Two people in a Chevy Cruze were killed when the driver slowed to a stop for a semi and the car was hit from behind by Jeep Grand Cherokee on I-41 in Fond du Lac Wednesday. The Wisconsin State Patrol says those killed were a 26-year-old man and 8-year-old boy from Neenah . The 23-year-old Neenah woman driving the Chevy was taken to St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac with non-life threatening injuries as was the 32-year-old North Fond du Lac man driving the Jeep. His passenger a 35-year-old Eldorado man was flown to ThedaCare in Neenah .
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Governor Walker held a listening session in Fond du Lac Wednesday afternoon. He says people from a cross section of the County were invited to comment on where they want to see the state in the next 20 years. He says a lot of concerns he heard about had to do with workforce related issues and education. He says there were other concerns as well including what’s being done for veterans and those with disabilities. He says they hope to hold 90 listening sessions across the state by the end of the year.
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The Fond du Lac City Council got an overview of the 2017 City Budget last night. City Manager Joe Moore did most of the presentation. He says personnel costs have decreased by 10 percent over the past five years, which makes up the majority of the City’s costs. Moore the tax levy will increase by about 4.7 percent, most of that due to the $7 million in debt the City will be paying off next year. Moore says overall he feels pretty good about the budget the Council is being presented with.
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Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say a teen whose vehicle slid into a bridge on Welsh Road has died. Gabrielle Spende of rural Watertown was on a curve on the road when her vehicle spun and slid into the bridge under State Highway 26. She was flown to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee where she died Wednesday. The accident happened Monday afternoon.
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One of the jurors in a Fond du Lac County homicide case may have talked about it with someone from outside the jury. Deputy District Attorney Dennis Krueger (KREE-gur) told Judge Gary Sharpe (SHARP) Wednesday they had learned that a male juror had talked to someone at his workplace about the strength of evidence in the trial for Dennis Brantner. Brantner is suspected of murdering 18-year-old Berit Beck in the summer of 1990.
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Two men were critically injured when their vehicle failed to negotiate a curve on St. Helena Road early Wednesday morning. Dodge County Sheriff’s officials say 34-year-old Ryan Rhadans of Watertown went off the road, struck an embankment and his vehicle vaulted. It hit a tree and overturned. Flight for Life flew him to Aurora Medical Center in Summit . A passenger, 33-year-old Timothy Bradfield of Juneau , was flown by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee . The accident was reported at 3:41 a.m.
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A 17-year-old Sheboygan man has lost his appeal to overturn his conviction for murdering his great-grandmother in Sheboygan Falls in 2012. A state appeals court upheld the life sentence of Antonio Barbeau who was 14 when he was sentenced. He and Nathan Paape killed 78-year-old Barbara Olsen with a hammer and a hatchet. Paape also got life in prison for his role in the murder.Â
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The Fond du Lac County Board this week approved a pair of resolutions asking for a study on the impact of wind turbines on human health. One copy will be sent to the Governor and state legislators from the area and the other to the Wisconsin Counties Association. Supervisor Marty Schroeder (SHRAY-dur) was the lone vote against the ordinances. He said the County Board passed a similar resolution 3 ½ years ago, but it did not accomplish anything. Supervisor Brenda Schneider said $250,000 was actually included in the state budget for study, but the Joint Finance Committee took it out.
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She said it nicely, but a Fond du Lac area dairy advocate criticized Packers’ Quarterback Aaron Rodgers over his comments about ditching dairy from his diet. Brenda Gudex, the Director of Agricultural Programs for the Fond du Lac Area Associate of Commerce, penned a rebuttal in the Fond du Lac Reporter. She invited him to learn more about dairy at the chamber. National sportswriters picked up on that. Gudex says in one Wisconsin poll cheese outranked Rodgers in popularity.
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Alliant Energy officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sheboygan for completion of an air quality improvement project at the Edgewater Generating System. The $250 million investment is expected to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 90 percent. Up to 300 people were employed during installation of the environmental technology.