The Durand City Council has approved applying for a Federal COPS Grant. The grant would be for $125,000 and would be used for the hiring of a full-time police officer for the city. The city would be required to keep the full-time position for 4yrs and have to pay 25% of the full-time salary. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says it's been difficult to keep part-time officers. The council approved applying for the grant as the application deadline is May 11.
The Durand Police Department's explorer program wrapped up this year's program on April 23rd. The program had 13 students learning about law enforcement and this year the program was expanded to include fire and ems services. Durand Police Chief Stan Ridgeway said the department wanted to expand the program with the goal of expanding recruitment. The department will have the program for students next winter.
It is going to be a cool start to May for the Chippewa Valley. Forecasters say high temperatures won't break 50 degrees. It's a similar story tomorrow. There are warmer days ahead, forecasters say we should hit almost 70 degrees by Thursday. The dry weather will allow the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers to continue to fall. While the Chippewa is below flood stage, the Mississippi River in Wabasha will remain above flood stage and is expected to fall from 14.3 feet this morning to 13.3 feet by Friday.
Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services (PPCS) welcomed over 130 first responders from Pierce and Pepin Counties for electric vehicle (EV) safety training on April 17 and 24. Instructors from EVSafe, a southern Wisconsin-based organization, then provided classroom training along with hands-on inspections of EVs. The trainers brought three Tesla models, and PPCS made a Ford F150 Lightning, a Chevy Bolt, and a Hyundai Kona available. The training included common misconceptions about EVs, vehicle safety components, extrication, fire suppression, and disabling electric vehicles.
The Wabasha County Board is meeting Tuesday. Items on the agenda include approval of a disaster declaration due to the flooding, approval of Dietrich Flecsh as the county highway engineer, and approval of the purchase of a video conference system for the probation department. Tuesday's meeting begins at 9am at the Wabasha County Government Center.
The search for Madeline Kingsbury of Winona continued on Saturday. About one hundred volunteers organized by the missing person advocacy group, Minnesota United, and Finding Madeline Kingsbury came together to continue the search through the Old Whispering Hills girl scout camp in Yucatan, located in Houston County. Kingsbury went missing on March 31 and police have deemed Kingsbury's disappearance involuntary and suspicious.
Governor Evers says he's impressed with the local response to western Wisconsin's train derailment. The governor went to De Soto on Friday to see the scene for himself. A train jumped the tracks last week, sending two rail cars into the Mississippi River and scattering a few others along the bank. The governor says it's too early to look for blame or talk about more regulations. He says the local emergency response has handled the derailment, and the clean-up well.
Wisconsin's attorney general will challenge the state's abortion law this week. A-G Josh Kaul will argue against the law that has been on the books since 1849. Kaul, who ran for re-election as a pro-abortion candidate, is expected to argue that Wisconsin lawmakers tried to change the old law, and therefore showed their intent to allow for abortions in the state. Wisconsin's 1849 abortion law only allows for an abortion to save a mother's life. The case is due in court in Madison on Thursday.
One in three Wisconsin households struggle to pay for basic necessities, according to a new report by United Way of Wisconsin. The report helps identify people who are above the poverty line but don't make enough money to cover the cost of living in their area. It found that 34 percent of state households have trouble paying for basics like housing, child care, health care, and food.
Wisconsin Assemblywoman Shelia Stubbs is denied by a Dane County committee to become the new Dane County human services director. Questions have been raised about how Stubbs' job in the assembly might affect the county job, so she promised to resign from the assembly if confirmed. A member of the Dane County Health Human Needs Committee says she got a news release from Stubbs saying she could do both jobs, though Stubbs says the email was sent by mistake by an intern. After the committee denied her position last night, Stubbs will now meet with the county personnel and finance committee.
A former northwestern Wisconsin prosecutor is looking at a decade behind bars for making sex tapes with women without their knowledge. A jury yesterday found former Burnett County Assistant District Attorney Daniel Steffen guilty on all three charges of capturing an intimate representation. Investigators say Steffen used his iPad to secretly make the sex tapes. One of those tapes was with a woman who Steffen was prosecuting at the time. She said they had sex so she could get a break on her case. Steffen is facing ten years in prison when he is sentenced.
Former President Donald Trump may not be in Milwaukee later this summer. The former president hinted on his Truth Social this week that he may skip the debate scheduled for August. Trump said 'nobody got my approval' for the debate, which would be the first for Republicans. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel says she spoke with the president and said everyone knew about the debates in advance. Still, McDaniel says Republicans are moving ahead with the debate, no matter who shows up.
One of Wisconsin's Republican members of Congress is pushing for new, federal drone rules. Congressman Mike Gallagher introduced the Drone Act. Gallagher says drones can be both very useful and very harmful. He says the idea is to create rules that encourage the useful use of drones while punishing some of the harmful uses. Those include attaching a weapon to a drone, using a drone to sneak things into a prison, and using a drone to interfere with police or public safety. There are a handful of Democrats who've signed-on to the plan as well.
After five years a proposed water park at Mall of America remains on hold. The project's developer is still trying to figure out financing as construction and borrowing costs increase. Bloomington's Port Authority administrator said this week that the planned water park is in a holding pattern. Mall of America released a statement claiming the mall is still confident in the project but is looking at alternative financing solutions.
Service for the Cassville Car Ferry will be delayed. The ferry’s Facebook page says the boat won’t be operating on its scheduled May 5th start date because of flooding along the Mississippi River. The post adds that the ferry may not be running at all in May. The ferry, which connects the Great River Roads of Wisconsin and Iowa, planned to begin Friday-through-Sunday service next week and everyday service from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Ferry officials say they will update their service status in a couple weeks.
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