The Durand-Arkansaw School board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda included a public hearing on a waiver request for the school start date, renewal of agreements with Alma, Plum City, and Pepin School Districts, and a report on the 2020-2021 audit. Tonight's meeting begins at 6pm in the board room at Durand High School.
The Pepin County Board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on changes to the ATV/UTV ordinance that would open up all county roads to ATV/UTV use, an American Rescue Plan funding request for a broadband project in the town of Albany, and authorizing the county to enter into an agreement with the Wisconsin Attorney General on the opioid settlement. Tonight's meeting begins at 7pm at the Government Center in Durand and will also be live-streamed on the county website.
Possible severe weather is in the forecast for tonight. The National Weather Service Says a very powerful low-pressure system will track through later today and this evening. Damaging winds with gusts of 60 to 65 mph are likely across all of the Upper Mississippi River Valley tonight. In addition, a line of severe thunderstorms will develop along a very fast-moving cold front early this evening. This line of thunderstorms could contain gusts in excess of 80 mph and some embedded tornadoes across southern and eastern Minnesota into western Wisconsin. Much colder weather is expected for tomorrow.
Two area colleges are receiving Workforce Innovation Grants from the State of Wisconsin. UW-Eau Claire is receiving $9.4 million to be used to develop six new high-skill degrees related to public health and nursing as well as help educate and graduate 48 new nurses each year. Chippewa Valley Technical College was awarded $10 million to help develop classes in metal fabrication and will develop a mobile lab and three multi-purpose training centers in rural areas. The state awarded nearly $60 million total in grants to address workforce challenges across Wisconsin.
A plea agreement has been reached between a former Regis School Employee and prosecutors. Wendy Cronin was charged with stealing more than $20,000 from Regis and pleaded guilty to charges of theft and lying to a police officer. Two charges would be dropped if she pays restitution and surcharges of more than $25000 by December of 2026. If she fails to pay the $20,000 in restitution, she will then be sentenced on all of the charges.
A day after State Senator Kathy Bernier called for an end to the investigation of the 2020 presidential election, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos goes in the opposite direction. The Republican legislative leader says the review he ordered will last longer and cost more money. Vos blames Democratic politicians who are fighting the subpoenas issued by lead investigator and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. The contract signed earlier this year lasts through the end of December and carries a price tag of 680 thousand dollars. Vos says legal fights will prolong the investigation into 2022 and any additional costs can be blamed on Democrats.
Advocates say Minnesota's record budget surplus is more than enough to give 15-hundred-dollar COVID bonuses to all 667-thousand essential workers in Minnesota. Grocery store cashier Sandy Livingston from Baxter spoke during a Zoom news conference today (Tuesday) asking, "When are the front-line workers going to see this money in our pockets? We show up for work, day in and day out." State Representative Cedrick Frazier from New Hope said, "It wasn't a tough decision for the D-F-L... to honor these heroes. It has only been tough for our Republican colleagues to agree to include all of these heroes." The Senate G-O-P's spokespeople weren't immediately available to respond.
Shoppers showing up at the Dollar Tree store in St. Francis have been greeted with a sign saying the business is closed until further notice. It reads, “All the workers quit and we must restaff.” The door is locked, nobody is answering the phone, and W-I-S-N Television reports even the FedEx delivery driver wasn’t able to deliver a package. The story emerged on the same day Wisconsin’s governor announced a 130-million-dollar partnership with technical schools and colleges to train workers and start businesses. The program is aimed at helping young people get back on track, earn a diploma, and return to work.
A La Crosse County judge has delayed the homicide trial for a man who claims he acted in self-defense last year during a fatal confrontation in a Menard’s parking lot. Fifty-one-year-old Matthew Kinstler faces a charge of first-degree reckless homicide. Investigators say he pushed 79-year-old Russell Paulson to the ground causing fatal injuries. The delay is aimed at giving the defense time to meet with the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Paulson and with Paulson’s primary care physician. One witness to the incident told authorities she thought Kinstler was the aggressor.
Visit Milwaukee has sent an application to serve as host for the Republican National Convention in 2024. Wisconsin largest city suffered a bitter disappointment last year when it was awarded the Democratic National Convention but the event turned out to be mostly virtual. That cost the region tens of millions of dollars in economic impact. Republican leaders are expected to announce a list of possible host cities for the convention sometime next year. This application reportedly contains many of the same selling points Milwaukee offered last time.
One of the first orders of business for Assembly Democrats next month will be electing a new minority leader. State Representative Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh says he will be leaving the position January 10th. In his announcement, Hintz said he wanted to have more time for his family and his legislative district. He has two children under the age of five. The Democratic Party has very little power in the Assembly while holding on 38 of the chamber’s 99 seats. That does, however, keep Republicans from holding the two-thirds majority needed to override vetoes from Governor Tony Evers.
Judge Regina Chu is denying a state motion to question police officers in the Kim Potter trial about union membership as a way to determine bias. Prosecutor Matthew Frank argued that because Potter had been a union president "she had this additional role in defending them and providing services to them in that sense, they were more than just co-workers, it's a stronger potential bond." Judge Chu told the court that ex-officer Potter is no longer connected to the police union in any way so witnesses that are testifying couldn't possibly be biased to testify in her favor. The judge also ruled she would not exclude testimony last week from former Brooklyn Center Sergeant Mychal Johnson that Kim Potter would have had the right to use deadly force to prevent great bodily harm of other officers.
A conservative Wisconsin lawmaker who got sick with COVID-19 won’t say whether his view on the pandemic has changed. Republican state Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere was hospitalized last August and placed on a ventilator. Before he got sick, Jacque had been a vocal opponent of mask and vaccine mandates. During a live appearance on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show” Monday Jacque said his recovery has gone well but he is still working to regain strength through physical therapy. When asked, he said he didn’t want to comment on COVID-19, but he did gain some insights from his experience.
Workers in Minnesota are in a position to receive pay raises. A survey conducted by employment benefits firm Mercer and the Conference Board predicts higher worker turnover if employers do not address pay issues. The job market already has led employers to raise the minimum wage or renegotiate the hourly pay of contract terms. Thirty-seven percent of the employers Mercer surveyed said they beefed up starting wages since March.
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