93rd Assemblyman Warren Petryk will be holding listening sessions today to talk about the proposed state budget. Petryk will be in Durand at the Veteran's Memorial from 1-2pm and then at the Pleasant Valley Town Hall Parking Lot from 4-5pm. These sessions are an opportunity for the public to communicate their budget priorities with Representative Petryk before the biannual state budget process begins.
A Pepin County Sheriff's Deputy has been recognized by the Wisconsin Association of Women Police. Deputy Amanda Schwennsen was nominated by Sheriff Wener and was awarded the 2020 Merit Award for her exceptional work in Pepin County. Schwennsen was presented with the award yesterday at the Pepin County Government Center.
The City of Durand has approved the contracts for the 3rd Avenue East and Lanville Avenue projects. According to Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren, the City Approved A-1 Excavating and Skid Steer Guy for the projects. The 3rd Avenue east project will cost just over $1.2 million while the Laneville project will cost just over $1 million. The Pepin County Highway Department was awarded the contract to repave Drier Street at a cost of $19,000.
Just as the pandemic seems to be slowing down and business owners are hoping to ramp up again, some in downtown Eau Claire are worried about parking. Construction work is about to start on apartments, building renovations, and a transit center, leading to three parking lots are being shut down. Deputy city engineer Leah Ness says notices about changes to downtown parking will start going out next month. Bags will be put over the meters beginning April 1st and signs will explain the new restrictions on where you can leave your car. The same information can be found on the city engineering parking website and on the Downtown Eau Claire, Inc website.
A passenger in the car that killed three Girls Scouts and an adult supervisor three years ago is scheduled to be arraigned in Chippewa County Court next month. John Stender was in the vehicle driven by Colten Treu when it hit the victims as they were cleaning up trash along a highway in Lake Hallie. A fourth scout was injured. Stender told investigators he grabbed the steering wheel in an effort to avoid going into a ditch. He faces charges of harboring and aiding a felon and intentionally abusing a hazardous substance. He and Treu were accused of “huffing” an aerosol chemical before the incident.
Wisconsin will be providing thousands of bottles of water to some La Crosse residents because of PFAS contamination in their groundwater. 43-hundred residents of French Island near the La Crosse Airport will be getting that water over the next three months because of a contamination advisory. That's because PFAS contaminants from the La Crosse Airport have traveled downstream and gathered in private wells on the island. All but one test conducted by the DNR showed contamination. The move will cost the state around 200-thousand dollars.
A Wisconsin Policy Forum report shows the number of inmates in the state prison system has dropped to levels not seen in more than 20 years. The adult population declined almost 16-percent from the end of February 2020 to the end of last month. At a little over 19-thousand-500, the number of inmates in Wisconsin prisons is at its lowest level since 1999. The Wisconsin Policy Forum report credits state tactics designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 – including the governor’s order to suspend new prison admissions, delays in trials, and increasing use of electronic monitoring.
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank says campus life will mostly return to normal this fall. Blank wrote on her blog Thursday, "I feel confident that next semester will look more like Fall 2019 than Fall 2020, with offices occupied and throngs of students changing classes in the middle of the day." She says some unknowns remain due to the COVID pandemic. Blank also said, "we want to return to what makes UW-Madison special, and that means safely returning to our classrooms and labs for in-person learning and research." She is encouraging all students and staff get vaccinated this spring and summer.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will announce today that all Minnesotans age 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID vaccine next Tuesday. The governor's spokesman says it comes as the federal government has promised an increased supply of vaccines by April. The State Health Department's Kris Ehresmann says "that would mean for us in terms of new people that could get vaccinated each week, it ends up being about 304 thousand doses coming in, both through our federal retail pharmacy streams as well as the allocation that comes to Minnesota." The Walz-administration will direct providers to prioritize vaccine appointments for older Minnesotans, those with underlying health conditions, and front-line workers.
An Osseo restaurant owner is asking for the giant rooster statue that was stolen from his restaurant to be returned. Artan Shabani told WQOW TV the statue is 12ft tall and 4ft wide and was stolen sometime early Thursday. The massive statue was bolted into the ground with steel beams and was removed without anyone noticing. Shabani says he just wants the rooster back and will not press charges if it's returned safely.
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Bail is set at a half-million dollars for a Rochester man accused of shooting his father last Friday night. Eighteen-year-old Colby Cleveland turned himself in Tuesday and was charged with second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault. Police say Cleveland fired two shots from the parking lot of an apartment complex and struck his father in the leg. His father told officers that Colby threatened to kill him several times before shots were fired. His next court date is April 7th.
A 38-year-old Rice Lake man, already facing a child sex crime charge, is accused of using his computer for another crime. This time authorities say Eric Keesen went online to try to get somebody to burn down a woman’s house. Apparently, Keesen pretended he was a woman and promised sex to a person on Facebook if he would burn down the house. Investigators found out that “Vanessa” was actually Keesen and the house he wanted to be burned down belong to a woman in Rice Lake he had allegedly been abusing. The person he contacted on Facebook told police.
Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are denying a request from Attorney General Josh Kaul to hear his challenge to a law passed two years ago. The law passed during a lame-duck session requires his Department of Justice to get approval from the Joint Finance Committee before settling lawsuits. The state’s highest court upheld that law in another suit last summer, but it hadn’t ruled out more legal challenges. Kaul is a Democrat and conservative justices have a four-to-three majority on the panel.
Wisconsin businesses say they are experiencing a workforce shortage – quite a difference from the situation during the height of the coronavirus pandemic when thousands were off the job. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce says there a “countless openings for good, family-supporting careers” now. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was nearly 15-percent in April of last year, but it has fallen to three-point-eight-percent. That means only eight states have a lower rate of people out of work. Wisconsin business leaders say finding enough workers tops their list of concerns, followed by the need to reduce regulations.
Minnesota's unemployment rate dropped two-tenths in February to four-point-three percent. The Department of Employment and Economic Development says employers added 13-thousand-900 jobs last month. The private sector gained 11-thousand jobs in February. DEED officials say the decline in the jobless rate is due to more people finding work and a decrease in the number of unemployed people. The national unemployment rate was six-point-two percent in February.
Organizers of the Winstock Country Music Festival are pushing this year's event back from June to late August. They're hoping the extra time will allow for a healthier Minnesota. The delay required many artists to adjust their summer tour plans. Sam Hunt is replacing Darius Rucker as the headliner on Friday, August 20th. The August 21st line-up features Phil Vassar, Shenandoah, Big & Rich, Brett Eldredge, and Luke Combs. Winstock tickets and camping reservations are automatically transferred and valid for the new August dates. V-I-P tickets are sold out, but reserved seats and general admission tickets are still available.
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