Bulletin

WHAT HAPPENED

• U.S. World & News Report has just released its Best High Schools Awards, ranking more than 21,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Sturgeon Bay High School ranked as the 23rd best school in the state. Gibraltar, Sevastopol and Southern Door schools also made the list.

• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources stocked another 30,000 Chinook salmon in Gills Rock last week. Up until 2014, the DNR had not been stocking in Gills Rock, but when a dedicated group of Gills Rock residents and charter captains requested that stocking return to Gills Rock, the DNR complied with 30,000 fingerlings in 2014, and another 30,000 this spring. Two-thirds of the young salmon were kept in pens until darkness in order to help prevent their predation and then were released the night of their delivery. The remaining 10,000 were to be kept penned in the harbor for two weeks.

• On May 21, Russ Feingold announced via video shot at his Middleton home that he will challenge Republican Senator Ron Johnson in the 2016 Senate race. Feingold, 62, served 18 years in the U.S. Senate before losing to Johnson in 2010. He served as a state senator for 10 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate. After his defeat while seeking a fourth term, Feingold wrote a book and taught at the Marquette University Law School, Lawrence University and Stanford University. He formed the political action committee Progressives United in 2011, and in 2013 he was appointed as an envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa, a position he left in March. In the video announcement, Feingold said his “desire to serve is stronger than ever” and that he wants to fight to “bring back to the U.S. Senate strong independence, bipartisanship and honesty.”

• Road construction projects are in full swing throughout the state, so drivers now face the challenge of safely maneuvering through work zones. “Driving through a work zone requires patience. Work zones are dangerous under the best of circumstances, but your reaction time is reduced significantly if you speed, tailgate or don’t pay attention to rapidly changing traffic situations,” says State Patrol Superintendent Stephen Fitzgerald. “In work zones, equipment and workers often are operating within a few feet of traffic. In addition, work zones frequently have narrow lanes, different merge lanes from side roads, and rough or uneven pavement. Rear-end collisions, which often are caused by speeding, following too closely, or distracted driving, are the most frequent type of crash in a work zone. Although construction workers are at a great risk of being hit, about three out of four people killed in work zone crashes are motorists.” To prevent crashes and save lives, fines for traffic violations in work zones are double the usual amounts when workers are present. Posted work zone speed limits are still in force even when workers are not present. “The total costs for speeding in excess of the posted limit in a work zone range from $213 for 1 to 10 mph over the limit all the way up to $893 for 45 mph or more over the limit. You also could have between three and six demerit points added to your driving record,” Fitzgerald says. “State Patrol officers are specifically assigned to many work zones, and they will strictly enforce posted speed limits and other traffic laws. We are trying to protect both workers and motorists in work zones.”

COMING UP

• The Village of Egg Harbor celebrates Migratory Bird Day with free activities on May 24. Birdie Bus Tours leave from Harbor View Park at 10:30 am and 1 pm. There is limited seating, so the early bird gets the worm. Learn about raptors with a free presentation at Harbor View Park at noon.