The Mondovi School District is installing a new electric charging station for five new electric buses. District Superintendent Jeff Rykel says the district was awarded over $2 million in grants for the project. Rykel says the district is determining which routes the new busses will use, and it is hoped to have the new charging station up and running by the end of October.
One person was injured in a single vehicle accident in Spring Lake Township on Wednesday. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 68yr old Laure Walters of Elmwood was traveling southbound on Hwy B when she swerved to miss a deer and struck a guardrail. Walters was transported to River Falls Area Hospital.
Two Southeast Minnesota providers of services for aging Minnesotans and those with disabilities have received grants from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to expand. Wabasha County Developmental Achievement Center Inc., receiving $93,261. The funds will help expand community employment opportunities by expanding skills and tools for these individuals in Wabasha, Pepin, and Buffalo Counties. Cardinal Home Services LLC of Red Wing is receiving $100,000. to hire additional support and help serve every referral without staffing limitations. The funding comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which was recently voted on by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) to continue the grant program.
Chippewa County is getting out of the TV recycling business by finding a local business to do it. The county yesterday said it is partnering with First Choice Recycling in Eau Claire to handle old computers, TVs, and appliances from here on out. While the change means the county will no longer accept electronics for recycling, First Choice will take all of those items for free. First Choice's Ralph Hutchens says the change means people can recycle their stuff on their own time, instead of having to wait for the county's Clean Sweep events.
There are charges against the Monroe County deputy whose police K9 died after being left in a hot car. Prosecutors this week filed a single charge of mistreating animals against 29-year-old Detective Alexander Maas. He's the one who left his police dog, Kolt, in a hot squad car back in May. Temperatures that day hit 81 degrees, and the car's windows were up. Mistreating an animal is a misdemeanor charge in Wisconsin, punishable by up to nine months in jail and a ten-thousand dollar fine. Maas was suspended after Kolt had to be put down and he resigned from the sheriff's department about two weeks later.
More of Wisconsin is sliding into deeper drought. This week's U-S Drought Monitor Map is now showing a new area of exceptional drought--the top end of severity--over a section of Southwest Wisconsin. Almost all of the southern half of the state is in exceptional, extreme or severe drought. There's also a new area of extreme drought in Northeast Wisconsin. Nearly 85 percent of Wisconsin is under some level of drought.
Wisconsin's Citizens Utility Board is asking state regulators to limit the profits for some of Wisconsin's largest utilities. CUB yesterday asked the state's Public Service Commission to hold the line on rate hike requests from Alliant Energy, Xcel Energy, and Madison Gas and Electric. All three utilities have hearings before the PSC next week, and all three are asking to charge customers more. CUB's Steve Kihm says state regulators need to think about customer affordability and not just a return on investments for the big power companies.
Educators, parents, and activists are supporting the new Minnesota SRO law, which limits the use of force by school resource officers. They rallied at the Capitol yesterday, where St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Allen said any use of force can expose trauma to students. However, the new law is having police departments pull out their officers as it makes the SRO officers' work more dangerous. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher pulled his officer out as he said putting someone in a prone position is usually the safest way to handcuff a person. He adds a child's safety is important, but the officer's job is to handle the situation as quickly as they can.
An Amazon distribution center is coming to central Wisconsin. The new facility will be built along Highway 29 in the Marathon County village of Weston. The 79-thousand square foot center, which will be used for last-mile or final-stop deliveries, is expected to bring up to 100 jobs to the area. The forthcoming Amazon location is expected to open in late 2024 or early 2025.
The Department of Natural Resources says a pocket of extreme PFAS contamination is spreading in northern Wisconsin. Last month, the D N R reported that the Oneida County town of Stella showed contamination thousands of times higher than other parts of the country. Now those so-called forever chemicals are being detected in the lakes surrounding Stella and downstream on the Wisconsin River and the Pelican River. State scientists are doing a wide sample of fish caught in the surrounding waters to see if they are still safe to eat.
Illinois revenue officials say plenty of Wisconsinites are crossing the border to buy legal marijuana. A new report shows that nearly half of marijuana and THC sales in Illinois counties neighboring Wisconsin came from north of the border in 2022. Total sales to Wisconsinites were over 120 million dollars, raising about 36 million dollars in taxes for Illinois. It's not legal to possess or use pot in Wisconsin, but it is legal in three of its neighboring states.
With Republicans at the Capitol threatening to impeach state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, Democrats are getting out to support her. The party is spending four million dollars on the effort. Republican legislative leaders are demanding the liberal justice recuse herself from a case challenging Republican drawn legislative maps. Speaker Robin Vos said the effort is “further indication of coordination” between Democrats and Protesiewicz.
Turn down the volume! That’s what a lot of attendees of Saturday’s Wisconsin Badger football opener have been saying. Fans at the game between the Badgers and Buffalo complained that the music blaring through Camp Randall Stadium by an in-house deejay made it a challenge to hear those they were near in the stands, the UW band, the referee’s on-field calls, and the public address announcer. UW Athletic Director Chris McIntosh said on their monthly radio show Tuesday that school officials turned the volume down to where it had been in previous seasons for the second half of the game, and a statement from Wisconsin Athletics said the volume of the music is something they’ll monitor moving forward. The Badgers next play at home against Georgia Southern on September 16th.
Minnesota's attorney general is investigating more than four-dozen companies suspected of targeting students with false claims offering debt relief. The Attorney General's Office says the companies have not registered the state as required under Minnesota law. A-G Keith Ellison says anyone contacted by one of these companies should be cautious since only the federal government can forgive or cancel student loans. He recommends avoiding potential scams and contacting the U.S. Department of Education directly to receive information about honest and reputable student debt relief programs.
The Bronze Fonz has been vandalized. The iconic statue along Milwaukee’s RiverWalk was found Tuesday covered in an unknown black substance. The city’s tourism agency, VISIT Milwaukee, says they’re working to get the statue fixed as soon as possible. It’s not clear why or how it was damaged. The vandalism comes after the figure was removed for maintenance and restored in March of last year. People from around the globe have come to Milwaukee to take a selfie with the Bronze Fonz, which honors Henry Winkler's role of Fonzie in the Milwaukee-based 1970's sitcom “Happy Days”.
An "Atari" speed sign is being taken before any car accidents result from it. Rosemount Police say someone attached a cardboard "top score" sign above it's speed meter. Police say they believe it's modeled after the "Super Bug" driving game after noticing it had "PIG" as the top score. Officials say the department found an address on a shipping label and they believe it belongs to the creative culprit.
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