The training for the Pepin County K-9 unit is completing today. Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener says handler Deputy Darrin Lowenhagen and K-9 officer Jack complete training today and have a national certification test tomorrow. If all goes well with the certifications and the installation of equipment for the k-9 squad, K-9 Officer Jack should be on duty in the county in late September.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Pepin County Highway Shop is planned for next Wednesday. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 3pm with an open house from 3:30-7pm at the new facility on Hwy N in Arkansaw. The new shop is a 42,000 square foot facility consisting of a buildout of a new office, repair garage, parking bay, vehicle wash area, cold storage, and salt-sand storage buildings. The public is invited to attend.
Due to the large rise in Covid-19 cases, the Pepin County Health Department has implemented crisis standards of care with includes changes to contact tracing. Confirmed Covid-19 cases will be provided with free resources to notify their own close contacts and forward instructions about testing and quarantine. Resources will also be provided to large organizations or events that will be responsible for contact tracing and Public notifications will be used when unable to identify all close contacts. The change in standards of care will allow the Health Department to prioritize the individuals and groups who are at their highest risk of disease transmission.
Wabasha-Kellogg Schools in southeastern Minnesota is mourning the loss of a student. Wabasha police say 16-year-old Arianna Simon was skateboarding Tuesday night when she was struck and killed by a vehicle. Officers say the driver fled the scene but later returned and is reportedly cooperating. Classes don't start until Tuesday, but the school has counselors available to classmates and families. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help cover funeral expenses for Simon's family.
Officials at Fort McCoy have increased the facility’s capacity to house Afghan refugees as the arrivals continue. The latest report finds seven thousand refugees staying at the Wisconsin military installation. Work has been done to increase Fort McCoy’s capacity from 10 thousand to 13 thousand. The Department of Defense says it is increasing capacity at all of the U-S bases involved in the resettlement program. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says organizations trying to help the Afghan refugees prefer new items like clothing and shoes be donated – to ensure the health of everyone staying at Fort McCoy.
Governor Tony Evers says there are several ways to provide donations to Afghan evacuees at Fort McCoy. New clothing and shoes are among the most needed supplies because many of them were unable to bring luggage or personal items. Evers says Wisconsinites have a proud tradition of rolling up our sleeves to help our neighbors when times are tough, and since learning folks leaving Afghanistan would be coming through Wisconsin, people have been asking what they can do to help. Catholic Charities of La Crosse is already collecting donations of new items and setting up a way for people to provide supplies by shopping online. Donations of money will also be accepted to purchase items in need. The state plans to open more donation locations in the coming weeks.
A two-year-old child is hospitalized after being pulled from the Chippewa River in western Wisconsin. The Eau Claire Police Department says it received a report of a missing child around 6 p-m Wednesday near a boat landing. Officers were able to rescue the toddler and take the child to the hospital. No word on the child's current condition. The incident is still under investigation.
Wisconsin officials say texts about unemployment benefits are coming from scam artists. The Wisconsin Division of Consumer Protection says there’s been a spike in reports of fake text messages that claim there’s a problem with people’s unemployment benefits. Consumer Protection says Wisconsin’s unemployment office doesn’t text people about their benefits, and would never ask anyone to reset their passwords or account information over the phone. The state says if you get one of these texts, don’t open it.
A second Republican lawmaker has said he won’t support a suit against the U-W System. State Senator Robert Cowles says the suggested lawsuit isn’t in the best interests of local communities or businesses. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke tweeted last week that such a lawsuit would only add more confusion during an already stressful time. Shortly after President Tommy Thompson said the system has the right to manage itself when it comes to COVID-19 protocols, the co-chair of the Legislature’s rules committee threatened the suit. State Senator Steve Nass wants system officials to submit their plans to his committee for approval.
The chief elections clerk for Milwaukee County isn’t going to cooperate with the subpoena issued for ballots and voting machines connected to the November presidential election. Clerk George Christenson points to concerns expressed by legislative attorneys about the validity of those subpoenas. Based on that, Christenson told reporters Thursday, “One can guess our response.” Assembly Elections Commission chairperson and State Representative Janel Brandtjen order election clerks in Milwaukee and Brown counties to appear before the committee next Tuesday with the requested materials.
