News – March 16, 2023

(Columbus) Fire forced the evacuation of 27 residents of Columbus Health and Rehab yesterday Wednesday. Crews responded at 1:07pm to 825 Western Avenue and, upon arrival, small flames were seen coming out of the roof near a vent above the generator room. No injuries were reported. Damage was confined to the generator room and a portion of the roof.

(Burnett) A Horicon man accused of endangering the safety of another person has made his initial court appearance. Kody Hoeft allegedly crashed into another vehicle Sunday during a domestic incident. The complainant reportedly said that the 27-year-old attempted to run her off the road. An 8-year-old and a 1-year-old were passengers. No injuries were reported. If convicted, Hoeft faces up to 30 years in prison. Cash bond was set at $4,000 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 23rd.

(Fond du Lac) Fond du Lac County authorities seized roughly $100-thousand-dollars in cocaine during a traffic stop. State troopers stopped the vehicle on Interstate 41 near Highway 23 Monday just before 6pm. Sheriff’s deputies and a K-9 unit were called to assist. While searching the vehicle, law enforcement found a brick of cocaine weighing 2.6 pounds along with approximately three grams of fentanyl as well as cash. Two men from the Fox Valley area were taken into custody.

(Juneau) Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt says fentanyl is a major issue that needs addressing. He says it is tragic the number of people that are dying from fentanyl. Schmidt notes that dealers put fentanyl in their product because it is one of the most addictive drugs out there. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Health, the number of fentanyl overdose deaths grew by 97-percent from 2019 with 651 to 1,280 in 2021.

(Dodge County) Jobless claims in the region saw a bit of an uptick in the month of January. The state Department of Workforce Development says the unemployment rate in Dodge County was 2.5-percent in the first month of 2023 which is up from 1.9-percent the county saw in December. Last year, the number was 2.9-percent. Dodge County dropped five spots in the statewide unemployment ranking to 15th. Statewide unemployment numbers in January were 2.9-percent, down a tenth of a percent from December.

(Columbus) The Wisconsin Assembly this week approved a pair of bills relating to school safety. One, from Representative Will Penterman of Columbus, would require hiring of a school resource officer if serious crimes are an issue. It’s a companion bill to a measure requiring schools to gather data on disorderly conduct and violent crimes that are reported to police with charges or tickets issued. Neither bill received any Democratic votes. – WRN