It's Wayne Mauser, local news.
Good morning.
I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.
The Ripon Common Council Monday night heard a presentation from GDS Associates on the city's 2026 energy plan.
The goal was to develop a 10-year plan.
The council found out that of the city's five municipal buildings, only the city hall is not doing better than national averages on its energy usage.
Ripon's wastewater treatment facility uses 50% of the energy used by the city and the city's automotive fleet 30%.
The city has 40 vehicles.
that put on over 400,000 miles a year with fuel cost of $113,000.
Suggestions and goals include improvements to lighting for the city hall and wastewater treatment facility, some solar power for the senior center is another possible consideration as our hybrid or EV vehicles for part of the police department's fleet when patrol vehicles are being replaced with new ones.
A lot of the police squad spend time idling while on patrol.
The city received funding through the Wisconsin Public Service Commission's Rural Energy Startup Program to complete an energy
plan.
A fund-alike man faces nine criminal counts after allegedly fleeing from law enforcement in two separate incidents in August.
40-year-old Charles Brown Jr.
is charged with two counts of attempting to flee or elude an officer, four counts of felony bail jumping, two counts of obstructing an officer, and one count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, all as a repeater.
According to the complaint, an officer conducting surveillance on August 7th attempted to stop Brown, who had an active felony warrant.
at a gas station.
Brown initially complied with orders to keep his hands out of the window before placing his hands back inside the vehicle and driving away at a high rate of speed.
The officer terminated the pursuit after losing sight of the vehicle.
Officer spotted a vehicle matching the description of Brown's on August 17th and attempted another traffic stop after the vehicle ran a stop sign.
The vehicle failed to stop and reached speeds.
The pursuing officer estimated at more than 60 miles an hour in a
pursuit that was terminated for safety reasons.
A Fond du Lac County Sheriff's deputy later located the vehicle and pursued it at speeds she estimated between 115 and 130 miles per hour, alleging the vehicle ran multiple stop signs, passed vehicles in a no passing zone, and nearly collided head on with an oncoming vehicle.
The vehicle also crossed into oncoming lanes on Highway 151 near Ransey Road before deputies deployed stop sticks.
The driver
the moving vehicle near County Highway V and fled on foot, jumping a fence into a wooded area.
Brown was located and taken into custody the following day, August 18th, after a search that included a canine unit and a drone team.
Occupants of a home in Eden say they smelled an electrical odor an hour before they discovered flames and smoke in an upstairs bedroom Tuesday night.
Residents called 911 at 10.12 p.m.
reporting the fire on Fond du Lac Avenue.
They evacuated
the house with their pets before fire crews arrived.
A sheriff's deputy who was first on the scene saw smoke coming through the roof line.
The fire was contained to an upper-level bedroom that was being used for storage.
Some of the items in the bedroom were destroyed, but the bedroom only had minor water damage, which is credited to the quick response.
Firefighters say the fire is not considered suspicious.
No one was hurt.
The Eden Fire Department at Eden First responders were assisted by Campbell Sport, Mount Calvary, and the town of Fonda.
like fire departments, a rapid intervention team, and Campbellsport ambulance.
The 8th annual Lake of Palooza is coming up in Green Lake on Saturday, September 5th.
Bob Nelson has more for Civic Media News.
Mike and Jill Hayby founded the event.
It's from 5 to 10 p.m.
in the American Legion parking lot.
There's no cost for admission, but there will be a bar and food trucks, so you will need some cash.
Mike says they keep it at three food trucks each year to make it profitable for those vendors.
We like to keep it at three because that way it's profitable for the food trucks.
We want to encourage them to come back each year.
Davidson County Band will provide live music.
starting at 7 p.m.
proceeds from Lake Apalooza Street Dance to benefit the Thrasher Opera House, a Green Lake American Legion, and the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.
It's a great way to support these three groups and and give them a sense of funding without
It really hurting.
So in other words, you're giving money and you're having fun.
