Local-Regional News July 8

The former Durand Library Director has been sentenced. Patricia Blount pleaded guilty to theft in a business setting greater than $10,000. Blount was sentenced to four years probation, and as a condition of her probation she must spend 120 days in jail or home arrest and was ordered to pay $29,000 in restitution, provide a written apology to the Library Board and pay court costs.

Pepin County reports a second confirmed case of Covid-19. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the case involves an individual in the western part of the county who had been traveling out of state.  Pepin County has also identified 25 close contacts, but none of the close contacts are connected to the new positive case, but are linked to confirmed cases outside of Pepin County.

The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include reports from the Mayor, City Administrator and Department Heads, and the council will go into closed session for the annual review of the City Administrator and to discuss the softball field at Tarrant Park. Tonights meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall and will be live streamed on the WRDN Facebook Page.

An order signed by Winona Mayor Mark Peterson requires people to wear masks in public.  Winona's policy comes after Mankato and Rochester approved similar orders.  Face coverings will be required in Winona starting Friday inside public buildings and anywhere social distancing is difficult.  Peterson said the order will help keep our businesses open, allow our schools and universities to open this fall, and most importantly protect the health and safety of all Winona residents."

Two Wisconsin men will spend more than seven years in federal prison for dragging a Minnesota state trooper along Interstate 90.  Thirty-year-old Montrell Smith and 31-year-old Anthony Enriquez - both from Milwaukee - pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and felony drug charges in connection with the December 2018 incident.  They were pulled over for suspicion of transporting drugs and drove off with a state trooper partially inside their vehicle.  Investigators say Trooper Doug Rauenhorst was dragged along I-90 and suffered significant injuries.  Smith and Enriquez were later arrested at a bar in Albert Lea.

The state of Wisconsin is shipping millions of cloth face masks and other types of personal protective equipment to schools, food processors and businesses.  Wisconsin Emergency Management is providing 42 hundred infrared thermometers to public, charter and private schools.  The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is sending another 60 thousand face masks to local food processors and other businesses.  When the Evers administration asked last month if Wisconsin schools were interested in the equipment, more than a thousand said yes.

  U-S Senator Ron Johnson thinks the country closed too much of its economy when the coronavirus outbreak started.  The Wisconsin Republican tells the online news publication Axios the country “overreacted” at first.  Johnson says we should have isolated the sick and protected the vulnerable.  He says the federal government needs to come up with additional plans to help businesses that are suffering.  Johnson says those businesses shouldn’t be blamed for a downturn in performance.  He calls the pandemic “an act of God.”

 

People in Dane County will have to wear a face mask indoors starting Monday to prevent the spread of coronavirus.  Public Health Madison and Dane County issued the emergency order today (Tuesday) requiring everyone over age five to wear a face covering in an enclosed building.  Director of Public Health Janel Heinrich said, "given the current number of COVID-19 infections in our county, we need to all be wearing face coverings every time we leave the house." The mask must cover a person's nose and mouth in public.  Dane County closed bars for indoor service and restricted the size of gatherings as confirmed cases among younger residents rose.

The Rochester Honkers are suspending their baseball season for a week after a player tested positive for COVID-19.    The Honkers game Tuesday night at Mankato was postponed when the case was confirmed. The team says the infected player is asymptomatic, feels well and is in isolation.   The Honkers will be off until July 14th.   The team is awaiting additional guidance from Northwoods League and health officials.

 The Baraboo Police Department reports the body of a missing ten-year-old girl has been located.  A statewide Amber Alert was issued for Kodie Dutcher Monday night.  Officers say Kodie was found dead late this morning (Tuesday) near County Highway T.  Investigators say she left behind a note that said, "Mom, I love you, but I can’t do it. Bye."  Kodie is suspected to have taken an unknown amount of pills and had threatened to harm herself.   Kodie left behind her cellphone and shoes.

Like many before it, the Central Wisconsin State Fair is cancelled, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  During a special meeting Monday, the Fair Board of Directors voted 9-2 to cancel this year's fair, scheduled for August 25-30.

The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is cancelling its football, volleyball and women's soccer seasons this fall due to COVID-19.  The presidents say they are committed to protecting the health of student athletes.  They say they considered recommendations from the C-D-C and  Minnesota Department of Health when making the decision.  Fall sports will be limited to low-risk activities such as clay targets and golf.  The Minnesota College Athletic Conference consists of 24 two-year colleges in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

A Catholic school in Richfield is getting a second hearing on possible state aid following a Supreme Court decision.  The court ruled St. Augustine School gets a new hearing for its challenge to Wisconsin’s law that allows state money to go to only one private school per school district.  The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is helping the Richfield school, saying the case is about fairness.  The high court quotes a recent ruling in Montana which changes things about the way public money can be spent on religious schools.

 The governor has given the University of Wisconsin System his approval to draft new sexual misconduct policies.  Governor Evers rejected a scope statement last month to bring the system into compliance with revisions made to Title Nine by U-S Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.  The Board of Regents has been told four new scope statements were submitted to Evers June 19th – and he signed off on them four days after rejecting the initial statements.  The policies being changed concern the rights of defendants accused of sexual misconduct.

 A property owner tells deputies with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office he was trying to shoot a woodchuck Monday morning when he missed.  The bullet ricocheted, then hit a golfer on The Golf Club at Camelot.  The accident happened at about 11:00 a-m in the Township of Lomira.  The 80-year-old golfer from Fond du Lac is expected to be fine.  No names have been released.  Investigators say the errant bullet struck a tree first, then the unfortunate golfer.