A River Falls man is now facing federal charges in relation to a labor trafficking case in Pierce County. 29yr old Austin Koeckeritz, was charged in federal court in January with labor trafficking. Now, he is charged with nine counts: forced labor, sex trafficking by force, sex trafficking of a minor, interstate travel with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, producing child pornography and three counts of money laundering. If convicted, Koeckeritz could face life in prison.
One person is dead and another injured after a two-vehicle accident Friday near Galesville. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Department, a pickup truck was traveling eastbound on Hwy 53-93, crossed the centerline, and struck a westbound car head-on. The driver of the pickup had severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. The driver of the car was also taken to the hospital but died from their injuries. A one-year-old child in the car was not injured. Names were not released pending notification of family members.
One person was injured in a single vehicle accident Saturday night in the town of Albion. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriffs' Department, a pickup traveling northbound on Hwy 93 lost control on a patch of ice, left the roadway and rolled over. The driver was taken to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. A 5yr old passenger in the truck was not injured.
No one was injured in a house fire on Pine Island on Saturday. According to the Goodhue County Sheriff's Department, firefighters were called to the home at 50199 154th Avenue after a passing motorist discovered the fire. Muddy conditions prevented firefighters to get trucks close to the home and they had to drag hoses nearly 50 yards. The home and its contents were deemed a total loss. A space heater in the back of the home is believed to be the cause of the blaze. No one was injured in that fire.
The Wabasha County Board is meeting tomorrow. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action of an agreement between the Wabasha County Public Health Department and the City of Wabasha, Wabasha-Kellogg School District, and the Minnesota Department of Health. Tomorrow's meeting begins at 9am at the Wabasha County Government Center.
There are questions to answer about the fire last night at Banbury Place in downtown Eau Claire. Fire crews got the call about 9:30 last night. Smoke was seen coming out of the roof of the building. Eau Claire firefighters say it's too soon to tell what started the fire. We could get some more answers later today.
A plea deal could mean 26 years in prison for a former Eau Claire man in a 2020 overdose death. Trenton Wik pleaded guilty on Friday to first-degree reckless homicide by delivering drugs. This comes after police found a man dead in his car on Cochrane Street back in December of 2020. Wik gave the man who died the drugs that killed him. Wik also pleaded guilty to a jailhouse fight in 2021 that injured another inmate.
Researchers say a new tactic in fighting invasive carp is simply eating them. Tim Campbell with the UW Sea Grant program says silver and bighead carp, or copi, is a plentiful source of protein across the border in Illinois. While there's no commercial fishing for the invasive carp in Wisconsin waters yet, there has been a market for them in southern Wisconsin. There's been a large-scale effort to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes.
The University of Wisconsin's president says most of the 38 million dollars he wants from a new tuition hike will go for pay raises for university employees. President Jay Rothman was on Capital City Sunday on Madison TV over the weekend. He said the UW isn't paying as much as other universities, and he wants to change that. Rothman says inflation is also driving prices higher at the university. Rothman wants a five percent tuition increase, starting next fall.
One person is dead and dozens are without a home after a fire sweeps through an apartment complex in Monona. The Monona Fire Department says multiple crews were called out to the Monona Hills Apartments at about 3:45 Saturday morning and saw smoke coming from the second floor. Photos of the blaze show flames shooting from the roof of the 70-unit complex. About 70 people are displaced because of the fire, and fire crews say one person was found dead. It's not clear yet how the person died. Investigators believe the fire started on the second floor and was unintentional.
Mississippi's Department of Human Services wants a judge to keep Brett Favre as part of their lawsuit to recover misspent welfare dollars. DHS lawyers in Jackson, Mississippi last week asked the judge not to allow Favre to walk away from the case. Favre has never been charged with a crime, but there is evidence that links him to a scheme to misspend millions of dollars that were supposed to go to needy families. Favre's lawyers say the state is using his status as a celebrity to distract from the real culprits in the case.
Wisconsin’s long-time Secretary of State abruptly resigns. Eighty-two-year-old Doug La Follette made the announcement Friday, a year to the day after announcing he was seeking a twelfth term. He narrowly defeated Republican Representative Amy Loudenbeck in November. Governor Tony Evers names former state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to serve the remainder of La Follette’s term. LaFollette said he’s proud to have served and grateful to meet so many people during his 40 years in office.
Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol want to overhaul the state's cash bail system. A handful of lawmakers and some advocacy groups yesterday said they are working on legislation that would replace cash bail with a "dynamic risk assessment system." The announcement comes as voters will decide on April 4th whether to change the state's constitution to make it easier for judges to set higher cash bails, or hold criminal suspects without any bail at all. The Democrats' push is unlikely to make it through the Republican-controlled legislature.
One of Madison's state senators says people in Wisconsin bought a lot of marijuana in Illinois last year. State Senator Melissa Agard said last week that a new memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau found that people from Wisconsin spent 36 million dollars in taxes alone on legal pot in Illinois. Agard, who has been pushing for legal marijuana in Wisconsin for years, says it should upset everyone that our hard-earned tax dollars are going across the border to Illinois.
Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines is accused of firing a dozen workers in retaliation for supporting a union formed in January. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed a federal lawsuit this week against the air carrier. The suit seeks unspecified damages for fired Sun Country ramp workers Monique Crisp and Sly Oliver along with ten other unnamed employees. The plaintiffs are also asking for their jobs back and for the airline's boss to read the court's order to workers.
Appleton’s first in the nation “No Mow May,” may be going away. The study underpinning it has been retracted by the website which published it. Alder Chad Doran says other research questions the benefits. The research paper was published by Alder Israel Del Toro, an Associate Professor of Biology at Lawrence University, and claimed more bees were found in local yards that did not cut their grass for the month.
School breakfast and lunch will now be free for all students in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz signed a bill today to make sure no kid goes hungry at school. The Democrat took to Twitter to celebrate the "historic, bipartisan win," writing "Minnesota is one step closer to being the best state in the county to grow up."
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