Pepin County has received $1.4 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan. These funds are intended to provide local governments with resources to continue to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as provide local units of government with the opportunity for recovery and to assist their communities with economic recovery. Pepin County is requesting input regarding how residents think Pepin County’s $1.4 million in funds awarded should be spent and anyone that would like to propose a project or program that qualifies for funding can apply. The application deadline is January 31 and the application and more information can be found at the Pepin County Website.
A Dunn County woman is sentenced to 25 years in prison for her role in the beating death of a man last November. Ashley Gunder had pleaded no contest to being a party to the reckless homicide of 37-year-old Bruce McGuigan of Hayward. Ryan Steinhoff and Chad Turgeson are accused of beating McGuigan for hours and using a propane torch to burn him. Gunder told investigators that she was ordered to clean up the bloody scene after McGuigan died. She will receive credit for 395 days already served. Turgeson and Steinhoff have court hearings in the spring.
One person is injured after an accident in the Town of Unity on Saturday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, a man traveling eastbound on Hwy 10, pulled over to retrieve a recycling container that had fallen out of his truck. He was standing by the rear of his truck when he was struck by a passing vehicle. He was air-lifted to Mayo Hospital in Eau Claire.
The chair of the state Senate’s elections committee says criticism may spur her to seek another term. State Senator Cathy Bernier, who’s said that an elections probe led by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman contains “made-up things” meant to play to the Republican base, said in a tweet she’s been considering retirement but (quote) “I may rethink it. Right-wingers calling for my resignation is motivation!” The Lake Hallie lawmaker said her fellow Republicans need to stop attacking the integrity of Wisconsin’s elections.
The Chippewa Valley Airport and La Crosse Municipal Airport are both receiving funding from the infrastructure law. Chippewa Valley will receive just over $1 million while La Crosse Municipal will receive just over $1.3 million in funding. The money can be invested in runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects as well as terminal, airport-transit connections, and roadway projects. More funding for Wisconsin airports is expected in years to come. In total, Wisconsin Airport will receive $39 million in funding.
The Dunn County Sheriff's Department has identified the victim of a two-vehicle accident in the town of Lucas last Wednesday. 18yr old Carson Lund of Baldwin was killed when the vehicle he was in failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of Hwy K and Hwy 12 and was struck by a westbound vehicle. Two other occupants in the vehicle were also injured and taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The National Weather Service has confirmed a fifth tornado was on the ground last Wednesday in western Wisconsin. The E-F-Zero tornado damaged several homes and blew trees onto four houses on the west side of the Village of Trempealeau. It was on the ground for about a minute starting at 8:23 p-m. No injuries or deaths were connected to that tornado. Meteorologists say the tornado was about 25 yards wide and had estimated peak wind speeds of 75 miles an hour. Two other tornadoes have been confirmed in Clark County that night, along with tornadoes in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties.
Eau Claire County prosecutors say they have reached a plea agreement with a 25-year-old man charged in a fatal shooting last year. Juan Olivarez entered a guilty plea Thursday to charges of felony murder and aggravated battery. Four other charges were dismissed. Investigators say Olivarez and Joe Moya broke into an Eau Claire home in March 2020 and shot Edwin Garcia-Smith three times. Garcia-Smith was killed and a second person in the home was wounded. Olivarez is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
A Hastings man is accused of burning the body of a drug overdose victim and dumping him near a boat launch on the Mississippi River last summer. Dakota County prosecutors say 33-year-old Timothy Otto is charged with second-degree arson and interference with a dead body in connection with the death of 30-year-old Kyle Hamilton. His remains were located July 10th by a burnt outhouse at Jaycee Park. An autopsy determined Hamilton had fatal amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. Fire investigators also found gasoline in the soil underneath Hamilton's body. A witness told police that Otto admitted to putting his body in a garbage can at the boat launch and setting it on fire.
The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau is reminding residents not to share their COVID vaccine cards on social media. Officials say even a minimal amount of self-identifying information makes you vulnerable to identity theft and can help scammers make fake cards. There have been reports of scammers offering to sell phony vaccine cards. B-B-B Wisconsin president Jim Timmer warns people who are vaccinated not to post a selfie holding the card on Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms.
Now you can call him Ambassador Tom Barrett. The U-S Senate Thursday confirmed Milwaukee’s mayor as the new ambassador to Luxembourg. President Biden nominated Barrett for the post in August, but he’s been waiting for an official vote. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson helped move Barrett’s nomination forward. Barrett’s departure kicks off a special election for Milwaukee's mayor. That field is already crowded.
Former Governor Scott Walker says if Wisconsin set aside its personal income tax it would save the average family about 17 hundred dollars a year. The Republican says it would also create jobs and likely would lead more people to move to Wisconsin. Walker, U-W economist Noah Williams, and several reform groups are making a pitch to lawmakers to dump the tax. They want it replaced with a slight bump in the sales tax rate. Walker tells reporters eliminating the state income tax would make Wisconsin a destination in the Upper Midwest. Seven U-S states have no personal income tax.
A Dane County businessman and executive is looking to become Wisconsin's first Hmong lieutenant governor. Peng Her is the C-E-O of the Hmong Institute in Madison, and if he's elected would also be the first Hmong elected to a statewide office in the nation. Her has also served on the Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Council and the Governor's Homeless working group. Her became a U-S Citizen in 1986 along with his family, who came to America in the 70s following the fall of Laos. Other Democratic candidates include state Representatives David Bowen of Milwaukee, Sara Rodriguez of Brookfield, and state Senator Lena Taylor of Milwaukee.
State officials are reporting more positive tests for chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin deer. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection confirms that two white-tailed deer at a Portage County hunt ranch tested positive for C-W-D. The 200-acre farm and its herd of approximately 370 deer are under quarantine while an investigation is conducted. The D-N-R is confirming that a wild deer in the town of Lincoln is the first-ever positive C-W-D case in Vilas County. Conservation officers are enacting a three-year baiting and feeding ban in Vilas County as well as a two-year ban in Forest County. The infected deer was harvested within ten miles of the county line.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reports the state’s unemployment rate dropped to a record-low three percent in November. More than 12 thousand private-sector jobs were added knocking the unemployment percentage down by two-tenths of a point, keeping it well below the national average. The three percent figure ties November 18th for the lowest rate ever recorded in the state. The labor force participation in Wisconsin is a little over 66 percent – also well ahead of the national rate of just below 62 percent. The Badger State ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for that.
The C-E-O of Minnesota-based My Pillow says he's spent 25-million dollars promoting claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Mike Lindell tells "Business Insider" that includes ten million dollars to build his social media platform FrankSpeech, which he uses nightly to promote his claims. He said the biggest obstacle to "saving America" is conservative media like Fox News and Newsmax, which have canceled him and won't talk about the 2020 election. Lindell added, "I will spend everything I have and sell everything I have if that's what it takes" to re-instate Trump as president.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is telling families whose kids missing free school lunches will be getting extra food stamp benefits. The lunches were missed while the programs were idled during the COVID-19 pandemic. The state announced Thursday those families will receive just over seven dollars per child, per-day. The refunds are covered by money from the federal government. Families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have been told to expect a letter that will explain when the extra benefits will be available.
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