The Durand City Council has approved the contract with the Durand-Arkansaw School District for the School Resource Officer. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says because the officer has built relationships with the students its helped the school, city, and other law enforcement agencies. The contract extends the current agreement another three years.
The incoming principal for Durand High School has already spent his first day in the district. Nick Gillis has been hired to replace Bill Clouse who is retiring at the end of the school year. Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says Gills was in town on Monday to visit the school. Gillis will officially take over as principal at the end of this school year.
A western Wisconsin firefighter is in critical condition after a firearm discharged at the scene of a fire. Cornell Area Fire Chief Dennis Klass says 35-year-old Justin Frederickson was hurt Friday responding to a fire in the Township of Willard. The chief says Frederickson was operating a hose line outside the structure when a loaded gun discharged inside. The bullet traveled through a wall and hit Frederickson in the stomach. He was taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire for surgery. Frederickson has since undergone a second surgery with a third surgery planned. Investigators say the heat in the structure caused the gun to fire.
A Rochester man is suspected of criminal vehicular homicide in a crash that left a teenager dead. Officers say a pickup driven by 34-year-old Sterling Haukom collided with a car driven by 18-year-old Erika Cruz around 10:30 Tuesday night. The impact sent both vehicles into a power pole and a fence around Lincoln Elementary School. Police said Wednesday that Cruz died of her injuries in the hospital. Witnesses said the truck appeared to be speeding. Haukom was initially jailed on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation and drunken driving.
Eau Claire elementary students will begin to return to the classroom. During last night's school board meeting, the Eau Claire School Board approved a proposal to move grades K-5 to four days a week starting April 5. District officials said they plan to keep middle and high school students in a hybrid learning model for the rest of the semester.
The Wisconsin DNR has charged three Eau Claire County men with illegally shooting a deer before the start of the 2020 gun deer season. Wardens received a complaint that the three men shot a 34 point buck near Fall Creek 30 minutes before opening day from a vehicle using a light on land the hunters had no permission to hunt on. Alex Laffey, Dion Laffey, and Eugene Heisler have been cited for numerous hunting violations and have all pleaded not guilty. The three men will be in court in April.
Backers of legislation calling for ranked-choice voting in Wisconsin say they have bipartisan support. The bill unveiled Wednesday is the first one to get any Republican support. Under a ranked-choice voting system, people casting ballots would rank the candidates by preference. If one of the candidates wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If that doesn’t happen, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. More candidates are eliminated until one of them does have a majority. Supporters say ranked-choice voting would make Wisconsin elections less politically polarized. Opponents call it too complicated and vulnerable to abuse.
Foxconn Technology Group may have yet another plan for its plant in southeastern Wisconsin. The Taiwan tech giant could start to build electric cars in Mount Pleasant. Foxconn says it has an agreement with a California start-up company called Fisker. Though Foxconn hasn’t said anything, Henrik Fisker tells the Wall Street Journal the Wisconsin facility would be an “obvious choice” for producing the vehicles. A report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says a statement from Foxconn doesn’t dismiss that possibility.
Spirit Airlines plans to offer direct flights from Milwaukee International Mitchell Airport to Orlando, Las Vegas, and L-A this summer. The nonstop flights are scheduled to begin June 24th. Spirit Airlines vice president John Kirby said, "we've had our eye on Milwaukee for a long time, and we're excited to bring our unique value proposition to the Brew City." Spirit will be the only airline serving nonstop flights to Los Angeles from Milwaukee. County officials say the addition of Spirit Airlines will create jobs and bring more economic impact to Milwaukee County.
The Milwaukee Brewers are willing to leave the roof open all year if it means more fans in the stands. The Brewers say they’re looking at ways to keep fans as safe as possible this season. The team wants to be able to fill American Family Field up to 35-percent of its capacity, but the city of Milwaukee is reportedly leaning toward something closer to ten-percent. Officials with the team and the city will do a walk-through at the ballpark on Friday.
Older drivers in Wisconsin have some more time to get a new drivers’ license. The Division of Motor Vehicles is extending the deadline for drivers 60 and older to renew their driver's licenses until May. The extension gives about 62-thousand drivers in the state more time to get to the D-M-V. Those offices were closed to walk-ins throughout the coronavirus outbreak.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is investigating the spike in natural gas prices during the recent cold snap. The P-U-C voted 5-0 Tuesday to open a formal investigation to examine the impact of the national spike in prices on consumers and the state's gas utilities. Officials say some utilities had to purchase gas at prices at least 50 times higher than the average between February 12th and 17th. The unexpected gas costs are not expected to show up on customer bills right away and may be delayed several months. P-U-C chair Katie Sieben said, "in the midst of this COVID pandemic, the last thing needed are additional bills hitting Minnesota families and businesses."
Authorities are naming the suspect fatally shot by police during a carjacking and chase Sunday in Anoka and Isanti counties. The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office says 21-year-old Dominic Koch of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin died of multiple gunshot wounds. Anoka police dog Bravo was shot during the exchange of gunfire and was treated at the U of M Veterinary Medical Center and is recovering at home. The B-C-A says Koch and 24-year-old Joseph Heroff from Hammond, Wisconsin carjacked a vehicle in a Kohls parking in lot in Blaine and later carjacked a truck in Isanti County. The truck was disabled and investigators say shots were exchanged, killing Koch and wounding Bravo the K-9. Heroff is charged with first-degree robbery and fleeing police.
A 46-year-old Pewaukee man will be sentenced in June for illegally obtaining more than a million dollars from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Thomas E. Smith entered a guilty plea to federal bank fraud charges Tuesday in Milwaukee. Prosecutors say Smith got the money by filing applications on behalf of eight different companies. Those applications contained numerous false and misleading statements about the companies' operations. Smith then got kickbacks from his co-conspirators.
Oshkosh Defense will build mail trucks for the U-S Postal Service. The contract announced this week is part of an effort to make the post office more environmentally-friendly with a new fleet of electric vehicles. Oshkosh will make at least 50-thousand next-generation mail trucks, but the contract could be extended to 165-thousand vehicles. The postal service will pay Oshkosh Defense at least 482-million dollars.
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