2/6/24 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
6 February 2024 News
DENSE FOG ADVISORY
A Dense Fog Advisory has been issued until 10 am this morning for Calumet, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago counties. Visibility could be a quarter mile or less. Low visibility could make driving conditions hazardous. Some slick spots are possible on area roadways and untreated surfaces.
FDL COUNTY FATAL ACCIDENT UPDATE
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s officials have released the names of the two drivers involved in a fatal collision between a pickup truck and semi-tractor trailer on Kiel Road near Schoenborn Road last Friday morning. The initial investigation found 53-year-old Steven Heckmann of Newton was driving his pickup west when he crossed the centerline striking the eastbound semi. Sixty-two-year-old Gerald Lusk of Menasha was operating the semi. The two vehicles ended up in a ditch. Heckmann died at the scene. Lusk was taken to St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac with minor injuries. Both men were wearing seat belts. In addition to Sheriff’s deputies, the State Patrol, Calumet Fire Department, Calumet First Responders and Mt. Calvery Ambulance responded to the scene.
FIRE AT WAUPUN ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY
No one was injured during a fire at the Prairie Ridge Assisted Living Center in Waupun Monday night. The Waupun Fire Department was dispatched to 819 Wilcox Street just before 7 pm for a report of a fire in an outlet. Staff was working in the area when they noticed smoke coming from a light fixture and pulled a fire alarm. When firefighters arrived smoke was visible in the common area of the assisted living side of the facility. All 28 residents were evacuated to the dining hall, which was unaffected by the fire. Fire crews searched the building and found no extension of the fire once it was out. After ventilation was completed fire crews did a walk-through of the building and all areas except for the common area in the assisted living portion of the building were cleared for residents to return. Fire Chief B.J. DeMaa says fire damage was limited to the light fixture and the carpet below it in the common area. A failed light fixture caused the fire.
PIZZA DELIVERY DRIVER INVOLVED IN FATAL ACCIDENT ARRAIGNED
The 59-year-old Oshkosh man suspected of striking and killing a pedestrian during a pizza delivery was arraigned in Winnebago County court Monday. Mark Radley pled not guilty to a charge of hit-and-run involving death. Also during the hearing a motion to reduce his bond from $50,000 to $5,000 cash was granted. He will be back in court for a pre-trial conference on May 13th. According to the criminal complaint Oshkosh Police were called to Ohio Street and West Third Avenue the evening of January 10th. A 38-year-old man had been struck by a vehicle and was bleeding extensively. He died a short time later. Police were able to determine the license plate of the vehicle involved. They traced it to Radley. The van he was driving had damage to the front end. He was making a pizza delivery at the time of the accident. Police were able to get video from the restaurant he works for to confirm when he left the store and returned. He allegedly told police he left the scene because he didn’t know what he hit.
COLUMBIA COUNTY CHASE AND DRUG BUST
Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies had to pursue a 40-year-old Waterford, Wisconsin man into a cornfield in Dane County during a traffic pursuit early Saturday morning. Matthew Mcginnis was pulled over for an equipment violation on State Highway 16 in Columbia County. Deputies had deployed a tire deflation device due to his lack of cooperation. He fled the scene with one deflated tire, but managed speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour. The chase extended into Dane County’s Town of Marshall. Mcginnis’ vehicle failed to make it around a curve ending up in snowbank in a ditch. He fled on foot, but deputies deployed K9 Rico who apprehended him. Deputies learned Mcginnis was on probation and found over 3 ½ pounds of packaged marijuana in his vehicle. He was taken to the Columbia County Jail. He faces charges of felony fleeing, OWI, marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, obstructing an officer, and a probation violation. (Columbia County Jail photo).
NOT YOUR USUAL STURGEON SPEARING SEASON
Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources is preparing for the opening weekend of the sturgeon spearing season even though the ice on the Lake Winnebago System isn’t safe. DNR Sturgeon Biologist Margaret Stadig, who works out of the Oshkosh Office, says they weren’t able to get out and do their usual water clarity readings because of ice conditions. Registration stations will be manned around Lake Winnebago when the season opens Saturday. Stadig says they are hoping at some point during the 16-day season for colder weather to salvage part of the season. “Opening weekend might be a bust, but I’m really hoping that by the end of the season we will see some at least ice so people can get out on. Sixteen days is a long time particularly when you’re talking Wisconsin weather.” She encourages people to get out and patronize the businesses they usually would and celebrate the fact that we still have a spearing season and a healthy population thanks to everyone’s hard work. Stadig says the last bad ice season for sturgeon spearing was in 2017 when just over 500 fish were taken.
BOND ISSUE WILL HELP PURCHASE BERLIN DPW EQUIPMENT PURCHASE
The Berlin Common Council last month approved a $2 million bond issue which will allow it to borrow money to finance the purchase of new equipment for the Department of Public Works. City Alderperson Luke Dretske says they toured the public works garage last summer and some of the trucks they use on city streets are in pretty rough shape. He says previous councils have let too much time lapse on equipment purchases. He says they need to keep up their roads and bring in more revenue through development. Dretske says if they can do that the city has a great future. Among the equipment purchases will be a couple of trucks which can also plow snow during the winters, other equipment, and a leaf collector.
BILL WOULD PROVIDE FUNDING FOR HOLCAUST EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
State Representative Jon Plumer of Lodi is co-author of legislation to increase funding for Holocaust Education in middle and high schools. During the last session a bill authored by Plumer passed and was signed into law requiring Holocaust Education. Plumer says a group provides free educational materials to schools for the courses. His and State Senator Daniel Knodl’s bill would increase funding for those materials. He says given attacks in the Middle East and hate speech against Jews, it is important to teach about the Holocaust and the genocide that occurred during World War II. During testimony on the bill before the State Assembly and Senate last month Holocaust survivor Eva Zaret brought with her the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who related how she gives presentations to schools about the Holocaust. The woman said one young lady at a high school said she talked to her mother the previous night who told her the Holocaust never happened, but it should have.
WISCONSIN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION HIRES RIPON NATIVE
A Ripon native has been hired as the Governmental Relations Administrative Assistant by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. Nate Zimdars will be responsible for providing daily support and assistance to the bureau’s Governmental Relations team, coordinating meetings and events, and monitoring legislative progress on the local, state and national levels. Prior to joining the bureau Zimdars was a farm broadcaster with the MidWest Farm Report before most recently working as a machine operator for Emmi Roth Cheese in Stoughton. He currently lives in Madison. Zimdars grew up on a small hobby farm outside of Ripon, raising sheep and poultry. At one time he was a member of the Ripon Area School District Board. He began his duties with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation yesterday.
THEDACARE ANNOUNCES NEW OB-ED
ThedaCare has opened a new Obstetrical Emergency Department and Hospitalist Program at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah. The new program is part of the update to the Theda Clark Peters Family Birth Center through the $100 million investment to modernize the Neenah campus. Typically located in a labor and delivery unit, providers in the OB-ED can care for pregnant women who come to the hospital for obstetrical concerns such as abdominal pain or bleeding. The program will operate around the clock, and be staffed by board-certified/board-eligible physician specialists. Women, who are more than 16 weeks pregnant, with concerns related to their pregnancy, will now bypass the emergency department and go directly to an obstetrical triage area located in the Theda Clark Peters Family Birth Center at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah. This program will supplement the care of a woman’s OB provider. Her doctor will continue to provide care in the facility.
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