The next step in Kwik Trip coming to Durand is complete. The Durand City Council approved changing the zoning of the property surrounding the highway shop from I-1 industrial to B-2 General business. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the city will now begin the process of vacating the current Hardy Street and getting a developers agreement with Kwik Trip. Kwik Trip hopes to begin construction of the store in 2022
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Another rite of summer will not be happening this year due to covid-19. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the YMCA Camp in Pepin will not be opening for regular business this year. The CDC is working on new guidance for businesses to safely reopen this summer.
Another local summer event is canceled. The board of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Days announced this week that the festivities scheduled for September 12th-13th have been canceled due to the health concerns related to the covid-19 pandemic. The board decided to error on the side of caution in canceling the event. Laura Ingalls Wilder Day will be held September 11th-12th of 2021. Meanwhile, the Winona County Fair also announced the cancellation of the fair for this summer.
The Buffalo County Board of Supervisors is seeking one community member to serve on the County Board of Supervisors District 5 (Ward 2 City of Mondovi). Residency in the City of Mondovi is required to be considered for this vacancy. The appointed individual will serve on the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors and various Committees for the remainder of the term which ends April 2022. Members play a critical role in shaping the direction of programs and services for county citizens. Members will be appointed by the Chairperson of the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors and confirmed by the full County Board of Supervisors. For more information and/or to request a copy of the application materials, please call Roxann Halverson, Buffalo County Clerk, at 608-685-6209
The
Village of Pepin has received a $1.4 million dollar loand and a
$118,000 grand from USDA's water and environmental program. This
Rural Development investment will be used to upgrade the Village of
Pepin's water distribution system. The project will provide 6-inch
water mains to replace the undersized mains and loops to address
deficiencies at dead end pipes. The improvements will provide better
water flow and improve fire safety in the village.
Two people were injured in an ATV accident on Saturday in Diamond Bluff Township. According to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, a 13yr old Hager City boy was operating an ATV eastbound on 290th Avenue when he stopped at a stop sign. A second 13yr old from Prescott also driving an ATV on 290th Avenue did not see the driver in front of him stopped and rear ended the first ATV causing it to overturn. Both drivers were taken to Red Wing Hospital with undetermined injuries.
The Durand-Arkansaw School District is having two events for the senior class. Tonight the scholarship awards ceremony will be broadcast on channel 99 and through the WRDN Station Facebook page starting at 7pm and then tomorrow night at 7pm will be the graduation ceremony also to be broadcast on channel 99 and the WRDN Facebook page.
An
amendment signed by Rochester Mayor Kim Norton will allow bars and
restaurants to use areas like sidewalks and parking spaces to expand
outdoor seating. Restaurants in Rochester are struggling by not
offering dine-in services. Mayor Norton says she's encouraging
establishments to be creative and innovative how they served food and
alcohol. The Rochester City Council still needs to approve the
mayor's amendment. Governor Walz's Stay Safe order will allow
bars and restaurants to offer outdoor dining June 1st at 50-percent
capacity.
With
many Minnesota businesses closed until June 1st, residents of that
state have been crossing the border for haircuts, an adult beverage,
or other necessities. Barber Michael Rude told a television
reporter he has cut the hair for people from La Crescent, Winona,
Rochester and St. Olaf – all in Minnesota. Rude says there
was a line at his door Tuesday. Even though demand was high,
observers say everyone seemed to be practicing safe distancing and
many establishments had capacity guidelines posted at the door.
Three meat packing plant employees in north central Wisconsin have tested positive for coronavirus. The Marathon and Clark County Health Departments are working together to trace and contain the virus after employees at Abbyland Foods tested positive this week. Abbyland’s Safety Director Todd Jelinski said in a statement they had already implemented CDC recommended prevention guidelines including masks, reconfigured workspaces, social distancing, and increased sanitation in high traffic areas. He made no indication of any plant slowdowns or closures in the statement. Abbyland Foods employs nearly one-thousand people in both counties near Abbotsford.
