The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include approving undesignated fund dollars for the remainder of the costs for the demolition contract at 147 W. Hudson Street, approve a fence request to protect the flowers at the Marten Center, and an update on the geese management plan. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at the Marten Center.
A southeast Minnesota man is now charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father last Friday near Zumbro Falls. Court documents show 44-year-old James Riley admitted to hitting 73-year-old Edward Riley with a hammer a couple of times before stabbing him. Riley told detectives he used a tractor to put his father's body in the trunk of a car. His wife later found Edward's body covered with a tarp. Deputies said James claimed that his father was mean to everyone. His bail is set at 250-thousand dollars.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has published the 2021 gypsy moth treatment plan virtually, with an online video presentation, interactive maps, and factsheets located at gmaerialspray.wi.gov. Beginning in May and continuing through July, low-flying planes will spray select areas in western Wisconsin to treat outlier populations of the gypsy moth. A total of about 94,579 acres at 45 sites in 14 counties including Dunn, Chippewa, and Barron counties are scheduled for treatment.
Three people were injured after their van collided with a semi-truck on I-90 near Dover on Monday morning. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, the crash happened in the eastbound lanes of I-90. The three injured people are from Wisconsin and are ages 8, 10, and 40. They were all taken to Mayo Clinic - Saint Marys Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The drivers of the van and the semi were not hurt.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office says it's reached a settlement with Plainview Wellness Center over its violations of Gov. Tim Walz’s Executive Order closing gyms, bars, and other businesses because of the pandemic. According to a news release, Plainview Wellness Center will pay a $5,000 fine and comply with all current and future executive orders. This is part of a consent judgment filed in Wabasha County.
The U-S Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge of Wisconsin presidential election voting results from lawyers representing former President Donald Trump. The Wisconsin Supreme Court had ruled against claims the election was fraudulent in the past. Monday’s ruling ends the last court petition brought by lawyers for the former president. There are additional suits over the election filed by others. Trump had claimed the Wisconsin Elections Commission used illegal absentee voting drop boxes and completed poll workers to improperly correct absentee ballot witness certificates.
Wisconsin’s governor plans to hold a series of six listening sessions on his Badger Bounceback agenda. People who are interested can attend on Governor Evers’ YouTube channel starting at 6:00 p-m March 18th. Evers says his agenda is all about making sure the state can bounce back from COVID-19 “even better than it was before the pandemic hit.” The first live session will focus on economic recovery and opportunity. The governor says he wants to listen to Wisconsin residents and take their input as a state budget is being put together.
A robo-calling company that bombarded phones for years has been shut down. The Federal Trade Commission, the state of Wisconsin, and 38 other states took action against Associated Community Services. Wisconsin attorney general Josh Kaul says A-C-S would flood phones with calls for suspect charities. In Wisconsin alone, A-C-S made 43-million calls to more than one-million people. A-C-S was fined 110-million dollars, but the judge suspended that fine because the company and its affiliates don’t have the money.
More than ten-percent of Wisconsinites have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, more than one million people have received at least one-shot. The Centers for Disease Control says herd immunity could be reached by this summer if 70-to-85 percent of the population is vaccinated before then. The C-D-C projects the U-S is on track to vaccinate 70-percent of Americans by July.
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A Wisconsin Assembly committee is holding a hearing this week on the way absentee ballots were handled during the November presidential election. Legislative leaders say the hearing will be only for invited speakers and there will be no public comments. Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature say they still have more questions about whether state election laws were followed last fall when absentee and indefinitely confined ballots were counted. The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported last month some 40-thousand ballots were included that lacked proper confirmation of the voters’ identities.
Republican legislative leaders say they just introduced legislation similar to what Democrats introduced a dozen years ago. Republicans are taking steps to claim a role in determining how Wisconsin will spend its COVID relief money from the federal government. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu want members of the Joint Finance Committee to have a voice. As it stands now, Democratic Governor Tony Evers would get to spend almost all of the five-billion dollars coming to the Badger State from the relief package passed by the Senate last weekend.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wants residents not to burn any vegetative debris because the risk of wildfire will be so high next spring. The danger much lower if the burning is done now while much of the ground is at least partially snow-covered. Storms during 2019 left miles of downed trees that can serve as fuel for fire when things dry out this spring. State officials say the risk will be high until vegetation starts to “green-up.” Fire season in the Badger State starts after the snow melts and the vegetation dries out due to warmer temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds. The D-N-R is reminding people they still should get a proper burning permit and check fire restrictions.
Many Minnesota residents don’t want to wait to get vaccinated for COVID-19. More than 15-thousands Minnesotans have traveled to other states to get their shots. An even larger number of people living in surrounding states have come to Minnesota after getting frustrated by the long wait. The Minnesota Department of Health says that behavior isn’t expected to have a big effect on the overall rollout. M-D-H spokesperson Kris Ehresmann says some crossover is appropriate and necessary.
U-S Senator Amy Klobuchar is co-sponsor of a bill that would set official, legal standards for the levels of metal found in baby food. The Minnesota Democrat says letting the industry police itself hasn’t worked. The new bill comes after researchers found dangerously high levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury in some brands of food for babies. Klobuchar says those metals can affect a child’s development but the damage often doesn’t show up until much later. Klobuchar says she is hoping to use her position on the Senate Commerce Committee to push for a hearing on the matter.
A Wisconsin lawmaker, who is also a dairy farmer, is warning that if the state loses the World Dairy Expo, "it will never come back." Republican State Representative Travis Tranel delivered a letter to the governor’s office Thursday pleading with him to make changes so the Expo won’t leave. The world’s largest dairy show draws almost 70-thousand people from more than 100 counties to Madison – where it has been hosted for 50 years. Expo managers say they are thinking they may have to take the big show somewhere else due to Madison’s limits on crowds. Tranel says if the World Dairy Expo leaves it will hurt Wisconsin’s image as a dairy innovator and leader.
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