The City of Mondovi has approved the contract for the new Wastewater Treatment Plant. At last night's council meeting, members approved hiring C.D. Smith of Fond Du Lac as the lead contractor in the project. C.D. Smith is the 4th largest contractor in the state and plans on using local tradesmen and subcontractors from around the area to construct the plant. At peak construction, 30-40 workers will be on site. The cost of the new plant is approximately $17 million and a ground groundbreaking ceremony is planned for sometime after Labor Day.
The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda included discussion and possible action on a special assessment levy on property owners on Drier Street and Laneville Road, and reports from the Mayor, City Administrator, and Department Heads. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall and can be watched on our YouTube Channel at Durand Broadcasting WRDN.
Saying he's "out of gas" Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse announces he won't seek reelection at the end of his current term Kind's decision not to run again comes a year away from the 2022 primaries and sets up a wide-open race in the state's most competitive congressional district.
The Pepin County Health Department is notifying the public of the potential for Covid-19 exposure at local establishments August 6-8th. A person with a confirmed case of covid was present at The Garden Pub in Pepin on August 6th from 5-9pm, at the Barn Again Lodge in Mondovi on August 7th from 3-9pm, and at the Durand Masonic Lodge Sunday from 12-3pm. Anyone who was at those locations during those times should consider themselves at risk and should monitor for signs and symptoms of Covid. Anyone experiencing symptoms should contact their primary care provider to arrange for testing.
One person was injured in a plane crash in Osceola Monday. According to the Polk County Sheriff's Department, the pilot crash-landed at the airport in Osceola and was taken to Regions Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The crash is being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. There were no other passengers on the plane at the time of the accident.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office reports a 57-year-old highway worker has been killed and another worker injured when they were hit by a suspected drunk driver. The fatal accident happened early Saturday while the men were removing a tree that had fallen across a county road at about midnight. Authorities say 28-year-old Cory D. Neumueller hit both the workers and the tree at about 1:20 a-m. Russell J. Opelt died before emergency responders arrived. Sixty-year-old David L. Murphy was injured, but he’s the one who called 9-1-1 for help. Neumueller was taken into custody for homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and causing injury through intoxicated use of a vehicle.
Wisconsin's U-S Senators split their votes Tuesday on President Joe Biden's roughly one trillion-dollar infrastructure investment plan. Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Oshkosh voted against the plan. On "Fox Business" Tuesday morning, Johnson called the bill "disastrous," and said he had "no idea why Republicans would want to have any of their fingerprints" on it. Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin said "the Senate has finally turned the ‘Infrastructure Week’ talk of the past into real action. Nineteen Republicans voted with Democrats to approve the bill and send it to the House for consideration.
A local gun owners' group is suing the Minnesota State Fair and Ramsey County, asking that permit holders be allowed to carry handguns on the grounds during the fair. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus is arguing that the State Fair's ban on weapons violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. In a statement, State Fair officials say they don't comment on pending litigation, they add "we will maintain our time-honored Minnesota tradition of peaceful, family-friendly fairs by protecting the safety and security of our guests."
New Wisconsin Parks Director Steven Schmelzer says he wants to add tech services at state parks, including G-P-S mapping on all state-owned properties and expanded WiFi service. Schmelzer says he wants to improve the experience for people visiting Wisconsin state parks. He’s taking over at a time people are using the parks at record rates. There have been more than nine-and-a-half million visits this year alone, an 18 percent increase over 2020. Schmelzer is in charge of 49 Wisconsin state parks, more than 500 boat launches, 15 state forests, 44 state biking trails, and more than five thousand campsites. He assumed his new duties on July 19th.
A Republican state lawmaker says he wants to change the Wisconsin Constitution to give the Legislature more control over how federal money is spent. State Senator Dale Kooyenga wants to introduce a constitutional amendment. Kooyenga says they already decide how state money is spent. He thinks lawmakers should decide how billions of federal dollars are spent as well. The Republican-controlled Legislature has disagreed with the Democratic governor several times since he took office over how the money coming from Washington should be distributed. Kooyenga says if the amendment is approved before January, then again next year, it would put the question before voters next spring.
Democrat Governor Tony Evers has vetoed a package of Republican-authored elections bills that would have addressed complaints made by the former Trump Administration after President Joe Biden's win in 2020. At Tuesday's press conference, Evers said Wisconsin has a fair and open election system already. The bills included one that would have prohibited local elections clerks from filling in missing information on absentee ballot envelopes. Another would have authorized the use of ballot drop boxes while placing various restrictions on their use. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Evers is protecting the status quo on elections.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is planning a trade mission later this year to England and Finland. The governor's office says he will bring a delegation of about 30 people from state agencies representing medical, agriculture, environmental, and education sectors. The trip is scheduled for November 12th through the 19th. The mission is aimed to increase exports and urge companies to expand in Minnesota.
Coronavirus case numbers are spiking in Wisconsin, but the coronavirus death toll is flat. State health officials reported more than a thousand new cases of the virus Monday, bringing the state’s seven-day positivity rate to over seven percent. But while more people are testing positive, they’re almost all recovering. The Department of Health Services says Wisconsin is reporting an average of just one coronavirus death a week. Doctors say the vaccine is lessening the virus’ impact, and they say treatments are much better than they were last year.
A proposed industrial park site near Two Rivers is becoming a wetlands restoration site instead. The old silo and barn owned by the Henry family are located on the 80-acre property. A wetlands scientist says the location had been a farm field since the 1930s and the industrial park was proposed in the 1990s. The Henry family wanted to see the land preserved and donated it to The Woodland Dunes Nature Center four years ago. After two years of monitoring to determine how the wetlands could be restored, the project moved forward. The D-N-R is overseeing the process.
Americans headed for Canada created a huge traffic jam at the border in International Falls Monday. The Canadian government began allowing vaccinated Americans to enter after months of a closed border. Pictures of vehicles backed up for miles were tweeted. One family said it had to wait seven hours to get across. The border had been closed since March of last year. One Canadian business owner said about 99 percent of his business comes from the U-S. People wanting to cross the border must also test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of the time they want to travel.
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