Jill Havy says they appreciate their co-sponsors, partners like the Green Lake Republic Works and police departments, and the volunteers who help them set everything up.
I'm Pop Nelson for Civic Media News.
The Oshkosh Plan Commission voted Tuesday night to approve a recommendation for a proposed ban on new data centers.
City leaders want a temporary one-year moratorium to study how large data center projects could affect neighborhood noise, water usage, and the power grid.
Officials say there aren't any active proposals right now and that the moratorium would cover future projects.
The recommendation now goes to the Oshkosh Common Council for a vote
The council's next meeting is set for September 8th.
I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media
News.
Madison police are looking for suspects accused of attempting to burglarize a woman's home over the weekend.
The police department explained yesterday the victim found two men in her bathroom and was able to scare them off by throwing her cane at them.
The two suspects were allegedly going through medicine bottles when she found them, but they ran off before police arrived.
It's unclear if they got away with anything, but the woman was not hurt during the incident.
The Wisconsin DOT wants to hear from the public about their Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan.
The plan highlights efforts to improve accessibility on Wisconsin's transportation system.
It also aims to find the specific barriers within their facilities and transportation infrastructure.
People can submit comments through an online comment form on WisDOT's website until September 17th.
One person is injured after being shot in the foot in Madison.
Madison Police responded Friday afternoon to reports of the shooting.
When police arrived, the suspect had already run away.
Officers determined the victim had been shot in the bathroom.
They were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover.
The incident remains under investigation.
A kangaroo is on the loose in Columbia County after escaping from a trailer.
It happened Sunday morning near Portage when four kangaroos were being transferred between vehicles.
The Wisconsin State Patrol says two of the animals were hit by vehicles and didn't survive while a third was recovered by the owners.
The fourth kangaroo ran off near Wisconsin 78 and Interstate 39 and is still unaccounted for.
Troopers requested Wisconsinites not pull over on the side of the road to look for the missing animal.
Wisconsin is receiving high marks as one of the most enjoyable states.
Finance website Wallet Hub recently ranked the most fun states in America based on several key factors.
The states were judged on the price of movie tickets, access to national parks, nightlife, and more.
The Badger State was ranked 16th overall.
In case you were wondering, California had the highest score and ranked first.
A Wisconsin prosecutor has declined to charge Elon Musk after a dispute over a million-dollar giveaway during last year's state Supreme Court campaign.
La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Grunke says the evidence did not show that anyone received money for voting or agreeing to vote.
Musk first said the rally was for people who had voted, then clarified that people had to sign a petition opposing activist judges to attend.
The State Elections Commission referred the case after the rally in Green Bay and the original prosecutors stepped aside because of a conflict of interest.
Attorney General Josh Call has joined a multi-state lawsuit over federal grant rules that affect public safety programs in Wisconsin.
The challenge focuses on about $6 million in potential state funding for law enforcement and juvenile justice.
The Trump administration is requiring states to cooperate with Homeland Security Immigration Enforcement in order to receive the grants.
Call calls that an abuse of power, while the administration has not been quoted in the lawsuit materials provided.
Wisconsin Republicans have nearly twice as much campaign money as Democrats as the November midterms get closer.
GOP party committees have brought in $43 million, while Democratic committees have raised $22.2 million, according to recent campaign finance filings.
Much of the Republican total comes from three major donors, Richard and Elizabeth E. Lyne and Diane Hendricks.
Democrats say more money may come in now that their governor's primary is over.
Republicans say their fundraising lead shows the party is united and ready to compete.
A popular country music star is welcoming UW-Madison students back to school in style.
The Wisconsin Union announced Kane Brown will be performing a free concert for students on Saturday, September 5th, just days after classes begin on campus.
Students can get their free ticket online, while non-students can stream the concert on Amazon Live.
And that's your state news update.
I'm Connie Feldman for Civic Media News.
A lesson learned.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports, baseball, the Brewers and Mets go at it again tonight at Citibank Field in Queens, New York.
