Transcript

ADVOCAP

WRPN News · Thu Jul 30, 2026

Good morning.

I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.

Monashia Police Chief Matt Albrecht is urging the public to stay away from areas damaged by Monday's tornado after several affected homes were broken into.

Two people have been arrested and Albrecht said more arrests will follow if the behavior continues.

Law enforcement is increasing patrols in the affected areas to enforce the curfew that has been put in place.

Due to severe storm damage, local officials have declared the Fox Crossing Community Center unsafe to serve as a polling location for the upcoming election, which is now less than two weeks away.

Village Administrator Jeff Stugel confirmed that officials are working on an emergency transfer of the polling location with plans to

relocate and merge operations with another site on the east side at the Pentecostal Church on Midway Road.

The Fox Crossing Board of Trustees has scheduled an emergency special meeting for tomorrow to officially approve the relocation as state law requires immediate board action to finalize polling place changes.

In the meantime, early voting continues as scheduled at the Nina Municipal Complex, which remains safe and operational.

The City of Monash is also asking people to keep the roads clear.

especially between Racine Street and Jefferson Park as heavy traffic is delaying emergency and recovery operations.

Bond has been said at $1 million cash for a 26-year-old Fond du Lac man being charged with second-degree intentional homicide.

The bond was set for Ryan Tennies during a hearing in Fond du Lac County Court on Tuesday.

Tennies is suspected of shooting and killing a 22-year-old man last Thursday in Fond du Lac.

The prosecutor in the case says the circumstances involved a quote-unquote romantic relationship triangle.

The prosecutor is evaluating a claim of self-defense.

Tennies lawyer says Tennies went to an address

on South Main Street after his girlfriend called him.

An ex-boyfriend was allegedly threatening her.

Tennis and the woman were in a car when the victim began banging on the door.

The victim was warned several times before shots were fired.

Tennis will make his initial appearance on the homicide charge next Tuesday.

A 46-year-old Milwaukee man is being indicted on a federal charge based on a traffic stop in Fond du Lac County and a testimony of one of the Sheriff's Office deputies.

The charge stems from a traffic stop late the night of May 29th on I-41 near Lost Arrow Road for speeding and lane deviation.

Deputy Nathan Burke-Holes and K-9 Rippon conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle.

It turned up 7.2 grams of cocaine, 1.6 pounds of methamphetamine, 19 grams of

53 grams of MDMA and $940 in cash.

The Milwaukee man was on parole for heroin trafficking from a 2016 case in Milwaukee.

He has a long criminal history that dates back to 1993.

On July 21st, MPD Birkel's testimony before grand jury led to the indictment of the Milwaukee man.

The alleged offense carries a mandatory minimum 10-year federal prison sentence, and if found guilty, could carry up to 15 years in federal prison.

Additional prison time could occur if his parole is revoked.

County Crime Stoppers are looking for tips on a break-in that occurred early Monday morning at a shop on North Lawson Drive in the city of Green Lake.

Officials say the suspect broke in around 2 a.m.

Several surveillance photos of the individual are posted on the Green Lake County Sheriff's Facebook page.

The suspect's face was covered, but the person stared right into the surveillance cameras on one of them.

Anyone with information is asked to text GET THEM to 847-411 or call 1-800-

Get them.

That's 1-800-438-8436.

Tips can be anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.

Cyclosporiasis, caused by a parasite in the lower intestine, has affected over 11,000 people in 41 states.

Bob Nelson has more for Civic Media News.

More than 4,000 laboratory confirmed cases, and they're evaluating close to 7,500 additional illnesses that could be.

or maybe linked to the outbreak.

So a very large outbreak.

But in the LAC County Public Health Officer, Kim Miller says a cyclosporiasis is usually caused by contaminated produce or contaminated water.

A major cluster of it's been linked to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms Day, Mexico, served at Taco Bell.

Miller says a cyclosporiasis has an incubation period of two days to two weeks.

People suffering from it will experience watery diarrhea, nausea, and loss of appetite.

Anyone with diarrhea lasting more than a few days

especially after eating price salads or leafy greens, they should call their doctor immediately.

She says it can be treated with antibiotics.

Michigan and Ohio have reported the largest outbreaks.

I'm Bob Nelson for Civic Media News.

Trent Hazelberg has been appointed to the Thrasher Opera House Board of Directors.

Trent's career began decades ago at the Grey Rock mansion, followed by 14 years of sending through the prestigious kitchens of Kohler Hospitality.

