1-2-14 frigid cold

As cold as its been this week…it may get even colder next week.  National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Hintz says overnight lows early next week could be close to 20 below zero.  "It looks like it could very well be colder especially the beginning part of next week,"  Hintz told AM 1170 WFDL's Between the Lines program.  "We have cold air that's going to start moving into Wisconsin on Sunday, but it looks like the brutal cold will be on Monday and Tuesday." 

1-2-14 lake ice-safety

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office says even with this deep freeze people venturing out onto area lakes still need to exercise caution.  Sheriff’s captain Rick Olig says there are still areas where the ice is not thick enough to support a vehicle.  A vehicle went through the ice last weekend on Kettle Moraine Lake.  "One place you can have a foot of ice and ten feet away it could be three or four inches,"  Olig said.

1-2-14 ice fatality-la crosse

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Emergency workers in La Crosse have recovered a body from a car that broke through the ice on a creek.  The driver was the only person in the car.  A bus driver called dispatchers Wednesday about 1:30 a.m. when he noticed tire tracks leaving the street and heading over a bank toward Swift Creek.  The vehicle plunged down a 40-foot embankment but the ice didn't immediately break. The vehicle headed a little south on the ice before breaking through into the water.  Rescue divers found the vehicle submerged in 6 to 8 feet of water.  An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday in Madison.

1-2-14 cold sounds

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Police in Wisconsin say they are getting plenty of calls about odd noises as the cold weather has houses contracting.  One man armed himself with a handgun, believing the noises signaled someone trying to break in. A woman with similar concerns rounded up her children as she called 911.  Janesville police Sgt. Brian Vaughn says officers responded to 11 calls about suspicious activity from Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. All were just odd noises caused by falling temperatures and the resulting contraction of pipes and building materials.

1-2-13 downtown fdl shooting investigation continues

Fond du Lac police are continuing to investigate a downtown Fond du lac shooting incident last weekend.  Police officers responded at bar closing time last Saturday after multiple shots were fired.  Police Lieutenant Ed Wenzel says an innocent bystander was fortunate to escape serious injury when one of the four bullets fired deflected off his belt buckle.  "Initially it was disbelief...that could not have happened,"  Wenzel told WFDL news.  "He was just one lucky guy."   A 34 year old Fond du Lac man faces charges in the incident.  A second suspect, a 19 year old Fond du Lac man was released from custody after questioning.

1-2-14 thiesfeldt supports bonuses for state employees

Fond du Lac state representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says he supports bonuses awarded to state employees.  Nearly 6300 employees, or about one in six state workers, were awarded nearly $14 million in bonuses and merit raises in 2013, more than twice what they got the year before.  "I think that's a good thing,"  Thiesfeldt told WFDL news.  "Excellence is something in our American culture has always been rewarded and I think the workplace should be evidence of that."  Governor Scott Walker says state employees who are doing more with less deserve to be rewarded.

1-2-14 wisconsin legislature-2014

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin state Senate and Assembly aren't in agreement on a myriad of issues facing the Legislature in 2014.  That is setting up a session that may be marked more by what doesn't get done that what does.  Caught in between the two chambers are anti-abortion bills, changes to the Common Core academic standards and proposals cracking down on drunken driving.  And with lawmakers itching to get done by mid-March so they can hit the campaign trail, there's not a lot of time to work out their differences.  One big unknown heading into the 2014 session is just how rosy the state's revenue estimates will be and what policy makers may want to do with any surplus.