A man from Rochester is jailed in the death of a missing woman he was living with in northwest Wisconsin. The Buffalo County Sheriff's Office says Randall Merrick is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, domestic abuse and hiding the corpse of Beth Johnson. She was last seen at their mobile home in Nelson in December 2016. The complaint alleges that Merrick killed Johnson between Christmas Day 2016 and March 2017. Her adult son contacted authorities on March 12th after Johnson failed to call and wish him a happy birthday. He reported that he hadn't communicated with his mom since Christmas. A police dog located burned remains on property near their trailer in April of 2018.
The Administrative staff at Durand Arkansaw school district will begin working on a plan to re-open school for the fall. Superintendent Greg Doverspike says each school building will have a committee that will look at the logistical issues surrounding reopening while adhering to social distancing guidelines. The committees will be meeting throughout July to determine a plan for school board approval. Meanwhile the board did approve re opening district buildings and facilities on July 1st with restrictions.
The Pepin County Board has decided to keep the Government Center and other county buildings closed to unlimited public access until August 1st. During last nights board meeting members felt it made sense to follow the Sheriffs Department in reopening in August. Residents that do need to meet with a county employee at the government center can still do so but they must call ahead and schedule an appointment. The board also approved to continue to allow committee members and county board members to meet remotely though December 31st.
Wisconsin’s K-through-12 schools and colleges and universities will receive more than 80 million dollars in financial assistance. Governor Tony Evers made the announcement Wednesday. The money is intended to help the schools deal with challenges related to the pandemic. Forty-six million will go to local school districts and 37 million to higher education institutions. The Durand-Arkansaw School District is expects to receive $182,000 in aid from the program. The funding originates from the federal CARES Act and is being distributed through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.
A former officer at the Challenge Incarceration Program in St. Croix County has been charged with sexual assault by correctional staff. Thirty-three-year-old Denae Saltness is accused of having a sexual relationship with an inmate. He told investigators about having multiple sexual encounters with Saltness while he was an inmate and she was working there. Saltness is scheduled to return to St. Croix County Circuit Court in August. The inmate’s name hasn’t been released.
A La Crosse County woman accused of killing her husband by driving over him has made her initial court appearance. Fifty-year-old Lori Ann Phillips is charged with second-degree reckless homicide. If convicted of the felony charge in the death of Mark Phillips she could be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Her husband was killed at the family home in Holmen last year. She returns to La Crosse County Circuit Court June 30th for a status update hearing.
All the details have been hammered out and the Wisconsin Elections Commission is moving forward with a plan to mail two-point-seven million absentee ballot applications to voters. The final step was approving the wording of a letter that will accompany the mailing. About 80 percent of Wisconsin’s registered voters will get the mailing before the November presidential election. The commission is also considering a request to establish a rule prohibiting the practice of ballot harvesting – where outside groups collect and return large numbers of absentee ballots.
Republicans
are blasting Secretary of State Steve Simon after he signed an
agreement to ease absentee ballot rules for the August primary.
A judge approved waiving a witness requirement amid the COVID-19
pandemic. Senator Mary Kiffmeyer accuses Simon of
"circumventing the legislature--just sue until you're blue and
get what you want through the courts." Secretary Simon
said, " That's mistaken, this consent decree has nothing do with
preferred policy outcomes, mine or anyone else's, it has to do with
what the law demands." The agreement allows ballots that
arrive within two days of the primary would be counted, as long as
they are postmarked by Election Day.
A Staples,MN man is the third person accused of setting fire to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct on May 28th. Twenty-six-year-old Bryce Williams appeared in federal court Wednesday for conspiracy to commit arson. Prosecutors say he can be seen on surveillance video holding a Molotov cocktail while others attempt to light the wick. A-T-F investigators also reviewed videos on Williams' TikTok account and more than one shows him standing in front of the burning building. Twenty-two-year-old Dylan Robinson from Brainerd and 23-year-old Brandon Wolfe of St. Paul are charged with aiding and abetting the police station fire.
The Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction are partnering to distribute a one-time allocation of cloth masks and thermometers to Wisconsin schools. Each public school district and charter school will be eligible to receive the supplies. Each district across the state is asked to fill out a survey to confirm they'd like the equipment, which will begin shipping in July.
The Milwaukee suburbs are leading the nation, in responding to the US Census. Nearly 82 percent of households in Ozaukee County have responded to the census, and the three WOW counties, Washington, Ozaukee and Waukesha counties, lead the country as well. Local officials everywhere are urging residents to do the same to make sure they get their fair share of federal government money and to prepare for legislative redistricting.
State Senator Van Wanggaard says things were supposed to be getting better at Wisconsin’s unemployment office. Instead, the Republican claims they are getting worse. Wanggaard demanded answers from the head of the Department of Workforce Development Tuesday. He wants to know why it is taking four-to-five weeks for people who have filed for benefits to hear back from anyone. Wanggaard also claims one-in-four unemployment claims still haven’t been paid. He says the problems continue even though the agency has added hundreds of people to its payroll to deal with the volume of applications.
Less than a week after he withdrew from consideration as president for the University of Wisconsin System there are troubles at home for Jim Johnsen. The faculty union for the University of Alaska has released a petition calling for his immediate resignation. Johnsen is president of the U-A System. The petition outlines several reasons for his ouster, including deteriorating state funding, student enrollment and the elimination of several academic programs under his leadership. Union leaders also pointed to Johnsen’s comments while he was interviewed for the Wisconsin position in Madison last week.
Wisconsin farmers have until the end of the month to apply for 35 hundred dollars in coronavirus stimulus money. The Department of Agriculture said Tuesday the Wisconsin Farm Support Program is open. About 26-thousand-500 farmers could be eligible for the 50-million-dollar program. Applications can be submitted through the state Department of Revenue website, with the funds dispersed by mid-July.
Minnesota State colleges and universities are freezing fall semester tuition for undergraduate students. The freeze will hold tuition rates at the fiscal year 2020 level for students at all 30 Minnesota state schools. Chancellor Devinder Malhotra says a three-percent tuition increase will go into effect in the spring of 2021 to fund inflationary costs and bolster long-term financial sustainability. He called the tuition freeze "a sign of our commitment to affordability and a compelling incentive for students." For fall semester, the colleges and universities of Minnesota State will offer a mix of on-campus and online courses reflecting how each institution can best support its students and their success related to COVID-19.
Three recent alumni of Columbus Catholic Schools in Marshfield have begun an online petition to change that name. School President David Eaton says that's not something they can "jump into quickly" Eaton says he's "open to the discussion," but the focus now is on safely holding fall classes amid the coronavirus pandemic. The petition notes Columbus "acted in deeply racist ways," enslaving and murdering Indigenous Peoples.
Minnesota-based Target says it will raise its starting wage to 15 dollars an hour next month. The retailer said in 2017 it would increase the minimum the wage by the end of 2020. Target says it will also pay all of its employees in stores and distribution centers a one-time bonus of 200 dollars at the end of July to thank them "for providing essential services to our guests throughout the coronavirus pandemic."
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