Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Local-Regional News October 24

 The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight.  Items on the agenda include a resolution to approve a 2024 operating budget short-term loan, a resolution authorizing the issuance of $1.9 million in revenue bonds as part of the wastewater treatment plant project, and an update on North Eau Claire Street concerns.  Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 at the Marten Center in Mondovi.


Area law enforcement is encouraging people to drop off unwanted prescription drugs during drug take-back day on Saturday.   Across Wisconsin, over 270 law enforcement agencies will be hosting drop-off sites for people to get rid of expired or unwanted prescription drugs.  In Buffalo County, the Sheriff's Department will be at Cochrance-Fountain City School from 8-11 to collect unwanted prescription drugs.  The Village of Pepin Police will have a collection site from 8-4.


University of Wisconsin River Falls held an event Monday to celebrate the construction of its new science and technology hall.  The new hall will house multiple scientific departments and have laboratories for students to have hands-on learning.  There will also be a collaboration center that will allow businesses in the area to connect and network with the students.  It is the largest project in the university's history and has a price tag of $117 million. The sci-tech building is set to open in 2026.


The plan to move as many as 75 illegal immigrants into the Chippewa Valley is not getting any more popular. A crowd turned out at the library in Eau Claire last night to oppose World Relief Wisconsin's proposal to resettle people in Eau Claire and the surrounding communities. The protesters say they're worried about where the immigrants will live and work. World Relief managers say they are listening to all of the complaints. The plan is to move the immigrants into Eau Claire by the end of the year. 


 Two people are dead after a fiery crash that closed I-94 in far northwestern Wisconsin yesterday. The State Patrol says seven cars or trucks were involved in the wreck near Wilson, in St. Croix County. Six others were hurt in the crash. The resulting fire has closed the Highway 128 overpass until state crews can see if there was any structural damage to the bridge. No one is saying just what caused the crash, or who is to blame. 


A Mayo Clinic resident doctor and poison control specialist is charged with murder -- accused of poisoning his wife.  The criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County accuses 30-year-old Doctor Connor Bowman of poisoning his wife with Colchicine, after researching the drug on the poison control website.  Prosecutors say Bowman was planning to collect on his wife's life insurance.


A Wisconsin meat packing plant will be ending its production of veal and lamb, and permanently laying off 127 workers. The plant in Franklin, a suburb south of Milwaukee, will continue to produce grass-fed beef at the plant. In a press release, Strauss Brands says nearly 200 of their employees will be affected by the changes. Employees to be let go who are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union will be terminated based on seniority. Non-union workers will be terminated based on business decisions. The job cuts go into effect December tenth. 


Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to get tougher on reckless drivers. A Senate committee will hold a hearing today on a plan that would allow police to tow cars if their drivers speed away from officers, race down the highway, go 25 miles per hour over the speed limit, and/or have a suspended or revoked driver's license. The idea is to help Milwaukee Police deal with reckless drivers in the city. Milwaukee has an ordinance that allows police to tow the cars of reckless drivers, but only if the cars belong to those drivers, which they often don't. The same Senate panel will also hear a plan to increase the penalties for people who drive while suspended or revoked. 


Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are looking to make sure non-US citizens don't vote in the state. A joint statehouse committee will hold a hearing today on a plan that would require the state's Elections Commission to double-check citizenship when people get a driver's license in the state and would require the DMV to print "Not valid for voting purposes" on any ID given to a noncitizen. Republicans say they want to make sure that only registered, legal, US citizens vote in the state. It's unclear, however, if the governor will support the plan. 


New Research from the University of Minnesota appears to show Chronic Wasting Disease in deer may be spread on processing equipment -- including knives, cutting boards, and meat grinders -- if they are not cleaned properly. The researchers say sanitizing equipment with bleach kills Chronic Wasting Disease.  Critics of the study point out that no humans have ever been infected, so the study's impact is limited.  


The woman in charge of Wisconsin's elections says the effort to remove her from her job is really an effort by top Republicans in the state to interfere in Wisconsin's elections. Meagan Wolfe was a guest on Madison TV over the weekend, she said the push in the State Senate to remove her as Elections Commission administrator is 'a political effort by lawmakers to influence elections.' Republican lawmakers say they want to remove Wolfe because she is the one influencing elections in the state. Wolfe said the whole thing is a distraction heading into the 2024 election cycle. 

 

Wisconsin deer hunters are warned to keep their tree stands away from ash trees. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says many ash trees across the state, especially in the southern half of the state, are dying or dead. They say while the Emerald Ash Borer isn't as widespread through parts of Wisconsin, unreported infestations could be a possibility. The DNR warns of ash trees infested with E-A-B, since they can snap or drop large branches without warning. They say tree stand accidents are the top cause of death in deer hunting, with one in four bow hunters experiencing a fall or near-fall in a stand.


Keeping kids safe during trick-or-treating.   That’s the aim of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections as they announced their work with local law enforcement agencies to monitor sex offenders who are on probation or parole.  The agency says child and higher-risk sex offenders are not allowed to have Halloween decorations or give out candy, and their porch lights must be turned off during trick-or-treating times in communities around the state.  They add that law enforcement will do random visits of the offenders to make sure they’re complying with those restrictions.   If they’re not, they’ll be arrested.


 A nationwide study from Casino-dot-org ranks Wisconsin dead-last when it comes to password security.  The study looked at cybersecurity factors like character length, number of reused passwords, and how often a person updates old passwords.  Wisconsin was worst in nearly every category and scored a zero out of one hundred. Less than a quarter of Wisconsinites were found to have passwords longer than 12 characters, and over 80-percent admitted to reusing the same password across multiple accounts. Rhode Island was the only state to get a perfect score. Certain states were left out due to a lack of data.


The State of Wisconsin is getting federal money to expand its technology development.  Wisconsin is getting one of 30 grants as a designated Economic Development Administration Regional Technology and Innovations Hub. The state can compete for up to 75-million-dollars in development money and already is being given 350-thousand-dollars from the EDA.


Minnesota is expanding its Move Over Law.  The change requires drivers to move one full lane away from vehicles with flat tires or otherwise disabled.  Previously, the bill named in honor of state trooper Ted Foss required motorists to move one lane away from emergency vehicles with flashing lights activated while traveling.  Trooper Foss was killed while conducting a traffic stop on the shoulder of I-90 in Winona in 2000.


A trio of Packer fans from Altoona are among the finalists for Proudest Packer Kids. Aubrey Johnson, along with her sisters Adalyn and Ava, caught the team's attention with a sign at a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks that said she'd trade one of her sisters for a Lambeau Leap. The Proudest Packer Kids is one of the Fan's Choice awards that are voted on by fans. If the Johnson sisters win there could be some trouble. The winners get two tickets to the last game of the season, and there are three sisters plus mom and dad.

No comments:

Post a Comment