The Brewers losing in a close one and extra innings to the Mets last night, three to two.
Manager Pat Murphy pulled Cooper Pratt out of the game when he failed to take second base after a hit to right field in the fifth inning.
I know who this kid is.
He's a great kid.
It's not laziness, but you got to have your head in the game because these games like today comes down to Lindor's great catch or an error.
throw or whatever.
So you've got to be locked in if you're
going to play at this level.
NFL, the Arizona Cardinals in Green Bay to face the Packers in a joint practice session before Friday night's final preseason game, tight end Tucker Kraft getting more playing time each day.
Is he any closer to getting a new contract?
It's good to see him out there.
I mean, you know, he's worked his tail off as far as the contract goes.
It doesn't have any really effect on that.
Um, and then no rub.
It's there.
That's the Packers GM, Brian Goodikins with sports.
I'm Mike Clemens.
Mostly sunny today with a high in the low 80s here this afternoon.
Tonight it will be mostly clear with temps dropping into the upper 50s to low 60s.
Tomorrow another sunny, beautiful, less humid day with a high in the low 80s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.
Local news, local sports and local people you know.
Your hometown station 93.1 and AM 1600 The Wave.
Joining us here in the studio this morning, we have Susie Mink, who is the adult and teen services librarian for the Ripon Public Library.
Good morning.
Good morning.
How are you?
Pleasure to have you here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So now we're almost done with August.
So I'm guessing that you're going to be talking a little bit about September programming.
We are going to talk about September programming.
All right.
Where do you want to start, Susie?
Just a brief reminder about our hours over Labor Day weekend.
We are open Friday and Saturdays, Saturday 9 to 1.
We're closed Sunday and we're closed Monday for Labor Day.
And then we open Tuesday the 8th and then we start our regular hours, which includes Saturday 9 to, I think 9 to 4 and Sundays 1 to 4.
So we will be open both days of the weekend.
after September 8th.
So just a reminder about the hour change.
And then I want to just talk about programming for September.
Let's do that.
We have a couple of our regular programs, so book club and memory cafe are going on, but the teens are getting back into gear again.
So we do have a teen program on Sunday the 20th.
We're going to do street art, painting.
The idea is that people who come will get a little piece of a canvas, and then we're going to put it all together in a mural.
And when we're done, then we're going to hopefully hang it in the teen area.
So again, just trying to help the teens make a mark on their space in the library.
If you haven't been in recently, there's been some letters and bulletin board areas added to the teen space.
And we'll soon have the letters over the meeting room.
The teens have chosen Teen Scene Studio as the name of their space because they wanted it to be a place for teens to interact, but also a place for creativity.
So I kind of like that idea.
So those 3D letters are being printed currently and we will get them up soon, which is really cool.
Then in addition to that, we have a regular
Um, September programming, I have one program I want to just start talking about already.
It starts in October, but it's called planning ahead.
Um, I collaborate with the UW extension in Green Lake County or Fond du Lac County and they run a six week course called planning ahead and it's focuses on end of life choices.
So financial.
stability and thinking about how you're taking care of your finances, funeral planning, grief, estate planning, all those types of things that you would be talking about at the end of your life, your own care, you know, how you're going to provide for that, how you're going to provide for your family after you leave.
Just getting some of those things in place so that after you pass, your family isn't left holding the bag, so
to
speak, but making some of those choices.
so you have input into those choices before anything happens and you can't make those choices.
So it's a really great program.
I took the program myself.
You get a booklet.
Where you can put all the information in this booklet and then when you pass everything that your family needs is in one secure location, which is great So just it's a great program You do need to register by calling the UW extension and the phone number is on our calendar and on our flyers, but It's a fabulous course that because of the renovation that one's still going to be held up at the senior center
And that will be on Wednesdays starting in October Wednesday the 7th at 10 a.m.
And it'll run six consecutive Wednesdays So just wanted to put a plug-in for that because it's a fabulous course, but we do need registration for that one
Is there a cost for materials for that?
