The construction of the softball fields at Tarrant Park will continue this spring. During this week's Durand-Arkansaw School Board meeting, the board approved having Durand Builders as the general contractor to build the Plaza, Concession Stand, and Dugouts. Due to some foundation issues, the cost of this part of the project is above budget, but the board is hopeful that those foundation issues can be resolved.
Pepin County has a new highway commissioner. At this week's county board meeting supervisors voted to confirm the appointment of Chris Bates as the commissioner. The board also received an update on the highway shop construction and that project is currently on schedule and on budget.
FEMA and the State of Wisconsin are planning on opening a vaccine clinic in Eau Claire starting April 8th. The clinic will be at the Zorn Arean and will provide 3500 weekly vaccine doses and up to 7000 first doses weekly based on supply. The Eau Claire County Health Department with help from students and staff from UW-Eau Claire College of Nursing and Health Sciences will be administering the vaccine. This will be the second mass vaccination clinic site to open in Wisconsin.
Two men from Dunn County have been arrested in connection with a break-in of a Chippewa County home. According to the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called to a home in the town of Sigel Wednesday morning for a home invasion. Deputies located 23yr old Quinnten Schug of Knapp and 25yr old Antonio Obrien of Menomonie were arrested and admitted to being responsible for the home invasion. Deputies also found a loaded gun and facemasks and they believe it was a targeted burglary and illegal drug use was the reason for the home invasion.
A Rice Lake man is facing two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, operating while intoxicated causing injury, and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration causing injury after he crashed into an Amish Buggy February 18th. Two people were in the buggy and a 17yr old died a week after the accident while the victim's brother was not injured. Anderson was taken to the hospital for a blood draw which came back at .085. Anderson was released on a $10,000 signature bond and is ordered to not have contact with the victim's family and cannot drink or go anywhere that alcohol is sold. His next court date is April 9th.
A 53-million-dollar mixed-use development could become the next step for Eau Claire’s historic Cannery District. A Duluth company made its pitch to the city redevelopment authority Wednesday. P-and-R Companies wants to build two five-story structures that would offer 10-thousand square feet of retail space on the lower levels and 240 apartments above. Details will be negotiated over the next 90 days and Eau Claire Economic Development Manager Aaron White says construction could start in the next year or so.
If you were planning on getting an early start to yard waste burning this weekend, maybe reconsider. National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Sandstrom says the risk for fires is high, especially in northern Wisconsin. Those winds, combined with dry air across the state will make it very easy for fires to spread and become dangerous.
Don’t circle it on your calendar, but the Department of Health Services deputy secretary says at the pace people are being vaccinated herd immunity is possible for Wisconsin by July. Julie Willems Van Dijk made that forecast Thursday. She says there will be enough COVID-19 vaccine in the state by the end of June to immunize 80-percent of the people over the age of 16 in the state. Starting Monday, two-million Wisconsinites between the ages of 16-and-64 become eligible if they have one of several pre-existing medical conditions. Willems Van Dijk says everyone will be eligible for a shot no later than May 1st.
The signing of a one-point-two-million-dollar contract Thursday gets a major upgrade to Wisconsin’s unemployment computer system going. The Department of Workforce Development had already received a two-point-four-million-dollar federal grant to bring the 50-year-old system up-to-date. Governor Tony Evers says a new call center will operate 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The governor has blamed the aging system for causing delays of months – in some cases – for Wisconsin residents applying for unemployment benefits.
A fast-growing Twin Cities-based distillery says it is moving a major chunk of its operation to Wisconsin because of restrictive Minnesota liquor laws. Tattersall Distilling will open a second large production facility this fall in River Falls. Owners say the production and sales caps imposed by Minnesota on distilleries do not exist in Wisconsin. Founder Jon Kreidler told the Star Tribune Tattersall continues to grow, but Minnesota's liquor laws aren't growing with them. The new 75-thousand square foot Wisconsin facility will handle the bulk of production once it is up and running and could become the company headquarters, though that decision has not officially been made.
Wisconsin businessman Jere Fabick says he wants a ban on absentee ballot drop boxes and some other election practices. Fabick says they aren’t authorized under Wisconsin state statutes. Fabick filed a lawsuit with the Wisconsin Supreme Court Monday. In addition to getting rid of drop boxes, he wants municipal clerks prohibited from filling in missing witness information on those absentee ballots and he wants to stop ballot harvesting. Fabick’s suit isn’t seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in the state last November. He just wants the practices ended for future elections.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is devoting attention to bringing COVID-19 data available to the public up-to-date. Public health officials say Wisconsin is “woefully behind” when it comes to offering accurate numbers. They say they are worried the public won’t understand when the numbers change so dramatically -- overnight in some cases. Officials at the D-H-S say they fell behind last fall when COVID-19 cases were spiking. The process to verify all the numbers has sped up in the last two weeks.
Minnesota is one of just eight states that doesn’t have any of its residents charged in the January 6th insurrection at the U-S Capitol. U-S-A Today is reporting 304 people in 42 states now face criminal charges. Some were members of extremist groups. C-B-S News is reporting 29 Texas residents face federal charges – more than any other state. Pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building on the day Congress was to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election.
A Washington County Sheriff’s deputy has been cleared of criminal charges for a fatal shooting February 3rd. The District Attorney’s Office determined nine-year veteran Deputy Lee Goodman was justified when he shot 30-year-old Nicholas S. Pingel to death. Pingel had broken into an elderly couple’s home and shot 72-year-old Ray Engelking to death, then went next door, stole a shotgun, and fatally wounded 77-year-old Carl Halvorsen. Goodman has returned to regular service.
A St. Paul woman is honoring her late husband by making a 60-million-dollar donation to the Mayo Clinic. The money given by philanthropist Helen Houle will be used to build the newest patient bed tower at Saint Mary’s in Rochester. John Nasseff died in 2018 at the age of 93. He had been a regular supporter of St. Mary’s after his son had life-saving surgery there. Nasseff Tower is the first building on the campus to be named after a former Mayo patient.
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