A vacant lot in Downtown Durand is now up for sale. The property of the old Bubba's Bar at 205 4th Avenue West in Durand has been listed by Pepin County on the Wisconsin surplus dot com auction site. Bidding on the property began Monday and the opening bid is $40,000. Bids close on March 22nd.
The victims of Sunday's house fire in Menomonie have been identified. The Dunn County Sheriff's Office yesterday said 74-year-old William Dahl and 66-year-old Bonni Bukkila both died in the fire at their duplex on 410th Avenue in the township of Menomonie. Investigators say there's no reason to think foul play is involved in any way. The sheriff, though, did not have a cause for the fire.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has awarded $1 million in grants intended to increase access to mental health and substance use care for underserved communities. Arbor Place is Menomonie is one of 10 organizations set to each receive $100,000 intended to develop projects that build on the ability of behavioral health professionals to support people with diverse values and beliefs, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Arbor Place will use the money to hold forums on how to meet the needs of people who live in rural communities. The grants are funded by Wisconsin's share of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding allocations that states receive from the U.S. Department of Treasury.
They are moving barracks at Fort McCoy. Not troops, not guests, the base is moving entire barracks complexes this week. Crews loaded the first of four barracks buildings onto trucks this week and will move them across the base. The hope is to set the barracks on new foundations and get a few more years of life out of the World War II-era buildings. Commanders say the barracks should be ready for troops to move back in by the summer.
Xcel Energy has filed a request with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to help low-income households. Xcel officials hope to create a new program to expand assistance to lower-earning households who need more help to pay their energy bills. If approved, to the program would lower eligible customers' bills to no greater than 4% of their annual income for each utility service Xcel provides them, with a maximum reduction of $600 a year. Officials estimate roughly 10,000 customers could qualify. The program would be funded by regular residential customers at a cost of $1 a month added to their bill.
Eau Claire's city council will vote tomorrow on a plan to pay a developer five million dollars to build apartments above the city's new bus transit center. City attorney Steve Nick says it's been tough to find a developer who wanted the project, so the five million dollars in grants and incentives is necessary. Planners hope to make the new transit hub a marquee project in Eau Claire. Work began on the transit hub a year and a half ago. Work on the apartments will begin after tomorrow's vote.
Wisconsin's governor is ready to let Republicans drink early into the morning when they come to Milwaukee next summer. Governor Tony Evers' new state budget proposes a 4 a.m. bar closing time for the Republican National Convention. It's not an uncommon request for convention host cities, in fact, Evers made a similar request for the Democratic National Convention back in 2020. Currently bars close as late as 2 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. The governor's proposal is not just for Milwaukee, his plan would allow bars in Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Rock, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Jefferson, Dane, Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Sheboygan, and Fond du Lac - 14 counties in all - to stay open til 4 a.m. during the convention. The RNC is set for Milwaukee from July 15h through the 18th next summer.
One of Wisconsin's Republican congressmen wants more answers about where COVID came from. Congressman Mike Gallagher said the Biden Administration needs to use every tool at its disposal to ensure we understand the origins of COVID-19. Gallagher is a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and heads Congress's special committee looking into China. Gallagher's demand comes after a series of reports that say COVID came from a lab in China. Gallagher said that used to be labeled a conspiracy theory, but now it looks like the truth.
Wisconsin lawmakers are turning their focus to reading in public schools this week. Both the Assembly and Senate Education Committees will hold a hearing Thursday to get expert testimony from the state's Department of Public Instruction and literacy experts at the University of Wisconsin. The latest test scores show most kids in Wisconsin cannot read or write at grade level, and several studies show more and more kids cannot read properly by the fourth grade. Lawmakers have been working for years to find an agreement on how to reverse those numbers and get more kids where they need to be when it comes to reading.
There's a new person in charge of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Renee Alexander has been selected as the Minnesota State Fair's next CEO. She's been the deputy general manager for over a decade. Jerry Hammer announced his retirement last year after 27 years in the position. In a statement, Hammer said "Renee is a qualified and proven leader."
Minnesota budget officials are giving an update on the state's record-breaking surplus. The Star Tribune reports the estimated budget surplus remains largely unchanged at 17-and-a-half-billion dollars. However, the new figure factors in inflation for the first time in two decades. Budget officials project that inflation will bring up the cost of government services by one-point-four-billion dollars in the next two years.
Authorities uncover a meth distribution operation in southwest Wisconsin Thursday. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says deputies conducted a narcotics-related search warrant near the Village of Gays Mills. While there, the department says they found a substantial amount of methamphetamine, as well as drug paraphernalia, a firearm, currency, a scale, packaging materials, and more. The action led to the arrest of 68-year-old Kim Wardell on drug charges, and 57-year-old John Haggerty of Gays Mills for possession of drug paraphernalia, bail jumping, and obstructing.
A Beloit man is killed in a Friday snowmobile crash. The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office says 55-year-old David Haseman was dead when emergency responders arrived at the scene of the head-on crash on Kelly Dam near the Town of Little Rice, which is just north of Tomahawk. The other driver involved in the crash was transported to a Tomahawk hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Wisconsin DNR is completing the accident report. The fatality is the 12th from snowmobile crashes in the state this season.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is accepting entries for next year's wild turkey, pheasant, and waterfowl stamps. The contest is open to all Wisconsin residents 18 years and older. Entries will be accepted until July 15th and judging will take place in August. Rules and application information are available on the DNR's website.
A picture of a Twin Cities resident skiing behind a car in Shakopee is going viral. Howard Bazinet says he and his fiancee were on their way to dinner Wednesday night when they saw a person wearing skis and being pulled behind a Jeep with a tow rope at Dean Lakes Parkway and Mystic Lake Road. The picture was posted on Facebook, where it was shared thousands of times and received hundreds of comments. Shakopee Police are warning people against what they say is a dangerous activity.
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