The Durand City Council continues its work on the budget for 2022. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says it appears the budget will have a 4% levy increase. The public will have a chance to weigh in on the city budget during a public hearing on November 17 at Durand City Hall.
The Durand Arkansaw School Board has clarified the masking options for students that are identified as close contact. Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says parents will have three options to choose from. Students of family members who are positive with covid-19 will still be required to quarantine for 14 days.
As FDA and the CDC look to approve the Covid-19 Vaccine for children 5-11 yrs old when would they be available here in Pepin County? Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the department has to wait for final guidance from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services before administering the vaccine to children. Stewart says that could come as soon as this Wednesday or Thursday. Stewart says those interested should monitor the Health Departments Facebook Page this week or give the health department a call.
The Pepin County Sheriffs Department, along with Durand Fire and Pepin County Land Conservation have teamed up to purchase the three drones each with different features to provide safety to the community, search and rescue, and aerial assessment of land conservation projects. Two drone team members have received their FAA certifications. The total cost of the equipment was $36,964, with $25,000 of the cost covered by a private anonymous donation, $6000 was paid by the Durand Fire Departments' non-profit fundraising account and $5964 was paid with grants from the State of Wisconsin.
The Wabasha County Board is meeting on Tuesday. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on the Wabasha County Extension Budget, salaries for the Sheriff, county attorney, and commissioners for 2022, and discussion of the quarterly financial reports. Tomorrow's meeting begins at 9am in the board room at the Wabasha County Government Center.
The A-C-L-U is appealing to the state over claims of racial discrimination in Chippewa Falls schools. The group asked the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to review the case. A student's mother claims the school district didn't do enough to address claims of racism and discrimination. Chippewa Falls Schools say they responded with new programs and policies for students and teachers and told students to speak up about any discrimination they see in school. The student's mother says that's not adequate.
A man from La Crosse is accused of leading Lincoln County sheriff's deputies on a chase and spraying officers with bear spray. The deputy pulled over the 54-year-old driver for a license plate violation near Tomahawk Thursday night and the man gave a fake name. Investigators say that's when he sprayed the deputy in the face and drove off. Another deputy pursued the suspect vehicle and it kept driving at more than 70 miles an hour after all four tires hit deflation devices. The vehicle became disabled in Merrill and burst into flames as four deputies took the man into custody. He also sprayed one of those deputies in the face.
Dwindling resources and increasing call volumes are putting stress on fire and EMS services across Wisconsin. A new study by the Wisconsin Policy Forum shows that most of Wisconsin's fire and EMS staff are volunteers, and spokesman Mark Summerhauser says it's hard to keep that model going in a time when more people have to work longer hours. Summerhauser says that many municipalities are unable to break free of the volunteer model due to tax increase caps and reduced state revenue sharing.
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Several Republicans are calling for the resignation of Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meghan Wolfe after the Racine County sheriff accused the W-E-C of breaking state law. Sheriff Christopher Schmaling claimed the commission illegally banned special voting deputies from nursing homes then told workers in those homes to fill-out ballots for people who were unable to do it themselves. The W-E-C held an emergency meeting Thursday night to deny the allegations. Chair Ann Jacobs said in a statement, "without action from the commission, many residents in care facilities could have and would have been disenfranchised from voting in the 2020 elections." Wolfe added, "It would be irresponsible to spend any energy engaging a blatantly partisan and coordinated attempt to baselessly challenge the integrity of democracy in our great state.”
A federal judge is imposing an indefinite ban against state and local law enforcement in Minnesota from using force against journalists in the field. Thursday's court action went into effect as a temporary restraining order is about to expire. The order is linked to a class-action lawsuit filed by the A-C-L-U of Minnesota after the police killing of George Floyd in May of 2020. The suit claims officers threatened, assaulted, and arrested members of the media, even after they identified themselves as journalists.
The jurors who convicted former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd say the camera doesn't lie. Seven of them spoke out on C-N-N for the first time since finding him guilty in April. The Hennepin County jurors said the video of Chauvin holding Floyd down for nearly nine minutes played a big role and continues to take an emotional toll. They also admitted they likely would have reached the same decision even if he had taken the stand in his own defense.
Two women are going to federal prison for stealing more than 700-thousand dollars from a Native American addiction and counseling center in Spooner. The U-S Attorney's Office says 63-year-old Fredricka DeCoteau of Cloquet, Minnesota was sentenced to two years and 77-year-old Edith Schmuck of Rice Lake got one year and one day in prison. DeCoteau and Schmuck pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of 777-thousand-283 dollars from Ain Dah Ing (A-D-I) by paying themselves unauthorized bonuses via payroll checks that were signed using a rubber signature stamp of the A-D-I treasurer. Both were fired after the thefts were discovered.
The U-S Department of Health and Human Services is providing 19-and-a-half-million dollars to more than 75 rural Minnesota hospitals for COVID testing and mitigation efforts. The funding will be used for coronavirus tests and education, contact tracing, and personal protective equipment. U-S Senator Tina Smith said these grants will help ensure that rural hospitals in Minnesota will be able to take important steps to fight COVD-19 and to give patients access to testing services.
The Wisconsin D-N-R is reminding waterfowl hunters to know their target and not shoot at swans this season. All wild swans are protected in Wisconsin. Conservation officers say hunters may encounter more swans because they are more abundant in the state and will start migrating in the next few weeks. The population of the once-endangered trumpeter swan now exceeds 11-thousand since they were re-introduced in the late 1980s. Shooting a swan could result in a fine and revocation of all hunting and fishing privileges in Wisconsin.
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