It's Wayne Mouser, Local News.
Good morning, I'm Wayne Mouser for Civic Media News.
A 36-year-old Fond du Lac woman who used a friend's debit and food stamp card for personal use after the friend was booked into jail has been placed on probation for two years.
On Monday, Felicia Spencer pled no contest to three counts, including credit card theft and obstruction.
Spencer was also sentenced in Fond du Lac County Court to the six days in jail she already served.
Spencer was sentenced to six months in jail on a separate drug count.
The co-defendant, 36-year-old Chelsea Weiss, has a plea and sentencing hearing in Fond du Lac County Court today.
A 55-year-old sex offender has been released from prison and is now living at 457 Thomas Street in Fond du Lac.
According to the state's Department of Corrections, William T. Schellinger II is being released back into the community after serving 11 years for his sex crime convictions.
Those crimes included two counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, three or more counts of repeated sexual assault of the same child, and six counts each of child's sexploitation and possession of child pornography.
He saw an electronic monitoring and will be on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry for the rest of his life.
He is also on supervision until September 24th of 2041.
Drivers in Ripon should take note that East Sullivan Street is undergoing paving work on the south side of the median, separating eastbound and westbound lanes.
Traffic will not be able to travel through the area beginning today through the end of the week.
Street repaving work is also taking place on Hall Street from Stanton to Douglas Street and Tabard Avenue this week.
Work will include milling, grading and paving with completion anticipated by the end of the week.
Drivers should expect construction equipment, temporary
delays and limited access at times.
To buy or possess THC products in Oshkosh, you now must be at least 21 years old.
The Common Council passed an ordinance unanimously Tuesday night to require cannabis dispensaries to verify they are at least 21 years old.
Wisconsin doesn't currently have a clear state law on an age minimum.
Marijuana is still illegal in Wisconsin, but you can buy certain cannabis products, including Delta 8, THC, Delta 9, THC, Delta 10, THC,
HHC and THCA.
These are all psychoactive stimulants found in the cannabis plant.
CBD is not included in the new ordinance, which will take effect in a few weeks.
An adult who buys or possesses these substances faces a $75 fine plus court fees.
The Oshkosh Public Library is launching a building development initiative aimed at ensuring its facilities can continue to meet community needs for years to come.
The library announced the effort on Tuesday, saying the initiative stems from priorities identified during
its 2025 strategic planning process.
During that process, community members identify the library building as a key area for future investment, including its condition, functionality, and ability to support evolving services.
The initiative aligns with the library's strategic vision, the library in your life, and is intended to keep the library responsive to community feedback.
As part of the effort, the library has selected Engberg Anderson Architects to lead development
of a comprehensive multi-phase facilities plan.
The firm will work with library staff and community members to evaluate the building's current condition, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop recommendations to guide future investments.
The library is also establishing a building development work group that will meet from October of 2026 through February of 2027 to review information gathered during the planning process and help shape recommendations.
The city is fortunate that it will receive a little over $1.6 million through the state's local structure improvement program to replace the Pacific Street Bridge.
Bob Nelson has more for Civic Media News.
Adam Sontag says at 19 feet in length, the bridge missed out on the state's regular funding program for bridge replacements by a foot.
He says the replacement of the bridge in a couple of years will be part of a major project for Pacific
Street.
The road is pretty rough shaped.
There's other utilities there.
There's lift stations.
There's property acquisition.
There's floodplain considerations that need to be made.
So it's a pretty major project.
The total estimated cost of the Bridge Replacement Project is $1.78 million.
$1.6 million the city will receive is 90% of that cost with the city being responsible for the remaining 10%.
The city has about 13 creek crossings, including the Pacific Street Bridge.
I'm Pop Nelson for Civic Media News.
Governor Tony Evers has signed a $7.6 million contract to improve
U.S.
Highway 10 between Apple Tree Lane and Old State Highway 49 in Wapaka and Waiowiga.
Work is scheduled to start next Monday.
Chippewa Concrete Services is the prime contractor for the project.
Crews will be replacing concrete in the travel lanes, repaving the asphalt shoulders, replacing guardrail and restriping U.S.
10.
They will also be replacing the bridge approaches, guardrail and some of the shared use path on County Highway A, State Highway 22 and
milling and repaving between the ramp terminals of County Highway X. During construction, U.S.
10 will be open to traffic with lane closures throughout construction.
There will also be intermittent ramp closures.
Construction is scheduled for completion by September of 2027.
I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.
For Civic Media News, I'm Connie Thelman.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services confirmed one more case of measles in Wisconsin.
This case is in Chippewa County.
