Month: December 2019

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who was convicted of kidnapping a Wisconsin girl and killing her parents told police after his arrest that he never thought Jayme Closs would escape because she was terrified of him. A transcript of Jake Patterson's interview with police was released Friday along with other documents in the investigation. Patterson is serving a life sentence for the Oct. 15, 2018, kidnapping of Jayme and the […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says he will not consider a pardon request from a man convicted of rape and murder when he was a teenager whose story was documented in the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” A letter released Friday says the request from Brendan Dassey filed in October does not meet the criteria for a pardon consideration because he has not completed his prison […]

The cause of a fire that destroyed a house in the town of Ripon remains under investigation.   Firefighters from several area departments helped battle the blaze at the Charles and Jacqueline Nelson residence on Cork Road Friday afternoon.    Through investigation deputies learned that an employee of the property was outside and observed flames coming from the area around the chimney. The employee was then able to alert the occupants […]

A Fond du Lac man has been charged with setting a fire inside a vacant house this week.  Merlin Jolin made his initial court appearance Thursday on charges of arson, burglary, criminal damage to property and recklessly endangering safety.  Bail was set at $100,000 cash.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 27.   Jolin is accused of setting cardboard boxes on fire inside a vacant house on Allen Street Monday afternoon.   He is also […]

Republican congressman Glenn Grothman is praising House passage of a new North American trade deal.   The Democratic-led House gave  President Donald Trump an overwhelming bipartisan victory on a renegotiated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Grothman says the revamped U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a significant improvement over the original North American Free Trade Agreement.  He says the new deal will benefit Wisconsin dairy farmers.  "More markets for Wisconsin dairy and that's what […]

A Fond du Lac native is competing for a national football championship this weekend and his proud father is inviting the community  to help cheer him on.   Michael Buetow is a 6’1”  290 pound junior lineman at Minnesota State  University in Mankato.  His Mavericks will be taking on West Florida Saturday afternoon in McKinney, Texas  for the Division Two National Football Championship.   In Fond du Lac Buetow helped the Saint Mary’s Springs […]

Many residents will be looking to get an early jump on the Christmas holiday season this weekend.     AAA is projecting a record nearly 116 million Americans plan to travel this holiday season,  up nearly four percent from a year ago.  Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s captain Bill Tadych says if you are traveling a long distance, make sure your vehicle is in good winter driving condition.  Tadych says be prepared for changing […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new report says Wisconsin school districts are fueling the largest annual increase in property taxes in a decade. The Wisconsin Policy Forum analyzed data from the state Department of Revenue and found school districts are levying about $5 billion in property taxes this year. That's a 4 1/2 percent increase from last year and the largest annual increase since 2009. Wisconsin Association of School Boards […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Assembly's top Republican says legalizing medical marijuana won't happen next year and he's not sure when lawmakers will make the change, despite broad support. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos supports legalizing medical marijuana. But he told The Associated Press on Thursday that “it's going to take a while.”  He says finding consensus on the issue is difficult because of varied concerns from other Republicans, members […]