4/2/24 Hometown Broadcasting News Tuesday
2 April 2024 News
WINTER STORM WARNINGS
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning from 1 pm this afternoon to 1 pm Wednesday afternoon. For Calumet, Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago counties snow totals could be from 8 to 12 inches with winds gusting to 45 miles an hour. For Fond du Lac, Green Lake, and Marquette counties the warning ends at 10 pm tonight, but snow totals could be from 4 to 8 inches with winds gusting between 25 and 35 miles an hour. Dodge, Jefferson, Sheboygan, and Washington counties are under a Winter Weather Advisory from 4 pm to 10 pm this evening with 2 to 4 inches of snow expected, and winds gusting to 35 miles an hour.
GREEN LAKE COUNTY JUDGE SENTENCES MAN TO TWENTY YEARS IN PRISON
A Green Lake County judge Monday sentenced a 38-year-old man to 20 years in prison and 9 years of extended supervision on child sexual assault charges. Edgardo Contreras Ornelas made no statement before Judge Mark Slate sentenced him on two counts of first degree child sex assault-sexual contact with a person under the age of 13, and one count of child enticement-sexual contact. A jury found Contreras Ornelas guilty of the three charges during a three-day jury trial in December. He was given credit for the 1,216 days he as has spent in jail. Charges stemmed from crimes that date back more than 10 years.
SEX OFFENDERS IN GREEN LAKE COUNTY
Green Lake County Chief Deputy Sheriff Matt Vande Kolk says it has been a while since a sex offender has moved to the county requiring public notification. In fact two were recently the subjects of public notifications. Notifications are made when an offender has the potential to re-offend. Vande Kolk says it is their belief that an informed public is a safer public. He says because they have moved to a rural county; the state, Sheriff’s deputies, police, and the public will have eyes on them. Thirty-nine-year-old Brett Myhre (MY-ur) is moving to N827 County Highway FF in the Unincorporated Community of Dalton, in the Town of Kingston Friday. Sixty-six-year-old Russell Newbury moved to N5349 State Highway 73 in the Town of Princeton on Monday.
SPRING ELECTION DAY
Voters head to the polls today to cast their ballots in the Spring Election. Wisconsin voters finally get their say on the Presidential race although the Republican and Democratic field has already pretty much been narrowed to former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. There are also races for County Board, City, Town and Village Council and Boards. There are also school board races. Voters will also consider two statewide referendum questions that would change the State Constitution to prohibit private funding and grants for running elections and who could help out election officials during an election. Green Lake voters will be asked about allowing the City to increase its property tax levy and the Green Lake School District wants permission to exceed its revenue cap for the next four years. Results will be posted at Hometown Broadcasting. com., and reported during our newscasts Wednesday morning.
BERLIN AQUATIC CENTER DISCUSSION
The future of the Berlin Aquatic Center will be discussed during the Common Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting at the Berlin City Hall tonight at 7 pm. The discussion will pertain to the year 2025 and beyond. The City Council has already set the budget for 2024 and is planning on having the pool open, pending staff hires. Renovations to the pool could cost the city over $500,000.
MEIER LEAVING GREEN LAKE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for its next Executive Director. Executive Director Lisa Meier is leaving the organization and returning to Discover Wisconsin. She says it will allow her to cut back on her hours, work remotely, and enjoy time with family. Meier joined the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce in 2020. She grew up in the Berlin, Green Lake, Ripon Area but took a roundabout way of getting back to it. She was a chamber director in the De Forest –Windsor area, spent time with the Portage Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Dells Visitors Bureau and for four years helped produce the Discover Wisconsin TV Show. The Executive Director position is posted on the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce website.
BERLIN CREATES NEW TID
The Berlin Common Council this past month approved the creation of a new tax incremental district in the city. The Council approved the creation of TID #16, which a joint review board and the Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue also had to approve. Council President Luke Dretske says the new TID will help with the development of multifamily condos and apartments. TID #16 is approximately 27 acres in size and is on the north side of the city. The city will be contributing $750,000 toward the infrastructure needed for those developments. According to the TID #16 project plan the TID could create $4.4 million in increments which would primarily pay for the debt service on the TID and could also be used for future public improvement projects. The city anticipates land and improvements values of approximately $11.2 million will be created in the TID by the end of 2029.
RIPON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOK SALE AND PLANT SWAP
The Friends of the Ripon Public Library will hold their biannual book sale Thursday through Saturday, April 18th through the 20th. Susie Menk, the Library’s Adult and Teen Services Librarian, says the money raised from the twice a year sale helps them to pay for the programs they offer and they appreciate the hard work the Friends put in during the sale. In addition home school student Emma DeVries will host a plant swap in the lower level of the library. Plants should be pest-free, labeled and ready to go in a pot or plastic bag. Hours for the book sale and plant swap are 4 to 7 pm on Thursday, April 18th, 10 to 5 on Friday, April 19th, and 10 to 3:30 on Saturday, April 20th. There is a $3 entry fee for the Early Bird Book Sale on Thursday. Friends’ members will receive a $3 credit.
Book Sales | Ripon Public Library (riponlibrary.org)
NATIONAL HEALTHCARE DECISIONS DAY
SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac is highlighting the importance of advance healthcare decision making as part of National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 16th. SSM Health will be providing information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes with family, friends, and healthcare providers, and execute written advance directives like healthcare power of attorney and living wills. Specifically, on April 16th SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac is welcoming the public at several locations with free information about advance care planning and advance directive forms. Those locations include the Fond du Lac Family YMCA from 8:30 am to 12 pm, the Ripon Senior Center from noon to 3 pm, St Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac from 10 am to 2 pm, and Waupun Memorial Hospital from 10 am to 2 pm.
FREE SPEECH DISCUSSION AT RIPON COLLEGE
A panel of Ripon College students will discuss free speech on campus Thursday, April 11th. The Center for Politics and the People presentation will begin at 6:30 pm in Kresge Little Theatre, East Hall, on the campus. Admission is free and open to the public. The sponsor of the event is the Student Advisory Board of the Center for Politics and the People. Panelists will discuss Ripon College speech regulations, topics that should or should not be restricted, and potential consequences for violating college free speech policies. Panelists include Levi Keen of Twin Lakes, Isaac Tomaschefsky of Green Bay, Hannah Brockman of Sun Prairie, and Eugene Hinton of St. Francis, Wisconsin.
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