2/15/23 Hometown Broadcasting News Wednesday
15 February 2023 News
FDL Bombing Suspect Convicted
A 24-year-old Fond du Lac man who placed a homemade bomb in a mailbox in Fond du Lac in 2016 has pled no contest to three felony charges and two misdemeanors. Jonas Johnson appeared in Fond du Lac County court Tuesday. Johnson was paid to place the bomb in the victim’s mailbox. The victim was injured when the bomb exploded. It blew a hole from the porch into the living room and knocked out the windows of a neighbor’s home. The man who allegedly paid him, 25-year-old Elliot Schneider of Sparta, was trying to get back at someone living in the duplex on Doty Street that had “ripped him off” for $1,200. A pre-sentence investigation has been ordered for Johnson who could get up to 40 years in prison and 30 years of extended supervision. Schneider’s case is still making its way through court.
Green Bay Woman Attacks Attorney In Court
A 25-year-old Green Bay woman suspected of murder and dismemberment attacked her attorney yesterday in Brown County court. Taylor Schabusiness lunged at Quinn Jolly. A deputy pinned her to the ground and she struggled with the deputy. Additional deputies were called to help. Afterwards Schabusiness asked deputies what happened and she was told she attacked her lawyer. She was in court for a competency hearing. She is accused of killing and dismembering Shad Thyrion in February of 2022. The competency hearing was adjourned until March 6th and a trial has been rescheduled for May. Schabusiness has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to charges of first degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and third degree sexual assault. Jolly has asked to be removed from the case.
Neshkoro Man Charged With Ninth OWI
A 45-year-old Neshkoro man is facing his ninth OWI offense in Dodge County. A Sheriff’s deputy stopped Brandon Matke on County Highway P in the Town of Rubicon on February 1st. Matke’s vehicle came to a stop where there was no stop sign or impediments in the road. According to the criminal complaint the deputy watched as Matke’s vehicle backed into an intersection and then continued north. Matke showed signs of impairment when the deputy pulled him over. He told the officer he had “two beers” that night. A preliminary breath test put Matke’s blood alcohol concentration at more than 2 ½ times the legal limit. Matke is being held in the Dodge County jail on a $15,000 cash bond. He waived a preliminary hearing last Thursday and entered not guilty pleas to the OWI and disorderly conduct charges when he was subsequently arraigned. He will be back in court for a scheduling conference on March 3rd.
Ripon Common Council Approves Agreement For Reconstruction Of State Hwy 23
The Ripon Common Council last night approved a finance agreement with the state for reconstruction of State Highway 23 or East and West Fond du Lac Streets in the city in 2030. City Administrator Adam Sonntag told the council approving the agreement puts the project on the state’s radar. The reconstruction project would be done in two sections from Union to Blackburn Street and Houston to Douglas. The estimated engineering costs for the project are $5.8 million with the city’s share coming to $228,000. Sonntag says the cost of the project won’t be known until 2025 or 2026 but will be rather significant. He told the Council the majority of the utilities along the project route are old and will have to be replaced. He says the cost of replacing those utilities will fall on the city.
FDL County ARPA Funding
The Fond du Lac County Board last night approved spending more of the American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to the county. About $20 million in ARPA funding was originally allocated to Fond du Lac County. One of the things the board approved was a resolution to spend up to $50,000 of the ARPA money to pay an accounting firm to keep it in compliance with federal guidelines for spending ARPA funds. County Executive Sam Kaufman says the guidelines for spending ARPA funds are over 100 pages long and can be quite complicated and if the county doesn’t do it right the federal government may require them to pay the funds back. The Board also approved spending over $1.5 million in ARPA funds to begin converting the Sheriff’s Department’s radio system over to a dual-band digital system which has more frequencies available to it. He says that is an ARPA eligible expense.
Inadvertent 911 Calls
The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents to turn off the Emergency SOS feature if they have a newer smart phone and don’t anticipate using that feature. During a recent month they saw the number of inadvertent 911 calls increase from 30 a month to nearly 150. Chief Deputy Matt Vande Kolk says the vibration from placing a phone in a cup holder in a moving boat or riding lawnmower triggers buttons that set off the feature which then calls 911. It can also be triggered if the phone interprets you’ve suffered a traumatic injury from a fall or a car accident. He says a dispatcher will call and verify whether there is an emergency if your phone’s Emergency SOS feature is accidentally triggered. The feature can be turned off by going to the settings on your phone. The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office carried specific instructions on how to do that on their Facebook page at the beginning of January.
Lauree’s Trail Progress
Green Lake Greenways President Howard Hansen says the third and final portion of the Lauree’s Trail Project is being split up into two phases. Hansen says they have been fortunate with grants, donations, and fundraisers to complete the first two sections of the pedestrian and biking trail between Ripon and Green Lake. They are hoping the “Peddlin in the Park” fat tire and mountain bike races in Ripon’s Murray Park this Saturday will raise more funds for the third section of the trail. Registration is at 9 am that morning with races beginning at 11 am. The cost to participate is $20 for those 16 and older and $10 for those under 16. Hansen says once complete the trail will have cost $1.8 million to build with a third of that going toward the final section.
League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area Offering Workshop
The League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area will host a workshop on Implicit Bias: Empathy on Purpose on Thursday, February 23rd in the Council Chambers of the Ripon City Hall. The League invites area residents and League members for the 7 pm program to participate in the hands-on workshop. The discussion leader is Maria Douglas the Equity and Inclusion Senior Specialist for the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. Businesses are welcome to attend so they can share what they learn at the workshop with their workforce and customers. It is the 60th anniversary year for the League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area so cake will be available to those attending the workshop. For more information about the League of Women Voters of the Ripon Area visit their Facebook page or call League President Ellen Sorensen at 920-960-3397.
Freeland Film Festival Documentary Showing
The Freeland Film Festival will be offering three events in March. The documentary “Butterfly, Butterfly,” will be shown at all three events and its director Len Morris will be on hand at them. The first showing will be at Bear Auditorium, Farr Hall of Science on the Ripon College campus on Friday, March 3rd at 1:05 pm. The second show is at 1 pm on Saturday, March 4th at the Federated Church of Green Lake. The first two events are open to the public. The third showing is a closed event for students at the Green Lake School district on Monday, March 6th. “Butterfly, Butterfly” is a personal journey of remembrance through 30 years of filming children all over the world as it pertains to child labor. The film is about 38 minutes long.
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