No, no cost.
Okay.
Between the UW extension and the library, we subsidize everything for that class.
So no cost involved at all for anyone.
It's free class.
It's worth it.
It's so worth it.
Everybody who's taken it is just like, this is so fabulous.
I know it is.
I just need more people to register and take it.
The other event is the library as you know always likes to participate in community events so
we
have the touch of truck event happening on Saturday September 12th and that starts at nine o'clock at Barlow Park so just wanted to give a shout out for that.
The library is
Always involved in community events and this is one of our favorites.
This is a more recent Program that the city started.
I think this will be the second or third one that we've done now with them But that's also a great Program as well where all the city departments have Vehicles or some sort of display and kids can come out and climb on the trucks and the library will be there with a lot of play equipment To give kids a break we always take
a lot of our toys from the proper room over there.
And then handing out our calendars and things like that.
So we'll have a table there, a space there, but just a reminder that that's coming up pretty fast in September as well.
Yeah, that kind of replaced the city's participation in national night out.
So I think something like that
we've
just and we moved it to a Saturday.
It's just easier for everybody to get there on a Saturday morning.
It evolved.
It did.
A little
bit.
There are actually other events throughout the United States that are touch a truck or touch the truck
or whatever you want to
call it.
But this is ours.
It's a great program and we're happy to do that.
You don't win a truck by keeping your hand on a truck.
It's just called touch a truck.
It's just
touch a truck because it's mostly for the kids.
All
right, so what's up next?
And then the last thing is just a reminder of our book club.
So our book for the month of September is beautiful ugly by Alice Feeney.
And that is one of those books that does slide a hand.
So there are several different narrators through the book and you have to figure out which ones are believable and which ones are not.
So it's kind of a mystery suspense thriller kind of book all wrapped in one.
But Alice Feeney is an author known to
pull a rabbit out of her hat every once
in a
while.
So it's a surprise kind of a book with a lot of twists and turns in it.
So just if you don't have a copy of it, we have copies available at the library.
Even if you don't attend our book club, we always, you know, highly recommend that people can still read the book.
We have plenty of copies available.
Stop at the desk because we keep those behind the desk for checkout during the month.
So always lots of fun with our book club.
So no skipping ahead to the end,
right?
I would not recommend it.
I
mean that would ruin the whole experience.
It would ruin it.
You kind of
need to read it too.
Okay, and where is...
that going to be held
on book club is still being held at our saviors on scott street and just a reminder for anybody listening there is that construction on houston so you might need to go around on jackson to get over to our saviors because it's hard to get through
on
scott street right now with the construction there on houston it's really hard to cross houston
Well, the good news is probably by the end of November, most of this construction was
done.
I hope so.
And by November or December at the latest, I'm hoping we'll be back at the library again.
Right.
We again are so thankful for all of our community partners that have shared their spaces with us during this renovation process.
It's been wonderful to be able to know that we can still do all of our programming in other locations.
Anything else?
Um...
I think that's it at the moment.
Oh, one other thing I wanted to comment.
It's not starting in September.
It's starting in October, but we have several gaming events happening coming up that we're getting those back going again.
So our tabletop role playing will start up in October on the second Sunday and then continue on the second Sunday.
So it's an open game time for those who like to play Dungeons and Dragons or other role playing games, tabletop role playing games.
And we have
Several game leaders who run that, so they're happy to teach or they're happy to run games.
And that's just been a really popular event.
I was sorry we had to stop it for a little while, but we're going to get it started again.
And then on the 10th of October, we've got an all ages gaming event of just board games over in general.
And Ben...
Our circulation supervisor runs that.
And again, he'll be there to help people learn how to play the game or just be available.
And that's going to just be in the adult and teen area spaces.
We have our games on the shelving on the wall there.
So we can just pull them out, put them on the tables and people can play.
It's so nice to have space to do that kind of thing right in the department now.
Loving that.
