The City of Durand will begin the process of removing ash trees from the city after receiving a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the city will be talking with tree removal companies about costs and then determining which trees need to be removed first. Later this spring, residents with ash trees will be able to apply with the city for grants to cover half the costs of the tree removal.
No one was injured in a single-vehicle accident in the township of Canton on Wednesday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, a 23yr old from Thomasville, GA was traveling on Hwy JJ when she lost control and crashed in the ditch and rolled. Emergency crews had to extricate the driver from the vehicle. The driver said she was unable to slow down while going downhill and approaching a curve. Weather and road conditions were a factor in the accident.
Eau Claire is the latest city to jump at the chance to get a passenger train. There was a meeting last night at the Chippewa Valley Technical College to talk about a proposed rail line to Minneapolis. The push is part of a larger, statewide effort to return Amtrak service throughout Wisconsin. Supporters hope to get some of the billions of dollars that the federal government has set aside for Amtrak service in the new infrastructure plan. If Wisconsin is chosen by the feds, it will be years however before Eau Claire or other cities will see new service.
A woman is pleading guilty to the murder of her baby. The infant was found dead at the Methodist Campus Beach in Frontenac in 2003. Fifty-year-old Jennifer Lynn Matter of Red Wing was charged with the boy's death last year after a DNA identification. After admitting to the second-degree murder, Matter will be sentenced in April.
Utilities are asking certain Minnesota residents to reduce energy usage today because of a peak energy alert. Members of the Dual Fuel Energy Management Program are being asked to make the changes between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. This comes as a result of high demand on the regional electrical grid, affecting Freeborn-Mower Electric Cooperative in Albert Lea, MiEnergy Cooperative in Rushford, People's Energy Cooperative in Oronoco, and Heartland Power Cooperative in St. Ansgar.
Steven Avery's lawyers say new evidence in the case requires a new trial. His attorneys made the argument in their latest filing in the case. Avery is serving a life sentence for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach, but his legal team says the state needs to re-open the case. His lawyer says another relative was seen with Hallbach's SUV near the time she was killed, and that evidence must be examined. Judges have repeatedly turned down Avery's requests for a new trial.
About half of voters in Wisconsin don't want the current president or the last president to run for office again. The latest Marquette Law School Poll says 48 percent of Republicans don't want Donald Trump to run for president in 2024, and 51 percent of Democrats don't want President Biden to run again either. The nearly 50-percent split comes even as the poll says both men are very popular with their base. The Marquette Poll says 70 percent of Republicans like Trump, and 83 percent of Democrats like Biden. The poll says if the two were to face off, it'd be a tie. Pollsters say both men would get 40 percent of the vote.
The University of Wisconsin Law School is the latest to drop out of the U.S. News & World Report rankings. The school yesterday said it won't participate in this year's rankings because the rankings make it more difficult for low-income students to get in. UW Law School Dean Dan Tokaji says the rankings push the school to hit the mark on LSATs and GPAs. He said that's not a good thing for legal education as a whole. UW is not alone in dropping out, many top law schools including Yale have made similar moves.
The Department of Military Affairs is looking at an equal pay lawsuit from the federal government. The Justice Department yesterday filed the suit in federal court in Madison. The suit claims the state offered a woman a job as Wisconsin Emergency Management's Director of the Bureau of Response and Recovery but offered her less than the nearly 80 thousand dollars the state was paying a man in a similar job. The lawsuit goes on to say that when the Department of Military Affairs finally filled the job, they paid a man more than what they offered the woman. The case dates back to 2016 and involves former Adjutant General Donald Dunbar who resigned back in 2019.
The police chief in Green Bay is reminding people not to mail him drugs. Chief Chris Davis says someone mailed him fentanyl and cocaine this week. The drugs were flagged by the Post Office before they ever got to the chief, but he says he was told about them right away. The chief says there was also a note explaining why the sender mailed the drugs. Chief Davis says there are better ways to handle unwanted drugs, like a drop-box at the police station. The chief says no one should ever mail drugs to anyone, let alone to him.
Republicans on the Legislature’s budget panel urge caution with a big surplus. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau now projects state government will finish the current fiscal year with a $7.1 billion surplus, due to several factors including higher than previously expected tax revenues for the current fiscal year. And while Governor Tony Evers proposed nearly $1.3 billion in new initiatives in his State of the State address, Joint Finance Committee co-chairs, Senator Howard Marlein and Representative Mark Born, are cautious. Marklein noted the surplus was significantly impacted by one-time money from the federal government. Born said there are fiscal uncertainties ahead.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold a virtual listening session on wolf management, but can everyone take part? Wisconsin Farm Bureau President Kevin Krentz says many farmers in the areas most affected by wolves don’t have adequate broadband coverage to participate. The online public hearing is scheduled for February 7 at 4:00 PM. Public comments can also be submitted until the end of February, at D N R dot W I dot Gov. Search for Wolf Management Plan.
Governor Tony Evers is promising more shared revenue for Wisconsin counties and municipalities. Marathon County Board Chair Kurt Gibbs says that's refreshing news after years of declining revenues from Madison. Gibbs notes that no matter what number the state comes up with, shared revenue will be split between all 72 counties and nearly two thousand townships, villages, and cities.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reminds motorists to give snowplows space while they clear the state’s roads. A Facebook post from the agency says most winter crashes are caused by drivers going too fast for the conditions. They urge motorists to slow down, be attentive, and stay at least 200 feet away from a snowplow. The message comes after the January 20th death of a Milwaukee County snowplow driver that ran off the road. The family of 71-year-old John Manka tells Fox 6 Milwaukee his truck was cut off by another driver before it crashed near I-41 and Beloit Road.
The USDA is unveiling new rules to prevent organic food crime, and two Minnesota farmers are partly responsible. The department has tightened restrictions to prevent farmers from selling non-organic crops as organic. This comes after Cottonwood County farmer James Wolf was indicted by the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota for allegedly making 46 million dollars off an organic fraud scheme from 2014 to 2021. Wold pled not guilty. His alleged conspirator Adam Clifford Olson is expected to plead not guilty during his first court appearance this week.
Minnesotans are getting the opportunity to name the vehicles that help keep roads clear of snow. The state Department of Transportation has opened voting for its Name a Snowplow contest. Officials say they received more than ten thousand suggestions and have narrowed it down to the top 60. Some of the names you can vote for include Ace of Blades, Han Snowlo, and Snow Force One. Voting closes February 3rd. The eight names selected will be distributed to snowplows in Minnesota's eight districts.
No comments:
Post a Comment