News – May 25, 2023

(Beaver Dam) An Appleton man fled Beaver Dam police yesterday (Wednesday) in a stolen vehicle before suffering serious injuries after crashing into a tree. A license plate camera reader alerted officers of the stolen rental vehicle which triggered the pursuit. Police lost sight of the vehicle which later struck a tree in the town of Lowell. The driver, reportedly identified as Pao Yang, was flown to Summit hospital. The 36-year-old was also arrested for Operating while Intoxicated. The crash remains under investigation.

(Waupun) Twenty-two residents were displaced by an apartment fire in Waupun yesterday (Wednesday). The Waupun Fire Department was called to Parkview Apartments at 1106 Rock Avenue around 1:15pm. All occupants were out of the structure which allowed crews to immediately begin suppression efforts. The blaze was knocked down in about 45 minutes. Two of the two-story apartment building’s 16-units sustained significant damage. The Red Cross is assisting 19 individuals. There were no injuries, and the fire appears to have started on a second-floor balcony. An investigation is ongoing.

(Pacific) The Columbia County Recycling Center again caught fire yesterday (Wednesday) after flames caused heavy damage to the facility last week. The county’s dispatch center started receiving reports around 2pm that the recycling and solid waste center was on fire. Crews responded to W7465 Highway 16 in the town of Pacific to find four large commercial steel structures fully engulfed in flames, two are a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The facility already suffered heavy smoke and fire damage on May 14th. There was no determination on what caused that blaze either.

(Beaver Dam) The contractor painting Beaver Dam’s downtown water tower is mobilizing this week. Seven Brothers Painting of Shelby Township, Michigan is painting the tower at a cost of $1.1-million dollars with the funding coming from utility fees. Prep work going on now includes repairs to the structure and some welding. The week of June 19th will see containment of the area around the water tower as the contractor begins sandblasting followed by the painting. The work will include the application of four coats on the exterior, three coats on the interior and two coats on the legs.

(Dodge County) Jobless claims continue to see improvement throughout the region in the month of April. The state Department of Workforce Development says the unemployment rate in Dodge County was 1.8-percent in the fourth month of 2023 which is down from the 2.2-percent the county saw in March. Last year, the number was 2.4-percent. Dodge County jumped eight spots in the statewide unemployment ranking to ninth.