Lots of tables and chairs spaces so that we can run these kinds of events just.
in an open space and that it just encourages more people who are passing by to join in not that you know you can intentionally come for that but sometimes we snag people who are like oh I didn't know this was going on so it can be a good way to just showcase some of the different games that we have in the library so that's happening October 10th and then on the 11th is the tabletop role-playing game so lots of gaming events coming up again we're getting those
back into gear again in the fall here.
So excited to have that happen as well.
Well, Susie, thank you for joining us this morning.
Thank you.
We've been talking with Susie Ming, who is the adult and teen services librarian for the Ripon Public Library.
Joining us here in the studio this morning, we have Susie Mink, who is the adult and teen services librarian for the Rip and Public Library.
Good morning.
Good morning.
How are you?
Pleasure to have you here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So now we're almost done with August.
So I'm guessing that you're going to be talking a little bit about September programming.
We are going to talk about September programming.
All right.
Where do you want to start, Susie?
Just a brief reminder about our hours over Labor Day weekend.
We are open Friday and Saturdays, Saturday 9 to 1.
We're closed Sunday and we're closed Monday for Labor Day.
And then we open Tuesday the 8th and then we start our regular hours, which includes Saturday 9 to, I think 9 to 4 and Sundays 1 to 4.
So we will be open both days of the weekend.
after September 8th.
So just a reminder about the hour change.
And then I want to just talk about programming for September.
Let's do that.
We have a couple of our regular programs, so book club and memory cafe are going on, but the teens are getting back into gear again.
So we do have a teen program on Sunday the 20th.
We're going to do street art, painting.
The idea is that people who come will get a little piece of a canvas, and then we're going to put it all together in a mural.
And when we're done, then we're going to hopefully hang it in the teen area.
So again, just trying to help the teens make a mark on their space in the library.
If you haven't been in recently, there's been some letters and bulletin board areas added to the teen space.
And we'll soon have the letters over the meeting room.
The teens have chosen Teen Scene Studio as the name of their space because they wanted it to be a place for teens to interact but also a place for creativity.
So I kind of like that idea.
So those 3D letters are being printed currently and we will get them up soon, which is really cool.
Then in addition to that, we have a regular
Um, September programming, I have one program I want to just start talking about already.
It starts in October, but it's called planning ahead.
Um, I collaborate with the UW extension in Green Lake County or Fond du Lac County and they run a six week course called planning ahead and it's focuses on end of life choices.
So financial.
stability and thinking about how you're taking care of your finances, funeral planning, grief, estate planning, all those types of things that you would be talking about at the end of your life, your own care, you know, how you're going to provide for that, how you're going to provide for your family after you leave.
Just getting some of those things in place so that after you pass, your family isn't left holding the bag, so to speak, but making some of those choices.
so you have input into those choices before anything happens and you can't make those choices.
So it's a really great program.
I took the program myself.
You get a booklet.
Where you can put all the information in this booklet and then when you pass everything that your family needs is in one secure location, which is great So just it's a great program You do need to register by calling the UW extension and the phone number is on our calendar and on our flyers But it's a fabulous course that because of their renovation that one's still going to be held up at the senior center
and that will be on Wednesdays starting in October Wednesday the 7th at 10 a.m.
and it'll run six consecutive Wednesdays.
So just wanted to put a plug in for that because it's a fabulous course but we do need registration for that one.
Is there a cost for materials
for that?
No, no cost.
Okay.
Between the UW extension and the library, we subsidize everything for that class.
So no cost involved at all for anyone.
It's free class.
It's worth it.
It's so worth it.
Everybody who's taken it is just like, this is so fabulous.
I know it is.
I just need more people to register and take it.
The other event is the library as you know always likes to participate in community events so we have the touch of truck event happening on Saturday, September 12th and that starts at 9 o'clock at Barlow Park so just wanted to give a shout out for that.
The library is
Always involved in community events and this is one of our favorites.
This is a more recent Program that the city started.
