Eleven of 16 Pepin County private wells recently sampled by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection contained nitrate concentrations exceeding the groundwater standard of 10 mg/L nitrate-nitrogen. Water containing 10 mg/L (10 ppm) or more nitrate-N is deemed unsafe for human consumption, with pregnant women and infants most vulnerable. In addition to nitrates, one well tested high for imidacloprid, a commonly used pesticide. Heidi Stewart, Pepin County Director of Public Health, recommends that all homeowners have their drinking water wells sampled annually for nitrates. Well sampling kits can be obtained from the Pepin County Department of Land Conservation and Planning. Owners whose wells exceed drinking water standards for nitrates or pesticides should immediately seek an alternative water supply or water treatment.
The Durand City Council voted 5-1 to move forward and purchase a new police squad to replace the squad driven by the School Resource Officer. Chief Ridgeway told council members that the current squad was in need of repairs exceeding $5000. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the city was able to use money from other parts of the budget to pay for the new squad. The purchase price of the squad was just over $35,000.
The University of Wisconsin System announced today that UW-River Falls has attained a 70 percent vaccination rate among students. “This is quite an accomplishment for the students of UW-River Falls and a sign of the hard work and commitment of the university’s staff and administration,” said System President Tommy Thompson. “Our vaccination campaign is working.” UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Milwaukee, UW Oshkosh, UW-Stout, and UW-Whitewater have already reached the 70 percent threshold. UW-Madison, which is running its own vaccination campaign, has a student vaccination rate of over 90 percent.
The Menomonie Police Department is looking for help in identifying two unidentified men dressed in all white involved in three quick-change schemes over the weekend. According to Menomonie Police, in three transactions in the City of Menomonie, the men made small purchases then confused the cashier with making change for $100 bills. Authorities say that they were driving a white dodge challenger with two black stripes down each side of the car. If you have any information related to the incidents, you are to contact the Menomonie Police Department
Election officials in Wisconsin’s five biggest cities say they are working to provide documents instead of coming to Madison for interviews today. The documents are part of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman’s investigation of last November’s election. Gableman issued subpoenas earlier this month, but he has since said officials who cooperate won’t have to testify. Initially, those interviews were going to be conducted today. Mayors from those cities – Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine – have also been subpoenaed and are scheduled for interviews on October 22nd. Gableman has been back-and-forth on whether they will have to show up.
Wisconsin wildlife officials are reminding deer hunters to know their target before they shoot this fall. Archery and crossbow deer seasons are underway, and the Department of Natural Resources is urging hunters to know the difference between elk and white-tailed deer. Antlerless elk are often mistaken for large does, and young bull elk can look a lot like large white-tail bucks. Hunters who take an elk without a tag may be fined or have their hunting license revoked.
More students are graduating from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. U-W Madison reports six- and four-year graduation rates at record highs. Freshmen who entered in 2015 had a six-year graduation rate of just over 89-percent. For students who entered as new freshmen in 2017, the graduation rate reached nearly 79-percent. And for a third straight year, the average time for the most recent graduates to get their bachelor’s degrees was a little less than four years.
Attorneys for ex-Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor are asking a judge for leniency -- about three-and-a-half years in prison -- when he's re-sentenced next week. That after the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned Noor's third-degree murder conviction in the 2017 shooting death of Justine Damond, leaving his second-degree manslaughter conviction in place. Defense lawyers claim Noor has been a model prisoner, working as a janitor before becoming a clerk who helps admit new arrivals. They say he has also attended or led religious services while in prison.
The winner has been crowned in this year's Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin competition. After more than 200,000 votes cast over multiple rounds, the 140 Ton Navy Crane from Broadwind Heavy Fabrications in Manitowoc was declared the coolest. Nearly 70,000 votes were cast in the final round of the contest. Other finalists included: Caterpillar Global Mining in South Milwaukee, Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, and Kwik Trip in La Crosse. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Johnson Financial Group have partnered on the competition for the past six years.
A Grant County Village is receiving a $750,000 grant from USDA Rural Development's Water and Waste Disposal Grant Program. The money will be used to provide additional financing for the village of Tennyson water system project. The original project included a water tower, improvements to the water utilities well house, and water main replacements on two streets. This project is needed due to the new water tower being installed as the water system pressure is about 30 psi higher resulting in numerous water main breaks due to faulty pipes across the system. A majority of the breaks occurred under a state highway right-of-way where the pipe was installed in the 1950s-1960s. The additional funds will be used to replace this section of pipe so it can meet the increased pressure of the system.
Authorities are searching for three home invaders who broke into a Rochester home Tuesday night. Two brothers, ages 12 and 14, were in the apartment alone at the time. The boys say the armed men who broke in at the Village Green apartments were carrying two handguns and a crowbar. They say a man claiming to be their dad’s friend knocked on the door at about 10:30 p-m. He and two others pushed their way inside, demanding cash, and searching the apartment for things to steal. The boys weren’t injured and no names have been released.
A former Appleton middle school teacher has admitted he had an inappropriate online relationship with a student. Forty-seven-year-old Brian Dimmer is scheduled to be sentenced in January after pleading no contest to causing a child age 13-to-18 to view sexual activity. Dimmer was accused of sending sexually explicit messages to an eighth-grade student, asking for explicit photos, and exposing himself during their video chats. He taught at Wilson Middle School and served as a coach at Appleton West High School until he resigned.
A federal lawsuit has been filed against former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah, the city, and its police chief. The suit accused the police department of promoting racism and violating Jay Anderson Junior’s civil rights was filed Wednesday morning in Milwaukee. Anderson was intoxicated and sleeping in his car in Madison Park five years ago. The suit alleges Mensah didn’t call for backup, didn’t turn on his emergency lights, and failed to activate his dash camera before ordering Anderson to wake up and show him his hands. Mensah says he saw a gun on the passenger seat and he shot Anderson when he lunged for it. Anderson’s family argues the fatal shooting wasn’t justified.
A Minnesota state lawmaker is accusing the D-N-R of launching a war on deer farmers. Republican Representative Tim Miller of Prinsburg opposes the ban on importing or moving farmed deer within Minnesota to control the spread of chronic wasting disease. Miller contends the D-N-R is targeting deer farms, but doing nothing to address the situation in the wild where deer are "free to roam and... can cause all sorts of problems." D-N-R Commissioner Sarah Strommen said the agency is "committed to doing everything we can to reduce the continued risk of C-W-D transmission in Minnesota, including from farmed deer to Minnesota’s wild whitetails.”
Start your Christmas shopping now, that's the message heading into this holiday season. John Hauslauden with the Minnesota Truckers Association says worker shortages continue to drive transportation supply chain issues. He says it's a systemic problem that's been with us for years and it's just really growing worse. Hauslauden says Minnesota is short more than 31-hundred truck drivers and the state is going to need 61-thousand drivers over the next five years. The Biden Administration announced that it would work with the private sector to start providing incentives to increase trucking, docks, and warehouse hours in an effort to move things through the system more quickly.
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