Rachel Avery, Executive Director of Thrasher Opera House, commented, quote, his deep understanding of guest experience and

and client relations will be invaluable to enhancing our patron services and community engagement at Thrasher.

I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.

Good morning and joining us here in the studio.

We have Tonya Marco, who is the executive director of the admin cap.

Good morning.

Thanks for making the trip from Fondie.

Yes.

Thank you for having me.

Nice and sunny day compared to the weather we had at the beginning of the week.

It's gorgeous today.

Yes.

Now last week you had the, is it, is the term semi annual?

It's twice yearly point.

in time count.

Correct, yep, every six months or so, so we do it in July and January, we go out and count individuals that are experiencing homelessness.

We engage with them, we give them care packages, we let them know of resources that we have available for them.

But more importantly, it's having that count that we are required to do by HUD.

And then that is a nationwide

point in time count so that we get a good count for the nation.

And then that's how HUD divvies up their HUD funding.

So if they're seeing more homelessness in one area, funding will tend to go towards that area.

So it's very important for us to collect all of that data to get a good count.

So specifically...

For Abdecap, it was Fond du Lac Green Lake and a portion of Winnebago County.

Yep, Southern Winnebago County.

So anything Oshkosh and South, which we consider the Winnebago land area.

Last week, actually, the morning after the count, we had Laura Nikelski of SSM Health on it.

She was one of those that went out.

to participate in the count

yep she was there along alongside i think there were 13 of us in fondellette county that went out and we divide the area into regions and then we go to different stops during in that region and then look for individuals that are homeless

okay so my question was

Did you have a chance to participate and count yourself?

I did, yes.

So last week was my third time counting individuals.

I thought...

that it was important for me to go out and participate in that project because I don't have a good understanding of what it's like to experience homelessness today.

So I thought it was really important for me to go out and see what everybody else is experiencing so that I can talk about it and advocate for them.

Okay, and then that Thursday, the next day, there was the

community resource fair.

Yeah, so the next day, so when we were engaging with our homeless population the night before, we gave them a flyer to let them know that we were putting on a resource fair.

We had 18 partners at that resource fair anywhere from SSM, mental health services, ADRC, veteran services, counseling, financial counselors there.

that we felt that they might need to get back on their feet.

So we let them know of that resource fair.

We had 41 individuals come through there in just a few hours time.

So it was a really great way for our low-income population to engage with our community partners and then just know what resources are available to them.

Okay, so it proved to be successful then.

Yes, this is the second year that we've done the resource fair and it has been truly an amazing experience for those that are coming in.

We'd love to expand that into Winnebago County and Green Lake County as well.

So you mentioned that this is required by HUD, so what kind of housing programs is ADDICAP involved

in?

Yeah, so we won a tenant-based rental assistance program, kind of like a section 8 voucher program.

Individuals have to be assessed and then put on a coordinated entry list and then pulled off of that list.

We also have rapid rehousing vouchers that are available.

Unfortunately, Bob, though,

the need is much greater than what we have in vouchers and rental assistance.

Moving on to a different subject, Head Start is a program that Advocat is involved in.

We're talking three and four year olds here?

Yes, so Avocap runs a Head Start program in Green Lake and Winnebago counties.

I'm truly excited to announce that Avocap Head Start was voted best preschool in Fond du Lac Community Choice Awards.

So we're very proud of that award.

That's the second year in a row that we've received that award.

So it's a very high achieving and successful program for three and four year olds.

We have an enrollment of 202 children between both counties.

We have a center-based model of learning where the kiddos come into the school and receive education just like normal 4K services do.

But then now we're trying a rural home-based model of learning for three and four-year-olds.

We're finding in our rural community that there are

not coming to the classroom per se.

So we're looking at a more home-based model approach to Head Start.

So we would have Head Start staff come into your home, work with parents, knowing that parents are the number one educator in a child's life, working with them, giving them the tools that they need to better educate their children.

And then with that is wrap around services.

So we have a whole family approach to Head Start, meaning we try to address

all the needs in the family.

So not just the kiddo, but we also help address the needs of parents.

So if parents are working but don't have a great paying job, how can we get them to that next level?

So we work with parents that way.

Well, that's part of the registration process, right?

You do an assessment

the entire family.

Yes, exactly.

Yep.

So we try to address the needs of the entire family, knowing then the kiddos education will come after that.

In the home base program, does it have set hours?

