Hwy 10 was closed for just over an hour last night after a head-on accident in the Town of Waterville near Hatchery Road. According to the Pepin County Sheriff's Department, 21yr old Kaitlyn Miller of Durand was traveling eastbound on Hwy 10, when she was hit head-on by a westbound vehicle driven by 32yr old Cassondra Ojibway of Eau Claire. Both vehicles sustained heavy front-end damage and Miller had to be extracted from the vehicle by the Durand Fire Department. Both drivers were taken to Advent Health Durand with non-life-threatening injuries.
One person was injured in a car vs deer accident Thursday in El Paso Township. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 26yr old Linda Bowen of Ellsworth was traveling eastbound on Hwy 72 when a deer ran into the roadway and struck the driver's side door of Bowen's vehicle. The deer partially went through the driver's side window, hitting Bowen in the head. Bowen was able to safely stop the vehicle. Bowen's 5 children were all in safety seats and not injured, while Bowen was taken to Mayo Hospital in Menomonie.
One person was injured in a single-vehicle accident in Oak Grove Township on Tuesday. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 84yr old Donna Barlass of Oak Park Heights, MN was traveling northbound on Hwy 35, when she fell asleep. Barlass's vehicle left the roadway and entered the ditch and struck a tree. Barlass was taken to Mayo Hospital in Red Wing.
Durand, Mondovi, and other smaller communities can now apply for their share of Wisconsin’s federal coronavirus stimulus. Communities of fewer than 50-thousand people have until a week from Friday to apply for their share of the American Rescue Plan. There’s no word exactly how much money is available. The money can be used for coronavirus relief, road and sewer work, pay increases for essential workers, or to make up for any money communities have lost over the past year.
The number of new positive covid-19 cases in Pepin County continues to fall. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the last confirmed positive case was on May 20th. Stewart says natural immunity and the increase in vaccinated people have contributed to the drop in cases. The Pepin County Health Department continues to offer vaccinations to those who wish to receive them.
Additional transportation aid could be available for Durand and other small communities in the next state budget. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says if approved the city would receive a 2% increase each year in transportation aid and a state grant program will be returning. That grant program in the last budget provided up to 90% in state funding for local transportation projects. Durand and Pepin County had applied for the program for the 3rd Avenue East project but was not awarded a grant from that program last year.
Residents of Dunn and Trempealeau counties can expect to hear and see low-flying planes in the early morning beginning in late June. The planes are part of aerial gypsy moth treatments planned at 21 sites across Western Wisconsin. Yellow planes contracted by the U.S. Forest Service in a joint project with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) will be applying an organic, biodegradable mating disruptor. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this pheromone presents no health risk to humans, and no adverse effects have been reported in the two decades that it has been used for gypsy moth control. Treatment dates and times are weather-dependent.
Authorities in Adams County say they were notified by military pilots about a small plane that had made an emergency landing Wednesday afternoon. The military pilots spotted the private aircraft on the ground in the Township of New Haven at about 4:00 p-m. The pilot wasn’t injured and his name hasn't been released. When the plane’s engine started to fail, he was able to put it down in a farm field. Adams County Sheriff Brent York says it was helpful to hear quickly about the downed plane from the military pilots. It was determined that the plane had been flying through the Wisconsin Dells area.
The Republican Party of Minnesota's 2022 State Convention will be in Rochester. G-O-P chair Jennifer Carnahan announced the annual gathering is set for May 13th and 14th at the Mayo Civic Center. Carnahan said, "Rochester is one of Minnesota's most vibrant cities and we are excited to host this important event in southern Minnesota ahead of the 2022 election." More than 22-hundred Republican delegates and alternates will head to Med City for next spring's convention. Rochester last hosted the G-O-P state convention in 2014. It was a virtual event last year.
Former Wisconsin Governors Jim Doyle and Scott Walker are urging everyone age 12 and over in the state to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Democrat Doyle and Republican Walker are featured in a new public service announcement produced by U-W Health. In the P-S-A, Walker, and Doyle talk about something they both agree on: wanting the COVID pandemic to end. About 49 percent of Wisconsin residents have received one dose of the vaccine and more than 43 percent are fully vaccinated.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers will appoint a commissioner to conduct a hearing on the charges against Eau Claire County District Attorney Gary King. Two women who worked in King’s office wrote to the governor asking that he be removed from office. The commissioner would determine if an investigation is needed and he would forward any testimony to Evers. The only way a D-A can be removed in Wisconsin is for cause – and only after a public hearing and verified charges from a county taxpayer. King is accused of being impaired during office hours, sleeping during meetings, making inappropriate comments to female staff members, and behaving erratically.
Authorities in Barron County are not considering criminal charges after the discovery of a body in the late stages of decomposition in a Rice Lake home. Neighbors had reported a strong odor coming from the house and a welfare check was made Monday. Executing a search warrant, Rice Lake police officers and officials with the Barron County district attorney’s office entered the home and found the dead man. His wife was reportedly extremely intoxicated and she told officers the man was “sleeping.” He had apparently been dead for a long time. An autopsy turned up no evidence of foul play and there were no apparent signs of injuries to the body.
A bill banning the use of chokeholds by police earned bipartisan support as it passed the Wisconsin Senate Wednesday. Exceptions were made for life-threatening situations or the times that officers need to defend themselves. Critics of the measure wanted a total ban. The legislation is one of a series of police reforms being worked on by Wisconsin lawmakers following the death of George Floyd last year in Minneapolis. Many police departments in the state have already put similar policies into force and law enforcement training no longer teaches chokeholds as a technique for compliance.
The sexual assault trial for a former Marshfield police chief has been set for December in Wood County court. Rick Gramza made a court appearance Wednesday. Gramza is accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a female officer over a period of several years. The incidents started before he was promoted to chief. Gramza maintains the incidents were consensual. He was placed on paid leave last fall and resigned from his position this spring before a scheduled hearing. In addition to misdemeanor sexual assault, he is also charged with misconduct in office.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says he’s against anything that makes it harder to vote. He’s expected to veto several Republican-backed election bills if they make it to his desk. The measures have passed the Wisconsin Senate and will be considered by the Assembly. Speaker Robin Vos says he’d like to try to find a compromise with the governor over a limit on drop boxes for ballots. Vos wants guidelines for who can access the drop boxes and how the ballots are transported to the clerk’s office – so there’s no opportunity for anyone “to do anything nefarious.” More than a dozen election-related changes were approved Wednesday.
As many as 40-thousand COVID-19 vaccine doses in Wisconsin will expire by the end of the month. Many of them are Johnson-and-Johnson doses. The Milwaukee city health department says 24-hundred doses are about to go bad. Doctors say interest in the Johnson-and Johnson vaccine dried up after a few extremely rare cases of blood clots. Nationally, millions of Johnson-and-Johnson doses are due to expire sometime in June.
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