Two people were arrested Wednesday in Dunn Township after an assault. According to the Dunn County Sheriffs Department, a Dunn County and Menomonie Police investigator were completing a drive-by of a residence where a homicide had occurred in November of 2020 and was known to have high drug traffic. Officers observed 50yr old Jeffery Rose retrieving a hatchet from a vehicle and running towards other subjects in the residences with the hatchet raised in a threatening manner. Officers called for backup, went into the home, and found a victim had been struck several times. Officers ordered Rose to drop the weapon which he did. An investigation discovered that Rose and his girlfriend, 44yr old Rebecca Davis had arrived at the home and were attempting to collect past owed drug debts. Rose has been charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety use of a dangerous weapon along with other charges and is being held on a $10,000 cash bond. Davis has been charged with battery, bail jumping and is being held on a Department of Corrections hold.
The Pepin County Board has made some rule changes as covid-19 pandemic restrictions continue to wind down. While Board members will be allowed to continue to attend board and committee meetings via remote, they will have to attend the Board Organizational Meeting and Annual Meeting in person. In addition, County Board Chairman Tom Milliren will be allowed to request in-person attendance for board meetings if he feels it's necessary. Also this week, the board has decided to remove all of the covid-19 mask and social distancing signs from the county government center entrances. Masks will be recommended but not required to enter the Government Center, and social distancing is still recommended.
The Durand-Arkansaw School District will have a new Agriculture Educator. During this week's board meeting, members approved the registration of Weston Patnode and approved the hiring of Makenzie Brantner as the new Ag Educator. Branter is a 2013 graduate of Durand High School and will begin her duties this summer. The board also approved a summer contract for the Ag Educator and Band Director so they can both attend events and parades with students. Both contracts are to not exceed 120hrs for the summer.
This week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint alleging that Frontier Communications did not provide many consumers with internet service at the promised speeds and charged many for more expensive and higher-speed service than Frontier actually provided. The complaint was filed with the attorneys general from Wisconsin, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, and North Carolina. In December 2019, Congressman Ron Kind‘s office held a listening session in Mondovi, WI with a representative from Frontier to discuss issues surrounding internet connectivity and phone service, create an open dialogue with frustrated Frontier customers, and see what steps could be taken to improve services to rural customers, particularly in Buffalo County. The company had previously returned federal funding designated to expand broadband service in Mondovi, WI, and surrounding areas. In early 2020 Frontier filed for bankruptcy before receiving approximately $37 million from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction for broadband projects across the country.
Authorities in Wabasha County are releasing the name of a man who drowned in the Mississippi River at Weaver Bottoms in southeast Minnesota. The body of 89-year-old Victor Grabau was found Monday evening near an unoccupied fishing boat that was going in circles with the motor running. The Weaver Bottoms marshes are about 120 miles southeast of the Twin Cities on Highway 61.
An Eau Claire County judge has determined there isn’t sufficient evidence to charge a Fall Creek woman with a felony, but she still faces a misdemeanor charge. Shauna Hanson made a court appearance Wednesday. She’s accused of depositing more than 63-thousand dollars intended for a charity she founded to her personal bank account. The court found there was only a 22-hundred dollar discrepancy. That wasn’t enough for the felony-level charge. Hanson is the founder of Helping Hands for Our Children. A judge denied a motion to dismiss the case last month.
Wisconsin's unemployment rate inched up a tenth to three-point-nine percent in April. The Department of Workforce Development says total non-farm jobs increased by 93-hundred last month and private sector jobs were up more than 82-hundred. The state's jobless rate had been three-point-eight percent in February and March. Wisconsin employers added 267-thousand-300 non-farm jobs from April 2020 to April 2021. The unemployment rate in Minnesota continues to move toward pre-pandemic levels. In Minnesota, the jobless rate dropped a tenth to four-point-one percent in April. Minnesota gained 11-thousand-300 jobs last month. The private sector added 81-hundred of those jobs in April. The national unemployment rate was six-point-one percent in April.