Is it flexible?

How does that work?

No, so weekly home base teacher will come in for a 90 minute home

session with the parents.

So that'll be scheduled around the parents' needs and working environment and stuff like that.

I think what folks really

would be interested to know is that 93% of our Head Start parents do work.

They just need a better paying job or they need additional skills or education to get that better paying job.

So a lot of them work.

So we're having to work around their work schedule.

And some of them are working two or three jobs?

Yes.

They're very hardworking.

Okay.

Now the programs that are not home based, they're taught where?

Yeah, so we have a classroom in Ripon at the Ripon Learning Center.

That is one classroom that has 17 children.

We're currently enrolling for that.

So that is three and four year olds.

We have two classrooms in North Fond du Lac at the North Fond du Lac School.

And then we have seven classrooms at our Head Start program in at Sacred Heart School and Church in Fond du

Lac.

Where's the Green Lake one then?

Well, Green Lake is home base.

So we used to have a Marcus and school that had a couple of classrooms in it, but enrollment had steadily bending, declining over the years.

So we're just, it wasn't cost efficient for us to keep that open.

So we switched to that home base model for in Green Lake County and rural Fond du Lac County.

It's about adapting or pivoting.

Yes.

Okay, one of the things we talked about in the past was the construction of a childcare incubator in Oshkosh.

How goes that?

It's going really well.

Construction is underway.

We are hoping to open this fall.

We're currently interviewing prospective business owners that would like to become a childcare

provider in our incubator.

So we're beginning starting to ramp up that process.

you were talking, if I remember correctly, like...

Room for two or three and then you have an office for the person coordinating.

Yeah, so well the this building in particular will have four incubator spaces Yep, and each space replicates a small home because it is in home childcare rules So if I were a single mom for instance, and I can't find childcare or afford childcare

but I would like to be a licensed child care provider, but I rent.

So I'm not able to be a licensed child care provider in that instance.

But if I start a business, I could rent from Advocap and provide child care in this incubator.

Okay.

More information on the programs we talked about and even more programs that Advocap is involved in.

on the Advocap website.

Maybe you can tell us what that

is.

Yeah.

So our Advocap website has a lot of information regarding services that we provide, projects that we're currently running.

So you can go to www.advocap.org.

It is.org.

I wasn't

sure about that.

That's why I asked.

Do you have a phone number in case somebody wants to go?

Yes,

you can always call our Fundalek office at 920-922-7760.

Very good.

Tanya, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

Thank you, Bob.

Appreciate your time.

Appreciate you.

That is Tanya Marko, who's the executive director for ADBACAP.

Good morning and joining us here in the studio.

We have Tonya Marco, who is the executive director of the admin cap.

Good morning.

Thanks for making the trip from Fondie.

Yes.

Thank you for having me.

Nice and sunny day compared to the weather we had at the beginning of the week.

It's gorgeous today.

Yes.

Now last week you had the, is it, is the term semi annual?

It's twice yearly point.

in time count.

Correct, yep, every six months or so, so we do it in July and January, we go out and count individuals that are experiencing homelessness.

We engage with them, we give them care packages, we let them know of resources that we have available for them.

But more importantly, it's having that count that we are required to do by HUD.

And then that is a nationwide

point in time count so that we get a good count for the nation.

And then that's how HUD divvies up their HUD funding.

So if they're seeing more homelessness in one area, funding will tend to go towards that area.

So it's very important for us to collect all of that data to get a good count.

So specifically...

For Abdecap, it was Fond du Lac Green Lake and a portion of Winnebago County.

Yep, Southern Winnebago County.

So anything Oshkosh and South, which we consider the Winnebago land area.

Last week, actually, the morning after the count, we had Laura Nikelski of SSM Health on it.

She was one of those that went out.

to participate in the count

okay so my question was

Did you have a chance to participate and count yourself?

I did, yes.

So last week was my third time counting individuals.

I thought...

that it was important for me to go out and participate in that project because I don't have a good understanding of what it's like to experience homelessness today.

So I thought it was really important for me to go out and see what everybody else is experiencing so that I can talk about it and advocate for them.

Okay, and then that Thursday, the next day, there was the

community resource fair.

Yeah, so the next day, so when we were engaging with our homeless population the night before, we gave them a flyer to let them know that we were putting on a resource fair.

We had 18 partners at that resource fair anywhere from SSM, mental health services, ADRC, veteran services, counseling, financial counselors there.

that we felt that they might need to get back on their feet.

