The Durand City Council received an update on the Kwik Trip project last night. Representatives of the company told council members that demolition of the old highway shop buildings should begin in the next week or two, with road construction starting in April and construction of the store starting in June. Kwik Trip is planning on opening the new store in Durand on December 1st.
There will be contested races for the city of Durand Council seats and the Mayor's race in the spring election. Current Mayor Patrick Milliren will face current council member Herb Scheider for the Mayor's position, while on the council 5 people have decided to run for 3 at large seats on the council. Incumbents Terry Hartung and Travis Hooker will face former council member Don Hayden along with Michelle Pittman and Nick Weisenbeck for the three at large seats on the council.
One person is dead after a two-vehicle accident Tuesday at the intersection of Hwy 61 and 42 near Kellogg. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, 53yr old Sheila Harel of Chippewa Falls was traveling east on Hwy 42 and a 21yr old Lake City woman was traveling southbound on Hwy 61 when the two vehicles collided. Harel died due to the injuries suffered in the accident. The driver of the other vehicle was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Advent Health of Durand is asking residents to fill out a community needs survey. Angela Jacobson, Director of Emergency Services with Advent Health says the hospital does the survey every 3-5yrs and it gives the public and chance to let the hospital know what to focus on. The survey will be available through the end of the month, and you can visit the Advent Health website to fill out the survey and the results should be available by the end of March.
The sentencing date for a La Crosse man convicted of intentional homicide will have to be delayed due to COVID. Shavonte Thompson was convicted last fall for the 2019 murder of Javier Ayers, but his sentencing is now delayed because prison officials in Green Bay say he needs to stay quarantined and cannot be removed from his jail cell to attend a teleconference call. It's unclear when Thompson will be rescheduled for sentencing.
A first-grader in Silver Lake who was critically injured in a lawnmower accident has returned to class. Alex Hook was playing during recess last September when a piece of metal kicked up by a lawnmower hit him in the head. He spent a month in the hospital and is still involved in physical therapy. The seven-year-old went back to school Monday. He attends class for three hours a day, then has more physical therapy. The family says he is walking and talking and his recovery is going well. His health is being monitored after he had skull implant surgery two months ago.
Wisconsin state government will raise reimbursement rates for home and community-based services provided by Medicaid by five percent. The Department of Health Services announced the change Tuesday. H-C-B-S providers work with older adults and adults and children with disabilities. Support is offered to help them live independently. Governor Tony Evers says the state wants to make sure that hospitals and long-term care facilities have the resources they need. The increases will continue through March 2024.
Republican lawmakers are proposing a state constitutional amendment as they seek more control over the way Wisconsin spends federal money. State Senator Dale Kooyenga and state Representative Bob Wittke unveiled their proposal Tuesday at the Capitol. Although the Legislature does have a say in the way almost 40 billion dollars in state money is spent, it doesn’t have any input on funding coming from Washington – like the billions in the American Rescue Plan Act. If Republicans can get the proposed amendment approved, it could be on the ballot as early as next year. Not one G-O-P member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation or any Republicans in the House voted for the American Rescue Plan.
It will soon require proof of a COVID-19 vaccine or a negative test to eat and drink inside Minneapolis and St. Paul bars and restaurants. The new mandates begin Wednesday, January 19th. Mayor Jacob Frey knows there will be some pushback but says "this is a critical next step to avoid closures, we want to stay open, and we need to stay safer." Frey says the omicron variant surge is causing pileups at testing sites and overwhelming hospitals and health care workers. The new COVID rules will be enforced at Minnesota Timberwolves and Wild games and other ticketed events on January 26th.
Governor Tony Evers says the state is investing up to five-million dollars to attract and provide support to students in Wisconsin meat processing training programs. The meat talent development assistance will also connect the meat processing industry with potential employees. Evers said in a statement, "this investment will reduce barriers to careers in meat processing, provide new opportunities to workers across our state, and ensure our food supply chain remains resilient and successful well into Wisconsin's future.” The state has more than 500 state and federally inspected meat plants.
Plans by one of the country’s major cheesemakers to build a plant in Franklin would mean 650 new jobs for the local economy. Saputo Cheese U-S-A has proposed building a new packing and shipping facility there. The company tells Franklin officials it would be about an 85-million-dollar project with construction beginning next spring. Saputo is already the largest dairy employer in the state, with a Wauwatosa office and several production plants in Wisconsin.
The U-S Senate race in Wisconsin could decide which party controls the chamber. That means records will likely be set for the amount of campaign money pouring into Wisconsin. Incumbent Republican U-S Senator Ron Johnson has announced his intention to run for reelection. His campaign reportedly has more than four-point-two million dollars in the bank. Democrat Alex Lasry has a lot of money at his disposal. His campaign reports three-point-one million dollars in a campaign war chest – about 800 thousand of that is Lasry’s own money. The next set of financial reports will come out next week.
The first giveaway of N-95 face masks in Milwaukee ran into some problems. The city health department ran out of the packs of free masks quickly, but many people were already angry. Health department workers were distributing masks to people who had waited hours in a drive-thru line. Those who walked up to get a mask were turned away. The health department has almost a half-million N-95 masks available and its leaders say they will try again.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he's taking steps to address severe staffing shortages in Minnesota's nursing homes and other facilities. The governor says the state will expedite Medicaid funding to nursing homes and to direct support services for people with disabilities. It requires federal approval and Walz says will make up to 83 million dollars available in state and federal funds. The governor says nursing homes will receive a temporary five-percent average increase in state payment rates. And if Minnesota's action gets federal approval, impacted direct support services for people with disabilities will receive a five-percent rate increase from March through May.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission is stepping up how frequently they're checking on voters to see if they've moved. Elections Commission Technology Director Robert Kehoe says the commission is now bundling those mailings every quarter as opposed to every year. Kehoe says the move also lessens the work that local clerks have to do, and keeps them in the loop when it comes to having to handle the local side of pulling people off of voter rolls.
The Milwaukee County Jail is almost full and the reason may be court officials setting higher bails. Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas says the current jail population is about 940 and the maximum capacity is 960. The count is up by about 100 inmates since November. The numbers started mounting up right after a known violent offender, Darrell Brooks Junior, was released on a thousand-dollar bail. Shortly after he got out he is accused of driving an S-U-V through the crowd at the Waukesha Christmas Parade, killing six people and injuring more than 60. Attorneys say court commissioners are getting tougher on bail. Jail officials say an inmate population increase like the current one isn’t normal.
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