News – November 2, 2021


(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Common Council Monday night tapped John “Frank” Ferree to replace Jon Abfall in Ward Three. The anonymous council vote was five in favor for Ferree, four votes for Michael Culver and two for Doug Garczynski. Abfall cited health concerns in his September 30th decision to step down.

(Beaver Dam) The Beaver Dam Common Council Monday night officially updated city code to reflect recent changes as part of nationwide redistricting with the 2020 Census. The city will continue to have 14 elected alderpersons but what used to be referred to as a “ward” will now be called a “district.” However, the term “ward” has not been eliminated completely as each district will be comprised of one or two “wards.” The change allows each of Beaver Dam’s 24 wards to now conform with county supervisory districts.

(Juneau) The Dodge County Board’s Executive Committee Monday voted down creating an ad hoc committee to discuss how to best spend the county’s American Rescue Act Funds. The committee would have included the chairperson of ten different county level committees including Judicial and Public Protection, Finance, Human Services, and Buildings. The Executive Committee wished to see all of the county board members have a say in how the money will be spent. County Board Chairman Russ Kottke says the matter may be discussed during the board’s November 9th meeting. Dodge County is slated to receive just over $17-million-dollars and must decide by 2024 how to use the money.

(Juneau) The Dodge County Sheriff says he has received no reports of violence occurring at local school board meetings. In Sheriff Dale Schmidt’s monthly column, he writes that he has had a number of citizens contact him about reports the FBI is coming to investigate school board violence. He says there has been no incidents at school boards within the county that would rise to the level of a state crime, let alone a federal crime. The sheriff notes that rights of parents to express their opinions to their school board members should not be trampled on, but those parents must remain lawful while doing so.

(Fond du Lac) Fond du Lac Police have a person of interest in custody for the murder of a 26-year-old Fond du Lac man last month. Benzel Rose was found dead of gunshot wounds at a residence in the 300 block of 8th Street on October 17th. The person of interest was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant. The Fond du Lac Police Department is asking that anyone who has information related to the incident or that believes they do contact Lieutenant Matthew Bobo or call the Crime Alert line. Callers can remain anonymous.

(Markesan) Every year before winter people go through cemeteries removing flowers and decorations from the graves of loved ones. Markesan Police Chief Will Plfum says they would like to ask people to hold off on doing that in the Markesan Cemetery until after the funeral services for Navy Petty Officer First Class Keefe Connolly on November 8th. He says in fact people are welcome to enhance or add to those decorations if they would like to in Connolly’s memory and to honor other veterans. Connolly was killed at Pearl Harbor when his ship, the USS Oklahoma, was torpedoed by the Japanese.