Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Local-Regional News October 11

 The Durand City Council is meeting tonight.  Items on the agenda include reports from the mayor, city administrator, and department heads along with discussion on the Madison Street Project.  Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall and will be live-streamed on the video streaming page of our website.


The City of Mondovi will be spending approximately $8000 next year to continue to remove approximately 30-35  Ash trees from the city parks and boulevards.    Mondovi Mayor Brady Weiss says the city has been covering the cost of tree removal from the boulevards if they have become a problem. The city is also applying for an urban forestry grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to assist in tree removal.


A strong fall storm system will affect the WRDN Listening area starting Thursday and running through Saturday.  The National Weather Service says we could see in excess of 2 inches of rain along with strong gusty winds up to 45mph.  The heavy rain could cause some minor rises in rivers and streams but flooding concerns are low due to the long duration of the rain.  The storm should move out of the area by Sunday.


The investigation into Chippewa County's new sheriff will continue. The County Board last night voted to continue the investigation into Travis Hakes. There's no new information in the case, but some supervisors want to see if they can find something new. Hakes is facing criticism after the investigation found he sent sexually suggestive memes to a former 911 dispatcher. The sheriff says he's done nothing wrong, and says his political opponents are driving the investigation. Chippewa County's board is considering whether to ask the governor to remove Hakes as sheriff.


There's an open seat on the Eau Claire County Board, and now supervisors are looking to fill it. The county yesterday said it is accepting applications to fill the term of former supervisor Judy Gatlin, which runs till the middle of April next year. The district is made up of the town of Washington, and parts of the city of Eau Claire. Anyone interested in being appointed to the board needs to have their application to the county by Friday, October 27th. You can find out more about the district on the county's website.


The latest standardized test scores for Wisconsin public school students are better than they've been in years, but they're still not good, and they're still not to where kids were before the coronavirus. The Department of Public Instruction released the test scores yesterday. Just 39 percent of kids are at grade level in English, and not quite 38 percent are at grade level in math. Those numbers are up compared to the past few years but are not to where kids were before the coronavirus. Education advocates say the tests show that 60 percent of kids in Wisconsin still cannot read or write at grade level. DPI says test scores are just one window into the success of the state's public schools.


Wisconsin lawmakers are introducing a bill that will require restaurants to specify if they are using real or imitation maple syrup. The Truth in Maple Syrup bill would be similar to the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which combats the use of the word milk for non-dairy products like almond or soy milk. The lawmakers who introduced the law say maple syrup is vital to Wisconsin's economy, with the state producing nearly 14-million-dollars-worth of syrup in 2023.


There is a new name for the University of Wisconsin. Yesterday, University President Jay Rothman said they will no longer call it the UW-System, instead they will call it the Universities of Wisconsin. Rothman says the name change shifts the focus from a university system to the individual campuses and the people that they serve. Rothman says he hopes the new name is more relatable and makes people aware of just how many UW universities there are in the state.  The Universities of Wisconsin has 13 four-year campuses.


Wisconsin deer hunters are being asked to keep an eye out for other wildlife this fall.  As part of the D N R's annual fall animal survey, all you have to do is keep track of the other animals you see out in the woods and submit that information to the agency. The program runs off any smartphone or computer, or if you want to keep it old school, you can even mail it your results. Find out more online at D N R dot W I dot Gov and search for "Deer Hunter Survey"


 A Rochester Catholic church says a group of parishioners who were visiting Israel at the time of last weekend's deadly attacks have made it safely out of the country.  The group from Holy Spirit Catholic Church was on a pilgrimage to Israel when the attacks began.  A Facebook post by the church indicates the group was able to relocate to Jordan and will remain there until later this month.  Other Minnesotans who were in Israel at the time of the attacks are still trying to arrange travel out of the country so they can return home.


The only thing Fair Maps Coalition members agree on is that they don't like the proposed change and how Wisconsin would draw its political maps. A dozen or so people turned out for a statehouse hearing yesterday to say how they don't want an Iowa-style redistricting commission here in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition says it firmly believes the state's current political maps are gerrymandered to favor Republicans, and they say they want non-partisan, fair maps. The crowd said it doesn't trust the Republicans who are proposing the new commission. Progressive groups in Wisconsin have asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to redraw the state's political maps. On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to take up that challenge.


A former state supreme court justice weighs in on impeaching the newest Wisconsin Supreme Court justice.  Former  Justice David Prosser is advising against an attempt to impeach Janet Protasiewicz.  According to the Associated Press, Prosser sent Assembly Speaker Robin Vos an email on Friday. He wrote "Impeachment is so serious, severe, and rare that it should not be considered unless the subject has committed a crime or has committed indisputable ‘corrupt conduct’ while ‘in office.’" Prosser turned over the email to the liberal watchdog group American Oversight as part of an open records request. Vos appointed a panel of former state supreme court justices, including Prosser, to weigh in on potentially impeaching Protasiewicz.


It was a “Back To The Future” moment following a find in a Waukesha County barn.  A 1981 DeLorean was found in the barn with all its original parts and only 977 miles on the odometer.  The owner of an Illinois company specializing in restoring DeLoreans tells WDJT-TV he learned of the find through a phone call from New Mexico and learned that the nephew of the car’s original owner was looking to sell the vehicle.  The restoration expert says the DeLorean has virtually no sun damage after being kept in the barn.  He adds that he hopes to restore the car back to mint condition.


High-speed internet is on its way to more rural communities across Minnesota.  That's because the Department of Employment and Economic Development is investing another 50-million dollars in rural broadband grants.  DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek says this round of grants will help many more households and businesses across the state.  He added broadband allows residents to connect with employers, schools, doctors, government services, and much more.  


A Minnesota farmer is on top of the pumpkin world. Travis Gienger, an Anoka County grower, broke the record yesterday with his nearly three-thousand-pound pumpkin, which he nicknamed Michael Jordan.  They entered the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, where he won a 30-thousand-dollar prize.  The previous holder for the largest pumpkin was in 2021.  

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