Residents in the City of Durand will have a chance to speak on the proposed 2022 City Budget next week. The Durand City Council is not meeting this week and instead will have their monthly meeting and budget meeting on November 17th. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the proposed budget will have about a 4% levy increase. The meeting next week will be at 6:30 at Durand City Hall. Meanwhile, residents in Mondovi will also have a chance to speak on their city's proposed budget on Tuesday, November 16th starting at 6:30 at the Marten Center in Mondovi.
As fuel costs continue to rise, the Durand Arkansaw School District is working to lock in fuel prices for heating this winter. Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the district works with an independent contractor to lock in prices. Experts are warning that heating costs could be 30-40% higher this winter.
Embezzlement charges have been dismissed in the case against the founder of an Eau Claire non-profit called Hope in the Valley. Renelle Laffe was also co-director of the annual Dragon Boat Festival. Laffe was accused of taking thousands of dollars. Prosecutors made the motion and the cases were dismissed without prejudice Monday – meaning the charges could be refiled in the future. Eau Claire police had accused Laffe of using donation money for her personal use. Hope in the Valley raises funds and awareness for breast cancer.
A Democrat whose father once held the seat is running for Congress in western Wisconsin. Deb McGrath used to work in the State Department. She also served in the CIA and U.S. Army. She’s the fourth Democrat to enter the 3rd Congressional District race. The others are Brad Pfaff, Rebecca Cooke, and Brett Knudsen. McGrath's father was Al Baldus, who served three terms in Congress, mostly in the 1970s. Derrick Van Orden is the only Republican running so far. He lost a close race against outgoing Democrat Ron Kind last year.
Authorities say 30-year-old LeKenneth Q. Miller is the man who was shot to death by Eau Claire police last week. Officers were responding to a 9-1-1 call about a suspect breaking into a home last Wednesday afternoon. Miller is accused of stabbing a woman who was inside the home. A second woman managed to escape before the police arrived. The officers say they entered the structure, saw Miller holding a knife, and shot him. Life-saving efforts were unsuccessful and Miller died before he could be taken to a hospital. The two officers involved have been identified as Officer Kristopher O’Neill with 24 years in law enforcement and Officer Jason Kaveney with 19 years of experience. Both have been placed on administrative leave.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) confirm that a white-tailed deer from an Eau Claire County hunt ranch has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Positive samples from a 3-year-old buck were confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. The herd of approximately 15 deer is under quarantine while an epidemiological investigation is conducted by DATCP and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarians and staff. The ranch was confirmed to have received the deer from a Waukesha County deer farm, which also has been placed under quarantine.
The Wisconsin Air National Guard is demoting the commander of the Volk Field Air Base. Brigadier General David May removed Colonel Leslie Zyzda-Martin of her duties Monday, citing “lost confidence in her ability to command.” Officials say investigations revealed issues with the command climate and allegations of misconduct, but they didn’t provide details. General May said in a statement, "This is a very difficult decision, but it is the right thing to do in the best interest of Volk Field.” Zyzda-Martin was named commander of the base in Juneau County in August of 2020. Vice Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Bauer, will lead the base until a new commander is named.
U-S Senator Ron Johnson says he will decide about running for re-election over the “next couple of weeks.” The Wisconsin Republican was responding to a question Tuesday during a town hall at Elkhorn Area High School. That student was asking Johnson about his 2016 promise to retire from the Senate after he served two terms. Johnson pointed to what he called the “dangerous and embarrassing surrender from Afghanistan” and an “administration that is showing weakness across the world” as reasons for him to run.
Triple-A estimates almost a million travelers from Wisconsin will go somewhere for Thanksgiving. Experts are estimating that holiday travel will rebound to near pre-pandemic levels this year. An increase of 13-percent is being projected. About 95-thousand of the 954-thousand Wisconsin travelers will be flying. Drivers are being told to expect gas prices to be much higher than last year. The average price of a gallon of gas in Wisconsin was three dollars, 15-cents Monday. During the Thanksgiving holiday last year, the average was just under two dollars.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is issuing an advisory to farmers who have conducted business with Fridley-based Pipeline Foods. The company announced in July that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The M-D-A is encouraging anyone who has not received payment for grain or who had grain stored at any of Pipeline Foods’ facilities located in Minnesota to submit a bond claim with the department. The deadline for claims is January 4th, 2022. For more information visit mda-dot-state-dot-mn-dot-us-slash-grain.
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Elections officials from across the country are defending Wisconsin’s chief elections officer. Republican state lawmakers are calling for Meagan Wolfe to resign as administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. They claim she mishandled aspects of the 2020 election and may have broken the law when the WEC voted to keep elections deputies out of nursing homes due to the coronavirus pandemic. A letter signed by 50 elections officials from around the country defends Wolfe. Elections officials from other states say efforts to force her out will weaken nonpartisan election administration in Wisconsin.
The executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority is leaving state government for a position in the Biden administration. Governor Tony Evers’ office made the announcement Monday. Evers says Joaquin Altoro has been a tireless advocate for affordable housing in every zip code in the state. Altoro has served in the position for the last two years. WHEDA will operate under an internal transition team until a new C-E-O is appointed.
Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson says nearly half of Wisconsin’s almost one-thousand structurally deficient bridges are in Milwaukee County. Thompson says the state has improved more than a thousand miles of roads and hundreds of bridges, but he says there’s still “a long way to go.” Studies suggest roads and bridges in the state are so bad they are costing drivers money. A federal report includes an estimate of 550-dollars-a-year when it comes to what the bad roads are costing in damage to cars. Under the new federal infrastructure bill, Wisconsin would get about 225-million dollars for bridgework.
There's a first court appearance today (Tuesday 1:30 p-m) for a Minneapolis police officer accused of killing an innocent driver during a stolen vehicle chase. Officer Brian Cummings is facing second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in the death of 40-year-old Leneal Frazier of St. Paul. Investigators say Officer Cummings was going nearly 80 miles per hour when he slammed into Frazier's Jeep on July 6th. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Cummings' action deviated from his oath and his negligence caused the death of Frazier.
The Department of Workforce Development will use a three-million-dollar grant to upgrade and modernize its system at the Job Center of Wisconsin. The grant was announced Monday. The state agency says the money will be used to make major improvements in the internal case management system that helps job seekers find employment opportunities. Wisconsin officials have pointed to the outdated, 50-year-old computer system as the cause for the slow response rate as applications were pouring in during the COVID-19 pandemic. The upgrades are expected to be in place by late 2023.
Minnesota farmers can now apply for grants to help prevent wolf attacks on their livestock. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture says a total of 60-thousand dollars in new funding will be awarded. The grants provide reimbursement of costs for approved ways to prevent wolf-livestock conflicts. The list includes the purchase of guard animals, installation of wolf barriers, calving or lambing shelter, and the installing of wolf-deterring lights and alarms. The application deadline is January 24th.
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