The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion on the special assessment for the Drier Street, Laneville Avenue project along with an update on the project. Discussion of the possible purchase of a ladder truck for the fire department, and discussion and possible action on amending the snow parking ordiance. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30pm and will be live-streamed on the live streaming page of our website at reelcountry1430.com.
The first winter storm of the season is possible at the end of the week. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Friday afternoon until Saturday morning for Pepin, Buffalo, Wabasha, and Eau Claire Counties. A storm system is expected to move up from the south on Friday bringing snow to the region with 4-6 inches of accumulation possible.
The district attorney in Chippewa County has decided the officer who fired a fatal shot during a traffic stop last October was acting in self-defense. Sheriff’s Sergeant Martin Folczyk and his partner say Lance R. Stelzer was wearing several layers of clothing, a ski mask, and glasses when he was stopped. He began spraying Folczyk and his partner with a chemical when they walked up to the vehicle’s door. The sergeant said he didn’t think a Taser would be effective due to all the layers of clothing Stelzer was wearing, so he shot the man as he continued to approach them. Several people later told investigators that Stelzer had talked about committing suicide by forcing a law enforcement officer to shoot him.
A 70-million-dollar donation will help fund the construction of a new arena in Eau Claire. Called the Eau Claire County Materials Event and Recreation Complex, work is expected to start next spring and be completed in two years. The donation from John and Carolyn Sonnentag is said to be the biggest gift in the history of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and among the largest gifts to any public university in the U-S. The five-thousand-seat venue could be home to concerts, conventions, and youth sports activities.
Two people were injured in a truck vs buggy accident in Monroe County on Sunday night. According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the buggy was struck from behind by a truck driven by 34yr old Mike Breidenbach of Ontario while traveling westbound on Hwy 71 near Wilton. Ida Yoder suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident while John Miller also in the buggy was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. That accident remains under investigation.
A woman attending a La Crosse School Board meeting Monday criticized members for holding a moment of silence to honor the Ho-Chunk Nation and sacred indigenous lands. Shannon McKinney called that illegal religious indoctrination. McKinney spoke during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. She said using the term “sacred” meant veneration of God, adding that’s discriminatory and can cause harm. She then said her own prayer to “Jesus and Father God” seeking guidance for the board as it deliberated.
The University of Wisconsin System might give every high school student in the state a break on entrance exams. System leaders want to keep the A-C-T and the S-A-T optional until at least the 2024-25 school year. The entrance tests became optional last year, during the height of coronavirus school closures. The extension would mean that high school sophomores and freshmen would not have to take the tests to be admitted to a U-W school. The Board of Regents is expected to vote on the idea this week.
Governor Tony Evers is awarding more than 14-million dollars in grants to movie theaters, summer camps, and minor league sports teams in Wisconsin. The governor said tourism-related businesses have been hit particularly hard by the ongoing pandemic and this investment will continue to help fuel the state's recovery. The Movie Theater Assistance Grant Program provides about 15-thousand dollars per screen to 49 theater companies. The Minor League Sports Teams Grant Program provides two-point-eight-million dollars to 17 minor league teams for about 200-thousand dollars to help recoup lost 2020 revenue. The Summer Camp Assistance Grant Program will provide 50-thousand dollars each to 37 eligible summer camps.
Officials with the Medford School District say they aren’t turning off the heat on students and staff. It’s just a rumor. District administrator Pat Sullivan says all classrooms will keep the thermostat between 68 and 70 degrees. What has changed is that teachers won’t be able to add a degree or two if they aren’t warm enough. The district is encouraging them to bring a sweatshirt or a jacket. Sullivan says the higher cost of heating fuel this winter has made that change necessary. He says the district is paid up on all of its heating bills and the policy is nothing more than a precaution against getting a “surprise” bill this winter.
Opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of ex-Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter. She has pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree manslaughter in the April shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Potter's attorneys claim she mistakenly fired her service weapon instead of her Taser when she fatally shot Wright. Her recent Taser training is expected to come up during opening arguments. The defense indicated during the jury selection process that Potter will testify on her own behalf. The Minnesota Attorney General's Office alleges that Potter acted recklessly in causing Wright's death. Judge Regina Chu is expecting the trial to wrap up around Christmas.
A Rochester man is now charged with first-degree murder for a fatal shooting in Moorhead. A Clay County jury indicted Idris Haji-Mohamed for the September shooting death of 32-year-old Abdi Abdi from Fargo. Haji-Mohamed is accused of shooting Abdi five times at close range. Another man - Ibrahim Isaac - is charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder. Bail is set at three million dollars for both defendants. Prosecutors say convictions would carry mandatory life prison sentences.
Mercury Marine says it is making big changes to its Fond du Lac plant. The distribution center will become a manufacturing facility. The company says it has a growing need for ways to serve its global customers. Mercury Marine says it will add 100 thousand square feet in two additions to its Fond du Lac foundry and one to its machining operation. The distribution center is moving to Indiana. The company says it plans to hire 300 new employees and the expanded facility should be up and running by next year.
Minnesota has a massive seven-point-seven-billion-dollar state budget surplus, the biggest in recent history by a large margin, according to the just-released economic forecast. The huge surplus will trigger a flurry of lobbying by interest groups. Democrats will likely push for a larger amount than 250 million dollars, to allow bigger COVID bonuses for a wider group of front-line workers -- something they and Republicans have been unable to agree on. They'll also likely push for a big bonding bill for state public works projects, plus other state programs. Business groups want lawmakers to ease their burden of replenishing the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which has been depleted by COVID.
Pilots at Sun Country Airlines may soon get a significant boost in pay. The Minnesota-based carrier and the Air Line Pilots Association recently reached an agreement. If the deal is approved by union members, Sun Country will have some of the highest-paid pilots in the country. A vote on the proposed contract is expected later this month
Charges have been filed against a La Follette High School student who is accused of bringing a loaded gun to the school. Eighteen-year-old Marquan Webb seven counts, including possession of a firearm on school grounds and resisting an officer. Webb was arrested last Thursday after school administrators say they got an anonymous tip that he was armed. The gun found in one of his jacket pockets had been stolen. A big cash bond was set because he has a lengthy juvenile criminal history.
The Minnesota D-N-R is certifying a muskie caught by a Plymouth man as a state record. Nolan Sprengler reeled in a 55-pound, 14-point-eight-ounce muskie on Lake Mille Lacs on November 22nd. The previous record was 54 pounds set in 1957 on Lake Winnibigoshish. Sprengler first weighed his catch on a certified scale at a U-P-S store with witnesses before having it identified at a D-N-R Fisheries office. A taxidermist is mounting the record muskie for him.
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