Local-Regional News June 17

The Durand-Arkansaw School District is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include action on Facility Re-Opening Plans for July 1^st, an update on the planning process for the 2020-2021 school year and an update on the Community Growth Discussions with the City of Durand and Pepin County. Tonights meeting begins at 6pm at the school board room at Durand High School and will be live streamed on the districts zoom account.

The Pepin County Board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on Lake Pepin Habitat Restoration Project Funding, Facility reopening and Employee safety plan, and annual reports from the Human Services Board, Sheriff's Department and Land Conservation and Planning Department. Tonights meeting begins at 7pm at the board room at the government center and will also be live streamed on the county's zoom account.

The City of Mondovi will be moving forward with a 4^th of July Celebration. The celebration will include a parade and fireworks over Mirror Lake at Dusk. During last weeks City Council meeting, it was decided to name Ed Mallon the Grand Marshal for the parade. Mallon has been a major contributor for the library fund and other projects in the city for many years.

The sale of the Tarrant Park Softball Fields from the city of Durand to the Durand-Arkansaw School District is moving forward. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren is hopeful the process will be completed by the end of the month.  The District is hoping to have the new fields completed by the end of the summer which would allow the Durand Little League to use them next year.

The Chippewa Falls School District has listed the former Stillson Elementary School building for sale.  The new building that is replacing it is almost completed.  For the asking price of 725 thousand dollars, the buyer will get 24 classrooms and two gymnasiums, plus nine acres of property near Lake Wissota.  The listing Realtor says the former school building would be good as an assisted living center – or it could be converted into apartments.

The newest member of the Wisconsin congressional delegation has introduced a bill to compel schools to reopen this fall.  He calls it a “carrot-and-stick” approach.  Federal funding would be blocked from schools that don’t reopen in-person classes by September 8th.  Congressman Tom Tiffany says kids are largely not affected by COVID-19 and he doesn’t see a reason for schools to remain closed.  The Republican from the 7th Congressional District says federal funding is a small part of the budget for most school districts.

A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that a judge's decision to become Facebook friends with a woman whose child custody case he was hearing created at least the appearance of bias. The court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's order that the case be re-heard by another judge. The ruling was the first of its kind in Wisconsin and it could test the boundaries of social media use by judges. It is the latest in a series of examples across the country where a judge's actions on social media call into question their ability to fairly consider cases before them.

A bill signed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will provide more than 62-million dollars in grants for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Walz said one of our top priorities during this special session is to build a stronger and more equitable economy and this direct assistance is an important piece of that plan.  Eligible businesses with 50 or fewer employees can apply for grants of up to ten-thousand dollars. Half of the funding will go to greater Minnesota businesses, at least ten-million dollars will go to minority-owned businesses,  and two-and-half million-dollar grants are going to veteran-owned businesses, women-owned companies and cultural malls.  Sixty-million dollars is from the CARES Act and two-point-five million is state funding.

Governor Tony Evers is seeking guidance for his climate change task force.  Evers’ office says it is accepting input from the public on what the task force should look into.  The office is also announcing five virtual listening sessions that will help develop a road map for the work of the task force.  Those meetings will start next week and will be held until mid-July.

Cheryl Sensenbrenner is being remembered for her tenacity and larger-than-life spirit.  The wife of Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner died Monday at the age of 69.  The Sensenbrenners were married for 43 years.  She is survived by the congressman, two sons and a three-year-old grandson.  Cheryl Sensenbrenner is known for being an advocate for Americans with disabilities, making sure all are protected from discrimination.  She testified before Congress in 2007 to restore civil rights protections for people with epilepsy, diabetes, depression, cancer and other conditions.

Minnesota Senate Republicans added 350-million dollars to their one-billion-dollar bonding proposal in hopes that a bill which failed last month will get enough votes in this special session. Saint Paul Democrat Sandy Pappas (PAP-us) says even at one-point-35 billion dollars "it's still gonna be hard to take care of all the needs of our state facilities." Rochester Republican Dave Senjem says there's differences in some respects because we're different political parties - "but it's our job to come together... to reconcile with our opposite party in the House and to try to make this work." Minority Leader Kurt Daudt says it's "very unlikely" House Republicans will help pass a bonding bill unless Governor Tim Walz talks about relinquishing his COVID emergency powers.

A man wanted for the alleged arson of the Minnesota Police Department's Third Precinct is under arrest in Colorado.  U-S Marshals and the A-T-F say 22-year-old Dylan Robinson was taken into custody in Breckenridge and is being held without bail in Denver.  Robinson is one of several suspects accused of setting fire to the police station in south Minneapolis during the riots on May 28th.  Federal investigators are offering five-thousand-dollar rewards for information that leads to the arrest of more than a dozen  arson suspects.

Authorities in southwest Wisconsin say they've recovered the body of a swimmer who went missing on the Mississippi River. The Crawford County Sheriff's Office says the 18-year-old man from Waterloo, Iowa went underwater Sunday and apparently drowned. His name hasn't been released. Deputies say he disappeared after trying to swim from shore by the Gordon's Bay boat landing to island where friends were camping. Crews searched Sunday and most of Monday before finding his body north of Prairie du Chien.

The University of Wisconsin's policy for sexual harassment and sexual assault is in limbo. Governor Tony Evers called the new policy too vague when rejecting it Monday. Wisconsin is also joining a lawsuit to block new Trump administration rules to provide more protections for those who are accused of harassment or assault. Critics say it's bad for accusers. Evers prefers the rules enacted during the Obama Administration.