The Menomonie Public Library will be re-opening to the public starting Monday. The Library board of trustees made the decision to re-open the library with restrictions. The library will be open Monday-Friday from 10-6, a maximum of 25 people will be allowed in the building at one time, face maks and social distancing will be required, and no in-person programming will be offered. Curbside pickup will still be available Monday-Friday by calling 715-232-2164.
A Chippewa Falls man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for possession of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine for distribution. Justin Barnard is accused of possessing the meth on November 23rd and was arrested in Dunn County. If convicted Barnard could face 5-40yrs in federal prison.
Two men from Chicago were arrested near Osseo last week on drug charges. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, a deputy had pulled over 33yr old Dajuan Thomas of Chicago for a traffic violation. During the stop, Canine Luke was deployed and alerted deputies of the presence of narcotics. A search found 300 grams of drugs with a street value of $20,000. Thomas and 52yr old Lucious Thomas of Chicago were both arrested and taken to the Trempealeau County Jail.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office reports the human remains found in a remote wooded area of Knapp Township 42 years ago have finally been identified. Members of a logging crew made the discovery on August 15th, 1978. With the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the D-N-A Doe Project, the remains have been identified as Dennis McConn, who was 29 years old when he went missing from Kenosha in 1977. Authorities think the decomposed remains had been located in the area for several months before they were found. Forensic investigators believe McConn was the victim of a homicide.
Minnesota farmers saw higher profits in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. A report from U of M Extension and the Minnesota State Agricultural Centers of Excellence finds median net farm income in the state reached nearly 107-thousand dollars last year. The increase comes after seven years of low profitability for Minnesota farms. The median dairy farm earned more than 173-thousand dollars in 2020 compared to 64-thousand in 2019 and under 16-thousand in 2018. Researchers say government support payments played a crucial role for farms during the initial phases of the pandemic.
A 4-3 decision by conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down Governor Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate and COVID emergency orders. The high court ruled that Evers overstepped his authority on issuing declarations for the same emergency longer than 60 days. The governor is expected to get legislative approval after two months. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos applauded the Supreme Court's ruling and said in a statement, "people and businesses are free to make decisions based on what’s best for them and don’t need state government telling them how to live their lives." Governor Evers says the fight against COVID-19 isn't over, and "we still need Wisconsinites to mask up so we can beat this virus and bounce back from this pandemic." Because of the ruling, a mask mandate for Eau Claire County and the City of Eau Claire is now in effect. The mandate will continue until June 30th.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources launched the Lake Monitoring and Protection Network Wednesday, with the aim of preventing aquatic invasive species from spreading. According to a news release from the DNR, the department will provide up to $1 million in funding annually for the statewide network. The funds will be allocated county-by-county, distributed according to the amount of surface water and invasive species presence. The network funding is designed to be noncompetitive, so every participating county that needs funds will be in line to receive them.
One-third of all boating fatalities in Minnesota happen during the cold water season. The D-N-R's Lisa Dugan says as ice-outs continue on many lakes and rivers across the state, keep in mind the water is still dangerously cold. She says you need to prepare for the water temperature, not the air temps. Dugan recommends boating or fishing with someone else and letting a friend or family member know when you're coming back. Water temperatures this time of year are around 45 to 50 degrees.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator says her office never received a formal complaint about the way the November election was conducted in Green Bay. Republican lawmakers have called for Mayor Eric Genrich to resign after a conservative website reported he gave a consultant paid by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg too much authority. W-E-C Administrator Meagan Wolfe testified before the Assembly Election Committee Wednesday. Wolfe says she received two phone calls from Brown County Deputy Clerk Sandy Juno about consultant Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein’s presence but was never presented with any information that the consultant was overstepping his bounds.
The Wisconsin cities of Oshkosh and Eau Claire are listed among the "Most Livable Small Cities" in the U-S again. Oshkosh was ranked third and Eau Claire fifth. SmartAsset-dot-com has conducted the rankings for the last four years and both Wisconsin cities have been in the top-15 all four years. Eau Claire routinely scores high in access to health care and commute times. Oshkosh got high rankings for entertainment. Appleton and Waukesha were ranked 31st and 33rd. O’Fallon, Missouri topped the list.
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Campaign finance reports show one of the two candidates for Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction superintendent has 20 times as much money as her opponent. Jill Underly has raised nearly one-and-a-half million dollars over the last two months. Most of it comes from political action committees, with 750-thousand coming from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Underly’s opponent, Deborah Kerr, raised a little over 71-thousand. The report shows most of Kerr’s funding comes from individual donors. Underly and Kerr will face off for the powerful statewide education position in next Tuesday’s general election.
Republican legislative leaders want to use one billion dollars of the federal COVID-19 Relief Fund money to give Wisconsin taxpayers lower property taxes. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is pushing the idea. He wants to spend the rest of the three-point-two billion dollars that Governor Tony Evers controls on long-term care facilities and investment in rural broadband internet service. Republican lawmakers have given mixed reviews to the governor’s plans for that money. They passed legislation to give themselves some say in the way it is spent, but the governor vetoed the effort Monday.
Could legislative Republicans sue Governor Tony Evers over control of the state's three-point two-billion-dollar federal stimulus check? Representative Pat Snyder of Schofield says if the shoe was on the other foot, Democrats certainly wouldn't want a Republican Governor to have control of the funds. Earlier this week Evers vetoed a bill that would have given the Joint Finance Committee a say in how the money is spent, saying his priorities are making sure small businesses and the tourism industry get what they need.
The next round of stimulus checks headed to Wisconsin bank accounts is coming to those who don’t usually file income taxes. The U-S Department of the Treasury and the I-R-S are working on the roll-out of payments to Social Security recipients. Officials say the money should reach their bank accounts by April 7th but could show up as soon as this weekend for some people. The 14-hundred-dollar payments are part of the COVID-19 Relief Bill signed into law by the president. Federal officials say the majority of the payments will be distributed electronically, but some people should receive what is called “direct express” cards.
The nationwide respect for graduate programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison continues. The 2022 edition of U-S News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” ranks Wisconsin’s School of Education fourth. That’s the second year in a row the Madison campus has received the lofty ranking. U-W Provost John Karl Scholz says the rankings are an example of the “world-class education, research, and outreach that happens here every day.” History in the College of Letters and Science placed 11th overall, with the sub-specialty of African History first in the country.
Three Wisconsin breweries continue their climb into the nation's top independent breweries. Those three are New Glarus Brewing, Stevens Point Brewery, and Minhas Craft Brewery, and they're now in the top 20 rankings from the National Brewers Association. The non-profit says both Point and New Glarus jumped a number of spots in the list this year. Experts say the pandemic allowed for smaller breweries with better distribution to rank higher in 2020.
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