One person was injured in a motorcycle accident in the Town of Buffalo on Sunday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, 22yr old Dylan Meng of Buffalo City was traveling on Hwy P when he failed to negotiate a corner and left the roadway. Meng was transported to a local hospital. Speed and alcohol are suspected contributing factors in the accident.
One person was injured in a one-vehicle accident on Hwy 65 in Ellsworth Township on Monday. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 56yr old Benjamin Kelln of Ellsworth was traveling southbound on Hwy 65 when he left the roadway, went through the west ditch, and struck a field driveway before stopping at the edge of a cornfield. Kelln was transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
The Durand Public Works Department will be replacing a 40-foot Rotating Biological Contactor at the Sewer plant this week. Durand Public Works Director Matt Gillis says after a large crane lifts the RBC off of the semi-trailer, crews then have to install it. The RBC is the primary treatment for wastewater. Depending on the weather that work could start as early as today.
The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include an update on the algae removal on Mirror Lake, discussion and approval of new sewer utility rates, and a discussion on allowing golf carts on city roadways. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at the Marten Center.
Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire has announced it will require employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by September 17. Mayo will allow op-outs to the vaccine including medical, religious, or philosophical reasons. Employees will receive an explanation on what philosophical reasons mean, and those who opt-out will be required to wear masks and socially distance on Mayo property. According to Mayo, 75-85% of staff across the entire system are vaccinated. Meanwhile, the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday announced it will require all VA Health care workers to be fully vaccinated.
Chippewa Falls police say 35-year-old Cory G. Gudmanson is suspected of trying to kidnap three women last week. Gudmanson was arrested and is being held in the Chippewa County Jail. The incidents happened between 11:00 a-m and noon Friday. All three women were able to escape. One of the women kicked the suspect in the chest when he grabbed her and trying to pull her out of a car. Her father took down a temporary license plate from his vehicle as he drove away. Authorities have cited him for false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, battery, and two counts of disorderly conduct.
A Criminal Justice Coordinating Council has been established in Marathon County to work on the issue of a big backlog of cases. Delays in dozens of trials have returned misdemeanor offenders to the streets. Marathon County Judge Michael Moran says the COVID-19 has been the biggest factor contributing to the backlog. He’s hopeful the pilot program can help things get back to normal. Judge Moran says the Marathon County court system is trying to get more creative when it schedules court dates. Cases that could put the public at risk are being prioritized and more judges and prosecutors are being added.
Minnesota is the 15th state, the first in the Midwest, to adopt what activists dubbed "clean car" standards. The effort is aimed at reducing emissions and also dictates to private auto dealers that they must stock more electric car inventory. The rules don't take effect until January 1st of 2024 for 2025 models, but Governor Tim Walz says the move will create jobs across the state, give Minnesotans more choices, save people money, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Republican state Representative Josh Heintzeman from Nisswa warns car prices will go up a thousand dollars or more, and if Walz were to let the market work, dealers would stock more electric vehicles if consumers want them.
Wisconsin legislators return to the Capitol today to deal with two items. It’s possible nothing will come of this. Republicans want to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would have stopped supplemental federal unemployment benefits. They can’t accomplish that without Democratic help, so the effort is expected to fall short. Also today, Governor Evers has directed the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate to convene for a special session to talk about adding more money to the state’s education system. It is possible the Republican-controlled Legislature will gavel in the special session, then end it quickly – just like it has previously.
A Winona County judge has sentenced an 80-year-old man to 10 years in prison for killing his wife. Joseph Bailly Wright had entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree murder in April. Wright called 9-1-1 to report the killing on July 10th of last year. He told a dispatcher he tried to kill himself after killing his wife. She had dementia. Deputies found her in a chair with at least one apparent stab wound to her stomach. A note was found, apparently from the husband, saying he couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t watch his wife suffer, and he was also going to kill himself.
Wisconsin’s coronavirus vaccination rate has slowed to a crawl. State health officials say people in Wisconsin got about 26-thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccine last week, but that number should go up. Wisconsin’s been averaging about 37-thousand doses a week for the past three weeks. The Department of Health Services says about 51-percent of people in the state have had at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s about where the state has been for the past few months.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has joined four other governors calling for an effort to clean up chemicals in the U-S. Central to the question are “forever chemicals” known as PFAS (PEE foss), used in firefighting foam and the manufacture of kitchenware. Evers joined the governors of Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York in signing a letter of support for the PFAS Action Act. It calls for the federal government to push for the mitigation of PFAS chemicals that have leaked into the environment. The Act passed the U-S House of Representatives last week and is going to be considered by the Senate.
A Mount Pleasant business owner says after he refused to sell his property, the village forced him to close and has ruled the property is blighted. Erickson Trucks-N-Parts sits inside the Foxconn construction zone. Jack and Collen Erickson say they have done business at the location next to Interstate 94 for 22 years. Now, they can’t even access the property because barricades have been up Jack Erickson says they agreed to sell almost two acres of land to Mount Pleasant for a frontage road, but negotiations fell apart for the rest of the property because the offer was too low. The Erickson say they will sue the village for allegedly using illegal methods to take their land.
The latest campaign finance reports show Wisconsin Democrats have a big money-in-the-bank advantage heading into the mid-term elections. The fundraising lead over Republicans is almost six-to-one. For Democrats, most of the money is dedicated to federal races and most of that funding is targeted on the U-S Senate race. At the end of June, Democrats reported having almost six-point-eight million dollars on hand. At the same time, Wisconsin Republicans reported about one-point-two million dollars in the bank.
Members of eight groups have written letters to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul about the head of the state’s Natural Resources Board who has refused to step down. Fred Prehn’s six-year term expired May 1st. Prehn cites a state law that allows him to remain on the job until the Wisconsin Senate confirms his replacement. He says his decision to stay isn’t political and he has questioned the motivation behind the complaint from the Humane Society of Wisconsin. That group is against the scheduling of another wolf hunt during the August meeting. The Senate hasn’t scheduled a confirmation hearing for Prehn’s successor yet.
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