News 02.24.17
24 February 2017 News
The new Fond du Lac County emergency management director is looking forward to her new job. The county board last week approved the hiring of Bobbie Hicken as the Fond du Lac County Director of Communications and Emergency Managaement. Hicken replaces Jim McNabb who retired in December. Hicken says she wants to step up the effort to educate the public about emergency management. Two board supervisors, Tom Dornbrook and Dean Will voted against the appointment arguing the position should be have been advertised. County executive Al Buechel says Hicken has the experience, was being groomed for the position and was highly qualified for the job.
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Wisconsin is seeing another jump in flu cases with five times the amount of confirmed cases compared to this time last year. As of last week, the state had nearly 940 confirmed flu cases, compared to nearly 180 during the same period last year. Prevea Health Centers have treated nearly 330 flu cases this season in the northeast part of the state. That compares to nearly 30 cases at this time last year. This flu season’s amount at Prevea already has surpassed its total number of nearly 230 cases last season. Dr. Paul Pritchard, Prevea Health chief quality officer, says the primary reason for this year’s increase in flu cases is that the vaccine developed last spring isn’t as effective.
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The American Legion is warning Republicans that eliminating the prevailing wage on state projects could cost hundreds of veterans their jobs in the construction industry. The prevailing wage law sets minimum salaries for construction workers on public projects. Republican Gov. Scott Walker has proposed wiping out the prevailing wage for state projects in the state budget. The Legislature wiped out prevailing wage for local government projects in 2015. Wisconsin American Legion Adjutant David Kurtz held a news conference in the state Capitol flanked by veterans on Wednesday. He said veterans often turn to construction and eliminating prevailing wage could cost hundreds of them their jobs. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said ending prevailing wage would lower project costs, allowing the state to invest in job-creation programs to help everyone, including veterans.
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A new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that young millennials top the list of worst behaved drivers. The report found that 88 percent of drivers ages 19-24 engaged in at least one risky behavior behind the wheel in the past 30 days. AAA spokesman Nick Jarmusz says the dangerous behaviors, which increase crash risk, including texting while driving, red-light running and speeding. Jarmusz says interestingly new drivers ages 16-18 rank fourth on the list. These findings come as traffic deaths rose to more than 35,000 in 2015, an increase of more than seven percent and the largest single year increase in five decades.
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