News – May 29, 2016

Race Into Summer Event Today At Swan Park

 

5/29/16 – Beaver Dam’s Race Into Summer Festival is being held at Swan Park today. WBEV/WXRO’s 11-hour event starts at Noon.  Bingo runs from 1-3 pm.  Beaver Dam’s Most Wanted play from 1-4 pm and the Mad Polecats take the stage from 7-11 pm.  After weeks of auditions, the Countryside Karaoke contest wraps up with finalist performance from 4-7 pm.  There will be plenty of children’s activities such as games and a petting zoo.  The Beaver Dam Police Department will issue child identification cards, and the Beaver Dam Fire Department will have a truck on hand.  There will be plenty of giveaways, including Country USA five-day passes, Brewers’ tickets, and Mt. Olympus passes.  It is also people’s first chance to register for the $13,000 2016 Home and Yard Giveaway.  Admission is free, and the first 500 people get a free t-shirt.

 

Driver Ejected From Vehicle In Rosendale Rollover

 

5/29/16 – Alcohol was a factor when a man was injured in a rollover accident in the Town of Rosendale Saturday night. Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s officials say the accident on County Road M was reported shortly after 9 p.m. The driver was heading north when the vehicle went off the road and into a ditch. It struck a driveway entrance and the vehicle rolled over several times. The driver was partially ejected and pinned under the vehicle. The Rosendale Fire Department extricated him from the vehicle and Flight for Life flew him to ThedaCare in Neenah with serious injuries. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

 

Brandon Storm Confirmed As Tornado

 

5/29/16 – The National Weather Service has confirmed that damage in the Village of Brandon Friday night was caused by a tornado. Twenty-five homes were damaged in the storm; most of the damage was windows that were blown out and shingles that were blown off rooftops. The damage happened over a four to six block area of the village in western Fond du Lac County. The storm was reported at 5:45 Friday evening and it knocked out power to the village of 1,000 people. The American Red Cross has been providing canteen services to village residents. No injuries were reported. The National Weather Service says they are preliminarily rating the Tornado and EF-0, but it may have been a low-grade EF-1.

 

Internet Crimes Against Children: Sting Operation Protocol

 

5/29/16 – If child predators try to entice children online into meeting in real life, there’s a chance the person on the other end of the conversation is a cop. Officials with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force follow standard law enforcement procedures when it comes to communicating with a suspect. Special Agent Ryan Klavekoske, a former Beaver Dam Police Detective, says it is not uncommon for his office – for example – to receive a child’s cell phone or other device from a parent who discovered their kid has been solicited by an online predator. The conversation continues with special agents posing as the child and agents are specially trained to make sure the suspect does all the talking, leading the conversation. Klavekoske told us on WBEV’s Community Comment that agents are trained to avoid “an entrapment defense” and allow a suspects own words to be used against them. He says if an individual does not want to risk years in prison, they have the opportunity by “not going down that road.” The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is comprised of Wisconsin Department of Justice personnel as well as police and sheriff’s departments from around the state. We conclude our four-part series on the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force tomorrow by looking at changes in state law that have helped in the fight against child predators.

Listen to Klavekoske from Community Comment:

https://clyp.it/2nchzapf

The Internet Crimes Against Children website:

https://www.icactaskforce.org/Pages/Home.aspx

 

Repairs Scheduled For Horicon Marsh Dam

 

5/29/16 – Upcoming repairs to the Horicon Marsh dam should not affect travel or navigability on the Rock River.  That’s according to the Department of Natural Resources who expect only a slight drop in Lake Sinissippi Water levels during the repairs.  Maintenance work will be done in conjunction with the Hustisford dam operators and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dam operators.  Water levels have been monitored and adjusted this spring in advance of the repair work, which is scheduled for June 6-10.

 

Wisconsin Corn Planting Nearly Done For 2016

 

5/29/16 – Virtually all of the Wisconsin corn crop should be planted by the end of the holiday weekend. The U-S-D-A says 91% was in the ground as of last weekend — same as last year, and way up from the average of 69% during the past five years. State Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel says it’s a big improvement for growers, after a heavy frost earlier this month damaged grapes, apples, and cranberries. The U-S-D-A says 98% of the Wisconsin oat crop has also been planted, 14% more than the norm — and two thirds of the state’s soybean crop is also in the ground, much more than the five year average of 39%. Seventy one percent of Wisconsin farm fields have adequate topsoil moisture, and 81% of the fields have adequate subsoil moisture.

