Local-Regional News June 25

 Bail is set at one-million dollars for a Rochester, Minnesota man charged with the murder of a northwest Wisconsin woman.  Forty-eight-year-old Randall Merrick appeared in Buffalo County court Wednesday for the first-degree homicide of Beth Johnson of Nelson and hiding her corpse.   Johnson's remains were found last week in Blaine, Minnesota.   She and Merrick were living in a trailer home near Nelson until she disappeared in late 2016.  Investigators believe Merrick killed  Johnson between Christmas Day and March 2017.  A cadaver dog identified burned human remains near their mobile home in April 2018.   Merrick's preliminary hearing is July 10th.

As testing for covid 19 has been expanded to included anyone, the number of cases among those age 20-29 have risen. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says while the number of cases among 20-29yr olds is the highest, the mortality rate from covid 19 is highest among those 60 and older. The Health Department has adjusted its latest guidance on covid 19 to include increasing the number of people that can congregate indoors and outdoors. Continued social distancing along with wearing of masks while in public is still strongly encouraged.

The Durand Improvement Group held the first music in the park for 2020 last night. People were spread out throughout the park to practice social distancing, and the band JFT performed. While no food or refreshments were served many brought items to make it more of a picnic atmosphere. Even though the park was open, the playground equipment was closed off due to the covid 19 pandemic. DIG is hoping to hold the next music in the park on July 22^nd.

A northwest Wisconsin Tel-Com has received a USDA Rural Infrastructure Loan for Broadband. Chibardun Telephone Cooperative Inc. received the $10 Million-dollar loan that will be used to improve and expand the plant. This loan will extend Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to the rural areas of the Prairie Farm and Sand Creek exchanges, making them 100 percent FTTP. Chibardun Telephone Cooperative proposes to construct 328.5 miles of FTTP and install all associated electronics. The improvements will sustain customer demand in broadband connectivity.

The Mayo Clinic says it will bring back furloughed workers ahead of schedule, and restore normal pay levels for employees next month.  The workers temporarily laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be returning by late August.   All staff will receive pre-coronavirus pay in mid-July.  Mayo says some employees will return to the Rochester campus while others will be working from home. The pay cuts and furloughs affecting around 30-thousand employees were announced in April. Mayo says patient levels reached 85 to 90 percent by mid-June.

Weather forecasters are asking the public about some of its terminology. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service are thinking of eliminating the term "advisory." A senior forecaster in the Twin Cities tell WQOW-TV in Eau Claire that people are confused with the terms "watch" and "advisory." A watch is when conditions are favorable for dangerous weather, and advisories are issued when storms pose little threat. The survey is available on weather-dot-gov.

There’s still going to be a Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee next August, but it’s going to look very different.  State delegations have been told not to travel to the city and the convention has been moved from the Fiserv Forum to the Wisconsin Center.  There will be satellite events around the country.  Delegates will cast their votes remotely, but former Vice President Joe Biden is still going to come to the city to formally accept his party’s nomination.  The Democratic Party made the changes based on consultations with public health officials about the coronavirus pandemic.

Minnesotans are sharing their concerns about distance learning during COVID-19 with state lawmakers.  At a House hearing Wednesday, Rochester High School student Shikha Kumar said the majority of her classes did not have any instruction or recorded live lectures, but rather material was pushed out on a weekly basis. She also told legislators there was a lack of coordination between staff about teacher office hours. Most people at the hearing agreed there's much room for improvement when it comes to distance learning.  The state Department of Education will release guidance on the next school year in late July.

 Politicians from both sides of the aisle are condemning the violent and destructive protests Tuesday night in Madison. Governor Tony Evers says he is preparing to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to protect state buildings and infrastructure. Evers said, "any single act of injustice against one person is less justice for all of us, and the people who committed these acts of violence will be held accountable." Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway says Madison Police are involved in a wide-ranging investigation. Republican leaders blamed Governor Evers and Mayor Rhodes Conway for a lack of leadership. Democratic Senator Tim Carpenter was beaten up by violent protesters and taken to the hospital.

Wisconsin cities are spending more on law enforcement efforts than they did 30 years ago, but more local tax dollars are still going to education.  The Wisconsin Policy Forum found that local communities spent just under 18 percent of their revenue on law enforcement in 1986 and 20 percent in 2018.  The report issued earlier this week put education spending at about 10 billion dollars.  Public welfare programs were second on the list of expenditures while policing was third.

The Trump administration’s extension of a freeze on temporary visas for foreign workers is impacting the attractions in the Wisconsin Dells. Business leaders there say they typically fill about 16 thousand jobs every summer and they rely heavily on the J-1 student visa program. The U-S State Department lets college students visit this country for a limited time to work and learn. The Dells program reportedly employs the second-most J-1 students in the country, but local businesses say they are going to be short about four-thousand young workers. Some businesses in the Dells community started reopening three weeks ago.

A new Explore Minnesota survey finds more than 60 percent of Minnesotans plan to take a summer leisure trip.  State Tourism Director John Edman says many are planning to stay close to home and you don't necessarily need to go far to enjoy a little weekend getaway or even a day trip somewhere in Minnesota.  Edman says the survey also shows another 50 percent of Minnesota families have at least tentative plans for fall travel in September through November.  The tourism industry has taken a big hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Marshfield Chamber of Commerce says Dairy Fest will return next month.  This year’s theme is “Dairy Strong.”  The week-long event celebrating the dairy industry will start July 12th and run through the 17th.  Organizers say public health safety guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic will be strictly followed, but they add that in-person events will be held that week.