Local-Regional News August 14

The construction of the new softball fields at Tarrant Park continues. Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the top soil and other parts of the field should be installed soon. It is hoped to allow Durand Little League to use the fields next spring.

The Durand Food Pantry in conjunction with the Pepin County Dairy Promotion Committee, Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and the Hunger Relief Federation of Wisconsin will be holding a milk and cheese distribution today. The drive through distribution will be at the Durand Food Pantry in Downtown Durand from 4-6pm or until all the milk and cheese has been distributed.

The Menomonie School District and UW-Stout reached an agreement to allow the Menomonie High School Football Team to play at Williams Stadium this fall. However both the school district and university agreed that fans will not be allowed to attend the games.

UW-La Crosse is the lastest UW Campus to issue shelter in place orders for their students. The shelter-in-place order comes as the university isolation hall nears full capacity, as positive cases continue to rise among the student body. All undergraduate classes, both in-person and virtual, are suspended until Wednesday, Sep. 16. After that date, classes will begin again but only virtually. That plan will then go until Sep. 28, though officials said students may not necessarily be returning to in-person classes on that date.

The Wisconsin National Guard is sending two Black Hawk helicopters and 15 soldiers to help battle the wildfires in California. The aircraft and crews from the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation left Friday after receiving a request from California. The Wisconsin soldiers will support the California National Guard and local civilian authorities. The crews are prepared to employ water buckets to battle the flames. Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Southworth says they regularly train for search and rescue, fire suppression, and were ready to answer the call in a short amount of time.

A planned trial of a COVID-19 vaccine is restarting at UW-Health. That drug trial, run by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was halted last week after a participant in the United Kingdom had an adverse reaction to treatment. Independent agencies and UK health officials signed off on restarting the trial after an investigation. The trial is being rolled out in regions of the world where COVID-19 has hit the hardest. UW-Health will be testing the new vaccine on around 1600 people here in Wisconsin.

Brookfield Police are searching for a man who “Zoom-bombed” a virtual class for students at Central High School last week.  The suspect pretended to be a student to get access, then showed his backside to students before brandishing a handgun.  After he showed the gun, the suspect was quickly removed from the Zoom meeting.  Investigators say the suspect doesn’t live in the local community.  The school’s security system had all appropriate security measures in place at the time.  School officials say they will pursue charges related to the Thursday incident when the suspect is identified.

An attorney for one of the two girls convicted of stabbing a classmate in the 2014 “Slender Man” case is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court for relief.  Morgan Geyser’s attorney says the case should have been tried in juvenile court.  Matthew Pinx says because she thought she had to kill Payton Leutner so the fictional character wouldn’t kill her family, Geyser was acting in self-defense.  The petition was filed to the state’s high court Friday.  Geyser has been ordered to spend 40 years in a mental health institution.  Anisa Weier was given 25 years for her actions.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison says a total of 22 fraternities and sororities are now in quarantine due to high levels of COVID-19. Public Health Madison and Dane County, and U-W ordered the chapter houses to quarantine for a minimum of two weeks. The chapters were ordered to quarantine because at least one person in each house tested positive for the coronavirus. The mandatory quarantines come as the university and public health officials grapple with a massive spike in coronavirus cases when students and staff returned to campus.

 Republican state Representative Barbara Dittrich is pushing the University of Wisconsin System to give students a full refund.  She says the money should be returned because the system isn’t fulfilling the educational and housing options promised to its students.  Dittrich made the request Thursday after U-W-Madison decided it had to go virtual due to growing numbers of COVID-19 cases.  The lawmaker says if the system doesn’t take steps it would be committing fraud on those who came to Wisconsin’s universities in pursuit of a quality education.

Authorities in northwest Wisconsin are investigating a fatal crash Thursday night involving a Bruce School District bus.  The Sawyer County Sheriff's Office says an athletics bus driven by Sherrie Mataczynski of Exeland failed to yield the right of way while turning onto Highway 48 and collided head-on with a car.  Deputies say the driver - 40-year-old Renee Balko from Bruce - died at the scene.  Matacyznski was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.  Four students on the bus were treated at the scene and released to their parents.  The district says it is cooperating with the investigation.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided public health officials in Dane County lack the authority to require students to learn online.  Emergency Order Number-9 affected students in grades three-through-12.  Three separate lawsuits had been filed asking the state’s high court to allow for in-person classes.  The court issued a temporary injunction against the order Thursday.  Earlier this month, Public Health Madison and Dane County amended its order to allow children with special needs to attend classes in-person.

An executive order sign by Governor Tim Walz extends the COVID-19 peacetime emergency for another 30 days. The Minnesota House voted to support the extension Friday after Senate Republicans voted to end the governor's powers. G-O-P Representative Mary Franson of Alexandria accused Walz of promoting fear and criticized his executive decisions, including the statewide mask mandate. Walz says ending the peacetime emergency would jeopardize more than 50-million dollars a month in federal funding to respond to COVID. Friday marked the fourth special session of the legislature this summer.

 Officials with the Madison Metropolitan School District are trying to find out how a student gained access to an East High School class being held on Zoom.  That student doesn’t attend that school.  Before being removed from the video conference, what appeared to be a B-B gun was flashed on the screen.  The student was identified and the parents were contacted.  No names have been released.  A district spokesperson says discipline under the Behavior Education Plan will be administered.