Severe storms moved through portions of the WRDN listening area last night. The National Weather Services says reports of 3" hail was reported in Cannon Falls, while 2" hail was reported in Ellsworth and Kellogg. There was a report of 1" hail in Pepin and Elk Mound had 3/4" hail. Heavy rain accompanied the storms with reports of 1-2 inches of rain was reported in many areas.
Area bars and restaurants are facing many challenges this year as everything re-opens from the covid-19 pandemic. From staffing shortages to shortages of supplies, it has made it a challenge for owners and employees of area restaurants. Amber Kohler, owner of the Rooster Tail Bar in Downtown Durand says you can help by just being patient and understanding of the situation. Kohler says with the supply shortage there might be menu items not available at your favorite restaurant or bar, but all the establishments and suppliers are working hard to get the supply chain back to normal.
A Rusk County man has been sentenced in a 2020 Memorial Day shooting. Chippewa County Judge Steven Gibbs sentenced Kyle Baker to four years in prison yesterday after Baker was convicted of recklessly endangering safety. According to authorities, Baker was arguing with the victim outside a mobile home when Baker pointed a gun at the victim and shot the victim in the stomach.
Western and southern Wisconsin are at risk for wildfires this weekend. The Department of Natural Resources says there’s a high risk for fires from northwestern Wisconsin all the way down to Milwaukee. Red flag warnings are in effect for NW Wisconsin, while here in the WRDN Listening area the rain from last night has lowered the fire danger. The rest of northern Wisconsin and the Fox Valley are at moderate risk. Wildlife officials say the combination of little rain and dry vegetation is the perfect recipe for wildfires.
The Dunn County Sheriffs Department along with local departments are asking motorists to watch their speed on area roads and watch for construction zones. For the rest of June and all of July and August, the Sheriff's Department is working with the Boyceville, Colfax, and Elk Mound Police to expand patrols to enforce posted speed limits. The Sheriff's Department also reminds motorists to buckle up when driving.
The Lake City Public Works Department is asking residents that live on the Water Ski Days Parade route to avoid parking on the street next Tuesday and Wednesday. The Department will be doing street sweeping and cleaning of the parade route. Lake City Water Days is June 26-27th in Lake City and the Parade will be on Sunday, June 27th.
A former student at Viterbo University has made her initial appearance virtually in La Crosse County Circuit Court. Police say Victoria Unanka admitted starting a fire in a trash can on the second floor of a campus residence hall last April. Unanka reportedly told authorities she did it because no one was listening to her. Several racial hate messages had been found inside residence halls at the time. Some students decided to withdraw. Unanka was arrested on arson charges, but she now faces a misdemeanor count of negligent handling of burning materials. She is scheduled to return to court next month.
The final version of Wisconsin’s two-year state budget includes three-point-four million dollars in tax cuts. Republicans on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee say the cuts will mean about 12-hundred dollars in savings for the typical family through income tax and property tax reductions. A tax that businesses pay on items like furniture and machinery is being eliminated. Republicans say they will fund two-thirds of state public school costs, saying that will ensure the schools get two-point-six billion dollars in federal coronavirus relief money.
Governor Tony Evers is applauding the U-S Supreme Court's decision not to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. In a 7 to 2 decision released today (Thursday), the nation's high court said that a group of Republican states couldn't show that so-called Obamacare was harming them because the mandate to have insurance doesn't carry a penalty. Evers said that "health care isn't just for the wealthy, today’s decision is a critically important victory for our work to make sure everyone has access to quality, affordable healthcare coverage." Governor Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul withdrew from the lawsuit in 2019.
The unemployment rate in Wisconsin remained at three-point-nine percent in May for the second straight month. The Department of Workforce Development says employers in the state added 36-hundred total non-farm jobs and 34-hundred private-sector positions last month. D-W-D Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek said, "the number of people counted as employed grew by 93-hundred over the month, a nice gain that demonstrates that the efforts to connect job seekers to jobs in Wisconsin are working." The national unemployment rate was nearly two points higher than Wisconsin's at five-point-eight percent in May.
Wisconsin’s COVID-19 vaccination rate is going back up. State health officials say close to 95-hundred more people in Wisconsin are fully vaccinated. That means more people got the shot last week than the week before. Close to 45-percent of eligible people in Wisconsin are fully vaccinated. Before last week, the state’s vaccination numbers had been steadily falling since their peak in April.
An arbitrator has denied a grievance filed by a fired Marshfield police officer. Jared Beauchamp’s employment was terminated after he failed the city’s mandatory annual fitness test for officers. Beauchamp wasn’t able to run a quarter-mile in two minutes, 15 seconds. He had passed all of the other requirements and he was the first officer to lose his job for that reason since the fitness test was put in place two years ago. Arbitrator Raleigh Jones determined that the city went beyond what was required to give Beauchamp an opportunity to pass the test. He had been employed by the department for about 20 years.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of killing his brother-in-law. A Walworth County jury found Alan Johnson guilty of first-degree reckless homicide four years ago. Johnson had told the court he shot Ken Myszkewicz after finding child pornography on his computer. He said Myszkewicz attacked him right after he made the discovery. Johnson’s attorneys argued the jury should have received instructions from the judge on self-defense doctrines. On a four-to-three ruling, the justices agreed and remanded the case for a new trial Wednesday.
Prosecutors say the trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was fair and he was convicted by an impartial jury. They say Chauvin shouldn’t get a new trial after he was already found guilty of murder and manslaughter in George Floyd’s death. Chauvin’s defense filed papers Wednesday asking the court to hold a hearing to question members of that jury about possible misconduct. Attorney Ed Nelson has brought up intense pretrial publicity, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, and some decisions by the judge – saying they made it impossible for Chauvin to get a fair trial.
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are asking questions like – where did this 12-pound piece of ice come from? How was it formed? They’re examining the thing that crashed through the roof of a home in Elk Mound that month to find out just what is inside it. No one really knows where it came from. The team says it might have formed in the upper atmosphere. It does have a scientific name. It’s called a megacryometeor.
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