The Pepin County Board of Supervisors voted 11-1 last night to lock down the government center. The center will revert back to the policies of the summer where residents that need to meet with a county employee or department will have to call ahead and schedule an appointment and all the entrances to the building will be locked. Residents will be encouraged to conduct county business by phone, email, or regular mail. The building will be open on election day as it is a voting site for Town of Waubeek voters.
The Pepin County Health Department has issued a new health alert due to the increase in covid-19 cases. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the county has 161 positive covid 19 cases as of Thursday. Because of the spike Durand-Arkansaw Schools have started remote learning, the Durand City Hall will be locking down after election day and the Pepin County Government Center will also be locking down.
The Durand-Arkansaw School Board has approved the budget for the 2020-2021 school year. Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says while on paper there was a budget deficit, the board was able to move some money from last years budget to this year to cover that deficit.
The City of Durand received a pleasant surprise for the upcoming budget. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says heath insurance costs will not rise as much as expected. The final budget hearing is scheduled for November 18.
Removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species list sets up another political battle in Minnesota because a recreational wolf hunt requires state authorization. Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan have both said they oppose wolf hunting. Minnesota Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap says farmers and ranchers need to be able to protect livestock and pets but added "it doesn't have to be necessarily a hunt." Maureen Hackett with the group Howling for Wolves says "the vast majority of Minnesotans... want the wolf protected for future generations." D-N-R officials say they're far from making any decision on a wolf hunt and have extended their public comment period until November 20th.
Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic and some Wisconsin businesses are barely hanging on. The October coronavirus business and economic impact survey by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh illustrates how critical the situation is. Nine percent of Wisconsin businesses say they have no more than three months before they will have to close for good. The poll-takers are finding a sharp decrease in business confidence in the state. They say they don’t expect any more federal help and figure the pandemic will continue to impact day-to-day operations for anywhere from nine months to a full year.
A cyberattack has reportedly resulted in more than two-million dollars being stolen from the Wisconsin Republican Party. G-O-P chair Andrew Hitt says they discovered they were victims of a sophisticated phishing attack last Thursday. Party officials contacted the F-B-I after confirming two-point-three-million dollars was missing. Hitt claims hackers lifted the cash by manipulating information in e-mails and invoices to vendors the party was using on the presidential campaign. Hitt says the national party had warned state parties about potential cyberattacks, but "unfortunately, one slipped through the cracks."
A ruling by a federal appeals court means that all absentee ballots in Minnesota must be returned by 8 p-m on Election Day. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court ruling that allowed ballots postmarked by November 3rd to be counted within seven days of the election. The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office extended the deadline due to increased demand for absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump campaign and Republicans argued the action violated the Constitution - and the federal appeals judges agreed. Minnesota D-F-L chair Ken Martin said in a statement, "the Republican Party is responsible for potentially disenfranchising thousands of Minnesotans who were prepared to vote by mail in the coming days."
A 65-year-old Racine man has been arrested and charged in a 1986 murder cold case from Green Bay. Lou Archie Griffin was taken into custody early Wednesday morning. Court papers show investigators trailed Griffin in Racine last month and pulled his D-N-A off a couple of beer cans and a cigarette. That linked him to the killing of 22-year-old Lisa Holstead. Her body was found partially submerged in a swamp now known as the Ken Euers Nature Area 34 years ago. Griffin initially denied that he ever saw Holstead. When confronted with the D-N-A evidence, he told investigators he must have had sex with her, but he never killed her. Griffin is due back in Brown County Circuit Court December 10th.
U-S Senator Tammy Baldwin is applauding the Navy's decision to name the next Columbia class submarine the "U-S-S Wisconsin." Baldwin says "this is a real honor to our proud shipbuilding tradition and the men and women of our state who have worked hard to support this class of submarines." Baldwin introduced a bipartisan resolution and led the Wisconsin delegation's request to the secretary of the Navy to name a submarine the U-S-S Wisconsin. The last Navy vessel to bear the name served in every major U-S conflict after it was launched in 1944 until it was de-commissioned in 1991.
Under an emergency rule created Wednesday by the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, fire departments will have to file a report any time they use firefighting foam that contains PFAS (PEE foss), also known as “forever chemicals.” The decision prohibits the use of those chemicals during training exercises. They can be used for emergency firefighting, fire prevention operations, and testing purposes as long as guidelines are followed. Concerned citizens have testified about contamination of their drinking water. PFAS are sometimes found in meat and fish, too. The rule still needs to be signed by the governor and approved by a joint committee of the Legislature.
During a Wednesday Dane County Circuit Court appearance a not guilty plea was entered on behalf of a man accused of protesting outside a Madison restaurant earlier this year. Devonere Johnson and two other men were accused of demanding free food and drinks. Johnson, Gregg James, and William Shanley had allegedly said they wouldn’t destroy the restaurants if they complied. James and Shanley are scheduled to return to court next month.
In a split decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided it will hear a challenge to the governor’s authority to declare multiple emergencies during a single pandemic. The high court’s three liberal judges dissented, pointing out there is already a challenge case filed in Polk County. The court voted Wednesday to hear the case filed by Waukesha County resident Jere Fabick. He says Governor Evers overreached his authority in issuing multiple orders rather than going through the Wisconsin Legislature. The Department of Justice is representing the governor. It argued there’s nothing in the law restricting the governor to only one emergency response.
Border patrol agents say they seized more than 400 counterfeit hand-sanitizing stations at the International Falls Port of Entry. U-S Customs and Border Protection officers targeted a rail container bound for Ranier and discovered Android hand-sanitizing stations that were in violation of intellectual property rights regulations. The C-B-P seized 440 of these stations, which would have had a retail price of more than one-million dollars had they been real. International Falls Port Director Anthony Jackson said counterfeiting adversely affects the ability of lawful copyright holders to profit from their original ideas. He says counterfeiting also harms consumers because manufacturers of forged products have little motivation to use safe, high-quality materials in their products.
Students at UW-Madison are being asked to tone it down this Halloween. Both the city of Madison and the university are urging students not to party or get together Saturday night. The big worry is that students will spread the coronavirus. Madison’s mayor reminds students that public gatherings are limited to ten people indoors, and 25 people outdoors.
Golden Valley, MN firefighters say if a passerby and two park maintenance workers hadn’t been there, a Wednesday morning house fire could have been fatal. Three people who were inside the burning home were rescued. Fire Chief John Crelly says it was a very fast-moving fire that destroyed the townhome and if the people living there hadn’t been alerted, the outcome could have been worse. Seven other fire departments responded to help with the two-alarm fire. No injuries were reported and no names have been released.
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