News 05.02.16
2 May 2016 News
Local and state dignitaries were on hand for groundbreaking ceremonies for a major expansion at Fond du lac’s Mercury Marine. Construction is underway on the south side of plant 15 which faces Interstate 41. Mercury Marine president John Pfeifer says demand for their product in the global marketplace has grown and the latest expansion allows them to increase production & capacity. Pfeifer says the new building will feature outboard motor engine block and head machining. He says the expansion reflects a growing demand in the modern four stroke outboard engine. Construction of the 53,000 square foot building is expected to be completed by next January. With this expansion, since 2009, Mercury Marine has invested more than $730MM into capacity, technology and product development. This is the second major expansion to the Fond du Lac campus in the past 12 months. In May 2015, Mercury broke ground on a 45,000 square foot expansion to its electro-deposition paint (EDP) system that will significantly expand its processing capabilities.
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The Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office is notifying people of another IRS phone scam. Sheriff Mark Podoll says a recorded message tells the victim that the IRS has a warrant and will be sending someone to arrest them if they don’t pay a certain amount of money. Podoll says to not call the number back and not to send any money, as the IRS will never contact people by phone for these kinds of matters.
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New figures from the state Department of Tourism show Fond du Lac County tops the state in tourism growth. According to the figures, Fond du Lac County saw a 10 percent increase in tourism spending from $120 million in 2014 to $132 million last year and a nearly eight percent increase in total business sales. Fond du Lac Area Convention and Visitors Bureau director Craig Molitor says that’s the biggest increase of any county in the state. Molitor says Fond du Lac is becoming a popular destination for many sporting and corporate events. The study also shows increases in job growth and wages. Visitors generated $17 million in state and local taxes in 2015.
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The city of Milwaukee is applying for a $20 million grant to extend a streetcar to the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. The route extension would run on North Fourth Street from West St. Paul Avenue to West Highland Ave. Milwaukee Public Works Commissioner Ghassan Korban says the proposed extension also would move the streetcar route closer to Bronzeville. Korban says the earliest the extension would open would be 2020. The downtown streetcar route is expected to be open for passenger service in 2018, with the lakefront loop opening in 2019. The northern end of the planned extension would reach the “doorstep” of the new Bucks arena. The federal grant money would come from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant program.
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Assembly Democrats want to know why state health officials delayed telling people that a blood infection was spreading in Wisconsin. The Department of Health Services began investigating an Elizabethkingia outbreak in December. The agency told hospitals to be on the lookout for infections in January but didn’t announce it to the public until March. Assembly Democratic leaders sent Gov. Scott Walker a letter asking for an explanation. DHS officials said this month that they didn’t want to alarm the public because they hadn’t determined the source, which limited advice on how to avoid infections. A Walker spokesman said Friday that DHS officials would respond to the lawmakers and clarify their reasoning. He also noted that Walker this month approved nine additional DHS positions to help investigate the outbreak.
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An 18-year-old student is out of the hospital after he was shot and wounded outside of a prom in northern Wisconsin last weekend. Collin Cooper was released from Aspirus Wausau Hospital on Friday and is back home in Antigo with his family. Cooper and his date were leaving the dance last Saturday night when police say an 18-year-old man opened fire. Cooper was struck in the leg while a bullet grazed his date’s thigh. An Antigo police officer shot the suspect, Jakob Wagner. Wagner was pronounced dead early Sunday at a hospital after the shooting. The Wisconsin Justice Department is investigating the officer-involved shooting. Authorities have not released a motive for the attack. People who knew Wagner have said he was bullied.
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