What
will the 2020-2021 high school sports schedule look like due to the
covid-19 pandemic. Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg
Doverspike says districts are facing the uncertainty of what the
school year will look like. With no firm orders from the State of
Wisconsin, Doverspike believes the decisions will end up being made
on a local level. Dopverspike
says another issue could be the concern of counties having outside
residents coming into their areas to attend a high school sports
event and bringing possible covid-19 with them.
While
the Pepin County Health Department has been dealing with the covid-19
pandemic, the department is looking at re-starting other programs the
department runs. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says one
of those programs is for young children needing vaccinations. While
the Pepin County Government Center remains closed, departments are
still providing services to residents and if you need to meet with a
department face to face, just give them a call to set up an
appointment.
The
Buffalo County Board has approved spending $100,000 from un-used capx
2020 funds to help with broadband expansion in the county. At last
weeks board meeting the board approved a resolution that would use
the unspent money from 2019 to be used to improve the quality and
availability of broadband communication sin under-served and un-served
areas of Buffalo County. Any projects would be subject to approval
by the Public Service Commission.
Four
Eau Claire teenagers are charged with assault after a video of an
attack was posted on Instagram. Ruby Jimenez-Nevarez and Alexis
Strenke, plus a juvenile, faces charges of battery, drug possession
and other offenses. Eighteen-year-old Chase Passon was the one
seen online punching what police call a “defenseless male.”
The victim is recovering at an Eau Claire hospital. If
convicted, Passon could be sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
An
Eau Claire man who led police on a chase, then threatened to kill an
officer, is scheduled to return to court next month. David
Marin is charged with recklessly endangering safety, attempting to
flee, threatening an officer and several other offenses. The
incident last week started when Marin refused to pay his bill at a
restaurant and threatened to kill the manager. Officers say
Marin drove into oncoming traffic while going 70-to-95
miles-an-hour. When he was finally stopped, he started punching
the arresting officer in the head and had to be tased so he could be
brought under control.
Authorities
in western Wisconsin say the body of a man reported missing three
months ago has been recovered from the Mississippi River. A
9-1-1 caller reported the body in the water Sunday morning.
Sixty-two-year-old James Zaragoza had been missing since February
22nd and
some of his personal items were found at Houska Park. At the
time, investigators said it looked like he had walked out on the
ice. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official
cause of his death.
Out-of-state
crowds filled Lake Geneva elbow-to-elbow during the Memorial Day
weekend – most of them getting away from the Illinois restrictions
and ignoring social distancing. Public health orders were
relaxed in Wisconsin last week. Tourists from Illinois say they
are frustrated with coronavirus restrictions at home. They say
the guidelines in all states should be similar or else it sets up the
weekend’s mass migration to the southeastern Wisconsin vacation
spot. Through Sunday Illinois had 110 thousand cases of
COVID-19, while Wisconsin had just over 15 thousand.
A
new study by the University of Minnesota finds hog farming has a big
impact on the state's economy. U of M Extension educator Megan
Roberts says the average hog farm generates more than
one-point-five-million dollars in economic activity. Roberts
says that doesn't mean it is coming back as profit on their farms
and, " when you add in the impact of COVID-19 the
break-even is greatly impacted." The study
suggested a 15-percent drop in pork production could lead to an
estimated loss of 21-hundred jobs. Hog farms also have an
impact on veterinarians, hardware stores, feed mills and other
businesses. Roberts says the study made it clear that not
all farms are going to survive the COVID-19 crisis.
Landlords
could begin evicted tenants who haven’t paid their rent starting
Tuesday. A state order halting evictions expires then.
The state of Wisconsin is getting ready to distribute 25 million
dollars through a rent assistance program, but the federal money just
arrived last week and officials are still working on how to share
it. Renters will be able to apply through local housing
assistance organizations and they could qualify for up to three
thousand dollars.
The
U-S Census Bureau reports three Midwestern states are responding
quickly to the population count. The bureau says 69-point-nine
percent of Minnesotans have answered the questionnaire – more than
any other state. Wisconsin’s response rate is second-highest
at 67-point-three percent and Iowa is third with a 66-point-eight
percent response rate. The data gathered by the census every 10
years is used to allocate federal dollars in hundreds of programs.
It also is the determining factor in how many seats each state gets
in Congress. To this point, about 60 percent of the U-S has
responded.
The
full U-S Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a 2019
decision, finding Polk County was responsible for the repeated sexual
assault of two female inmates. A three-judge panel ruled against the
women last year. The reversal means the county in northwestern
Wisconsin is on the hook for the four-million-dollar judgment. The
court found the county chose to “stand by idly” while guard
Darryl Christensen sexually assaulted them. He is serving a 30-year
prison term for the assaults.
The
Department of Workforce Development says they're working to untangle
the backlog of unemployment claims. Chief economist Dennis Winters
says the state's unemployment system was never built to handle as
many claims as have come in. Nearly
440-thousand Wisconsinites lost their jobs in April, and the
department is hiring more people and buying new tech to handle the
massive influx of claims.
A
poll of 800 Minnesota voters found Joe Biden with a 49 percent to 44
percent overall lead over President Trump with the general election
less than six months away. Biden's support in the Star Tribune, MPR
News, KARE 11 poll was heavily weighted in Hennepin and Ramsey
counties. In Southern Minnesota the poll found Trump out-pacing Biden
57 percent to 39 percent. In Northern Minnesota the numbers were
nearly identical with the President holding a 56 percent to 38
percent advantage. Trump also was the leading choice for voters over
50 and held a small lead among voters identifying as Independent.
Some
faith groups in Minnesota remain wary of reopening their doors,
despite state guidance that would allow them to as soon as Wednesday.
The Minnesota Rabbinical Association says they will not gather or
open their facilities to regular activity. The same goes for the
Muslim American Society of Minnesota. With support from city
government, many churches in Minneapolis and St. Paul say they will
remain closed. Groups planning to resume in-person services have
stressed there is no obligation for congregants to return even if
their local church reopens.
This
is the traditional, unofficial opening sign of summer in the Badger
State – the Wisconsin Dells opened for business over the weekend.
Not everything is open. Some business owners say they are cleaning
and preparing for customers to return. It isn’t clear when the
crowds will show up. Visitors fuel the one-billion-dollar tourism
industry in the Dells.
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