Since August, confirmed measles cases have been reported in Grant, Iowa, Lafayette, Marathon, Vernon, and now Chippewa counties.
That brings the state's total to 171 cases.
All but one of those are in people who are not vaccinated against the disease.
Health experts say measles is a highly contagious disease that can spread from person to person through the air and can stay in the air for two hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes.
As hunters prepare to hit the woods this fall, the DNR is asking for help.
Civic media's James Kelly has more on what hunters can do to help slow the spread of a fatal deer disease.
As the state's hunting seasons get underway, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is reminding hunters to test their harvested deer for chronic wasting disease.
According to a press release, the agency is reminding hunters that testing for chronic wasting disease is a critical tool for tracking disease levels and spread across the state.
Hunters can conduct the test themselves at a self-service kiosk available 24-7 or with an at-home lymph node extraction kit.
They can also make an in-person appointment with DNR staff or cooperating partners like meat processors.
I'm James Kelly for Civic Media News.
Archery and crossbow hunting season is already open across our state.
The gun deer hunt starts November 21st.
Today marks the middle of Wisconsin's first PFAS Awareness Week.
Governor Tony Evers made the declaration after signing a bipartisan plan to release $125 million from the PFAS Trust Fund earlier this year to help communities test and treat contaminated water.
The focus this week is on clean, safe drinking water across the state.
Wisconsin has another 10 million from a Taiko PFAS settlement set to go toward clean water projects, new wells, and the installation of new treatment systems.
PFAS Awareness Week runs through Friday.
Opposition is building across southern Wisconsin over a proposed 190-mile high-voltage transmission line cutting through nine counties.
U.S.
Representative Tom Tiffany reaffirmed his stance against the project during a town hall meeting in Baraboo last week, arguing the 965-kilovolt power line threatens local farmland and private property rights.
His stance mirrors concerns raised by opponent David Crowley, who also recently spoke out against the project in favor of less dis-
disruptive energy alternatives.
The event came shortly after Tiffany's plane was forced to make an emergency landing near Wasaw, though the Congressman says the mechanical incident hasn't slowed down his schedule.
With summer now in the rearview mirror, it's a good time to see how Wisconsin's tourism dollars are stacking up this year.
Civic media's James Kelly gives us a look at the Northwestern part of our state.
Eau Claire County officials are highlighting another significant year for tourism in the Chippewa Valley.
According to officials from Visit Eau Claire, the record $480 million of economic impact generated by tourism in 2025 continued into the summer of 2026 and shows no sign of slowing down for fall activities in the region.
The success also comes as Visit Eau Claire, local municipalities and community partners continue to develop their destination master plan, a 10-year roadmap for the tourism industry.
Visit Eau Claire is also planning to host a number of public input sessions on that destination master plan over the coming weeks.
I'm James Kelly for Civic Media News.
Those sessions will be free and open to the public.
Organizers say the input gathered will be used to finalize a draft plan by March of 2027.
A Chippewa Falls High School graduate will be among the cast as Saturday Night Live returns for its 52nd season this weekend.
Grace Ryder, class of 2019, is among the additions to this year's SNL cast.
Nickstar Jalen Brunson hosts SNL this Saturday.
And that's your state news update.
I'm Connie Feldman for Civic Media News.
Brewers and the Phillies tonight.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports Baseball.
Game two of the Brewers series in Philadelphia.
Last night, the crew losing to the Phillies six to four.
Their starting pitcher, veteran Zach Wheeler, set a Phillies franchise record, striking out the Brewers first seven batters.
Manager Pat Murphy.
The story of the game was, you know, Wheeler was dominant.
You know, Wheeler was dominant and really did a great job.
He's really terrific pitcher.
Their bullpen did a great job.
So
credit goes to them.
NFL, the Packers host the Falcons tomorrow night at 7 15.
Jordan Love asked if he'd spoken to Jaden Reed, who spent the night in a New Jersey hospital with a neck injury in the game against the Jets.
Yeah, haven't got to talk to him too much.
I think he's back in town.
So, you know, we'll see when he gets back in the building.
What all is going on is worse than what the injury is.
That's quarterback Jordan Love.
with sports on Mike Clemens.
It is going to be partly cloudy today with a high right around 63 this afternoon tonight.
Partly cloudy will drop into the low to mid 50s for an overnight low.
Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high of 64.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.
Local news, local sports and local people you know.
Your hometown station 93.1 and AM 1600 the wave.
This morning we're joined by Fond du Lac County Executive Sam Kaufman.
Good morning Sam.
Good morning Bob.
Happy fall.
