One person was injured in a single-vehicle accident Friday in Durand Township. According to the Pepin County Sheriff's Department, 63yr old Rebecca Lindstrom of rural Durand was driving southbound on Hwy 25 when she lost control, entered the southbound ditch and struck several trees. Lindstrom had to be extricated by the Durand Fire Department and was transported to Advent Hospital in Durand.
The man suspected of killing a western Wisconsin deputy was a convicted rapist and registered sex offender with a history of violence. Prison officials in Minnesota yesterday said 34-year-old Jeremiah Johnson was out on parole for a 2016 kidnapping and rape conviction when police say he gunned down St. Croix County Deputy Kaitie Leising. Johnson has a long criminal history, including a stabbing back in 2007 and numerous fights while in prison. Investigators say he shot and killed Deputy Leising during a drunk driving stop Saturday. He's believed to have then shot himself about an hour later. Funeral arrangements for Deputy Leising are pending, but we expect to get to details later today.
No severe damage was reported in Pierce or Pepin County after a severe thunderstorm yesterday evening. The storm did drop 1 inch hail north of Maiden Rock, 1.25 inch hail northwest of Plum City, and near Stockholm. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected again this afternoon through tonight, but severe weather is not expected.
The Public Service Commission held a broadband internet listening session at UW-Stout yesterday to get feedback from residents and local business owners about the current state of internet access. Small groups discussed the challenges with implementing broadband, improvements to existing areas with connections, and the benefits of statewide broadband. The PSC says it has a five-year broadband implementation program for the state. It plans to allocate over $800 million in state grants to put the plan into action. According to the PSC 87% of residents have broadband access. That number ranks 38th in the country.
Firefighters in Eau Claire are blaming gas for a house explosion yesterday afternoon. It happened at a house on the city's south side about 1 p.m. No one was home, and no one was hurt. Firefighters and crewmen from Xcel Energy say there was a buildup of 'combustible gas' in the house. The explosion knocked the windows out of the home and did about 100 thousand-dollars damage. No one, however, said just where the gas leak came from.
Former Eau Claire County District Attorney Gary King is no longer facing a federal civil rights complaint. A federal judge on Friday dismissed the lawsuit filed by the victim witness coordinator for the county during King's time as D.A. She claimed he drunkenly sexually harassed her. The dismissal comes after a meeting back in March that reportedly ended with a settlement. No one, however, is saying just how much that settlement was for.
Durand residents may hear a loud boom this afternoon. The Pepin County Historical Society and Old Courthouse Museum is sponsoring a civil war display featuring the 2nd Minnesota Battery of Light Artillery, a Civil War re-enactment group from Red Wing at Washington Square today. The living history outdoor classroom will be held for junior high school students in Pepin County, then from 2-4 the event will be opened to the general public. It is expected the group will be firing the cannon this afternoon.
In a letter to parents, Kellogg School Principle Angi McAndrews addressed the early end to a Friday night Fun night event at Kellogg Middle School last Friday. KTTC-TV reports law enforcement had to be called in after a fight involving three students broke out about twenty-five minutes into the event. Parents then had to come and pick up the kids after the fight, and Principle McAndrews said in the letter that there were no arrests, no injuries and no drugs were involved. She also said no students had to wait for parents in the rain to be picked up. Two of the people involved in the fight were not students at Kellogg, and the school is working on creating better systems to monitor attendance.
There is a new type of license plate in Wisconsin. The DMV yesterday said new fleet license plates are now available. The plates are only available to companies with at least 10 or more standard or light-truck vehicles and must be registered as fleet vehicles with the state. There's an extra eight-dollar and 50-cent charge for the fleet plates, in addition to the standard costs, but fleet plates only need to be registered once. The new plates look the same, but have the word 'fleet' embossed on them.
It started with a missing towel. Janesville Police Chief David Moore said Monday a Craig High School student who spotted her towel that had been missing for several weeks led to the discovery of a hidden camera in a locker room. Thirty-eight-year-old coach Brian Kitzman was arrested last Friday, as he boarded a bus for a track meet. Moore said Kitzman may have recorded as many as 18 victims over two years. Kitzman had his bond set at $10,000 in Rock County Court on Monday.
It was a weekend send-off for a handful of Wisconsin citizen soldiers. Eight members of the 112th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment are heading off for deployment to Eastern Europe. No one is saying exactly where the troops will be going, but commanders say they will be 'telling the stories of the locals in the region.' The guard says the 112th will be gone for about a year. The 112th last deployed back in 2018.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections is asking the legislature for one-million dollars to help staff the fugitive apprehension unit. Hundreds of Minnesota criminals are on the run, but the unit has just 13 people tracking people down. The DOC says they receive more than 200 new arrest warrants monthly.
We now know the cause of death of Ronald Henry, the man found dead in Grant County after going missing for three months. The Grant County Sheriff's Office says Henry died from hypothermia and his death was accidental. Henry went missing from a farmhouse in Platteville on December 5th and was found dead about a mile south of there on March 5th. The sheriff's office says methamphetamine was also a contributing factor to his death.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has been ordered to reconsider a complaint against false electors from the 2020 presidential election. Commissioner Bob Spindell was one of those false electors, and Dane County Judge Frank Remington said Monday that he should not have been allowed to participate when commissioners dismissed the complaint. It's unclear what might happen now, but leaving out Spindell would tip the balance in the six-member commission towards Democratic appointees.
The Mall of America has released the renderings of a new waterpark project. Both the mall and the City of Bloomington are interested in moving forward with the plans, despite them currently being on hold. Planning first began five years ago. There have since been several ideas on how to finance the 345-million dollars needed. Once completed, it would be the largest indoor waterpark in the country.
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