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Thursday News 2/7/19

7 February 2019 News


Closs Kidnap Suspect Bound Over For Trial

The 21-year-old Gordon, Wisconsin man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs has been bound over for trial. Jake Patterson was in Barron County court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, which he waived. He will be arraigned on March 27th. He has been charged with two counts of first degree intentional homicide for the shooting of Closs’s parents, one count of kidnapping for her kidnapping and one count of burglary. Patterson told investigators he saw Jayme Closs getting on a school bus on Highway 8 as he drove to work one day. He didn’t know who she was but decided, “that was the girl he was going to take.” He drove to the Closs home twice before last October 15th with the intent to kidnap Closs, but didn’t follow through at those times. Closs escaped from Patterson’s cabin last month. Patterson is being held in the Barron County Jail on a $5 million cash bond.

Four National Guardsmen Honored For Eldorado Marsh Rescue

Four members of a Wisconsin National Guard helicopter crew were recently honored for helping save the lives of two kayakers that were lost on the Eldorado Marsh in Fond du Lac County last September. Jason Wollersheim, Scott Kramer, Robert Gibson, and Caleb Estenson received the Army Aviation Association of America’s Air/Sea Rescue Award. The presentation took place at Fort Rucker, Alabama on January 30th. The four are part of a Blackhawk helicopter crew based in West Bend that helped locate the missing kayakers on September 9th. They told first responders to have the kayakers use their cell phone flash lights and were able to locate the missing men using night vision goggles. Seventy-one-year-old Roger Uselding and 55-year-old Steven Schultz were then lifted to safety.

Congressman Grothman On State Of The Union Address

Congressman Glenn Grothman found several things he liked about President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this week. He liked Trump’s call for bipartisan support to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico border. He was surprised more Democrats didn’t stand in support during that part of the speech. “The Democrat Party has lurched so far to the extreme in the last 10 years nobody would stand when he said we need the wall. And I’ve been down to the border. I’ve talked to the border agents and they know we need the wall.” Grothman also liked Trump’s call for a nationwide ban on partial birth abortion.

Another Long Sturgeon Spearing Season Expected On Lake Winnebago

(DNR photo)

The DNR’s Sturgeon Biologist for the Lake Winnebago System is expecting another long sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago. Ryan Koenigs says as in the past two seasons water clarity on Lake Winnebago will be a factor on whether the season goes all 16 days. “Water clarity is less than ideal for this year’s season, which is not all that surprising given the weather that we’ve had. These January, February thaws where we get rain and snow melt and a lot of runoff don’t do any favors for winter water clarity.” Koenigs says even though water clarity wasn’t very good the past two years over 650 fish were taken last year and over 550 in 2017. DNR officials say 12,411 licenses were sold for the sturgeon spearing season on Lake Winnebago and 479 for the Upriver Lakes. The season starts on Saturday.

FDL County Motorists Being Urged To Use Seat Belts

Officials from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s and Health Departments are urging residents to buckle up their seat belts. The county had 13 fatal traffic accidents and 15 traffic deaths in 2018. County Sheriff’s Captain Bill Tadych says in four of those deaths the person wasn’t using a seat belt. “That’s not saying that would have prevented the fatal, but it certainly increases the odds of you making it through a serious accident.” Tadych says they are seeing the use of seat belts increase, but they continue to drive home the point that using seat belts saves lives. According to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics the seat belt use rate in Wisconsin is just under 90 percent (89.4 percent).


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