Thursday, August 11, 2022

Local-Regional News August 11

 The bids are in for the Tarrant Park Pool Project.  Due to increasing material and labor costs, and pool construction companies being very busy, the project came in 47% over budget at $4.4 million.   Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says increasing donations and reducing the expenses of the project is the only way to get the project to move forward.  The city has 60 days to either accept a bid or reject them all and put the project out for a rebid later this year.


One person is dead and three others were injured in a three-car accident near Merrik State Park yesterday.  WKBT-TV is reporting the crash occurred just before 5pm on Hwy 35, just south of the intersection with Hwy 88 in Buffalo County.  The names of the victims have not been released pending notification of family members and that accident caused the closure of Hwy 35 for nearly 4 hours.  That accident is still under investigation by the Wisconsin State Patrol and Buffalo County Sheriff's Department.


The man convicted in the deaths of a Chippewa Falls Girl Scout leader, her daughter, and two other Scouts, is pressing forward with his appeal after The State Court of Appeals rejected it. Colten Treu, and now his attorneys want the state Supreme Court to hear the case. They're using the same arguments made before the appeals court,  claiming Treu’s defense attorneys failed to accurately explain the impact of his guilty and no contest pleas. Treu is serving a 54 year prison sentence for the November 2018 deaths of the victims. They were picking up roadside litter when they were struck by Treu’s pickup truck. Investigators determined he was huffing aerosol fumes moments before the crash.


Wisconsin election officials say the voter turnout for Tuesday’s primary was the highest for a non-presidential primary in 40 years.  Unofficial returns show almost 693-thousand Republicans and more than 501-thousand Democrats cast votes in the U-S Senate primary.  About 25-and-a-half percent of the state’s registered voters cast ballots this week.  Here in Durand, 284 people voted in the primary which is approximately 27% voter turnout.  In 2018 – the last non-presidential primary in the state – voter turnout was 23 percent.


A teenager is dead after a car vs semi truck accident in Goodhue County yesterday.  According to the Minnesota State Patrol, 18yr old Rachel Nesseth of Zumbrota was traveling southbound on County Road 1 and at the intersection with Hwy 60,  collided with a semi-truck that was traveling westbound on Hwy 60.  Nesseth was killed in the accident while the driver of the semi was not injured. 


The La Crosse County Health Department is reporting the first case of Monkeypox in that county.    On Wednesday, the department identified the first case and was working with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and other partners on an investigation follow-up.  


Authorities continue looking for a man they say fatally shot another man Tuesday at a home south of Albert Lea in far south-central Minnesota.  Thirty-two-year-old Ben Vidal Moreno is believed to be driving a 2004 white Ford F-150 pickup, Minnesota license EUZ-057.  Investigators say Moreno and the victim, 45-year-old Juan Vasquez Junior of Albert Lea, "had issues between themselves."  The suspect was on probation for stabbing a woman in the wrist at a motel in Albert Lea. 


 A Wausau woman faces federal charges for allegedly making so-called “straw purchases” of firearms.  Thirty-one-year-old Ashley Zastrow is charged with making a false statement while buying the guns last January.  Investigators say she indicated on the form that she was the buyer of the firearms.  They say she was purchasing them for someone else.  W-A-O-W/T-V reports Zastrow was arrested last Friday in Marshfield and was arraigned Monday in U-S District Court in Madison.  Her trial is scheduled for December 5th.


Authorities in Las Vegas say a man from Manitowoc has been killed in a triple shooting that happened at the Mirage hotel last week.  The Clark County, Nevada coroner identified the dead man as Acturius Dwayne Milner Senior.  Investigators with the Las Vegas police say the shooting happened on the eighth floor of the hotel at 8:30 a-m last Thursday.  K-C-L-V/T-V reports two women were critically wounded and Milner was dead by the time officers arrived.  Milner’s cousin, Billy Hemsley, has been arrested.  He reportedly ran from the scene after shooting the victims following an argument.


Canadian cheesemaker Saputo says it is restructuring its operations in Wisconsin.  About 200 people will lose their jobs when the company’s goat cheese facility in Belmont is shut down.  Saputo officials say its mozzarella cheese-making factory in Reedsburg will transition to producing goat cheese.  There is more capacity for that production in Reedsburg.  W-I-S-C/T-V reports workers in Belmont will reportedly get financial support, including severance pay.  It isn’t clear if they will have the opportunity to take positions at the remaining plant.  Saputo says converting the Reedsburg operation will cost about 35-million dollars.


Officials in Rhinelander find themselves looking for another city administrator just 18 months after hiring the last one.  Reports indicate the current job holder, Zach Vruwink, is leaving to take a position with the Wisconsin League of Municipalities.  Vruwink had been the mayor of Wisconsin Rapids before moving to Rhinelander.  That city has been in the center of several controversies over the last few years, with its former public works director being accused of misconduct and tensions between city council members leading to police officers being posted at closed session meetings.  Vruwink has been Rhinelander’s sixth city administrator in the last seven years.


Law enforcement from 300 agencies across Minnesota cited nearly 19-thousand drivers for speed violations in the month of July. Officers, deputies, and troopers participated in the statewide extra enforcement and awareness campaign resulting in the nearly 19-thousand citations (18,983) citations. During the campaign, Eagan police stopped two cars racing at 103 mph in a 50-mile-per-hour zone. One driver was arrested for D-W-I. A Foley police officer cited the same person twice just an hour apart for speeding. And troopers in the Golden Valley District pulled over a 16-year-old driving on a learner’s permit for going 110 miles per hour. His parents were called to the scene.


The Madison Metropolitan School District is fighting the calendar as the fall term approaches.  The district has three weeks to hire 140 teachers.  The pressure is on.  A spokesperson for the district says it had only 30 openings at this point in 2018.  Schools all around the country are dealing with teacher shortages.  Professionals say the problems are due to politics, violence, and the disrespect the teachers have to endure.


All signs are pointing to a strong deer hunting season across most of Minnesota this fall. The D-N-R’s Barb Keller says deer populations are faring pretty well throughout central, southern, and southwestern Minnesota. In northern Minnesota, deer populations are coming off of a pretty severe winter so bag limits have been reduced there. Keller says hunting helps to manage the state’s whitetail deer population and provides a “really healthy source of protein.” The archery deer season opens on September 17th. The firearms deer season kicks off on November Fifth.

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