Wisconsin gas prices look to be going back down. According to Triple-A the statewide average sits at three dollars and 23 cents a gallon, down eight cents from this time last week. Here in Western Wisconsin, the average is $3.18 a gallon. Triple-A points to dropping oil prices, which are at their lowest point since August 2021.
The grant application process for infrastructure projects in the city of Durand is changing. During the last council meeting, members were told how the city will first have to complete all the engineering of a project before applying for grants. This is a change from the past when the city could apply for grant funding for a project, and if the grant was approved, then the city would move forward to pay for the engineering. The new application process has been implemented with the applications for water system replacement grants and will be the norm with the CDBG grants the city applies for street projects.
The Mondovi City Council has approved a new front-end loader for the public works department. The city will receive $76,000 in a trade-in and will purchase the new loader for $130,000. Because the front-end loader is used year-round and can be fitted with extra attachments to handle snow plowing, the city decided to purchase the loader instead of a new plow truck at a cost of $220,000.
The Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office has identified the person who died after a two-vehicle crash in Trempealeau County on Friday. According to the department, 64yr old Jeannie Furlin of Trempealeau died when a truck driven by 25yr old Gavin Becker of Independence crossed the centerline of Hwy 53-94 and struck Furlin's vehicle head-on. Both Becker and Furlin were taken to the hospital, and Furlin died of her injuries.
UW-Eau Claire will need a new athletic director next year. Dan Schumacher yesterday announced his retirement. He has been with the university since 2014. Schumacher's legacy includes the upgrades to UW-Eau Claire's sports facilities, including Simpson Field. Schumacher is leaving at the end of this semester, the school will launch a search for his replacement later this spring.
Wisconsin saw more snow than usual this winter, and that will lead to some wet spring conditions. National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Cellitti says long-term forecasts show the water won't be going away soon. While that may be good for spring planting, Cellitti says any extra water could lead to serious flooding. The National Weather Service says there is at least a 75% chance there will be minor to moderate flooding on the Chippewa River this spring.
The latest plans to get tougher on reckless driving in Wisconsin take their next step forward this week. The Wisconsin Senate is set to vote on a couple of pieces of legislation aimed at repeat reckless drivers. One would double the fines for reckless driving, while another will allow cities and towns to seize cars from reckless drivers who don't pay their fines and tickets. The plans are all written by Republicans, but there is hope at the Capitol that they will be signed by the governor is they make it to his desk.
The record-breaking spending in Wisconsin's race for Supreme Court is not stopping. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign yesterday said Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former Justice Dan Kelly, and the groups that support them, have now spent over 20 million dollars on their campaigns. Most of the money has come from outside groups. Elections Day is two weeks away, so the Democracy Campaign says more spending is on its way.
Wisconsin's attorney general wants Kia and Hyundai to do something about their cars that keep getting stolen. Josh Kaul and A-G's from 22 other states yesterday sent a letter to Kia and Hyundai pressing them for solutions. Kaul says most of the cars stolen in both Milwaukee and Madison over the past two years have been either Kia or Hyundai models. Thieves have figured out a way to start them without a key. Kaul said the software upgrade from Kia and Hyundai is a start, but he said in his letter that it is late and 'not enough.' He wants Kia and Hyundai to provide steering wheel locks to anyone who wants one.
A Minnesota Senate committee is hearing from state Department of Veterans Affairs officials about allegations of a toxic workplace environment at the Hastings Veterans Home. An informational hearing will be held today, where the commissioner will answer questions about the allegations. Deputy commissioner Doug Hughes and Hastings administrator Mike Anderson lost their jobs over the weekend in connection with ongoing issues at the facility. The chair of the Senate panel says information about a "series of issues" in Hastings has been filtering to the committee since January.
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The U.S. Department of Energy is renewing funding for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Department of Energy says the research center could get over 147 and a half million dollars over the next five years. The money will be used to find sustainable alternatives to gasoline.
Work begins in earnest today, on the two-year state budget. The Wisconsin Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee begins agency briefings at the Capitol, as members get into the nitty-gritty of crafting a two-year spending plan for state government. The Departments of Corrections and Transportation start things out, with the Departments of Administration, and Safety and Professional Services on deck for Thursday. Republicans hold the majority on the panel and plan to start from a base budget and reject much of Democratic Governor Tony Evers proposed budget of nearly $140 billion.
Two people are found dead in a Winnebago County home Saturday morning. The sheriff’s office there says they’ve begun a ‘very active and ongoing investigation’ into the deaths at a home in the town of Wolf River. The deaths are considered to be ‘suspicious in nature.’ Fox Valley law enforcement took a person of interest into custody after finding them at the YMCA in Kimberly Saturday morning. An investigation of the deaths is ongoing.
A Kenosha man is arrested for his 17th Operating After Revocation charge. The Racine County Sheriff’s Office says Dean W. Burns hasn’t had a valid driver’s license since 2015 and “has an extensive history of not paying fines from his citations.” Deputies arrested the 35-year-old Burns late Friday morning in Mount Pleasant driving 101 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone. A search of Burns’ vehicle found a metal pipe used to smoke marijuana. He’s being held in the Racine County Jail.
A Minnesota State Representative is revealing she had a minor stroke over the weekend. In a statement, Debra Kiel said she was hospitalized on Friday after feeling dizzy and fatigued at the State Office Building. The Republican thanked the neurology team at Regions Hospital in St. Paul for "their excellent care and quick work" that likely saved her from suffering any long-term effects of the stroke. She'll have a few more tests over the next few days.
The federal sex trafficking trial of former GOP political strategist Anton Tony Lazzaro gets underway this week. He has a pre-trial hearing set for this morning and his trial is expected to begin with jury selection tomorrow. Lazzaro is charged with seven counts involving commercial sex acts with minors. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors say the defendant would lure young girls as young as 15 to his downtown Minneapolis penthouse and would offer them alcohol and money in exchange for sex.
Wisconsin is a top-five state for doctors. That's according to WalletHub, which says Wisconsin is the fourth-best state to practice medicine. WalletHub says it uses 19 key metrics to make its rankings. Wisconsin ranks second in opportunity and competition and has the second-cheapest annual malpractice liability insurance. WalletHub says the best state for doctors is Montana and the worst is Hawaii.
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