A La Crosse man has been charged with child neglect and several other offenses after a doctor called authorities to report treating an infant with injuries. Kevin Mulcahy is accused of burning the child with a cigarette. Mulcahy had told the doctor they were accidental burns when the child rolled over on top of his cigarette. He was arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop. A search of his vehicle turned up drug paraphernalia like a meth pipe and several used and capped needles. Mulcahy has a preliminary hearing scheduled in La Crosse County Circuit Court next Thursday.
The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has rejected the governor’s proposal to spend an additional 73-million dollars on initiatives to combat homelessness. Thursday’s 12-to-four vote came along party lines. The budget committee increased funding for a housing assistance program by one-point-two-million dollars but turned down the rest of the extra spending. Governor Tony Evers wanted the spend the 73-million on several initiatives aimed at helping the homeless, including a plan for more affordable housing. Democrats say the rejection represents a missed opportunity to address a problem that got worse during the coronavirus pandemic.
Senator Amy Klobuchar is part of the latest push in Congress to lift the Cuba trade embargo. The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act repeals key provisions of previous laws that block Americans from doing business in Cuba but does not repeal portions of the law that address human rights or property claims against the Cuban government. Klobuchar said, "as we work to rebuild our economy following the pandemic, lifting the trade embargo will open the door to a large export market and create jobs in the U-S." Klobuchar and Congressman Tom Emmer visited Cuba in 2016 on a trip with President Obama.
A Dakota County landlord will have to pay 35-hundred dollars to settle a case where she was accused of forcing tenants out of their homes in violation of the governor’s executive order. The state of Minnesota sued Joanna Wentzlaff in February. The Attorney General’s Office accused her of falsely claiming she or a family member needed to move into the Apple Valley rental property when she had already hired a real estate agent to sell it. There was an exception in the executive order that would allow a landlord to terminate a lease if that was the case. Attorney General Keith Ellison says his office has received almost three-thousand consumer complaints and filed eight enforcement actions like this one – settling seven.
The Department of Natural Resources has approved a plan where Tyco Fire Products would extract and treat the groundwater near a former fire training facility in Marinette. The contaminated water has been linked to the use of firefighting foam that contained substances called PFAS (PEE foss), or “forever chemicals.” Tyco carried out testing and training using the foam for five decades, ending in 2017. State scientists warn this will not eliminate the pollution entirely. Models of the process show 40-percent of the chemicals will remain in the groundwater after it is carried out.
State lawmakers in the Wisconsin Rapids area are criticizing Democratic Governor Tony Evers for the way he is trying to help the purchase of the closed Verso paper mill. Republicans like state Senator Patrick Testin of Stevens Point and state Representative Scott Krug of Nekoosa don’t like that Evers has connected millions of dollars in loans for the mill purchase to an expansion of BadgerCare. Testin says the families impacted when the mill closed aren’t “bargaining chips” and the governor should direct funds from the American Recovery Act directly to the mill purchase. Krug says the money would be a one-time loan that could save hundreds of jobs.
Former U-S Attorney General Eric Holder says he is “cautiously optimistic” that fair redistricting maps can be established for Wisconsin later this year. Holder runs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee backed by former President Obama. Wisconsin is being called a “priority state” for the group. Holder says he expects the new maps to emerge from lawsuits, and not from a compromise between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Governor Tony Evers. Wisconsin Republicans say the state Constitution gives them the responsibility and they will redraw district lines fairly.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is launching a digital tool kit to help employers recruit and hire younger workers for internships and entry-level positions. DEED's Marc Majors say it includes a listing of youth service providers, programs featuring projects for youth, information about how to create a high-quality job description, and a checklist to prepare for an intern. Majors says they want to help companies hire and train youth workers because that can create long-term stability in the workforce. State officials hosted a roundtable on the benefits of youth employment Wednesday.
You may soon see billboards advertising jobs in state prisons along Wisconsin roadways. Current State law bans the Department of Corrections from advertising on billboards. The agency is trying to fill dozens of jobs, mainly for corrections officers. A bill to end the billboard ban has bipartisan support. A similar bill introduced in the last session did not make it through the Senate before the pandemic cut the session short.
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