. Nearly $1 billion was also stuck into the state’s rainy day fund. Ballweg says in addition billions of dollars in federal programs are coming to the state ensuring that Wisconsin can continue programs that are important to state residents.
Average Year Expected For FDL County
Fond du Lac County Executive Al Buechel anticipates an average year for the county government if you discount COVID-19’s impact. He says they will continue with a couple of big highway projects in the Fond du Lac area including reconstruction of the frontage road or Pioneer Avenue from what used to be Schreiner’s Restaurant to Forest Avenue. He says they will also use money from the federal infrastructure bill to build an overpass bridge over the railroad crossing in the Town of Friendship. Additionally some of that same money will be used to put in fiber optic line for a broadband expansion project. As for other County services Buechel says they will be fine, but will have to cope with worker shortages like any other business.
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