The Durand City Council did not take any action on the current bids for the Tarrant Park Pool Project at this week's council meeting. The bids are approximately $1 million over budget and the city has until October 9th to decide whether to reject or accept the bids. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says he asked the council to wait until the next council meeting to make a decision. If the city decides to reject the bid and do a re-bid in 2023, it is believed construction would not start until at least 2024.
Construction of the new wastewater treatment plant in Mondovi is progressing toward completion. Mondovi Mayor Brady Weiss says they hope to have the new plant online in December and that means the city will be hiring some extra staff.
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Anibas Family Farm in Arkansaw, WI on Thursday to talk about the 70 Climate-Smart Commodities and rural Projects that have been announced. USDA will invest up to $2.8 billion on 70 selected projects that are hoped to expand market opportunities for climate-smart commodities while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 16 large projects have been approved in Wisconsin while 17 large projects were approved in Minnesota.
Prosecutors in Eau Claire are moving ahead with formal charges against a couple for an April homicide. The D.A. this week filed homicide charges against 55-year-old Tracey Clark and 46-year-old Brandon Gaston of Rockford, Illinois. Investigators say they killed a 79-year-old man in his Altoona home. His body was found a few days later in a river in Rockford. Clark and Gaston are due back in court in Eau Claire next week.
New Richmond authorities are looking for an elderly woman last seen in August. 83yr old Mabel Ross was last seen August 11 at her home in New Richmond. Authorities say she was going on vacation with her daughter to Mississippi, but she has not been seen or heard from since. Ross is 5'7, 170lbs with brown eyes and grey hair. Anyone with information about Ross is to contact New Richmond Police.
No word yet on the condition of a man rescued from a house fire in Hastings. Crews responded to the blaze yesterday afternoon at a home on Villa Court. The victim was pulled from a window of the burning home and taken to the hospital. The cause of the blaze is still being determined.
Taiwan plans to buy two-point-seven-billion dollars in corn and soybean products from Minnesota farmers. Governor Tim Walz and state officials on Thursday met with members of Taiwan’s agriculture industry to sign Letters of Intent outlining the purchases. State Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen says Taiwan and Minnesota have a strong history of agricultural trade, and these agreements build on that foundation. He says the state looks forward to opening up more trade opportunities for farmers and food and ag companies in the future. Taiwan is Minnesota’s sixth largest export market.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is encouraging everyone who is at least six months old to get their annual flu shot now. This year’s shot is available. Doctors say getting the flu vaccine is the best way to avoid serious illness, hospitalization, and death due to the virus. Patients can get the flu vaccine alone or at the same time as other vaccines, including the COVID-19 shot. D-H-S Influenza Surveillance Coordinator Tom Haupt says getting the shot, staying home when you are sick, and washing your hands are all important steps to take to keep influenza from spreading.
Waukesha has chosen the design for its Christmas Parade memorial. There were three finalists and the panel in charge of the memorial to the victims of last year’s parade made its decision Tuesday night. The design is called “The Heart of Unity.” It features a heart at the center with six ribbons – one for each of the six victims killed. The memorial was designed by Thrive Architects of Waukesha. The next move is for backers to raise about a million dollars so they can have the memorial in place in time for the Waukesha Christmas Parade in 2023.
Union leaders aren’t saying whether nurses in the Twin Cities and the Twin Ports are prepared to go on strike again if another possible round of negotiations does not produce contract agreements with hospital management. According to U-of-M Carlson School of Management labor relations expert, Professor John Budd, there’s some legal risk for nurses to have another short strike. He says nurses could lose legal protection if they keep striking over the same issue repeatedly and could then face discipline by their employers for participating in short strikes. Budd says a long strike would be legally protected -- but then the cost to rank-and-file nurses would potentially be much higher.
Wisconsin is getting millions of dollars in federal funding to help prevent suicides. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it's expecting to get almost 870-thousand dollars a year over the next five years to give to parts of the state with the highest suicide rates. The department says suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in Wisconsin.
The BOLD (Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lilian) School District in southern Minnesota is getting calls from concerned community members stemming from a prank that originated on Tik Tok. Superintendent Jim Menton says kids are trying to record shocked reactions from parents or relatives when they tell them their school is providing litter boxes for students who identify as animals. Menton says it’s an obvious prank, but some people have taken it seriously. He also says if this were actually happening it would be making national news. Menton reiterates no school is providing litter boxes.
A conservative legal group in Wisconsin is challenging the legality of a federal elections law as it relates to Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission, claiming the commission is breaking state law by allowing county clerks to accept the National Voter Registration form. The group claims Wisconsin doesn't have to accept the form because it has same-day registration.
The Wisconsin Election Commission is walking a line on the latest ruling over ballot changes. The Commission yesterday sent a note to local election clerks explaining that a judge has ruled that they cannot add anything, usually missing address information, to incomplete absentee ballots. Wisconsin law doesn't allow that, even though the Commission told clerks they could. The Commission's letter, however, explains that the court didn't rule on what a complete address on an absentee ballot must include. The Commission says clerks should check with their lawyers to see what that means for them.
Emergency responders working at a crash site spotted smoke coming from a school bus Tuesday. Rescuers were carefully removing an unresponsive driver from her vehicle so an ambulance could get her to a hospital. W-M-T-V reports a firefighter helping at the scene of the crash spotted the smoke. The bus carrying middle school students was evacuated and the driver was able to put out the flames. No injuries were reported on the bus and the scene was cleared in about 45 minutes.
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