Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Local-Regional News May 27


The Mondovi City Council approved to have July 4th celebrations. A kiddie parade will be held at 12:30 then a grand parade will be at 1 with a fireworks display starting at dusk. Those attending will be encouraged to practice social distancing measures. Also at last nights meeting, it was announced that Mirror Lake is now back to capacity and that the fish stocking was also done by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.


No one was injured in a one vehicle accident and fire in the town of Stockholm yesterday. According to the Pepin County Sheriffs Department, 20yr old Hope Schwen of Lake City was traveling westbound on Hwy J when she went onto the gravel shoulder then over corrected and lost control of her vehicle. She ended up in the south ditch and the vehicle overturned. Schwen was able to get out of the vehicle and a short time later the vehicle started on fire. Upon arrival by the Lund Fire Department the car was fully engulfed in flames and is believed to be a total loss.


The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include a public hearing on the rezoning request from Kwik Trip for the land where the Pepin County Highway Shop is currently located, discussion and possible action on not opening the Tarrant Park Pool this year due to the covid-19 pandemic and the council will go into closed session to discuss the ambulance service director position. Tonights meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall.


One person was injured in a one vehicle roll over accident in Hartland Township on Saturday. According to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, 19yr old Inez Perez of Dorchester, WI failed to negotiate a curve and entered the south ditch of Hwy 10. The vehicle vaulted over 510th Street and came to rest in the ditch on 510th street. Perez was transported to River Falls Area Hospital with undetermined injuries.


University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross has named Connie Foster as the interim chancellor of UW-River Falls. Foster is a higher education and leadership consultant who spent 23 years as a faculty member, administrator, and interim chancellor at UW-River Falls. She was interim chancellor at UW-River Falls from August 2008 to July 2009 and prior to that was interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. She has been the university’s Dean for the College of Education and Professional Studies; Athletic Director; Chair of the Department of Health and Human Performance; Professor of Health and Human Performance; Women’s Athletic Director; and Gymnastics Coach. Foster will replace Dean Van Galen effective July 1. Van Galen is stepping down to become president of Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.


 A Cadott woman is going to prison for three-and-a-half years for selling the drugs that caused another woman to die.  Carissa Kasmeirski died of an overdose in March of last year.  Her boyfriend told investigators the drugs she used were bought from Breana Heuer.  The initial charge was reckless homicide, but she entered a no-contest plea to endangering safety and selling meth as part of a plea deal.  She was sentenced in Chippewa County Circuit Court Friday.


The libraries in Elk Mound and Menomonie will be reopening on June 1st. The library board approved the reopening with limitations. The Menomonie library will be open Monday-through-Friday from 10am-6pm while Elk Mound Library will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-6pm. No in person programming will be provided and public meeting rooms will also be closed and the use of masks by customers is strongly encouraged and all visitors are expected to practice safe social distancing while in the building. Menomonie will be limited to 20 individuals inside at a time while Elk Mound will be limited to 5.


Members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission will discuss how a 500-thousand-dollar federal grant should be used when they meet by teleconference this afternoon.  Money from the CARES Act has been approved for the purchase of sanitation supplies and personal protective equipment for use at the state’s polling locations during the fall election cycle.  Commission members have said they want more information before they give approval to grants to local governments and an absentee voting educational mailing program


The Wisconsin Supreme Court is allowing the state’s circuit courts to resume in-person hearings and jury trials.  Those courts will have to create a plan protecting participants and observers from coronavirus.  The state Supreme Court suspended those activities in March, telling the circuit courts to move them to a date after May 22nd.  The ban won’t be extended if the local courts prepare a plan to clean frequently-touched surfaces and requiring everyone in the courtroom to wear a mask.


Despite COVID-19 concerns, the Oneida County Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 Tuesday, to approve a permit for July's Hodag Country Festival. Organizers pledged to limit weekend wristbands to 16,000. County board supervisor Mitch Ives compared that to typical traffic at the areas big retailers.  Billy Fried  was the only supervisor to vote against the permit.   County Health Department guidelines currently call for gatherings to be limited to 50 people, and the next step only relaxes the guidance to 250 people. The festival opens July 9. About two-thirds of emails received prior to the meeting favored cancelling, and no members of the public who participated spoke in favor of issuing the permit.


The coronavirus pandemic has cost Wisconsin tourism almost two billion dollars.  Tourism Secretary Sara Meaney predicts the losses will continue through the summer.  Meaney was interviewed on W-I-S-N television’s “UPFRONT” show.  She says Wisconsin isn’t advertising for visitors to come to the state this summer.  The losses total one-point-seven billion dollars so far.  She hopes things will start to rebound by fall and winter.


In many Wisconsin locations it looked just like a normal Memorial Day weekend.  People filled golf courses, parks, beaches and beer gardens while the weather was nice outside.  The city of Milwaukee is still under a Safer at Home order and some Wisconsin businesses still haven’t reopened, but that didn't do much to hold the numbers down.  Many of the people said it’s good to get outside and great to get back to the things they did before the coronavirus outbreak.  Some health officials warn of a resulting spike in COVID-19 cases on the way.


Leaders of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa say they hope their donation of more than a ton of fish will help tribal members and Madeline Island communities during the coronavirus pandemic.  The donation was made over the Memorial Day holiday weekend as part of the tribe’s “Community Fish Project.”  The Band has been buying two-thousand-180 pounds of fish from fishing boats over the last three weeks.  More than 300 pounds of whitefish were donated to the Bayfield Food Shelf and the Madeline Island Food Shelf


Officials with the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles are estimating almost 250 thousand drivers in the state could renew their licenses online this year.  The D-M-V started a program earlier this month to cut back on the number of in-person visits to state offices during the coronavirus pandemic.  To renew online, drivers must have a regular Class-D license with no medical restrictions or further deterioration of their vision.  The D-M-V has also extended the expiration date for about 80 thousand drivers who haven’t been able to renew their licenses while the governor’s Safer at Home order was in effect.


The Board of Directors of Wisconsin Rural Partners has made the difficult, but necessary decision, to not hold this year’s Rural Summit on June 17-18 at Hotel Marshfield. Due to a combination of the COVID-19 issues and the timing of the event with starting the early stages of re-opening the State, the group didn't want to conflict with the time people need to concentrate on getting their livelihoods, personally & professionally, on track again. The event will be moved to April 21-22, 2021 at the same location. It will be structured the same and sessions will be created to address the rural area's current & future concerns and needs.


Glazer-scented candles will soon go on sale at a chain of convenience stores in Wisconsin.  Kwik Trip is working with a company in Eau Claire to offer the candles.  They will smell like fresh donuts while burning.  Smith and Company Candles owner Kenna Smith-Hoff says she worked at Kwik Trip for three years and she grew up eating Glazer donuts.  The candles are said to be in pre-sales right now.

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