A 22yr old man is dead after an accidental shooting in the Town of Trempealeau yesterday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called to the parking lot at N15811 Klein on a report of a man shot and needing medical attention. Deputies began life-saving measures but the man died at the scene. An initial investigation indicates that this was an accidental, self-inflicted shooting and that there is no threat to the public. The victim's name has not been released pending notification of the family.
A four-year-old Eau Claire County child is in critical condition after falling into a septic tank. It happened yesterday afternoon in the Township of Pleasant Valley. Eau Claire County deputies rushed to a home there and pulled the child out of the tank, and rushed them to the hospital. Investigators say it looks to be an accident, they say the septic tank's lid was 'faulty.'
A man who pointed a laser pointer at planes in western Wisconsin is heading to prison. A federal judge in Minneapolis yesterday sentenced Nicholas Link, who lives in Rochester, Minnesota, to two years behind bars. Police tracked him to River Falls, Wisconsin after pilots on a Delta flight into Minneapolis complained of being blinded by a blue laser. The pilot says any minor mistake during their descent could have had 'catastrophic results.'
Authorities continue to search for two people involved in a high-speed pursuit in Eau Claire and Trempealeau Counties yesterday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, Eau Claire County asked for mutual aid on Hwy R near Townline Road for a vehicle pursuit. Deputies were trying to stop a blue Fiat that had been stolen. Deputies located the vehicle on Hwy 10 near Alvestad Road and the pursuit reached speeds over 100mph. Spikes were deployed on Hwy 10 but failed and the pursuit was terminated east of the village of Eleva. The driver of the vehicle is described as a white male in his 30's with short hair, and the passenger is described as a white female, with brown hair wearing a white puffy jacket. Anyone with information is to call the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department.
There's a warning about a data breach in Chippewa County that exposed hundreds of people to hackers. It happened at the county's Human Resources Division back on March 1st. County Administrator Randy Scholz says an employee noticed someone else moving the mouse on their screen. IT managers say hackers grabbed a spreadsheet with people's medical-related information. Scholz says 850 people's information was exposed, and the county has been notifying them since. Investigators say the spreadsheet did not contain any Social Security Numbers, addresses or financial information.
A mass search is being organized to find a missing Winona woman. Authorities asked for volunteers yesterday in the search for Madeline "Maddi" Kingsbury. Kingsbury went missing last Friday after she and her partner dropped their children off at daycare. She failed to show up for work that day and never picked up the children. Authorities have already led an extensive search for Kingsbury by foot, vehicle, water, and air. The volunteer-enhanced search will begin today.
Jail guards in Wisconsin can now buy into a better pension. Governor Tony Evers yesterday signed a new law that includes jail guards into Wisconsin's 'protective occupation participants.' Police officers, firefighters, and prison guards in the state are already included in that group. Being a 'protective participant' means jail guards can now retire earlier, and can get disability from on-the-job injuries. Sheriffs across the state, as well as Governor Evers, say the new pension perk will help local jails find and keep guards.
Judge Janet Protasiewicz will get to weigh in on the political maps that she called 'rigged' relatively soon. The liberal law firm Law Forward this week said it is planning to challenge Wisconsin's electoral maps now that Protasiewicz has been elected to the court. Protasiewicz repeatedly said during the campaign that the maps are rigged because Republicans have a majority in the legislature. Law Forward's Nicole Safar says they plan to argue that the state's maps violate the state's constitutional guarantee of a 'free and fair' government.
Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are once again trying to tie unemployment benefits to the unemployment rate. Both the Senate and the Assembly passed the plan last year, but Governor Evers vetoed it. Currently, people can collect up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits in Wisconsin. The Republican plan would trim that to as low as 14 weeks, depending on how low Wisconsin's unemployment rate is. Right now the jobless rate in the state is two-point-seven percent, State Rep. Alex Dallman says the proposal would 'get people off the sidelines,' and get them back to work.
Stillwater is prepared as the Spring flooding season is on the Horizon. Officials say the nearby St. Croix River has an 80 to 90 percent chance of reaching a major flood stage following the latest round of rain and snow. City leaders say a process that began 60 years ago has helped the community to be ready for the flooding. Teens led an effort with the help of the National Guard in the mid-1960s to build a temporary levee that became known as the Teenager's Dike. That effort became a blueprint for flood-fighting efforts in the city, which now include sandbagging and other prevention measures.
Now that there's a liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court some progressives are pushing to have the state's legislative maps changed. Some say the maps were designed by Republicans to benefit Republicans and the distribution of votes in each district doesn't match how close the statewide vote is. However, many Republicans argue there's nothing in the state constitution that says district voting numbers have to match the popular vote. If the Supreme Court were to take up the case it would have to be soon in order for voting districts to be different for the 2024 election.
Governor Evers has signed the law to keep the UW Merit Scholarship going. The scholarship, which is worth five thousand dollars to incoming freshmen with excellent grades, was supposed to end this year. Lawmakers last month unanimously voted to make the scholarship permanent, and yesterday the governor signed it into law. The governor says the Merit Scholarship is one way to keep Wisconsin's best and brightest in Wisconsin.
Add dorm rooms to the list of needs for Milwaukee's Republican National Convention. The city of Milwaukee is asking local colleges in and around the city to use their dorms next summer to house the thousands of police officers who will come to town for the convention. Milwaukee needs about 45 hundred dorm rooms, plus showers and an on-site cafeteria. The city needs thousands of police officers from all over the state to help protect the convention or to deal with crowds. Local colleges and universities can make their pitch to the city until April 27th.
Governor Evers Wednesday signed a bill into law clarifying a new constitutional amendment. That amendment, which lets judges consider past convictions for violent crimes when setting bail for those accused of a violent crime, was passed into law by a two-thirds majority in Tuesday’s election. The amendment also allows judges to set public protection standards regarding the release of a suspect. The bill Evers signed gives the amendment a definition to serious harm and violent crime and also lists over 100 offenses that could be considered violent crimes.
Madison has the lowest metropolitan unemployment rate in the country. New data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics has Madison tied with Ames, Iowa at 1.9% for the month of February. Appleton and Sheboygan were tied with four other cities around the country for the next lowest unemployment rate in February at 2%.
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