Friday 9/7/18
7 September 2018 News
Federal Funding Will Help With Wisconsin Storm Recovery Efforts
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says the U.S. Department of Transportation has released $1.5 million in emergency relief transportation funding to help repair roads and communities damaged by storms and severe flooding in Wisconsin. Damage to Wisconsin’s highway systems was caused by multiple and on-going rounds of thunderstorms, heavy rain, high winds, and hail. The storm events, affecting all areas of Wisconsin, caused widespread flash flooding, closed roadways, damaged bridges and culverts, and compromised critical infrastructure. Senator Baldwin says the federal road funding is a good first step. She joined Representatives Ron Kind, Mark Pocan and Glenn Grothman in calling on the Trump Administration to act quickly to make federal funds available and support recovery efforts in communities across the state.
Street Cafes Ordinance Approved
The Ripon Common Council recently approved an ordinance that will allow street cafes to be set up in the 100, 200, and 300 block of Watson Street from April through October of each year. Knuth Brewing Company had pushed the proposal forward. City Administrator Lori Rich says it’s too late this year, but the ordinance is in place now for next year. She says, “There would be a process to submit a site plan to the Plan Commission for that structure and hopefully we will see something next year.” The ordinance would allow businesses to use up to two parking spaces per block for a street cafe or a total of six spaces in the three block area.
Marijuana Advisory Referendum
A Fond du Lac County committee this week voted to place an advisory referendum on legalizing marijuana on the April ballot. The County’s Public Safety Committee voted 3 to 2 in favor of placing the referendum in front of voters. The next step is for the County’s Board of Health to do the same before it can go to the full County Board on October 17th. Supervisors delayed a vote on the resolution last month preferring it to be properly vetted first. The advisory referendum would ask whether residents favored legalizing marijuana, legalizing it for medical purposes, or keeping it on the list of illegal drugs. Only the state legislature has the power to legalize the use of marijuana.
Flooding Affected Areas Differently
The director of Fond du Lac County’s Communications and Emergency Management Department says they were lucky with recent heavy rains that there wasn’t more flooding in the County. Bobbi Hicken says they pretty much had things under control for the Fond du Lac River which flows through the City of Fond du Lac. She says, “The City of Fond du Lac did a lot of preventative measures and preempted a lot of things to make that stayed in place. They did a really good job with that.” On the other hand Waupun saw flooding with the Rock River and there was some localized street flooding elsewhere. Hicken says other portions of the state were not as fortunate with whole cities under water. Meanwhile the Fox River in Berlin has been at flood stage for several days, but Thursday’s sunny and dry conditions helped.
Truck Driver Arraigned On Charges Stemming From Crash Involving School Bus
A 42-year-old Indianapolis truck driver pleaded not guilty this week to charges he was under the influence of a drug when his semi plowed into a school bus in Columbia County injuring 26 people on the bus. Wayne Murphy was arraigned Wednesday on ten felony counts of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and second degree reckless injury. He was allegedly under the influence of the prescription drug Xanax when his semi-truck smashed into the bus on Interstate 39 in the Town of Arlington on May 23rd. There were 33 passengers on the bus, mostly middle school age children from a Milwaukee-area private school who were on their way to the Wisconsin Dells. Of the 26 people hurt, five sustained critical injuries.
Wisconsin Rapids Man Arrested For Fourth OWI
The State Patrol arrested a 56-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man for his fourth driving under the influence offense Wednesday afternoon. A trooper stopped Dana Stirk for an equipment violation on State Highway 73 near Waushara County Highway BB. During the stop the trooper observed signs of impairment and a field sobriety test indicated Stirk was allegedly operating under the influence. He was arrested for his fourth OWI and possession of a controlled substance. The traffic stop occurred a little after 2 pm.
State Officials Tout Success Of Child Tax Rebate
State officials say 558,000 eligible families filed for the $100 per child tax rebate by a July 2nd deadline. Governor Scott Walker says nearly $95 million was returned to hardworking families through the child tax rebate. The $100 rebate was for sales and use tax paid on purchases made for raising a dependent child in 2017. A total of $94.2 million was returned to taxpayers. Department of Revenue Secretary Richard Chandler says the claims process went very well. He notes the online application process was easy to use and it only took a few minutes to apply.
Leadership Team Retained For UW Oshkosh Restructuring
All members of the previous UW Colleges Northeast Region leadership team have retained their leadership roles for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, UW-Fond du Lac and UW-Fox Valley campuses. The two access campuses were joined with the UW-Oshkosh on July 1st under a restructuring plan. UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt announced the leadership roles saying, “Our Fond du Lac and Fox Valley campuses have enjoyed strong, local leadership for years. Everyone on this team has been actively engaged in the restructuring process.” Martin Rudd will serve as Assistant Chancellor for Access Campuses. He will guide the regional leadership team.
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