I guess we can say that now
officially.
Right.
I love this time of year although I don't look forward to what comes after.
I've got my share of pumpkin spice stuff in already so
you know
but anyway we want to talk to you about a couple of different things.
One
of
the things that came up
on the County Board's agenda on the 15 was reorganization of the Fond du Lac County Crisis Intervention Services, so-called acute unit shutting down as of the first of the year.
What exactly does this resolution accomplish?
So, I'm glad to ask that one.
You're, like you said, the acute unit is closing, the county board
approved resolution closing the unit effective January 1st of 2027.
That was a very hard decision.
We have gone through this, the issue of problems for over the last, in my time since 22.
And I know Alan, our predecessor had dealt with it also.
It's just been an ongoing problem in regard to trying to staff it.
And then the cost, we were running basically about a four million dollar budget.
And it came down to we were basically servicing about five finalized county residents on average.
And, you know, there used to be a 25-bed unit.
It dropped to 16.
And we've never, in the past few years, even exceeded 10.
And the reason why that reduction was going on, we determined, was because we had started a crisis intervention services program, where crisis workers are in real time
out there directly helping those individuals in crisis at that moment.
And what we saw was, as that was going on, there was going through and reducing the number of inpatient needs at that point.
So these crisis workers, when they're out there, they'll go out there with an officer, for example, or an officer will call them to a scene where there's an issue, and the crisis worker will help to fuse the situation, talk to the individual with regard to services that can be offered, and just
help them out.
And sometimes that's what those individuals need is just somebody that will listen to them.
And because of that, we found less inpatients taking place at our unit.
And that number just continuously dropped.
So when we started looking at the numbers, it made no sense to us to continue the operation of the facility for that cost of that number of people.
We thought there would be a better model.
And that's where we started here is once the kind of board made the decision, and I know it was a tough decision for them too, but I think they saw the writing on the wall too that this model was not working.
I'll give you an example.
Because of the inability to find staffing and staffing, there are certain staff positions which are required by a lot of house.
So even if you have only one person in there, you still have to have those same staff members.
Because we couldn't find a lot of those staff to come work for us,
we're forced to contract those services out.
Well, the contracted services, we're just ballooning every year, whereas now this year, for example, because of contracted services, we have a deficit of about $1.2 million at the acute unit that's caused directly by the need to contract those services out for staffing.
So we try to look at the other model, and that is where Jerry Van Evenhoven, my director of human services, put together a plan
where it took our existing crisis intervention services program and now enhanced it with additional staffing.
So that's the resolution that was before the county board is to add additional staffing to the program we already have.
It provides the 24-7 care to try and help those individuals in need itself.
You know, and I said this was already existing, this program, but this is phase one.
The plan she has put together has two phases.
So we are now in phase one.
With those staff members, then we'll primarily start January 1st.
We have a couple that we reclass to supervisor roles.
They will start for training November 1st.
But then Phase 2 starts up in 27.
We will come back to the county board with that proposal.
And that essentially is taking the existing acute unit, which has the bed space there, and converting that to a crisis stabilization or CBRF type of setting.
What we wanted to do
was to go through and you'll run into an individual, for example, who's in crisis.
And the procedure is the law enforcement would have to take them to an ER for evaluation.
The doctor there may make a determination that based on the patient's condition, they need to be placed in a locked psychiatric unit for continued treatment.
But there are those individuals that are brought there that are in need of services, but they don't rise that level.
of being placed in a locked psychiatric unit.
So instead of abandoning them and just saying, okay, we'll return you home, we wanted to give them an opportunity to voluntarily admit into the CBRF setting so they can get treatment there.
Corrections workers will be on staff there housed in that unit and they will then be able to help those individuals so they can still get some form of assistance and treatment voluntarily.
So they're not feeling abandoned.
Our hope is by doing that, we'll reduce then the need for out of county transport, for example, we're trying to get them assistance elsewhere.
We can now continue to house our residents here to get that assistance to them.
We're also working them a transport component because by state law, local law enforcement is responsible for out of county transport.
So any doctor
as a facility says, yep, they have to be in a lock check if the unit, if there isn't a bed available here in our area, then they have to look outside the county.
And law enforcement is responsible for that transport.
What we are doing is proposing that the county would take on that responsibility through the sheriff's department.
And by doing that, we're then assisting those local municipalities who now don't have to take one of their officers off the road.
and driving an hour or two for transport with it.
So this is the plan.
It's a work in progress, but I fully support it.
I think Jerry's done a fantastic job in regard to trying to come up with a better solution and a better model.
