News

For the seventh year, Joel and Ginny O’Harrow plan to host a corn roast Sunday to benefit pediatric cardiac research at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

The O’Harrows’ son Gannon was born in 2009 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underformed. After several open heart surgeries, he was listed for a heart transplant, which occurred when he was 14 months old.

The journey put them in touch with Greg and Randi Maloney, who had learned their unborn child had complex heart defects of his own. Trent was born a few days after Gannon went home with his new heart in 2010, and he had open heart surgeries at birth and at 5 months old.

The Oconto County Youth Fair is scheduled for Aug. 17-20, but some of the fair activities get underway this weekend.

Space and time limitations prevent scheduling all animal judging shows in the Thursday-through-Sunday fair weekend. So the horse show; small pet exhibits, which encompass everything from caged birds to pet rodents, reptiles and amphibians; cats; and the dog obedience trials are held the weekend before the main fair.

The public is invited to visit these shows for what can be interesting, entertaining and educational events with no distractions in a less hectic environment. The talented youth exhibitors of somewhat less traditional animals demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have gained through their projects.

Food Network’s Iron Chef America judge and Italian culinary expert Mario Rizotti is returning to Angelina in Green Bay for his “4 the Love of Italian Food Tour” on Aug. 20.

Alongside Angelina’s co-owner Chef Ermanno Cervantes, Chef Erik Larsen, of Oconto, will serve a four-course Italian meal with wine pairings, following a pre-dinner party that includes live music and appetizers, and a meet-and-greet with Rizotti.

Larsen said he was drawn to Angelina three months ago, for its high quality ingredients and ability to create everything on the menu from scratch in a small kitchen generally consisting of only one to three chefs at a time.

Fourteen teachers from across Northeast Wisconsin, including four from Oconto County, had the opportunity to participate in a unique experience this summer through the CESA 8 Career Academy Teacher Externship program. The program places classroom teachers into area businesses for three- to five-day paid externship experiences during summer break.

The idea for the program stemmed from the State Department of Public Instruction’s initiative PI26, which calls for all Wisconsin school districts to embed academic and career planning within grades 6-12 classrooms starting this fall.

It began with a big dog and a man-on-the-street interview, and it turned into an online community conversation.

The subject of last week’s “Street Talk” feature on the Times Herald front page was “Fill in the blank: Oconto County could use a good ____.”

“Dog park!” said Sheila Manns, of Oconto Falls, as she walked her dog, Odin, at Oconto’s Breakwater Harbor Park and Harbor on July 31. “There’s nowhere to bring dogs and let them run, get some exercise.”

Because of the Street Talk format, there was no room for Odin in the paper; he was cropped out and only Manns’ face was shown. But the dog made such a striking image that we posted the complete original photo on the Times Herald’s Facebook page, with the note, “The photo was cropped in the paper because there was no room for Odin, but Sheila’s suggestion has more impact when you get the whole picture.”

And the conversation began.

“Agreed!” said several Facebook users.

July 27

Deputies responded to 52 incidents, including the following:

Attempted Fraud — An Allen Road resident contacted authorities after someone responded to his Craigslist ad by sending a $980 check for a $55 chair, instructing him to deposit the check, take out his money for the chair, and they would be sending people to pick up the rest of the money.

Burglary — A man who spent six days in jail came home to Tom Post Road, Pound, and found alcohol, food and jewelry missing.

July 26

Deputies responded to 64 incidents, including the following:

Theft — Authorities investigated the theft of tools from a new construction site on Executive Circle in Little Suamico.

Burglary — Authorities investigated the break-in to an outbuilding along Mosers Lane, Oconto, A door was kicked in and items taken, including a new chainsaw.

Gov. Scott Walker’s office has announced that local governments last month received quarterly payments totaling $132,782,070 for General Transportation Aids, Connecting Highway Aids and Expressway Policing Aids from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

General Transportation Aids help defray the costs of constructing, maintaining and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction. Connecting Highway Aids reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways within municipalities.

Oconto County received a $468,436 payment, and other municipalities received General Transportation Aids as follows:

Farm Service Agency emergency loans are available to farmers in Oconto County who have suffered qualifying losses caused by winterkill and freeze between Jan. 1 and May 26.

Actual loss loans for production losses will be based upon the disaster year production compared to the previous three-year production history. Actual loss loans for physical damages to property destroyed or damaged will be based upon the allowable cost associated with repairing or replacing the property destroyed or damaged. Also, the damaged or destroyed property must be essential to the continuation of the operation. The interest rate for actual loss loans, not to exceed $500,000, is currently 3.75 percent.

FSA is prohibited from making loans to applicants who can obtain credit elsewhere. Farmers who feel they have sustained a qualifying loss and would like more information should check with the FSA office located at 410½ E. Main St., Lena.

Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 19 in the case of an Oconto County man who sexually assaulted five boys from 10 to 14 years old.

A jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts for 25 felony counts Friday against Rodney G. Enneper, 48, who lived in Oconto when three of the boys were molested in 2014 and in Oconto Falls when the other two boys were assaulted about a decade ago.

Fourteen of the charges were for possession of child pornography after investigators found hundreds of images on his home computer after arresting him for the assaults.

The jury found him guilty of four counts of child enticement, five counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of repeated sexual abuse of the same child.

The Patriot Guard Riders of Wisconsin are accepting donations on behalf of the 47 veterans in the Veterans Assistance Program in King and Union Grove.

Because of federal budget cuts, the program for homeless vets will be closing. These veterans will all need to be housed, and they have no furniture or household items.

Patriot Guard Riders plan to be in their warehouse at 147 Franklin St., Oconto Falls, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 12 to accept the following items: queen and twin size bed frames, queen and twin size box springs, new queen and twin size mattresses, couches, love seats, chairs/recliners, end tables/coffee tables, dressers, night stands, dining table and chairs, lamps, microwaves, cleaning supplies.

Oconto Falls is the hub of the Patriot Guard Riders’ statewide efforts.