The search is over for a missing fisherman on the backwaters of the Mississippi River in Buffalo County. The Buffalo County Sheriff's office says a Fort McCoy Fire Department dive team located the body of 74-year-old Dennis Freidel of Prescott late Friday morning. Freidel's boat capsized Wednesday evening near Belvidere Landing. The Wisconsin D-N-R is reviewing the incident.
Concerns from the Independent Community Bankers Association regarding potential tax changes by the Biden administration are drawing interest. The specific provision would change reporting rules to the IRS in that transactions over $600 must be reported, down from the current $10,000. U.S. Representative Ron Kind says paychecks, milk checks, and others, are already being reported, and this proposal is about income “under the table.
The Durand Public Library has joined the More Library System. Library Director Lori Gills says the system is a consortium of 54 libraries in the area. As part of the More Library system, Gills told County Board Members that the Library received a $41,000 grant to convert the Library's collection to a new bar code identification system.
About half of the nearly 13-thousand Afghan refugees late Fort McCoy are children. What’s more, hundreds of women refugees are pregnant. Reporters Thursday got their first look inside Fort McCoy since the U-S started housing refugees. There are eight so-called “neighborhoods” at the fort, each with a mosque, barracks, a dining hall, and schools. The refugees say they’re doing well, even if they are a bit bored. Crime is low, even though two refugees are charged with sexual and domestic abuse.
The Wabasha County Board is meeting tomorrow. Items on the agenda include the annual report from the Wabasha County Libraries, authorization of the Highway Department to purchase materials for asphalt patching, and a zoning ordinance petition review. Tomorrow's meeting begins at 9am a the Wabasha County Government Center.
A federal court hearing on the Wisconsin wolf hunt has been scheduled for October 29th. Six Chippewa tribes filed suit last month arguing the hunt violates their treaty rights and endangers the wolf population – an animal the tribes consider to be sacred. U-S District Judge James Peterson will hear arguments on the tribes’ request for a preliminary injunction that would stop the November hunt. The Chippewa say they want to protect the wolves and they point out that hunters far surpassed the state’s quota of 119 last February – almost doubling it.
State health officials are reporting more than eight thousand people have now died of COVID-19 complications in Wisconsin. Eleven more deaths were confirmed Friday, increasing the state's total to eight-thousand-nine. The Department of Health Services confirmed another three-thousand-371 COVID case. The seven-day average is just over 25-hundred cases. One-thousand-99 patients were hospitalized with coronavirus Friday and 311 were in intensive care units. D-H-S says 53-point-eight percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.
Former state Senate minority leader David Hann was elected to the position of party chair for Minnesota Republicans on Saturday. The election, completed after three rounds of voting, was prompted by the resignation of Jennifer Carnahan the summer. Hann lost the race for chair to Carnahan in 2017. After his election, Hann said his top priorities are to help change the reputation of the party and bring in young voters.
The attorney leading the Republican election review in Wisconsin is issuing subpoenas to a pair of elections officials. Ex-state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman subpoenaed Milwaukee Election Commission Director Claire Woodall-Vogg and Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys. He’s seeking information about private grants used to help run the 2020 presidential election. Both subpoenas were signed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. State Representative Mark Spreitzer of Beloit, the ranking Democrat on the campaign and elections committee, said, “by issuing these subpoenas, it is now clear that Speaker Vos is using every power available to him to placate far-right extremists." The subpoenas ask the election officials to appear in person October 15th in Brookfield.
A safety bill for roadside workers has been introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly. Republican state Representative Amy Loudenbeck of Clinton says her legislation includes enhanced penalties, but it is also focused on prevention. It would take a lot of the safety precautions for roadside construction workers and apply them to roadside emergency responders. A Triple-A spokesperson notes that two people were killed in just the month of July while doing their dangerous jobs on the side of the road. Loudenbeck’s bill got bipartisan support in the Assembly and she says she hopes it will be voted on in the Wisconsin Senate later this month.
Congresswoman Angie Craig is applauding the U-S-D-A for providing 500-million dollars for drought relief and African swine fever prevention. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Cannon Falls last month to hear from Minnesota farmers about the impact of severe drought. Craig says farmers and livestock producers were just starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic when Minnesota began suffering from dangerously dry conditions. She also says pork producers in her district face the threat of an African swine flu outbreak would be devasting to the industry and our rural economy.
A Weston couple is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and neglect in their five-year-old daughter’s death. Thirty-six-year-old Sumitra Stolp faces the homicide charge. She’s also charged with neglecting a child, chronic neglect of a child, and two counts of obstructing an officer. Her husband, 40-year-old Johnathan Stolp, is facing the same charges – except homicide. The victim had a fractured skull and a brain bleed when she was brought to a hospital last August. Alcohol and elevated levels of Tylenol were found in her system. Investigators say the mother gave three different versions of what happened
Health insurance premiums in Minnesota are expected to rise four to 11 percent next year, but C-E-O Nate Clark says those who buy through the MNsure exchange will pay on average 684 dollars less than last year, because of federal American Rescue Plan dollars. Clark says most Minnesotans enrolled who qualify to receive these tax credits are going to see savings in 2022. He says there are also more health plan choices than in previous years. Republican Representative Anne Neu Brindley from North Branch argues those subsidies will not apply to everyone and there are a large number of Minnesotans who are going to see rate increases.
Wisconsin State Fair C-E-O and Executive Director Kathleen O’Leary is leaving the position at the end of next month. O’Leary announced her retirement Wednesday after 24 years in state service. She was appointed interim C-E-O before the 2016 State Fair, then given the permanent title that same year. She became the first woman to hold the positions of C-E-O and executive director of the Fair. State Fair Park in West Allis has more than 100 year-round employees and about 15 hundred leading up to and during the Fair. The fairgrounds host hundreds of events every year.
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