Local-Regional News July 24

The Durand City Hall will remain open for public traffic. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the while city hall is still open, the city would prefer if residents mailed in or use the payment box outside of city hall for payments.  The city is also encouraging residents to vote absentee in the upcoming primary election.

Governor Evers is looking at cutting another $250 million from the state budget due to the covid-19 pandemic. For local school districts, the timing of those budget cuts could make it difficult for them to balance their budgets. Durand-Arakansaw Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the district is now operating under their 2020-2021 budget, but still planning on different scenarios.  The district did have some funds left over from last year which will help cover any reductions from the state of Wisconsin.

 

A Chippewa Falls woman who stabbed another person during a fight at an Eau Claire hotel will spend the next four years on probation. Authorities said that Taylor Simpson got into a fight back in April and stabbed a person several times. Simpson pleaded no contest to aggravated battery with use of a dangerous weapon.

A Rochester man will spend more than 21 years in federal for dealing methamphetamine in Olmsted County.  Fifty-year-old Dwight Barnes was sentenced after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute meth.  The U-S Attorney's Office says Barnes received at least four packages containing meth from the West Coast between May and October 2017.  Rochester police seized a fifth package that contained two pounds of the drug.

The WIAA has approved a two tier schedule to reopen high school sports this season. Low contact and impact sports are set to start in August, with higher contact sports to start in September. WIAA director Dave Anderson says that these openings are dependent on how active COVID-19 is in an area.  High school football will run with just a six game schedule and three weeks of playoffs.

The state ag department wants to help people in the ag industry catch people heading into a mental health crisis before it happens. Wisconsin Farm Center director Jayne Krull says they're offering special training called Q P R or Question, Persuade, Refer.  Krull says this is one part of the Evers Administration's efforts to improve mental wellness for the state's farmers and to get help to people in need. For more info or to sign up for a course, go to Farm Center dot W I dot Gov.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has extended the state’s utility disconnection moratorium until September 1st.  The increasing number of COVID-19 cases was the driving factor behind the commission’s decision.  It means Wisconsin utilities won’t be able to disconnect service when customers aren’t able to pay their bills.  The P-S-C says residents struggling with finances during the pandemic may be eligible for assistance from the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program.

A new survey of Minnesota teachers finds distance learning is the most popular choice for public schools in the fall.   Forty-nine-percent of respondents in the Education Minnesota survey said they preferred distance learning,  29 percent prefer hybrid classes while 17 percent favor a return to in-person classes.  More than 20-thousand members of the teachers union took part in the survey July 16th through 20th.   A group of teachers will march and caravan to the Governor's Residence today, calling for continued distance-learning this fall unless disease-prevention measures inside schools dramatically improve.

A western Wisconsin man who won a 22-million-dollar Powerball jackpot is following through on a promise to share his winnings.  Tom Cook of Elk Mound and Joseph Feeney of Menomonie shook hands in 1992 and swore that if either of them won the lottery, they would split the jackpot.  A Powerball ticket that Cook bought for the June 10th drawing matched all the numbers.  Cook says he called Feeney to tell him the news and he couldn't believe it.  His fishing buddy asked, "are you jerking my bobber?"  They each took home nearly six-million dollars after the cash option and federal and state taxes.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission says requests for absentee ballots suggest a big voter turnout for the fall elections.  A report Wednesday shows officials have received more than 740 thousand applications for an absentee ballot for the August primary.  That’s more than all the ballots cast in the August primary in 2016 and almost six times the number of absentee ballots cast that year.  The commission says nearly 200 thousand of the absentee ballots mailed out have already been returned.

University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson says the system has already endured enough cuts in state funding.  Governor Tony Evers ordered an additional 250 million dollars in cuts to overall state funding Wednesday.  It isn’t clear how much of that burden would fall on the U-W System.  Thompson says he’s going to sit down with Evers and explain that the system has already seen too many budget cuts.  Evers says the coronavirus pandemic is cutting into Wisconsin’s bottom line and some spending reductions are necessary.

 Wisconsin doctors report suspected opioid overdoses have more than doubled during the coronavirus pandemic.  Wisconsin hospital emergency departments report 325 suspected overdoses between March and last week.  That’s a 117-percent increase from the 150 suspected overdoses during the same period last year.  Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm says financial pressures can make behavioral and substance abuse problems worse.  Calls to the state’s helpline have been increasing at the same time.

President Donald Trump plans to deploy federal troops in Milwaukee in the next few weeks.  Trump has been threatening to send federal law enforcement to several U-S cities to quell violent protests and deter violent crime.  The White House website says, "over the next 3 weeks, the Justice Department plans to further expand the initiative into Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee."  Federal forces are already on the ground in Portland, Oregon as a response to violent protests and riots.  President Trump accuses Democratic mayors of being weak and afraid of so-called anarchists -- and said "that’s why they say we don’t want the federal government helping."

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation says Foxconn is going to have to wait for its tax breaks from the state.  W-E-D-C Secretary Missy Hughes says her office is continuing to discuss aligning the contract with the project as it is now taking shape.  The Evers administration says the operation in Mount Pleasant has been downgraded.  That’s why there is resistance to paying Foxconn under the terms of the deal it reached with former Governor Scott Walker.  The company’s latest jobs report shows it has hired more than the 520 full-time workers needed to get its tax breaks for 2019.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a police reform package into law today the legislature passed Monday just before finishing its special session.  Walz says, "Every single person, every single Minnesotan, deserves to feel safe and protected in their communities. This bi-partisan piece of legislation moves us towards a critical step towards criminal justice reform."  But the governor emphasized "work doesn’t end today" and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan called the legislation a "first step."  It prohibits officers from using chokeholds, they can’t receive paid warrior-style training, and officers must intervene if another officer is using excessive force.  There’s additional training for officers to better handle situations involving those with mental illness or autism.

Just three hours after he had been bound over for trial on drug charges, a Crandon man was found carrying a big stash of drugs on his motorcycle.  Twenty-six-year-old Aaron Morris is being held in the Forest County Jail.  When he was pulled over last week for operating a vehicle with a revoked driver’s license, officers say they found bags of fentanyl, crack cocaine and meth.  Morris made a court appearance at 3:30 p-m and the traffic stop was at 6:30.  Based on the large amount of drugs in his possession, the area drug task force is recommending more than a half-dozen felony charges be filed.