One person is dead after a vehicle crashed into two parked cars in Fountain City on Wednesday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, 45yr old Jodi King of Cloquet, MN was traveling northbound on Hwy 35 when she crossed the centerline, accelerated, and struck two parked vehicles before coming to rest in the southbound lane. King became pulseless and stopped breathing and first responders administered live-saving measures but were unsuccessful. That accident remains under investigation.
A regional mental health center will move forward in Western Wisconsin. As part of the state budget, $15 million will be used to expand beds for mental health issues at Sacred Heart in Eau Claire and St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls. The beds are currently needed; the only options are in Oshkosh or the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison.
Non-profit organizations in Dunn County have until August 2nd to apply for grants from the Community Foundation of Dunn County. Nonprofits with the arts, culture, health, education and other civic initiatives are eligible to apply for the grants. Grant application details can be found on the Community Foundation of Dunn County's website, or call 715-231-0344.
The La Crosse County Executive Committee has given its approval to a resolution asking a study committee to consider the creation of a new board to oversee law enforcement agencies. Discussion of a civilian oversight panel has been going on for some time. Only one member of the executive committee voted no. Supervisor Andrea Richmond says there’s no need for a county panel. She says La Crosse already has a Police and Fire Commission – and it has had to deal with very few public complaints over the last few years.
A La Crosse Man has been arrested on arson charges in connection with a house fire on Wednesday. Authorities arrested 44yr old Patrick Pedretti after investigators determined the fire had been intentionally set. Pedretti had told investigators he may have lit a candle and it tipped over causing the blaze, but it's believed that Pedretti was upset the home had been condemned. There were no injuries in the blaze and Pedretti is due back in court on Monday.
The state Supreme Court says state regulators can impose operating conditions on farms and consider high-capacity wells’ cumulative environmental impacts when weighing whether to grant permits. The rulings Thursday mark a major win for conservationists and clarify that the Department of Natural Resources has broad authority to protect Wisconsin’s waters. Environmental groups had sued the DNR seeking stricter regulation of water pollution from farms and large-scale water withdrawals from high-capacity wells. Industry groups including the Dairy Business Association and GOP legislators had argued a 2011 state law limiting state agencies’ regulatory powers trumped the DNR’s broad authority to protect state waters.
The state is expected to receive more than 65-million dollars from a multi-state settlement with opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma and the family which owns it. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says the four-point-three-billion-dollar, nine-year settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family will help to prevent people from becoming addicted to opioids and help others get into treatment and recovery programs. Wisconsin is one of 15 states that reached an agreement with the maker of OxyContin. Kaul says he anticipates a judge will accept the proposed bankruptcy plan.
The state of Minnesota is joining a nationwide effort to crackdown on unlicensed contractors. Charlie Durenberger with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry says the issue is widespread. Durenberger said, "we don’t' know whether these individuals or businesses have the qualifications and the experience and the knowledge and the understanding of how to operate a business and how to perform good construction in Minnesota." He says licensed contractors are required to take a state exam and carry insurance, all things that help ensure quality work and protect consumers if something goes wrong.
Under-represented students in the University of Wisconsin System are eligible for a million dollars in scholarship money. System President Tommy Thompson says almost 300 students will share the extra funding. Thompson says the scholarships will range in value from a thousand dollars to nine thousand. The scholarship will consider the student’s financial need, time spent volunteering for community service, and give extra credence to those who have overcome adversity.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections reports in-person visits have resumed at the state’s prison. They had been stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. Corrections officials say the change was made because COVID-19 infections are now trending downward in Wisconsin. There are no active positive cases of the virus in any prison and 66 percent of the prison population has been fully vaccinated. Visitors are being urged to schedule their in-person visits at least two days in advance.
Wisconsin families should be seeing an average income tax cut of 800 dollars under a new state budget signed today by Governor Tony Evers. Evers says he's used his veto powers to target those tax cuts to families across the state. Some vetoes in the budget include policy decisions like requiring drug tests for unemployment insurance, a measure that allows companies to get state funding for blood donations from their employees, and a cut to the lieutenant governor's security budget.
A bill that would designate Colby cheese as the state cheese got a hearing in the state Assembly on Wednesday. The bill's author, Representative Donna Rozar of Marshfield, says Colby is a uniquely Wisconsin invention and deserves recognition. Rozar says there's been some pushback from some dairy producers who worry that picking a state cheese would show favoritism in the market. A previous attempt to make Colby the state cheese failed last session.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he's been appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as a co-chair of the Council of Governors. Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine is the other co-chair. The Council consists of ten bipartisan governors and is responsible for advising the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions. Governor Walz served nearly 25 years in the Army National Guard. Walz achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major and was the highest-ranking enlisted service member ever to serve in Congress.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it is taking longer than expected to update its wolf management plan. The current one was worked up 20 years ago. The D-N-R says it won’t consider holding a wolf hunting or trapping season before next year. That’s because the plan being put together likely won’t be finished before March. The last wolf hunting season in Minnesota was held seven years ago.
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