The U-S Army Corps of Engineers reports the navigation season is over on the Upper Mississippi River. The motor vessel "The Colonel" locked through Lock and Dam 2 near Hastings Monday, marking the unofficial end to the 2020 season. The 2019 season ended two days earlier on November 28th. The "R. Clayton McWhorter" was the first tow of the season when it locked through on April 6th.
A Menomonie man who was a teacher at Eau Claire North High School has been charged with seven felony charges of possession of child pornography. Todd Williams was charged with the crimes after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip to Menomonie Police about multiple images of child pornography from an email linked to Williams. In November, officers seized multiple electronics from Williams and found 36 images believed to be child pornography. Williams next court appearance is December 15.
Deer hunters in Western Wisconsin increased the number of deer harvested during the 9 day gun season. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural resources, hunters registered 1466 deer in Pepin County, 2584 in Pierce county, 3298 in Buffalo County and Dunn County had 5044 deer registered during the gun deer season. Statewide, hunters registered 188,712 deer for the gun deer season. Since archery season opened in September, 305,171 deer have been registered by hunters.
Nestle is investing 50-million dollars to expand its manufacturing facility in Eau Claire. The company says it expects to add 70 new jobs. Nestle officials say the investment is to increase annual production, to meet a growing global demand for company products. The new positions are in processing, packaging, mechanics and engineering. The investment will also increase the company's sustainability efforts, and eliminate all straws on product packaging. Nestle has already started hiring people to fill the new positions.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum has found that fatal traffic crashes and crash fatalities both increased, during the early months of the pandemic in Wisconsin -- even as motorists drove less. Also, the number of citations issued by the Wisconsin State Patrol for speeds of 100 miles an hour or greater had more than doubled this year, through October.
A former candidate for the 3rd congressional district is distancing himself from the lawsuit by the Trump Campaign to overturn the election results. The campaign has listed Darrek Van Orden as one of the plaintiffs in the case, but on Tuesday, Van Orden posted on social media that his name was being used without his permission. Van Orden went on to say that he was not involved in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the election in Wisconsin. Van Orden lost to incumbent Ron Kind in the November election.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is strongly hinting that he could extend COVID closures of bars, restaurants and gyms beyond December 18th. Walz points to the spike in the pandemic, even though a vaccine is on the horizon. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt responded, "instead of saying, let's close movie theaters, let's ask the question, how do we keep movie theaters open, or how do we keep health clubs open, or how do we keep restaurants open." Three-thousand-570 new COVID cases and 22 deaths were reported Tuesday.
Republican
lawmakers are proposing the creation of a 100-million-dollar fund to
pay for Wisconsin’s coronavirus response. Assembly Speaker
Robin Vos revealed the package of legislative initiatives Tuesday
night. It includes legislative oversight of a vaccine
distribution plan, doubling the size of the public health staff
dealing with the pandemic, and payments of 371-dollars to parents of
students who have done at least half of their learning outside the
classroom since September. The package would limit the power of
local health officials when it comes to ordering closures or
restricting capacities. Teachers would have to be physically
present in school buildings by the end of next month.
A
western Missouri judge has ruled he wants to hear from public health
officials before he allows a murder defendant to have in-person
meetings with his lawyers. Garland Nelson is facing the death
penalty for allegedly killing two Wisconsin brothers.
Coronavirus restrictions have prevented Nelson from being in the same
room with his defense team members at the Caldwell County Jail.
Prosecutors say he killed 24-year-old Justin and 35-year-old Nicholas
Diemel of Shawano County over a business debt in July 2019.
Their remains were found on Nelson’s farm near Braymer three months
later.
A Waukesha County judge has issued a temporary injunction blocking Governor Tony Evers’ office from releasing a list of businesses that have had a customer or employee test positive for COVID-19. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce had taken the case to court. Spokesperson Kurt Bauer called the list misleading and said it would make things difficult for Wisconsin businesses that are already struggling. The governor has said the list would simply help people make informed decisions about where they decide to shop or eat.
As expected, the Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Wisconsin's election results In the lawsuit, filed directly with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Trump campaign is challenging 221,323 absentee ballots cast in Dane and Milwaukee Counties, including all in-person absentee ballots cast in those counties, which went solidly for Democrat Joe Biden. The suit asks the justices to void Governor Tony Evers' certification of the state's election results, which showed Biden leading Trump by 20,682 votes after the recount in the two counties.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says the just-completed recount shows the state’s general election was conducted professionally and securely. The Democrat tweeted Monday that claims of election fraud are baseless. He says he has every confidence that what he calls a “disgraceful Jim Crow strategy” for mass disenfranchisement of voters will fail. Kaul says Wisconsin elections are decided by the will of the voters – not post-election legal maneuvering.
A federal judge has sentenced a Minnesota man to six-and-a-half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drug charges. Thirty-seven-year-old Jermaine Stapleton was arrested earlier this year in Menomonie when authorities found meth, heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in his vehicle. Stapleton and his girlfriend, Ashley Speicher, were caught when they drove to St. Paul, Minnesota, to meet with Travis Hanson, a man who was under surveillance as part of a drug investigation. Speicher was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in federal prison.
A dramatic turnaround in Minnesota's state budget picture during the COVID-19 pandemic. The just released forecast predicts a 641-million-dollar surplus, although a one-point-three-billion-dollar shortfall persists in the 2022-23 biennium. The significant surplus compares to a two-point-four-billion-dollar deficit in the early May forecast. This new positive number gives lawmakers and the governor a preliminary snapshot for when they set the new two-year state budget beginning in January. It also has immediate information on how much money is available for a state assistance package for restaurants and bars closed by COVID.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is holding a public meeting later this week to discuss a proposed change to the length limit for musky fish in Butternut Lake. The change being considered would remove a 28-inch minimum and replace it with a 40-inch minimum. The D-N-R says there is no longer a reason to promote selective fishing of medium-sized fish – making the previous limit unnecessary moving forward. The meeting is set for Thursday.
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