8/22/23 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
22 August 2023 News
MISSING FDL MAN FOUND DEAD
Police in Fond du Lac say a missing 56-year-old man, Troy Zupke, was found dead in a wooded area in Fond du Lac Saturday afternoon. Police and the City’s Fire and Rescue responded just after 1 pm to the 300 block of Willow Drive for a report of a dead person in a dense wooded area behind a residence. The Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy yesterday and it appears the manner of death was by suicide. Fond du Lac Police had issued a missing endangered person alert about Zupke on September 6th suggesting at the time that he may be headed for Green Bay. While he was missing a drone team and the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team searched the area around Lakeside Park where Zupke’s vehicle was found. Police ask that people join them in keeping Troy’s family and friends in your thoughts.
SEX OFFENDER RELEASED IN OSHKOSH
A 52-year-old sex offender has been released from Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun and is now living at 2847 Fond du Lac Road in Oshkosh. David Helfrich will be on electronic monitoring and is on probation and parole until July 26th, 2036. Frelich was convicted of 10 counts of possession of child pornography in Winnebago County court. The victims were males and females not known to him ranging in age from 1 years old to teenagers.
NEW ROLE FOR GRIZZ
The police dog that belonged to a slain officer killed in the line of duty in western Wisconsin now has a new home with the Wautoma Police Department. K9 Grizz was sworn in Monday for his new role as a therapy dog. He had partnered with Chetek Police Officer Emily Breidenbach, who was killed in April along with Cameron Police Officer Hunter Scheel during a firefight with a wanted man. Grizz’s new partner is Wautoma School Resource Officer Lafe Hendrickson. Grizz was in the car with Breidenbach at the time of the shooting. People can follow Officer Hendrickson and Grizz’s adventures on the City of Wautoma Facebook page. (City of Wautoma photo)
ATV UTV SAFETY
The state’s Department of Natural Resources is urging youth ATV and UTV operators and their parents to operate responsibly. Over the last five years, 70 percent of crashes involving operators or passengers under the age of 18 occurred on private lands. Lack of helmets, not using seatbelts in UTVs and inexperience are among the top factors in these crashes. Lieutenant Warden Jake Holsclaw, DNR Off-Highway Vehicle Administrator, says, “Parents and guardians need to stay alert and teach children to ride responsibly by making sure they wear helmets and seatbelts, take an ATV safety course and get mentorship from an experienced adult.” Crashes resulting in injury or fatality don’t only happen to kids. The same guidelines for helmet and seatbelt use also apply to adults. The DNR reminds adult riders to always ride sober.
WORKFORCE HOUSING NEED
Fond du Lac County Executive Sam Kaufman says if the county is going to provide more workforce housing it will more likely be in the rural areas of the county. He says a resolution that failed to pass on the county board agenda last week would have provided some of the county’s sales tax revenue to Campbellsport for three housing projects. He says that would have been a good start. He feels cities and larger municipalities are generally land locked or are wary of developing low to moderate income housing that is needed to attract many entry-level workers. He would like to develop some policies on the county level that would help make housing development more appealing. That would include first-time home credit for buyers, enticements for buying lots for home development, and partnering with municipalities for those incentives. Kaufman says they need to do something now and not wait until a new board is elected next April.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ISSUE
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson says President Biden’s Open Borders policy is having a major impact on larger cities. Johnson says it began with President Obama’s Administration, but numbers of illegal immigrants were reduced when President Trump put in consequences for illegal immigration. He says now the only thing the Biden Administration has gotten good at is dispersing illegal immigrants to all over America. He says New York City in particular is being overwhelmed providing services to all those immigrants. The federal lawmaker from Oshkosh says we need to change our asylum laws so it isn’t so easy for illegal immigrants to get into the country. He says many are in our country for years establishing lives waiting for their immigration hearing to come up. He points out about 7,000 illegal immigrants are coming into the country every day.
REGIONAL CHAMBER PARTNERSHIPS IMPORTANT
The Vice President of Membership and Resource Development for Envision Greater Fond du Lac says many area Chambers of Commerce find it beneficial to work together. Joe Venhuizen says Envision does work with businesses, and the public and private sector. But he says they also work with other chambers taking a regional economy approach to what they do. He says some of those other chambers include Sheboygan County, Oshkosh, Fox Cities, Green Bay, and the Ripon Chamber to name a few. He says it makes more sense to work with other chambers on a cooperative basis rather than being competitive because a lot of them are trying to do the same good work.
NEBAT OPENING NEW LOCATION IN BRANDON
National Exchange Bank & Trust has announced effective tomorrow, the location serving customers in Brandon and the surrounding area will move from 112 South Woodward Street to its new location at 600 Clark Street. All Brandon staff and operations will move to the new office. In preparation for the move the bank’s Brandon Office will be closed today. Nearby offices in Fond du Lac, Rosendale, and Waupun are available to serve customers and community members. Normal business hours will resume in Brandon on Wednesday. To welcome customers and community members to the new facility, National Exchange Bank & Trust in Brandon will host an Open House event on Friday, September 1st at its new location on Clark Street. Refreshments will be available.
CONGRESSMAN GROTHMAN TOWN HALL MEETINGS
Congressman Glenn Grothman will be holding four town hall meeting in the area today and tomorrow. This afternoon he will be at the Markesan City Hall from 3:30 to 4:30 pm and at the Montello City Park Pavilion from 6 to 7 pm. Tomorrow morning he will be at the Utica Town Hall in Oshkosh from 11 am to 12 pm and the Campbellsport Municipal Center from 2 to 3 pm.
WMH TOP RECOMMENDED
SSM Health Waupun Memorial Hospital was recently honored as a “Top Recommended Hospital” by Becker’s Hospital Review, based on patients’ likelihood to recommend. Becker’s compiled the “Top Hospital” list by using Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data. The rating is based on survey data collected from October 2021 to September 2022. SSM Health Ripon Community Hospital and Waupun Memorial Hospital President DeAnn Thurmer says, “With every interaction our team works hard to make sure that our patients and their families have the best experience possible.” In all, 588 hospitals from across the United State and District of Columbia were honored. Thirty-four hospitals in Wisconsin were recognized.
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