With all of the wintery weather as of late, potholes have become an issue in the City of Durand. Public Works Director Matt Gillis told the council last week that the department is aware of the issue and is waiting for better weather before starting pothole repair. Gills said it was not worth filling the potholes now, only to plow the fill back up with all of the snow. Once the weather clears, he hopes to get the repair equipment from Pepin County and start those repairs.
With the spring thaw underway, weight limits are now enforced on Buffalo County Highways. The Highway department imposed the weight limits on Wednesday and will remain in effect until mid-April. Exemptions may be made to allow for vehicles carrying those commodities which are used to perform necessary and vital services for public health, safety, and welfare. Emergency vehicles, school buses, municipal maintenance vehicles, refuse and recycle hauling, and vehicles transporting non-divisible perishable goods are exempt from the temporary weight restrictions.
The police chief in Menominee has changed jobs. The Menominee City Council selects Eric Atkinson to become the city’s new administrator. Atkinson, who has served as Menomonie's top cop since 2012, will replace Lowell Prange, who is retiring after 35 years of service as the city’s administrator. Atkinson begins his new duties in mid-April
There is an investigation into just how a woman died in the jail in Eau Claire. Guards found the unresponsive woman yesterday. Details such as the woman's identity, how she died, or what she was in jail for haven't been released. The Eau Claire County medical examiner will look into the case, as will an outside agency.
The Wabasha City Council has authorized bids and specifications for the downtown street plan. The plan would reconstruct water, sewer, storm sewer streets, and sidewalks on Bridge Avenue, Pembroke Avenue, and Main Street. New lighting, seating, and ADA Compliant sidewalks would also be installed. The first phase of the project would be Main Street and Pembroke Avenue this year, and Bridge Street in 2024. The estimated cost of the project would be $8 million.
Pierce County teens are self-reporting decreased use of vaping products over the past few years. Recent data from The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System showed that the percentage of Pierce County high school students in all grades who reported ever vaping declined from 36% in 2019 to 27% in 2021. Several factors may have played into this positive trend. Federal laws changed in 2021 to prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to anyone under the age of 21. The US Food and Drug Administration banned kid-friendly flavorings such as mint and fruit in cartridges or pre-filled pod devices like Juul. Community partners, including schools, healthcare providers, and public health agencies, have continued to spread the word about the dangers of vaping.
Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources wants to get away from a specific number of wolves in the state, but some lawmakers aren't ready to follow. A handful of Republicans are pushing a plan at the Capitol that would set a wolf population number into state law. State Senator Rob Stafsholt says lawmakers don't have a specific number in mind, but they do want to have a number. He says it was a shock to hunters and farmers that DNR's new proposed wolf plan doesn't have a population target.
State Senator Andre Jacque is proposing a new penalty for first offense OWI. His bill, which has co-sponsorship from Representatives David Murphy and Ron Tusler, would require the installation of an ignition interlock device after just the first drunk driving offense. Jacque noted that Wisconsin is always the highest-rated state in the union when it comes to drunk driving offenses. In fact, in 2021 the DOT reported 6,368 alcohol-related crashes in Wisconsin that killed 166 people. In a written statement, Jacque said, “The goal of this bill, which is strongly supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), is to reduce repeat drunk driving offenses by allowing people to go back to work and get their lives back on track with the security of knowing that an ignition interlock device is allowing them to do so safely.”
A federal judge says he won't order the Lac du Flambeau tribe to take down a series of barricades blocking private roads on tribal land. Judge William Conley on Wednesday denied a request from a group of homeowners to immediately remove those barricades, which went up at the end of January. The tribe says those roads were illegally built when they went up and that they're owed money for continued easement of the land the roads are built on. The homeowners argued that since the tribe gets federal money to maintain the roads, they need to be open to the public and that blocking the roads is a danger for the homeowners. The lawsuit will move forward, and Conley says he wants to hear a response from the tribe by the end of the month.
More than 280 people don't have to worry about having marijuana possession violations on their records. The City of Madison retroactively dismissed 282 tickets for possession of marijuana this week. That means people who were fined between February 2019 and December 2020 will have the charge expunged from their records. Weed is still illegal in Wisconsin but a 2020 Madison City ordinance loosened restrictions on small amounts of marijuana.
The autopsy of Ronald Henry is complete and his cause of death remains inconclusive. The Grant County Sheriff's Office says his autopsy shows no signs of trauma. Henry was reported missing from Platteville in early December and his dead body was found in a nearby ravine last weekend. Now investigators are waiting for the results of his toxicology report.
Minnesota is seeing an increase in unemployment claims. That's according to a new report by the personal finance website WalletHub. There were over 30 percent more claims filed in the last week of February compared to the week before. At the same time, most job sectors saw growth last month. The Department of Employment and Economic Development says the state gained over 14 thousand jobs in February. The state's unemployment remains at 2.9 percent.
The Madison Roman Catholic Diocese believes it's finally found a new home, 18 years after a fire destroyed St. Raphael's Cathedral. The diocese has plans to make St. Bernard's Catholic Church on Atwood Avenue its new cathedral. The diocese is waiting for approval from the Vatican and church leaders expect to move into the new space within a year and a half after that approval comes through.
A Minnesota man is charged for a 2005 sexual assault in Madison. A criminal complaint states the man forced a woman off a bike path at knifepoint and assaulted her. After contacting the police, the woman submitted to an exam. A DNA profile in the sex assault kit used in the exam matched with the DNA of Aidison Yang, who had moved from Madison to Minnesota. A February arrest of the 41-year-old Yang in Minnesota led to the taking of a DNA sample for him which matched the DNA profile from the kit.
A bus driver is being celebrated for saving a lost child during a recent snowstorm in the Twin Cities. Metro Transit shared Ambrose Younge's story on its website and social media today. Younge apparently saw a young kid standing in the snow with a backpack on a day in late February when classes were canceled. He then contacted authorities and helped get the child back home. He told the Metro "it's my job to take care of people."
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