One person is dead after a one-vehicle accident in the Town of Dover on Friday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, a 17yr old male from Gilmanton was traveling on Hwy 121 near Fisken Valley Road when he lost control of the vehicle. When emergency responders arrived, they found the male partially pinned underneath the vehicle. Live saving measures were attempted but did not succeed. The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family members.
Durand Police has taken multiple reports of vehicle break-ins during the early hours of Friday morning. If you had items stolen or know of someone who did, you are to contact the Durand Police Department or the Pepin County Dispatch. In all of the cases, the vehicles were left unlocked. The Durand Police are reminding all residents to lock their vehicles if parked outside.
A record-setting year for the Dunn County Livestock Auction. This year the auction raised nearly $260,000. A record price for a hog at $43 per pound was raised. This year 62 4-H and FFA exhibitors sold their livestock projects at the Dunn County Fair. This week the Buffalo County Fair returns Thursday through Sunday.
A local church is conducting a food drive this week to help the Durand Area Food Pantry. Members of Faith Lutheran Church in Durand distributed 75 grocery bags to area residents yesterday. Next week the members will pick up the full bags from the residents and donate the food to the Durand Area Food Pantry. If you would like to participate, just give Faith Lutheran Church in Durand a call.
Free Books, Family Fun, and fantastic programs are coming to Pierce and Pepin Counties on August 7th. The Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services is bringing Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to Pierce and Pepin Counties. Open to all children from birth to 5, registered children will receive an age-appropriate book each month free of charge. There will be a launch party from 10-Noon August 7th in Ellsworth at the Pierce-Pepin Headquarters and then from 2-4 at the city park in Pepin.
An Eau Claire County judge has tossed out the deferred acceptance of a guilty plea agreement. Forty-one-year-old Renelle Laffe established the Hope in the Valley charity to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer. She was charged with theft two years ago. During a Thursday plea hearing, Judge John Manydeeds told attorneys for both sides to work toward a different resolution. They will return to court in November.
Authorities in La Crosse County have identified three homicide victims found last Friday morning. The bodies were discovered at the entrance gate to a quarry owned by Milestone Materials in the Town of Hamilton. Evidence suggests the three were killed where their bodies were discovered. Investigators identify the three as 24-year-old Peng Lor, 24-year-old Nemo Yang, and 23-year-old Trevor Maloney – all from the La Crosse area, though Lor and Yang had no permanent address. It is believed the three men knew their killers.
Congressman Ron Kind hopes that more action will be happening on the proposed infrastructure bill coming from the White House. Kind says there's been more bipartisan discussion on the plan, and that he's hopeful something can get worked out. There are two different bills in Congress right now, and Republicans seem to be balking at the price tag on the House bill, with Senator Ron Johnson calling it reckless and wasteful.
Officials with the University of Wisconsin System say almost a half-million dollars in scholarship money will be offered to students who are vaccinated. At system campuses where at least 70 percent of the student body is vaccinated a drawing will be held. A total of 70 winners will each receive a seven-thousand-dollar scholarship. System President Tommy Thompson says he’s backing the plan because reached 70 percent would mean “we’re going to have a very safe year.” The Madison campus isn’t a part of the program because U-W Chancellor Rebecca Blank is working on her own incentive program.
You see a home advertised for sale – and it’s gone before you can drive by. The Wisconsin Realtor Association reports homes in the state are selling at the fastest pace since it began tracking the number of days spent on the market. The June report finds homes sell in an average of 69 days. In June last year, that same average was 96 days. W-R-A board chair Mary Duff says buyers are also more aggressive in their bidding. It is normal now to see multiple offers when a home goes on sale. The median home price is up by more than 15 percent over the same time in 2020.
A physical assault on a transgender couple has La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds saying Wisconsin’s hate crime statutes should be expanded. Suspect Travis D. Crawford is charged with substantial battery and felony bail jumping. The attack happened Tuesday in Copeland Park. The couple says Crawford confronted them, accused them of stealing his bike, then called them derogatory names. When he was told to leave, Crawford punched one person in the face, then kicked them in the face while they were on the ground. Reynolds says changes need to be made because the current hate crime law doesn’t include protections for transgender victims.
Life jackets can be a matter of life or death on Wisconsin waters. It’s peak boating season, and the Wisconsin D-N-R is reminding boaters that wearing a life jacket or personal flotation device could save lives. Sixteen people have died in boating incidents so far this year in Wisconsin. The leading cause of death is drowning. Most who drown know how to swim, but are injured or unconscious, exhausted or weighed down by wet clothing. Conservation officers say it's important to make sure the life jacket fits properly and the buckles are fastened.
Workers' compensation insurance rates in Wisconsin will decrease in October. The state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance says rates will drop by five-point-44 percent overall. Insurance Commissioner Mark Afable said in a statement that businesses could save more than 90-million dollars. According to O-C-I, this marks the sixth year in a row that workers comp rates have decreased. Rate decreases will differ slightly between the five major industry groups that pay different rates.
Eviction prevention efforts are helping Wisconsinites behind on their rent stay in their homes. The Department of Administration reports a steady decline in eviction judgments for the first half of this year. State-wide evictions have declined for four straight months. June evictions are at their lowest since May 2020. Evictions for the first half of 2021 are down 14 percent compared to the same period last year. Several COVID19-relief programs have used federal money to provide eligible households up to 15 months of help with existing or overdue rent and utility bills, including internet costs.
A Rochester man is pleading guilty to federal charges for his role in the arson of a Minneapolis pawnshop following the death of George Floyd. Twenty-six-year-old Montez Lee admitted that he and others broke into the Max It Pawn Shop on May 28th, 2020. Surveillance video footage shows Lee pouring a fire accelerant around the pawnshop and lighting it on fire. The fire destroyed the building. The body of a Burnsville man was recovered from the rubble and debris nearly two months later.
Wisconsin State Parks Director Steve Schmelzer says the number of park visitors is expected to top 20 million this year. Schmelzer says camping reservations are 50 percent higher than last year at the time. A Triple-A survey finds 76 percent of the people it contacted feel more comfortable traveling now – and they’re driving to national and state parks. The number of comfortable travelers is nearly double the number who said that was the case when questioned in January.
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