The City of Durand has a new ambulance director. Last night the City Council approved the hiring of Angie Bignell and Jeff Doughty as co-directors of the service while Brook Polzer will be the assistant director. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says each brings their own strengths to the department. All three begin their new roles immediately.
Homeowners on Franklin Street in Mondovi will have some parking regulations going into effect. The Mondovi City Council approved no parking on the west side of Franklin Street to help accommodate the extra traffic due to the Eau Claire Street North Project. Mondovi Mayor Brady Weiss says the city wants to make sure essential services and larger farm equipment can travel down Franklin Street. Over the next few weeks, the city administrator will be notifying the residents of the parking changes and why the changes were needed.
A former western Wisconsin postal worker will spend the next three years on probation for stealing 26 thousand dollars from the Post Office. A federal judge in Madison yesterday handed down the sentence to 45-year-old Megan Torrez from Alma. Investigators say she would write bad checks for postal money orders at the post office she managed in Nelson, Wisconsin. She was caught when one of those checks bounced and came back to postal inspectors. Torrez told the judge she used the money to cover for her husband who lost his job during the coronavirus outbreak.
Flags will be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Friday in Wisconsin. That’s in honor of a slain law enforcement officer. Governor Tony Evers signed an Executive Order in honor of St. Croix County Sheriff’s Deputy Kaitie Leising. Leising was fatally shot last Saturday by a suspected intoxicated driver who also took his own life. Leising's funeral will be Friday at Hudson High School.
We have a price tag for former Eau Claire County D.A. Gary King's sexual harassment settlement. King and the state agreed to pay the county's victim/witness coordinator 150 thousand dollars to settle her lawsuit. She claimed King drunkenly harassed her during his time as D.A., including asking her to sit in his lap and making several sexual remarks. King stepped down as D.A before a state investigation was able to determine if he should be fired.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will set over 10,000 traps for spongy moth in 47 counties, including Pepin, Pierce, Buffalo, Dunn, Trempealeau and Eau Clarie Counties from mid-May through early July. DATCP asks that property owners allow trapping staff to place traps on their land and not disturb the traps once in place. Traps are small green boxes tied to tree branches. The trap contains the scent of female spongy moths and is undetectable to humans and other insects. These boxes are used to attract and catch adult male spongy moths. Trappers will monitor traps until August when the male moths stop flying and the traps are removed. DATCP trappers are easily identifiable as they wear fluorescent vests and carry identification cards. Each trap is labeled with a phone number that property owners can call if they have questions or decide they want it removed.
Wisconsin lawmakers are inching closer to maybe changing the rules for work licenses in the state. An Assembly panel yesterday held a hearing on a series of plans that would first study the occupational licensing system in the state, then look to streamline it. Republican state Rep. Shae Sortwell continues to be upset at the delays and lack of answers from Wisconsin's Department of Safety and Professional Services. DSPS officials said last fall it's taking up to two-and-a-half months for some people to get the license from the state. Sortwell says Wisconsin needs to streamline the process to help get people back to work and to attract new workers to the state.
A Canadian mining company gets approval to drill for copper and gold in parts of northern Wisconsin. This month the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources authorized Green Light Wisconsin's plans to drill several holes at six sites in the Bend Deposit in northwest Taylor County. The company says it plans to drill for about ten weeks.
The wild parsnip is already on the no-no list in Wisconsin, soon it could be in the crosshairs. Lawmakers in Madison are considering a plan today that would spend a couple hundred thousand dollars on grants to eliminate the plant across the state. The DNR says wild parsnip is a growing problem along roadways, in abandoned fields, and in prairies across Wisconsin. It is an invasive species and can cause sun-sensitive blisters for people who touch the plant. The proposal up for a hearing today would spend 200 thousand dollars in the next state budget to target and eliminate wild parsnips.
The latest plan to limit the books on school library shelves in Wisconsin could lead to lawsuits over 'obscene materials.' Republican state Rep. Scott Allen and Republican state Senator Andre Jacque are looking for support for their plan to ban obscene material from school libraries and allow parents to sue librarians if they break the law. Allen calls the pieces of legislation the Protect Childhood Innocence plans. Allen says the idea is to create accountability for anyone in a public school who is sharing books or pictures that focus on graphic sex. He says anyone focused on teaching has nothing to fear.
Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to set a running clock on sexual assault kits in the state. The Senate Committee on Public Safety will hold a hearing today on a plan that would require the state crime lab to begin working on a DNA kit within five days and finish testing the kit within two months, The legislation comes after Wisconsin's years-long backlog of old sexual assault kits was finally tested a few years back. Wisconsin's attorney general says in order to test the kits within two months he will need to hire more people at the state crime lab.
Minnesota legislators have reached an agreement regarding free tuition at public colleges. Those in families who have an adjusted gross income of less than 80 thousand dollars a year would be able to receive free tuition at public colleges. The free tuition program is part of a broader higher education bill that has not yet been voted on. Qualifying students would have to attend a two- or four-year school in either the University of Minnesota or Minnesota State systems, or a tribal college. Private college tuition would not be covered.
A Beloit resident fell victim to a new artificial intelligence phone scam. Beloit police say the scam clones the voice of a loved one and the scammer asks for money, either because they've been kidnapped or they're in jail, a new twist on the old grandparents scam. Beloit police suggest you hang up and call the family member back. Other organizations are warning people of similar scams, and Madison Area Crime Stoppers suggests having a unique code word or phrase so you know it's really your family member.
A Ripon woman has a mission on her motorcycle. Whit Meza says she will ride her Harley to all 852 Kwik Trip and Kwik Star stores across the Midwest. Kwik Trip says Meza, who started her quest on Sunday, will ride about 14 hours per day and hit an average of 77 of their stores every day until she reaches the Sturgeon Bay Kwik Trip on May 17th. The journey will cover 7,300 miles, and Meza is documenting the effort by taking pictures of her sales receipt at every stop.
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