Republicans and Democrats are both looking for new leaders in the Minnesota Senate. D-F-L Minority Leader Susan Kent announced late Thursday she's stepping down from that position and will not run for re-election next year. Kent, who's served in the Senate for 10 years, says she needs to focus more on her family, particularly her mother who needs her attention and support at this time in her life. Senate Democrats will meet September 13th to elect a new leader. Kent's resignation came the day after Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka stepped down. Senator Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks was elected interim majority leader until the G-O-P elects a permanent leader.
A Rochester woman is pleading guilty to federal charges in connection with St. Paul arson fires during the May 2020 civil unrest. Twenty-three-year-old Mena Yousif admitted to being an accessory after the fact to arson. Prosecutors say Yousif and her husband, Jose Felan Junior, set fire to a Goodwill store, Gordon Parks High school, and 7 Mile Sportswear. Court documents say Yousif aided and abetted Felan as he fled from Minnesota to Texas and into Mexico by destroying evidence and providing false information to law enforcement. They were both arrested in Mexico in February.
Olmsted County authorities are identifying the man who died after being pulled from a residential pool. Sheriff's deputies say 60-year-old James Sackett was found by his wife in the bottom of the pool Tuesday night. She started C-P-R before paramedics arrived and they were unable to revive Sackett. Investigators say his death is not believed to be suspicious.
Authorities in Jackson County say two burglary suspects were arrested Tuesday after a standoff in the Village of Alma Center. Deputies were called to a home Monday where the suspects were interrupted in the burglary by the homeowner. He was hit in the head. When deputies tried to contact 26-year-old Aaron T. Lowe and 33-year-old Jolene L. Lowe of Alma Center the next day, the two barricaded themselves in a home and refused to come out. After more than four hours of negotiation, chemical agents were deployed, the two came outside and were taken into custody. Charges including burglary and battery with a dangerous weapon have been referred to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.
Defense attorneys for former Minneapolis police officers Thomas Lane and J-Kueng have changed their minds. They have now asked Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill to ban live streaming of their March trial. Originally, the attorneys were in favor of a broadcast. Lane, Kueng, and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last year. Former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in April. Those proceedings were the first in Minnesota history where a criminal trial was live-streamed in its entirety. A hearing will be held today (Thursday) to deal with those and other pre-trial issues.
The U-S Department of Justice reports a former vice president of Mercyhealth and an Illinois marketing agency owner have pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. Federal prosecutors say 57-year-old Barbara Bortner and 46-year-old Ryan Weckerly were involved in the kickback scheme. Weckerly owned Illinois-based marketing company Morningstar Media Group and Bortner was a hospital official based in Janesville. Investigators say Weckerly began submitting inflated weekly invoices for his marketing work for the hospital starting in February of 2015. The two were accused of getting away with more than three million dollars between then and June of last year.
The latest F-B-I hate crime report shows those incidents were up by 44 percent last year in Wisconsin. That continues an upward trend. The data collected by the federal agency is often criticized as an under-reported number. In many cases, crimes charged under the hate crime statute by Wisconsin prosecutors weren’t officially recorded by police as hate crimes. Almost 400 Wisconsin police departments haven’t reported a single hate crime in at least five years. Protests following George Floyd’s 2020 murder pushed anti-Black hate crimes higher by 43 percent nationwide. That number more than doubled in Wisconsin. The F-B-I counts only one anti-Asian hate crime last year.
There is no prize for this milestone and the only thing the driver gets is an O-W-I charge. The Racine County Sheriff’s Office says the arrest of a Burlington woman Wednesday morning marked the 350th time an impaired driver has been charged this year. Katrena Rudolph was involved in a single-vehicle accident shortly after 7:30 a-m. When deputies observed Rudolph showing signs of impairment she took and failed a set of field sobriety tests. She was arrested for O-W-I fourth offense after failing. Deputies say she eventually admitted consuming marijuana and different pills before driving.
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