The City of Durand is looking at a major repair to the waste water treatment plant. On Monday one of the 50 ton shafts inside one of the RBC units snapped. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says it will not be a cheap repair. Currently the plant is running at ½ capacity, but is still meeting all DNR requirements for wastewater treatment.
The Mondovi City Council will explore an ordinance that would regulate the holding of thrift sales in public parks. The issue came up during this weeks meeting when the city administrator notified members that a private citizen was going to hold a thrift sale at Tourist Park. The administrator told the council there were no rules against a private citizen holding a thrift sale in a public park. Council members are concerned that with no rules whatsoever there could be questions or issues surrounding disposal of unsold items where and when sales are held in public parks.
One person is dead after an accident in Chippewa County on Thursday. According to the Chippwea County Sheriffs Department 21yr old Rachael Brewer of Wapaca was westbound on Hwy 29 when she lost control of her vehicle and went into the north ditch and hit a tree. Brewer was pronounced dead at the scene and speed is believed to be a factor in the accident.
La Crosse Police are reporting the department’s largest fentanyl seizure in history. Three people have been arrested. Investigators were reportedly conducting surveillance of an apartment building when they spotted one of their suspects, Jesse J. Stringer, leaving. While Stringer was being arrested, an Emergency Response Team served a warrant, taking two more people into custody. Authorities say Stringer, Caprice Washington, and Jerrad Simms are scheduled to make their initial appearances in La Crosse County Circuit Court this (Thursday) afternoon. E-R-T officers say Simms tried to get away by jumping out a window when they entered, but he was quickly arrested.
It could cost more to heat your home this year. Xcel Energy says due to an expected colder winter than last year and and increase in the price of natural gas, those customers could see their home heating bills rise by as much as 9% this winter.
A 51-year-old suspect from Wisconsin Dells faces federal felony charges in the plot against Michigan’s governor. Brian Higgins is the 14th person to be arrested. He is accused of helping the group plan to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home. Federal investigators say he let the group use his night-vision goggles for surveillance of the home and used a mounted dash camera to record it – to help the group formulate its kidnapping plans. Higgins is charged with material support of an act of terrorism. He was arrested Thursday and will be extradited to Antrim County District Court in Michigan for arraignment.
Wisconsin's unemployment rate dropped to five-point-four percent in September. The state's jobless rate was six-point-three percent in August. The Department of Workforce Development says Wisconsin employers added 23-thousand-800 total non-farm jobs and 13-thousand-700 private sector jobs last month. Wisconsin has 178-thousand-400 fewer jobs that it did one year ago. The U-S unemployment rate was seven-point-nine percent in September.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is applauding the Minnesota Senate for passing the nearly one-point-nine-billion dollar bonding bill. Walz said it's a smart investment that will create thousands of good-paying jobs and deliver improvements to local projects throughout Minnesota. Senate D-F-L Leader Susan Kent says it will fund road and bridge repairs, access to safe drinking water, affordable housing, public safety, and upkeep for colleges and universities. G-O-P Majority Leader Paul Gazelka says the bill also includes 200-million dollars in tax relief for small businesses and farmers. The measure already passed the House and now awaits the governor's signature.
Minnesota's fight against chronic wasting disease (CWD) is getting some federal funding. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced the U-S-D-A is awarding more than 546-thousand dollars to help combat the contagious neurological disorder that is affecting the deer population. Senator Smith says the money will help the Minnesota D-N-R, Board of Animal Health, and Grand Portage Band address and prevent the spread of the disease. C-W-D was confirmed this week on a white-tailed deer farm in Houston County.
Dreams of 50 thousand visitors to Milwaukee and national television exposure were squashed last summer by the coronavirus pandemic. Now, it looks like the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee will wind up "in the red." It raised almost 43 million dollars for a convention that never arrived. A filing with the Federal Election Commission shows the host committee still has more than one-and-a-half million dollars in the bank, but the final operating expenses will be more than that. The chairman of the host committee’s board of directors, John W. Miller, says he’s confident the group will be able to come up with the money – without Milwaukee covering any of it.
The 2021 city budget released by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway cuts funding for the police department by two million dollars. The mayor acknowledges that’s less of a funding reduction than many people wanted, but she points to what she calls “skyrocketing gun violence,” expanding population, and unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rhodes-Conway says she’s been asking the police union to reopen contract negotiations since May, but leaders have declined. The budget will be reviewed by the Common Council and should be adopted sometime next month.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is taking the legal fight over absentee ballots to the U-S Supreme Court. Evers filed an amicus brief in the High Court with Justice Brett Kavanaugh Wednesday. He’s asking that a district court judge’s ruling be reinstated. It would allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received on or before November 9th. The governor’s brief says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a dangerous situation for Wisconsin voters. He points to the recent surge in cases, saying it will cause more people to vote absentee. Evers says calls the judge’s ruling a “limited measure” to protect voting rights. The U-S Supreme Court is expected to rule quickly.
The U-S Department of Justice says Operation Legend has resulted in 54 more arrests in Milwaukee. Agents say 25 defendants face drug charges and 25 face firearms-related charges. Four have been charged with other violent crimes. Operation Legend started in early summer with dozens of federal investigators arriving in Milwaukee to join the efforts to reduce violent crime. The feds say more than five thousand violent criminals have been taken into custody all across the country.
Two University of Wisconsin students say they were just out for an evening walk Tuesday when they found a safe near the Kohl Center. It was on fire. The startling discovery eventually led Madison Police to find out that a coffee shop had been burglarized. As soon as firefighters put out the flames, a police officer observed the safe had been pried open. Inside time cards from Porter Coffee, a business on West Washington Avenue. A check found the front door had been forced open. A shop employee told investigators a computer was among items that were missing and a construction worker informed police a crowbar had been taken from a work site. No arrests have been reported.
Minneapolis-based U-S Bank says it will close another 400 branches nationwide by early 2021. The bank says three-fourths of its transactions currently occur on its website or app. Most of the additional branches slated for closure have already been shut down in response to COVID-19. Executives say the pandemic sped up the ongoing shift to digital banking.
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