I really think by the time this is done, Bob, this could be a model that a lot of counties can see is a success and can try and incorporate it to their county throughout the state.
All right, Sam switching topics here the board also approved the sale of what was the rugby field to CKM properties
Right.
Yeah, that was you know, we've had that property for sale for a while You know, it's one of those unique properties that sits on University and Johnson on the corner there where You need a special type of developer to come in and we're looking for some type of developer to convert it
to some form of commercial retail type use.
And luckily this organization, we've been looking near for some time, they are actually a tractor supply connection.
So I believe they are a developer who works for Tractor Supply, a Tennessee based corporation, to go through and find locations for a new store.
And it's my understanding
is that they would be looking now to put a tractor supply there along with another type of grocery store and a retail shop at that location.
That would be a big win for not only the county but the City of Fond du Lac because now we're taking a property that's not on the tax base and converting it to one that will be itself.
And I think that's a great opportunity for development on the east side of the city over there.
Plus I truthfully admit that I'm very happy about it because right across the street
is where the do 90 units in your housing facility is going, which is already under construction now.
And so those individuals there in that property will now have access to something directly across the street from them.
So I think this is a big win for everyone.
And we're excited about this.
There is a due diligence period where the company has to do their homework to make sure they can get all state approvals and city approvals with permits.
But my hope is it will be a goal and that we will start seeing something develop there next year.
Okay, we're almost out of time, Sam, but I understand that your county clerk, Lisa Freiburg, won the Wisconsin Counties Association Friend in County Government Award.
You got a good one there.
She did.
We were very excited, unknown to us that that was going to happen.
but well-deserving.
Lisa, she's an amazing person.
I've got to know her.
She's a friend.
I know her professionally.
I'll put her up against any clerk in the state.
I mean, her knowledge of elections, the way she runs that office down there, she has been an asset to our county.
And just her involvement with WCA and her assistance throughout the state with other clerks, guiding them on different issues, our welcome municipalities.
I know the clerks appreciate her, and she does.
But she's a dedicated person, and this award is well deserved.
It's a great honor for her and well deserved.
Well, Sam, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
Appreciate your time.
Well, I appreciate being able to come on, Bob.
I always enjoy talking with you.
And this is Sam Kaufman, Fond du Lac County Executive.
This morning we're joined by Fond du Lac County Executive Sam Kaufman.
Good morning Sam.
Good morning Bob.
Happy fall.
I guess we can say that now
officially.
Right.
I love this time of year although I don't look forward to what comes after.
I've got my share of pumpkin spice stuff in already so
you know
but anyway we want to talk to you about a couple of different things.
One
of
the things that came up
on the County Board's agenda on the 15 was reorganization of the Fond du Lac County Crisis Intervention Services, so-called acute unit shutting down as of the first of the year.
What exactly does this resolution accomplish?
So, I'm glad to ask that one.
You're, like you said, the acute unit is closing, the county board
approved resolution closing the unit effective January 1st of 2027.
That was a very hard decision.
We have gone through this, the issue of problems for over the last, in my time since 22.
And I know Alan, our predecessor had dealt with it also.
It's just been an ongoing problem in regard to trying to staff it.
And then the cost, we were running basically about a four million dollar budget.
And it came down to we were basically servicing about five finalized county residents on average.
And, you know, there used to be a 25-bed unit.
It dropped to 16.
And we've never, in the past few years, even exceeded 10.
And the reason why that reduction was going on, we determined, was because we had started a crisis intervention services program, where crisis workers are in real time
out there directly helping those individuals in crisis at that moment.
And what we saw was, as that was going on, there was going through and reducing the number of inpatient needs at that point.
So these crisis workers, when they're out there, they'll go out there with an officer, for example, or an officer will call them to a scene where there's an issue, and the crisis worker will help to fuse the situation, talk to the individual with regard to services that can be offered, and just
help them out.
And sometimes that's what those individuals need is just somebody that will listen to them.
And because of that, we found less inpatients taking place at our unit.
And that number just continuously dropped.
So when we started looking at the numbers, it made no sense to us to continue the operation of the facility for that cost of that number of people.
We thought there would be a better model.
And that's where we started here is once the kind of board made the decision, and I know it was a tough decision for them too, but I think they saw the writing on the wall too that this model was not working.
I'll give you an example.
Because of the inability to find staffing and staffing, there are certain staff positions which are required by a lot of house.
So even if you have only one person in there, you still have to have those same staff members.
Because we couldn't find a lot of those staff to come work for us,
we're forced to contract those services out.
