Some changes in when the fire horn is sounded in Durand. During last week's city council meeting, Fire Chief King told the council the department is working with Pepin County Dispatch to not sound the horn from 9pm-7am as the department has received concerns about the horn sound late at night. The fire horn will continue to sound during the day.
Durand Firefighters responded to a shed fire at W2114 Hwy T on Sunday. When firefighters arrived the owners had managed to get the fire under control. Firefighters removed some smoldering hay bales from the shed and no one was injured in that fire.
A Dunn County man has been convicted of repeated sexual assault of a child, and second-degree child sexual assault. Kenneth Thibado was found guilty by a Dunn County Jury on Friday. In 2019, a woman told authorities that Thibado sexually assaulted her multiple times between the ages of 15-18. Thibado will be sentenced in May.
The National Weather Service has confirmed the 9th Tornado during the December 15th severe weather outbreak. The Weather Service says the tornado was in Chippewa County on the east side of Lake Wissota. The path of the tornado was 5.5 miles and was rated an EF-0 with peak winds estimated at 85mph. The tornado uprooted and snapped trees and damaged roofs of homes.
A company that planned to develop land near the Sonnentag Center in Eau Claire has filed suit. Southside Holdings and Big River Education Center say they are suing the U-W-Eau Claire Foundation because it has canceled their plans for new development. They say they sold a piece of property to the university as part of a deal where they would develop the old Student Transit Center location. Instead, that property is going to become a parking lot for the Sonnentag Center. The Blugold Foundation says the plans for the center have changed many times. It says it’s unfortunate that the disagreement is going to end up in court.
A special Board of Regents committee is naming two finalists for president of the University of Wisconsin System. Jay Rothman, chairman and C-E-O of the Milwaukee law firm Foley and Gardner, and U-W Eau Claire chancellor James Schmidt will interview for the president position next week. Regent president Edmund Manydeeds called Rothman and Schmidt "excellent candidates" and said each of whom would be an outstanding leader for our university system. They will interview Tuesday. The special committee will then forward a recommendation to the full Board of Regents which is expected to make a final decision on the next president by the end of January.
The Wisconsin Air National Guard is welcoming a new commander at Volk Field Air Base. Colonel Matthew Eakins says he was humbled and honored to be named Volk Field's 13th commander. Colonel Eakins is replacing Lieutenant Colonel Tom Bauer, who was interim commander at the base. Colonel Leslie Zyzda-Martin was relieved of her duties in November. Volk Field occupies most of the former Wisconsin Military Reservation, where Wisconsin National Guard troops began training in the 1880s.
U-S Senator Tammy Baldwin is touting federal funding for Wisconsin bridges from the new infrastructure law. The Wisconsin Democrat says the state will receive 225-million dollars over the next five years to rebuild and repair bridges. The D-O-T says Wisconsin has 979 bridges that are rated in poor condition. Baldwin said, "when we invest in fixing our bridges and roads, we are strengthening our supply chains, which will help lower the cost of goods for businesses and consumers.” She also says bridge projects will create good-paying jobs. Wisconsin is set to receive 45 million dollars this fiscal year.
Wisconsin’s attorney general is calling for the F-C-C to crack down on spoof calls. A-G Josh Kaul says Americans have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to scammers. He and other attorneys general are proposing more restrictions on foreign companies. Kaul says that will save people money and keep personal data secure. The group of attorneys general is telling the Federal Communication Commission implementing more authentication technology will help prevent scams in the future. Even with all the potential changes, Kaul says people still need to be vigilant when they answer calls from unknown phone numbers.
A Rochester man will spend ten years in federal prison for the arson of a pawn shop during the May 2020 protest riots in Minneapolis. The U-S Attorney's Office says 26-year-old Montez Lee admitted that he and others broke into the Max It Pawn Shop during civil unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd. Surveillance video footage shows Lee pouring a fire accelerant around the building and lighting it on fire. The building was destroyed in the fire. The body of a Burnsville man was recovered from the rubble and debris nearly two months later.
An officer at the Jackson County Jail faces four felony charges for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an inmate. Bret Noltner is accused of taking the female inmate to a closet away from video surveillance cameras for sex several times. The woman says she wasn’t forced to be intimate with the married officer from Tomah, but she did feel like he was taking advantage of her. Noltner denied having sex, then claimed the inmate was the one who started the relationship.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says he isn’t surprised that the U-S Supreme Court has blocked the president’s coronavirus vaccine mandate. Evers said Thursday he’s always had doubts about the Biden order that companies with more than 100 employees would have to force them to get vaccinated or get tested weekly. The high court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the requirements for large private companies with its five-to-four vote Thursday. The mandate would have affected 84 million American workers.
A nationwide settlement with the student loan servicing company Navient will provide one-point-85 billion dollars in relief. Wisconsin’s Josh Kaul was one of 40 attorneys general who was involved in the suit that alleged unfair and deceptive practices by the company. Navient was accused of steering borrowers into costly long-term agreements rather than helping them find more affordable income-driven repayment plans. The court still has to approve the deal. About 350 thousand borrowers would receive restitution payments of 260 dollars each.
Minnesota is set to receive around 300-million dollars over five years from the federal government to help fix bridges in need of repair. U-S Senator Klobuchar says after the 35-W bridge collapse in 2007, Minnesota knows too well the importance of keeping our bridges safe. Senator Klobuchar says the money will be used to fix roughly 600 bridges in poor condition throughout the state. She was joined by Senator Tina Smith and Governor Tim Walz Friday morning as she touted the funding from the new federal infrastructure law.
The sentence is more than 31 years in prison for an Austin man who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his stepson and attempted murder of his wife. Twenty-eight-year-old Jaime Vaca stabbed 15-year-old Julio Rodriguez to death in December of 2020 and seriously wounded the boy's mother. Vaca's wife underwent life-saving surgery. Austin police say Rodriguez was trying to protect his mother during a domestic dispute. Vaca receives credit for 394 days already served.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum reports alcohol-related deaths in the state were up by almost 25 percent according to data released Thursday. The numbers come from 2020 when one-thousand-77 Wisconsin residents died of alcohol-related causes. That was an increase from 865 in 2019. The report was based on death certificates. The numbers don’t include people who died in drunken-driving accidents or those who were killed during alcohol-fueled violence. The state of Wisconsin has a history of binge drinking and high alcohol consumption.
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