CLINICS SET UP IN FDL COUNTY FOR HELP WITH HOMESTEAD TAX CREDITS

The Fond du Lac County Department of Senior Services is holding Clinics this week and next to help residents file for homestead tax credits. Senior Services Benefits Specialist, Julie Hilbert, says the clinics will be held in Waupun February 8th, at the Ripon Senior Center February 9th, in Campbellsport February 10th, and Brandon on February 11th. If you can’t make it to one of the clinics, you can call Hilbert at the Fond du Lac Senior Center at 929-3251.

PAY ATTENTION TO JOGGERS AND WALKERS

The City of Ripon staff is asking all drivers to slow down and be attentive to the joggers and walkers through downtown Ripon.  City administrator Steve Barg says complaints have come in recently regarding motorists not paying proper attention to people moving through the crosswalks.  Barg says making sure to stop prior to the white line and allow pedestrians the time to cross the road before entering the intersection will help alleviate the issue.  If you have any questions, please call the Ripon Police Department at 748-2888.

OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR RIPON SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Ripon Board of Education approved an Open Enrollment policy that has more than 50 additional seats available for students to come to Ripon for the 2010-11 school year.  Ripon School Superintendent Richard Zimman says nine of the fourteen grade levels are open to new students from other school districts who have an interest in going to Ripon.  Five of the grade levels are closed due to being at capacity.  Those are 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, 9^th, and 10^th grade.  The state’s Open Enrollment application period for next school year is February 1^st – 19^th.  The online application may be completed at the school district office.

BOWL FOR THE CURE

FLU SHOT INFORMATION

http://www.news.wisc.edu/flu/ - Wisconsin is fortunate to have one of the top Swine Flu researchers in Dr. Christopher Olsen at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.  More information and links to national resources can be found on the UW’s website.

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/ - Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a website with links and information for all the various strains of flu, and updates on the current worldwide situation with swine flu.

www.pandemic.wisconsin.gov - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services advises people to Stay Informed—Be Prepared.  You can visit their website and do just that.

RIPON ICE SKATING RINK HOURS - LOCATED NEXT TO VILLAGE GREEN

Monday and Wednesday 5pm-9pm

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 4pm-pm

Saturday and Sunday 9am-9pm

Monday From 4pm-5pm will be open to those wishing to practice some puck handling and Hockey drills.  

NEWS FROM AROUND WISCONSIN 

The Asian carp summit will be held today at the White House. Wisconsin’s Jim Doyle and other Midwest governors will meet with a host of federal officials. Their goal is to keep the bloated carp out of the Great Lakes. A typical Asian carp can eat 40-percent of its weight each day in native plants-and-fish. The American Sport-fishing Association calls it a major threat to its seven-billion-a-year industry. But some experts like U-W Stevens Point professor Mike Hansen say the carp is not made to dominate the deepest, coldest parts of the Great Lakes. Still, he says they could cause problems in some areas. Wisconsin is part of a lawsuit which seeks to make Chicago reverse the flow of its sewage. If that happens, Lake Michigan would no longer be linked to the Mississippi River – where anglers wear protective gear in some places to avoid being injured by the jumping Asian carp. Gary Fahnenstiel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it’s important to close that link. But he also wants the state-and-federal leaders to address problems at the Saint Lawrence Seaway – where oceangoing ships enter the Great Lakes, and have brought in at least 57 invasive species in their ballast water. The Great Lakes now have at least 185 foreign species. They include quagga mussels, which have reduced the natural fish-food for large salmon by 90-percent over the last 20 years.

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Parents who have money in Wisconsin’s college savings program made more than expected last year. All 12 investment options in the Ed-Vest program had gains ranging from three-tenths-of-one percent in the conservative Wells Fargo Money Market Fund to 79-percent in Legg Mason’s aggressive portfolio. Acting Ed-Vest director Marty Olle said all but one of the 12 options out-performed their benchmarks. And the only one that didn’t meet its goal – the Vanguard Stock Index portfolio – came close. Meanwhile, more parents kept taking advantage of Ed-Vest for tax-free college savings. New accounts rose by two-point-seven percent to just over 250-thousand. Total assets in Ed-Vest and the smaller Tomorrow’s Scholar program were two-point-two billion dollars as of January first. That’s up 30-percent from a year ago. A national rating service said Ed-Vest had the 25th strongest one-year performance among 52 college savings programs as of September 30th. And over the last three years, Ed-Vest ranked 13th among 43 U-S programs. Meanwhile, a new person is about to over-see the Wisconsin funds. State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass has appointed James DiUlio (di-you’-lee-oh) as Ed-Vest’s permanent director.

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Authorities are still investigating the death of a Wild Rose man, after his truck fell through the ice on the Fox River in Berlin. Rescuers found 45-year-old Kenneth Nigbor inside the truck, after it fell about 10-to-15 feet from the shore on Saturday. He was taken to a Berlin hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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A ticket sold in North Carolina won the 141-million-dollar Powerball jackpot over the weekend. It was the year’s first jackpot of over 100-million. Wisconsin players did not do well on Saturday. The biggest prize in Badgerland was 300-dollars, won by three people who matched four regular numbers and the Power Play multiplier of three. Almost 26-thousand Wisconsin players won something. Saturday's numbers were 14, 22, 52, 54, and 59. The Powerball was four. The jackpot goes back to 20-million dollars on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, nobody won the jackpot in Friday's Mega-Millions drawing -- and nobody from Wisconsin won the 10-thousand-dollar second prize, either. The Mega-Millions' jackpot goes up to 32-million for the next drawing tomorrow night.