Well, the contracted services, we're just ballooning every year, whereas now this year, for example, because of contracted services, we have a deficit of about $1.2 million at the acute unit that's caused directly by the need to contract those services out for staffing.
So we try to look at the other model, and that is where Jerry Van Evenhoven, my director of human services, put together a plan
where it took our existing crisis intervention services program and now enhanced it with additional staffing.
So that's the resolution that was before the county board is to add additional staffing to the program we already have.
It provides the 24-7 care to try and help those individuals in need itself.
You know, and I said this was already existing, this program, but this is phase one.
The plan she has put together has two phases.
So we are now in phase one.
With those staff members, then we'll primarily start January 1st.
We have a couple that we reclass to supervisor roles.
They will start for training November 1st.
But then Phase 2 starts up in 27.
We will come back to the county board with that proposal.
And that essentially is taking the existing acute unit, which has the bed space there, and converting that to a crisis stabilization or CBRF type of setting.
What we wanted to do
was to go through and you'll run into an individual, for example, who's in crisis.
And the procedure is the law enforcement would have to take them to an ER for evaluation.
The doctor there may make a determination that based on the patient's condition, they need to be placed in a locked psychiatric unit for continued treatment.
But there are those individuals that are brought there that are in need of services, but they don't rise that level.
of being placed in a locked psychiatric unit.
So instead of abandoning them and just saying, okay, we'll return you home, we wanted to give them an opportunity to voluntarily admit into the CBRF setting so they can get treatment there.
Corrections workers will be on staff there housed in that unit and they will then be able to help those individuals so they can still get some form of assistance and treatment voluntarily.
So they're not feeling abandoned.
Our hope is by doing that, we'll reduce then the need for out of county transport, for example, we're trying to get them assistance elsewhere.
We can now continue to house our residents here to get that assistance to them.
We're also working them a transport component because by state law, local law enforcement is responsible for out of county transport.
So any doctor
as a facility says, yep, they have to be in a lock check if the unit, if there isn't a bed available here in our area, then they have to look outside the county.
And law enforcement is responsible for that transport.
What we are doing is proposing that the county would take on that responsibility through the sheriff's department.
And by doing that, we're then assisting those local municipalities who now don't have to take one of their officers off the road.
and driving an hour or two for transport with it.
So this is the plan.
It's a work in progress, but I fully support it.
I think Jerry's done a fantastic job in regard to trying to come up with a better solution and a better model.
I really think by the time this is done, Bob, this could be a model that a lot of counties can see is a success and can try and incorporate it to their county throughout the state.
All right, Sam switching topics here the board also approved the sale of what was the rugby field to CKM properties
Right.
Yeah, that was you know, we've had that property for sale for a while You know, it's one of those unique properties that sits on University and Johnson on the corner there where You need a special type of developer to come in and we're looking for some type of developer to convert it
to some form of commercial retail type use.
And luckily this organization, we've been looking near for some time, they are actually a tractor supply connection.
So I believe they are a developer who works for Tractor Supply, a Tennessee based corporation, to go through and find locations for a new store.
And it's my understanding
is that they would be looking now to put a tractor supply there along with another type of grocery store and a retail shop at that location.
That would be a big win for not only the county but the City of Fond du Lac because now we're taking a property that's not on the tax base and converting it to one that will be itself.
And I think that's a great opportunity for development on the east side of the city over there.
Plus I truthfully admit that I'm very happy about it because right across the street
is where the do 90 units in your housing facility is going, which is already under construction now.
And so those individuals there in that property will now have access to something directly across the street from them.
So I think this is a big win for everyone.
And we're excited about this.
There is a due diligence period where the company has to do their homework to make sure they can get all state approvals and city approvals with permits.
But my hope is it will be a goal and that we will start seeing something develop there next year.
Okay, we're almost out of time, Sam, but I understand that your county clerk, Lisa Freiburg, won the Wisconsin Counties Association Friend in County Government Award.
You got a good one there.
She did.
We were very excited, unknown to us that that was going to happen.
but well-deserving.
Lisa, she's an amazing person.
I've got to know her.
She's a friend.
I know her professionally.
I'll put her up against any clerk in the state.
I mean, her knowledge of elections, the way she runs that office down there, she has been an asset to our county.
And just her involvement with WCA and her assistance throughout the state with other clerks, guiding them on different issues, our welcome municipalities.
I know the clerks appreciate her, and she does.
But she's a dedicated person, and this award is well deserved.
It's a great honor for her and well deserved.
Well, Sam, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
Appreciate your time.
Well, I appreciate being able to come on, Bob.
I always enjoy talking with you.
And this is Sam Kaufman, Fond du Lac County Executive.