I think this will be the second or third one that we've done now with them But that's also a great Program as well where all the city departments have Vehicles or some sort of display and kids can come out and climb on the trucks and the library will be there with a lot of play equipment To give kids a break we always take
a lot of our toys from the romper room over there.
And then handing out our calendars and things like that.
So we'll have a table there, a space there, but just a reminder that that's coming up pretty fast in September as well.
Yeah, that kind of replaced the city's participation in national night out.
So I think something like that we just and we moved it to a Saturday.
It's just easier for everybody to get there on a Saturday morning.
It evolved.
It did.
A little bit.
There are actually other events throughout the United States that are touch a truck or touch the truck or whatever you want to call it.
But this is ours.
It's a great program and we're happy to do that.
You don't win a truck by keeping your hand on a truck.
It's just called touch a truck.
It's just touch a truck because it's mostly for the kids.
All
right, so what's up
next?
And then the last thing is just a reminder of our book club.
So our book for the month of September is Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.
And that is one of those books that does slide a hand.
So there are several different narrators through the book and you have to figure out which ones are believable and which ones are not.
So it's kind of a mystery suspense thriller kind of book all wrapped in one.
But Alice Feeney is an author known to
pull a rabbit out of her hat every once in a while.
So it's a surprise kind of a book with a lot of twists and turns in it.
So just if you don't have a copy of it, we have copies available at the library.
Even if you don't attend our book club, we always, you know, highly recommend that people can still read the book.
We have plenty of copies available.
Stop at the desk because we keep those behind the desk for checkout during the month.
So always lots of fun with our book club.
So no skipping ahead to the end, right?
I would not recommend it.
I
mean that would ruin the whole
experience.
It would ruin it.
You kind of need to read it too.
Okay.
And where is that going to be
held?
Um, book club is still being held at our saviors on Scott street.
Um, and just a reminder for anybody listening, there is that construction on Houston.
So you might need to go around on Jackson to get over to our saviors cause it's hard to get through on Scott street right now with the construction there on Houston.
It's really hard to cross Houston.
Well, the good news is probably by the end of November, most of this construction
will be done.
I hope so.
And by November or December at the latest, I'm hoping we'll be back at the library again.
And we again are so thankful for all of our community partners that have shared their spaces with us during this renovation process.
It's been wonderful to be able to know that we can still do all of our programming in other locations.
Anything else?
Um...
I think that's it at the moment.
Oh, one other thing I wanted to comment.
It's not starting in September.
It's starting in October, but we have several gaming events happening coming up that we're getting those back going again.
So our tabletop role playing will start up in October on the second Sunday and then continue on the second Sunday.
So it's an open game time for those who like to play Dungeons and Dragons or other role playing games, tabletop role playing games.
And we have
several game leaders who run that, so they're happy to teach or they're happy to run games.
And that's just been a really popular event.
I was sorry, we had to stop it for a little while, but we're going to get it started again.
And then on the 10th of October, we've got an all ages gaming event of just board games over in general.
And Ben, our circulation supervisor, runs that.
And again, he'll be there to help people learn how to play the game or just be available.
And that's going to just be in the adult and teen area spaces.
We have our games on the shelving on the wall there, so we can just pull them out.
put them on the tables and people can play.
It's so nice to have space to do that kind of thing right in the department now, loving that.
Lots of tables and chairs spaces so that we can run these kinds of events just in an open space.
And that it just encourages more people who are passing by to join in, not that, you know, you can intentionally come for that.
But sometimes we snag people who are like, Oh, I didn't know this was going on.
So it can be a good way to
just showcase some of the different games that we have in the library.
So that's happening October 10th and then on the 11th is the tabletop role-playing game.
So lots of gaming events coming up again.
We're getting those back into gear again in the fall here.
So excited to have that happen as well.
Well Susie, thank you for joining us this morning.
Thank you.
We've been talking with Susie Meng, who is the adult and teen services librarian for the Ripon Public Library.