 

Wisconsin Boating Deaths Way Up From Last Spring

 

5/29/16 – For lots of people, the Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the summer boating season in Wisconsin. But the D-N-R says 13 people have already died in state boating mishaps this year, compared to just one death before Memorial Day last year. Officials say the overwhelming reason for boating deaths is the refusal to wear life jackets on board. The D-N-R’s April Dombrowski says 85 percent of those killed in this year’s boating accidents were not wearing life jackets, even though she calls it a “critical tool that can save a life.” The state has a program called “Kids Don’t Float” that encourages boater safety by offering the temporary use of life jackets at various locations for those who forget their own.

 

Autism Expert Speaks In Fond du Lac

 

5/29/16 – The first thing you notice when you meet Dr. Temple Grandin is she is direct and passionate. Growing up in the 1950s with autism wasn’t easy, but now she’s sharing her message with others as one of the leading experts on autism in the world. Earlier this month, Grandin shared her views on autism to a packed gymnasium at Marian University in Fond du Lac. She says bullying about her autism wasn’t bad until she got to high school. Grandin says developing specialized interests, in her case, got her away from that and put her on the right path. Grandin says kids also have to develop works skills.  Grandin started doing odd jobs at 13 and continued working through her teens. Grandin says parents need to avoid being over protective of children with autism. She says being exposed to different things is how a child is introduced to what eventually could become a career path for them. Grandin is one of the top livestock handling equipment designers in the world and teaches classes at Colorado State University. She was in Fond du Lac to speak at the Ninth Annual Treffert Lecture Series.

 

Local Students Receive United Cooperative Scholarships

 

5/29/16 – A handful of local students were recently awarded scholarships from United Cooperative.  Ashley Bird, Zackary Propst, and Jennifer Swan of Beaver Dam High School, Abigail Henken of Waupun Area High School, Lynnae Smits of Central Wisconsin Christian School, Roseanne Crave of Waterloo High School, and Brittany Rennhack of Watertown High School each received a $1,000 scholarship.  The farmer-owned cooperative is based in Beaver Dam and handed out the awards to 45 graduating high school seniors from throughout the Badger State.  Applicants were judged on leadership skills, student achievement, extra-curricular involvement, motivation, and academic and personal goals.  The student or one of their parents had to be an active member of United Cooperative.  Recipients must attend a college, university, or tech school this fall and keep a GPA above 2.0.

 

Lazy Lake Discussion To Be Held In Fall River

 

5/29/16 – The public is invited to an information and discussion session on Lazy Lake on Tuesday. The meeting will be at the Fountain Prairie Town Hall. Columbia County representatives will be on hand discussing upcoming changes to wetlands and shoreline zoning on area lakes and to answer questions.  The Lazy Lake Management District public meeting is scheduled for 6pm at the Fountain Prairie Town Hall at W1514 County highway Z in Fall River.

 

Tigers Back At Wisconsin Circus

 

5/29/16 – Tigers have returned to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo for the first time in more than a decade. The state-owned historical site says Ryan Holder and his breed of captive Bengal and Siberian tigers will be featured as part of this summer’s performances — twice each day between now and August 29th. The museum’s website says the tigers will remain on display throughout each day to so visitors can see their “majesty, their behaviors, and unique personalities.” Holder says he grew up with animal performers, noting that his father trains elephants.

 

Outreach Specialist at Gathering Source This Week

 

5/29/16 – A FoodShare Outreach Specialist will be at The Gathering Source this week. The specialist will be able to help people answer questions about renewal eligibility and applying for benefits. The Gathering Source is a food pantry and resource center located at 209 South Main Street in Reeseville. The specialists is available on Tuesday from 10am until noon and will return again next month on Thursday, June 16th from 4:30-6:30pm.  For more information, you can call the Gathering Source; their 800-number is on today’s homepage at wbevradio.com. (800-877-3635)

 

Wisconsin Schools Looking To Push The Arts

 

5/29/16 -Four public schools in Milwaukee will try to improve their academic performance by helping students immerse themselves in the arts. First Lady Michelle Obama says Martin Luther King Elementary and three Milwaukee middle schools will take part in the White House “Turnaround Arts Program” in the next school year. It connects youngsters with mentoring artists and nonprofit groups.The program helps poor performing schools spread creative arts principles into other curriculum areas. Lancaster is among the Milwaukee middle schools chosen for the program, along with Roosevelt Creative Arts and the Sherman Multicultural Arts School. They’re the only Wisconsin schools in next year’s Turnaround Arts program. Milwaukee Superintendent Darienne Driver says there’s no question that the arts help “improve student achievement.”