A free covid testing site was held on November 24th in Durand. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the site tested over 50 people. Another free testing day will be held on December 8th from 10am-6pm at the Pepin County Highway Shop in Durand.
One person was injured in a car vs dump truck accident in Spring Lake Township on Tuesday. According to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, 82yr old Jerry Larson of Spring Valley was traveling southbound on Hwy 128 and was making a left hand turn onto 850th Ave when he turned in front of a northbound dump truck driven by 61yr old Kevin Larson of Baldwin. Jerry Larson was transported to Mayo Hospital in Menomonie. The morning sun is believed to be a factor in that accident.
The
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public
meeting to discuss a proposed change to the walleye regulations for
Lake Menomin in Dunn County on Dec. 8.
The
proposed fishing regulation change would remove the special
regulations of a daily bag limit of five walleye over 15 inches in
length and replace it with nearby Tainter Lake’s (Ceded Territory)
current regulations. The DNR published the notice for
the proposed regulation change in November.
The
DNR will host a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.
to provide information. The public is encouraged to comment on the
proposed fishing rule change.
For more information, visit the DNR Website.
Wisconsinites
have two upcoming opportunities to weigh in on deer hunting across
the state. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will
host virtual public meetings in each county to discuss deer
management Dec. 7-18 and a separate virtual public hearing Dec. 9 on
the current white-tailed deer hunting season. Buffalo County's Deer
Advisory Council meeting is December 15th
at 7pm, Dunn County December 9 at 6:30pm, Pepin County December 8th
at 6:30pm and Pierce County's Deer Advisory Council meeting is
December 17th
at 7pm. The fall of 2020 marks the end of the last three-year cycle
and meetings are being held this winter to determine the herd size
objectives for the next three years (2021-2023). Councils develop
their recommendations using two meetings separated by a public input
period to provide transparency and multiple opportunities for public
input.
The
man shot by officers on November 22nd
in the Town of Washington has been identified. According to the Eau
Claire County Sheriffs Department, officers responded to a call for a
domestic disturbance on the afternoon of November 22nd.
Deputies became concerned after the events inside the home became
more heated and a women and three children were evacuated from the
home. Deputies tired to de-escalate the situation but 37yr old Randy
La Coursiere armed himself with knives and began injuring himself and
eventually had to be shot by deputies. He died at the scene.
President-elect Joe Biden and the D-N-C are asking the State Supreme Court to let them argue in the Trump Campaign's challenge to the state's election. In paperwork filed on Wednesday, President-elect Biden says that the Trump lawsuit represents a very real danger to the state electors that ought to be casting votes for him later this month after he won the state's 10 electoral votes. The motion says that Biden is not being represented in the case, due to the fact that the Trump Campaign has sued Governor Evers for signing the certification for the election. The State Supreme Court has not yet scheduled a hearing for the lawsuit.
The Trump campaign has filed yet another lawsuit, this one against the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The suit filed Wednesday in federal court accuses commissioners of performing “unlawful and unconstitutional acts” during last month’s presidential election. The mayor of the five biggest cities in Wisconsin are included, for installing absentee ballot drop boxes that allegedly didn’t have proper security protocols in place. The federal suit follows by one day a suit in Wisconsin state courts that calls for tens of thousands of votes in Dane and Milwaukee counties to be thrown out.
Governor Tim Walz is certifying the results from the 2020 election in Minnesota. Walz signed 21 Certificates of Election Wednesday - ten for Minnesota's presidential electors, ten for alternate presidential electors, and one for the U-S Senate. President-elect Joe Biden won the state by nearly eight points and Democratic Senator Tina Smith won re-election in November. Walz said, “In an election like none other in our history, Minnesotans across the state made their voices heard and the results of this election are clear." Nearly three-point-three million votes or 79-point-96 percent of Minnesota voters participated in the General Election.
The troubled Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development is reporting it overpaid 44-million dollars to people receiving unemployment benefits. One woman says she got a notice from the state asking her to payback 16-thousand-200 dollars. Stephanie Russell says she got benefits for three or four weeks, but nothing close to 16-thousand dollars. A D-W-D official says the department can waive the overpayment if it is at fault. The problem is, the legal definition of “departmental error” has changed. About 62-thousand benefit recipients waited weeks – and even months – to get checks from the state. Now, they are being told to pay some or all of it back.
Staffing shortages at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections has forced a decision to shut down one cell hall at the Waupun Correctional Institution. That will reduce the number of inmates in the aging facility by about 20-percent. State officials say most of the 220 inmates being moved to other locations are “medium-security” individuals. They say it is possible any COVID-19 outbreaks could delay the moves which are expected to take place over the next few months. Wisconsin’s prison population is at its lowest level in two decades, giving the agency the room to make the moves.
Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor have held their second meeting on what Wisconsin should do about coronavirus relief. Hours after the Tuesday meeting at the Capitol, Republicans released a 100-million-dollar package of initiatives as a response. Governor Tony Evers had released his own proposals last month. The meet came on the same day public health officials reported the state had recorded a record 107 deaths due to the virus. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu says his Republican Party would have serious concerns about increasing spending but would be open to using surplus funds from the medical assistance program.
Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Ann Jacobs was submitting a canvass report Tuesday when one of the commissioners called for her to resign. The report confirmed that Joe Biden won the election in Wisconsin. Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson spoke up, saying Jacobs violated the law. Knudson wanted the meeting to be tabled, accusing the Democratic chair of destroying “the bipartisan nature” of the process. When the majority of the commissioners voted to proceed – rejecting Knudson – Jacobs responded, saying she wasn’t withdrawing and what she did wasn’t illegal. She told Knudson he was misinformed about what took place.
Wisconsin is one of 43 states asking Congress to extend the federal pandemic relief funds known as the CARES Act. It expires December 30th. Attorney General Josh Kaul joined the bipartisan group of attorneys general Monday. The letter sent to Congress asks the spending deadline for COVID-19 relief funds to be moved to the end of next year. The two-point-two-trillion-dollar economic stimulus bill was passed last March. Kaul says the December 30th deadline made sense, initially, but the ongoing pandemic shows that the relief should be continued.
Minnesota health officials are preparing for a three-phase rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. The state Department of Health's Kris Ehresmann says "we have been talking about the light at the end of the tunnel. It's there and it’s getting closer all the time." But Ehresmann says we do have to stay the course a bit longer before we reach it. The vaccine will likely be available to health care professionals first, the most vulnerable and then the general public. Federal vaccine approvals could start as soon as next week, but Ehresmann says the state would need another week or so to prepare for distribution. The United Kingdom has authorized emergency use of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.
High school winter sports in Minnesota could get underway in a matter of weeks. The Minnesota State High School League's board of directors is expected to vote Thursday on a plan to start the sports season on December 21st. The panel also plans to discuss models for state tournaments. The proposals came from the league's Return to Participation Task Force, which is a group of 15 activities directors and regional representatives across the state.
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission is expected to name the city’s new police chief Thursday. Interim Chief Michael J. Brunson Senior has served in that capacity since Alfonso Morales was pushed out. Morales' lawsuit still hasn’t concluded. The three finalists for the position are all from out-of-town: Dallas Police Major Malik Aziz, F-B-I Supervisory Special Agent Hoyt Mahaley, and Portland, Oregon Deputy Chief Chris Davis.
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