So we let them know of that resource fair.

We had 41 individuals come through there in just a few hours time.

So it was a really great way for our low-income population to engage with our community partners and then just know what resources are available to them.

Okay, so it proved to be successful then.

Yes, this is the second year that we've done the resource fair and it has been truly an amazing experience for those that are coming in.

We'd love to expand that into Winnebago County and Green Lake County as well.

So you mentioned that this is required by HUD, so what kind of housing programs is ADDICAP involved

in?

Yeah, so we won a tenant-based rental assistance program, kind of like a section 8 voucher program.

Individuals have to be assessed and then put on a coordinated entry list and then pulled off of that list.

We also have rapid rehousing vouchers that are available.

Unfortunately, Bob, though,

the need is much greater than what we have in vouchers and rental assistance.

Moving on to a different subject, Head Start is a program that Advocat is involved in.

We're talking three and four year olds here?

Yes, so Avocap runs a Head Start program in Green Lake and Winnebago counties.

I'm truly excited to announce that Avocap Head Start was voted best preschool in Fond du Lac Community Choice Awards.

So we're very proud of that award.

That's the second year in a row that we've received that award.

So it's a very high achieving and successful program for three and four year olds.

We have an enrollment of 202 children between both counties.

We have a center-based model of learning where the kiddos come into the school and receive education just like normal 4K services do.

But then now we're trying a rural home-based model of learning for three and four-year-olds.

We're finding in our rural community that there are

not coming to the classroom per se.

So we're looking at a more home-based model approach to Head Start.

And then with that is wrap around services.

So we have a whole family approach to Head Start, meaning we try to address

all the needs in the family.

So not just the kiddo, but we also help address the needs of parents.

So if parents are working but don't have a great paying job, how can we get them to that next level?

So we work with parents that way.

Well, that's part of the registration process, right?

You do an assessment

the entire family.

Yes, exactly.

Yep.

So we try to address the needs of the entire family, knowing then the kiddos education will come after that.

In the home base program, does it have set hours?

Is it flexible?

How does that work?

No, so weekly home base teacher will come in for a 90 minute home

session with the parents.

So that'll be scheduled around the parents' needs and working environment and stuff like that.

I think what folks really

would be interested to know is that 93% of our Head Start parents do work.

They just need a better paying job or they need additional skills or education to get that better paying job.

So a lot of them work.

So we're having to work around their work schedule.

And some of them are working two or three jobs?

Yes.

They're very hardworking.

Okay.

Now the programs that are not home based, they're taught where?

Yeah, so we have a classroom in Ripon at the Ripon Learning Center.

That is one classroom that has 17 children.

We're currently enrolling for that.

So that is three and four year olds.

We have two classrooms in North Fond du Lac at the North Fond du Lac School.

And then we have seven classrooms at our Head Start program in at Sacred Heart School and Church in Fond du

Lac.

Where's the Green Lake one then?

Well, Green Lake is home base.

So we used to have a Marcus and school that had a couple of classrooms in it, but enrollment had steadily bending, declining over the years.

So we're just, it wasn't cost efficient for us to keep that open.

So we switched to that home base model for in Green Lake County and rural Fond du Lac County.

It's about adapting or pivoting.

Yes.

Okay, one of the things we talked about in the past was the construction of a childcare incubator in Oshkosh.

How goes that?

It's going really well.

Construction is underway.

We are hoping to open this fall.

We're currently interviewing prospective business owners that would like to become a childcare

provider in our incubator.

So we're beginning starting to ramp up that process.

you were talking, if I remember correctly, like...

Room for two or three and then you have an office for the person coordinating.

but I would like to be a licensed child care provider, but I rent.

So I'm not able to be a licensed child care provider in that instance.

But if I start a business, I could rent from Advocap and provide child care in this incubator.

Okay.

More information on the programs we talked about and even more programs that Advocap is involved in.

on the Advocap website.

Maybe you can tell us what that

is.

Yeah.

So our Advocap website has a lot of information regarding services that we provide, projects that we're currently running.

So you can go to www.advocap.org.

It is.org.

I wasn't

sure about that.

That's why I asked.

Do you have a phone number in case somebody wants to go?

Yes,

you can always call our Fundalek office at 920-922-7760.

Very good.

Tanya, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

Thank you, Bob.

Appreciate your time.

Appreciate you.

That is Tanya Marko, who's the executive director for ADBACAP.