The Durand-Arkansaw School District is investing in a new software program that will monitor student use of the internet. Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the new software will notify the administration if students search using certain keywords while using their chrome books at school. The new software should be installed in the coming weeks.
Pepin County has closed on the sale of the old highway facility to Kwik Trip. In August of 2020, the county and Kwik Trip closed in Escrow, but the county had to build the new facility, remove fuel tanks from the former site, obtain DNR release, and vacate the site by October 31, 2021. Pepin County met the date and all documents and funds were released from Escrow on Friday, October 29th. Thus, the sale “closed” on October 31, 2021, and ownership of the site has now been transferred to Kwik Trip. The company will begin demolition of the old highway shop this month and is expected to open a new store by December 1 of 2022.
No one was injured in a fire at a hotel in Black River Falls yesterday. According to the Black River Falls Fire Department, firefighters crews responded to a fire alarm at the Surestay Plus Hotel by Best Western near the interchange for Interstate 94 and Highway 54 east of Black River Falls in the Town of Brockway. When they arrived staff was evacuating guests and smoke was reported in the basement where firefighters found a dryer had started on fire. Damage was limited to the dryer and the area around the dryer.
A large search party spent much of the day Sunday searching once again for Ashley Miller Carlson, the missing Wisconsin woman last seen in late September near Hinckley. Carlson's vehicle was found on September 24th in Graces Lake. There was no sign of her seen around the lake. The 33-year-old mother of four had last been seen in the Lake Lena community in Pine County.
Pierce Pepin Cares, the charitable foundation of Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services (PPCS), recently awarded a $1000 grant to the local non-profit St. Croix Valley Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART). Pierce Pepin Cares is funded by PPCS members who round up their monthly bills to the nearest dollar through Operation Round Up®, as well as direct donations. St. Croix Valley SART received the grant to assist with general administration. SART provides medical exams, forensic evidence collection, education, and advocacy for survivors of all ages of interpersonal violence, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. They serve five counties and partner with 11 hospitals.
Pepin County 4-H and Pepin School Family Resource Committee are teaming up to offer a Cultural Holiday Baking Camp. The baking camp will be through ZOOM, and will be baking together virtually. There will be 4 sessions, every Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m, from November 30th through December 21st. You can attend one or all four. For more information, contact Pepin Area Schools or Pepin County Extension Service.
Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil says he will continue voting against “wasteful spending.” The Wisconsin Republican voted against the president’s one-trillion dollar infrastructure bill Friday night, saying it isn’t paid for and would fund what he calls “Green New Deal subsidies.” Congressman Mark Pocan says the bill will give the U-S economy the jump-start it needs and put America back to work. The Wisconsin Democrat voted for the measure that invests in public transit and expands access to broadband internet service. Wisconsin 3rd District Congressman Ron Kind also voted in favor of the bill. A few members of Congress jumped across party lines – with 13 House Republicans voting for it and six Democrats voting against.
The Wisconsin Senate is scheduled to vote on new legislative and congressional district maps today (Monday). The Assembly vote is coming up Thursday. The maps drawn by Republicans are said to be very similar to the political boundaries established after the 2010 U-S Census. Democratic Governor Tony Evers is expected to veto the maps – meaning the final version will likely be drawn up by a federal court or the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Democratic state Senator Kelda Roys calls them a 10-year-old gerrymander, not deserving “the kind of deference they’re being given by Republicans.”
Governor Tony Evers struck down a bill Friday that would have changed how Wisconsin schools address young students struggling to read. The legislation required schools to do additional literacy testing and create personalized reading plans. Opponents noted the bill provided no additional funding. Evers said that he objected to “fundamentally overhauling” literacy instruction without evidence that more testing is the best approach in his veto message. Senate Education Committee chair Alberta Darling said Evers' veto, "offers no solutions, no plan, and no help to improve reading scores in our state.”
A Dane County judge is ordering Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to turn over records in the partisan probe into Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election. Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that Vos submit all election records created between May and late August within ten days. Vos’ attorney said it will be up to the speaker to decide whether to appeal. The taxpayer-financed Republican investigation has been overseen by former state Supreme Court justice Mike Gableman, and not much information has been released about its specifics.
The Wisconsin Builders’ Association says home prices are rising so fast in the state that some potential buyers are deciding to wait. The W-B-A is reporting a significant slowdown in the number of new home building applications. Rapidly rising material costs and supply chain delays are called major factors. Two-thousand-450 permits were issued between July and September. That compares to four-thousand-382 in the previous quarter. Prices for building materials have jumped up by about 30-percent.
A school superintendent in southeastern Minnesota is accused of domestic assault in Houston County. La Crescent-Hokah School Superintendent Eric Martinez was arrested early Friday for misdemeanor domestic assault and disorderly conduct. He made his first court appearance and was released without bond under some conditions. The city attorney said the other person in the incident declined to request a restraining order. Martinez became superintendent for the La Crescent-Hokah School District in July.
A lawsuit has been filed by a Wisconsin manufacturer in an effort to block the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private-sector workers. The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty filed the suit with the U-S 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. It’s filed on behalf of Darien-based Tankcraft Corporation and Plasticraft Corporation. The new OSHA rule requires any business with 100 or more employees to make sure they are fully vaccinated – or, undergo weekly testing for COVID-19. Failing to do so could bring on large fines.
Flags will be flying at half-staff in Wisconsin today in honor of a Navy sailor killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Navy Hospital Apprentice 1st Class Keefe Connolly was aboard the U-S-S Oklahoma when it was hit by Japanese torpedoes and capsized on December 7th, 1941. Connolly's remains were identified and accounted for in February of this year. Governor Evers in his order thanked the folks who worked to ensure Connolly was able to return home after all these years so he can be laid to rest in his home state. The funeral for Navy Hospital Apprentice 1st Class Connolly is Monday at Memorial Cemetery in his hometown of Markesan.
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