The
second day of protests against the Minneapolis police custody death
of George Floyd turned ugly Wednesday night. Some demonstrators threw
bottles and rocks at law enforcement and officers fired back with
rubber bullets, flash bombs and tear gas. A small group was seen on
video breaking out windows and looting a Target store, nearby Cub
Foods and a Dollar Tree. Barricades have been set up around the
Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. Chief Medaria
Arradondo says the vast majority are protesting peacefully. He
says he would hate to see the actions of a few hijack the
demonstration in honor of the memory of George Floyd.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has voted unanimously to send absentee ballots to most voters for the fall elections. Under the current plan, the state would actually send the forms used to request a ballot. The voters would fill out the forms, provide a copy of their photo I-D, then the absentee ballot would be mailed to them for the November 3rd presidential election. The plan could still fall apart if Democratic and Republican commission members fail to agree on the wording of the documents being mailed. About two-point-seven million people will get the ballot applications.
Governor
Tony Evers is launching a 200-million-dollar effort aimed at helping
local governments with COVID-19 recovery needs. The 'Routes to
Recovery: Local Government Aid Grants' program will be allocated to
every Wisconsin city, county, village, town and tribe. The funding
comes from the federal CARES Act. Evers says ten-million dollars will
go to Wisconsin's tribal nations. The governor says the grants will
provide financial flexibility to communities "because they know
what they need and how to best address the unique recovery needs of
their friends, families and neighbors." The list might include
emergency operations, public health services, purchases of personal
protective equipment, cleaning supplies, temporary isolation for
infected people, testing and tracing costs, and paid sick leave for
COVID patients.
A decision on whether or not to cancel the 2020 Wisconsin State Fair due to the COVID-19 pandemic is a difficult one. That from Governor Tony Evers, who says he's attended for the past 51 years. The State Fair Board of Directors voted Tuesday to give board Chairman John Yingling authority to cancel, after the Minnesota State Fair cancelled last week.
Milwaukee’s tourism chief says she wants to have as much of an in-person Democratic National Convention as she can get. Peggy Williams-Smith is C-E-O of Visit Milwaukee. She says Wisconsin’s largest city needs the business now and an even smaller D-N-C would still provide a jump-start for downtown bars, restaurants and hotels. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has said he expects at least a partial in-person convention in the city in mid-August.
Federal
unemployment enhancement is costing nearly double what the state of
Wisconsin is paying-out in jobless claims. The Wisconsin Department
of Workforce Development says it’s paid-out nearly 482-million
dollars in unemployment benefits since the coronavirus started
shutting down the economy. The agency also says it’s paid-out
almost 870-million in federal enhancements over the same period. The
enhancement adds an extra 600 dollars a week for the unemployed. Some
business owners complain that extra money is making it tough for them
to get employees to come back to work.
Minneapolis
police officer Derek Chauvin is being represented by prominent
Minnesota defense attorney Tom Kelly. Chauvin is the officer
seen on a viral video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd before he
died. Kelly was the lawyer for St. Anthony Police Officer
Jeronimo Yanez, who was acquitted in the shooting death of Philando
Castile in St. Paul in 2017. A small group of protesters showed
up at Chauvin's home in Oakdale Tuesday and a YouTube video appears
to show them preventing a food delivery. Police claim that
Floyd died at Hennepin County Medical Center, but witnesses say he
died after Chauvin stopped his breathing. Floyd's family hired
nationally known attorney Ben Crump. He was the lawyer in the
alleged murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.
200-thousand people in Wisconsin were able to vote in April without showing a photo I-D. The Wisconsin Elections Commission says those voters declared themselves "indefinitely confined" because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Elections Commission says about 70-thousand confined voters cast ballots in a typical year. Local officials in Milwaukee and Madison encouraged people to declare themselves confined because of the coronavirus, but were later told to stop by the State Supreme Court. There are questions going forward. State law allows for confined voters to vote absentee again in both the August primary and November general election.
Wisconsin National Guard Adjutant General Paul Knapp said guard members are being redeployed to assist with COVID-19 testing around the state. Knapp said Tuesday that guard personnel will be available as long as a need exists.
Authorities say the Memorial Day holiday weekend was the deadliest in ten years on Minnesota roads. State Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson says there were at least eight fatalities. Hanson says while overall crash numbers are down, the severity rate is up, and what's driving that severity rate up is speed. Hanson says reduced traffic due to COVID-19 is one possible reason motorists are making a dangerous decision to drive faster. D-W-I arrests over the Memorial Day weekend were 26 percent less than last year -- probably because bars and restaurants remain closed until June 1st.
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