The clean-up continues after severe storms moved quickly through Southeast Minnesota and West Central Wisconsin Wednesday evening. Storm Reports from the National Weather Service reported winds from 50-85 mph across the area causing some minor damage to trees and buildings. No injuries have been reported as of early this morning. The high winds behind the storm will diminish today and after the record high temperatures yesterday, much colder weather is expected for the remainder of the week.
One person is dead and 4 others injured after a two-vehicle accident in the Town of Lucas Wednesday afternoon. According to the Dunn County Sheriff's Department, a car was traveling southbound on Hwy K, failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Hwy K and Hwy 12, and was struck by an SUV traveling westbound on Hwy 12. A person in the car was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Two people in the SUV were treated for minor injuries. Visibility does not appear to be a factor in the accident, which remains under investigation.
The Pepin County Board voted 9-3 to approve changes to the Pepin County ATV-UTV ordinance to follow state law. The ordinance would open up all county roads year-round in the county to ATV and UTV use unless otherwise posted. Kids 12-16 that have taken the DNR ATV Certification will be allowed to drive an ATV on county roads under their parents' supervision. Liability insurance is not required and while operating under the influence is prohibited, open containers are allowed. The county did put a 35mph speed limit in the ordinance, however, that is not enforceable as speed limits are not in the state rules.
The Durand-Arkansaw School Board has approved moving forward with filing a request with the Wisconsin Department of Instruction to start school early next year. State law requires districts to start school after September 1st, but does allow districts to ask for a waiver and start early. If the waiver is approved, the school calendar would have a similar start date as this year.
U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack makes a stop in Bloomer today to talk about new investments in rural infrastructure projects. Vilsack plans to discuss with local officials how the Infrastructure Law and the president’s Build Back Better agenda will improve access to clean drinking water and eliminate lead water pipes in rural Wisconsin. He will visit a dairy cooperative near Madison this afternoon to talk about safety-net programs for dairy producers. Friday, Vilsack will travel to Evanston, Illinois to make what is being called a major announcement on strengthening the food supply chain and supporting school meal programs.
Wisconsin’s slowing population growth means problems ahead for the state’s economic growth, according to a new report. Dale Knapp with Forward Analytics says the state has been failing to attract families with children. Knapp says the challenge ahead will be to reverse that trend. The state’s 18 and under population – the future workforce – has declined, as more older workers are reaching retirement age.
Minnesota vehicle owners needing to renew their registration next month may have to wait for the sticker. The Department of Public Safety is dealing with lingering supply chain complications that are slowing delivery. The first shipment isn’t expected until Christmas Eve. State officials say about 52 thousand registration renewals have been submitted so far and more than 300 thousand will be received by the end of January. Vehicle owners who go into their local office in person won’t have to wait. Don’t worry. You won’t be ticketed due to the delays. Law enforcement officers will see your valid registration immediately when they check your license plate in the system.
Wisconsin’s governor reacted to the state Supreme Court’s ruling on redistricting maps by releasing a new set. The court ruled it wants to see maps with the “least amount of change” from the old version. The maps released Wednesday by the Democratic governor would reduce Republican control over the Legislature, but would conform to the Supreme Court’s request. Governor Evers calls it a compromise and says he is still in favor of his previous maps that wildly deviated from Republican plans. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was critical of Evers for drawing up the maps in secret. That’s something Democrats have objected to in the past when Republicans took the secretive approach.
Researchers say their study has found a 37-percent increase in the number of cases where Wisconsin hospitals have filed suit against people for unpaid bills. The study is called the first step toward a nationwide research project on the costs of healthcare for people. Researchers found that half of the suits resulted in garnished wages and Black patients and patients from rural areas were more likely to be sued. Non-profit hospitals filed the most lawsuits. The head of the study points out that non-profit hospitals get many benefits from Wisconsin and the federal government – some don’t pay property taxes, bringing the question of why they are suing patients?
The 34-year-old suspect arrested for a sexual assault on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus was already wanted in Rhode Island. The most recent Dane County charges against Robin Perkins are based on a criminal complaint filed last week. Local prosecutors say he is actually facing charges in a pair of sex-related cases that date back several months. Prosecutors in Rhode Island charged Perkins with indecent exposure, cyberstalking, and cyber-harassment. Perkins had been living in an apartment on the Madison campus but he is being evicted. It isn’t clear why authorities in the two states hadn’t kept him behind bars on the charges.
Wisconsin’s attorney general says he wishes more Republican lawmakers would join state Senator Kathy Bernier. The District 23 Republican from Lake Hallie called for an end to the review of the 2020 presidential election Monday. Bernier called it a “charade” designed to appease the party’s conservative base. She says it will hurt the Republican Party, in the long run, to continue questioning the integrity of elections. Josh Kaul told the Associated Press he would like to see more Republicans speaking out. Kaul is a Democrat.
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin changed his plea to guilty Wednesday in a federal civil rights case involving the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Chauvin appeared in U-S District Court in St. Paul in an orange jumpsuit to sign the plea agreement that changed his original not guilty plea. A separate federal indictment accusing him of holding a teenager down by the throat in 2017 will be dismissed under the plea.
The University of Wisconsin in Madison is pausing its vaccine mandate. President Biden’s nationwide order requiring vaccinations for all federal contractors is on hold, while a legal challenge works its way through the courts. U-W Madison was requiring all employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by January 4th, or be fired. The president’s order allowed for exemptions, but those employees would still have to be tested. The university says 96-percent of its employees are fully vaccinated.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit the E-P-A from reducing the minimum applicable volume of biofuels into transportation fuel once the levels are finalized for any given year. Klobuchar, a Democrat, says she and others want fuel to come from farmers and workers in the Midwest not the oil cartels of the Middle East. Klobuchar says this move would prevent the E-P-A from retroactively reducing 2020 or future finalized levels. Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is co-sponsoring the bill, and it has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.
In a switch from last year, the commencement ceremony this weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be held in-person. The winter 2021 commencement will start at 10:00 a-m Sunday at the Kohl Center. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a virtual ceremony. University officials say the event will comply with all public health guidelines, including the requirement that all people attending wear masks. One-thousand-823 doctoral, professional, master’s and bachelor’s students are graduating. A little over 12 hundred have indicated they plan to attend.
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