A shuttle service for train passengers is coming to western Wisconsin. Currently, those passengers have to drive to Tomah or another location with a train stop. W-E-A-U Television reports the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition wants to change that. The shuttle would eliminate the need for people to drive from cities like Eau Claire to catch the train. Backers say the T-C-M-C project should be completed next year or in 2024. A second train is also expected to be added to the route in the next year or so.
Authorities say drug overdoses caused the deaths of two men in a garage in southeastern Minnesota last Saturday. The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says three men were found unresponsive that morning in Eyota. Brandon Mueller died at the scene and Anthony Holzer later died in a Rochester hospital. The third man survived and is now recovering at home. Investigators ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning. The autopsy shows Mueller and Holzer died from cocaine overdoses. Toxicology results will determine whether any other drugs were in their systems.
Three people are dead after a car vs semi accident near Black River Falls on Saturday. According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, the semi was leaving a parking lot and attempting to cross Hwy 54 when it was hit by a vehicle traveling westbound on Hwy 54. Troopers discovered three people in the car were deceased. The three victims were identified as 34yr old Leonard Hopinka 36yr old Tyler Decorah of Black River Falls, and 35yr old JOrden Vidana of Onalaska. That accident remains under investigation.
The Board of Regents has named a new University of Wisconsin System President. The Regents voted unanimously on Friday to appoint Jay Rothman, the chair and CEO of law firm Foley & Lardner as the next UW System President. The 62-year-old Rothman was chosen over the only other finalist, UW Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt. Rothman will succeed interim President Tommy Thompson, who will step down on March 18. Rothman will start June 1 at a salary of 550-thousand dollars.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman have returned to court to protect the records of Gableman’s investigation into the 2020 presidential election. They were in Dane County Court Friday trying to prevent the judge from releasing records sought in an open records request by the watchdog group American Oversight. The Wisconsin Examiner reports this is the second case brought by that group. Dane County Judge Frank Remington is scheduled to make a ruling March 8th.
A South Dakota man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison during a Thursday hearing in Madison. Fifty-eight-year-old Craig Klund of Yankton pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. The former Chippewa Falls businessman had been accused of defrauding the U-S military of nearly seven-and-a-half million dollars. The U-S Attorney’s Office accused Klund of obtaining defense contracts under false pretenses from 2011 to July of 2019.
A fire spread to a U-P-S warehouse in Rochester Saturday after multiple vehicles parked nearby caught on fire. Just before 11:00 P-M firefighters responded and found multiple trucks on fire n the loading dock and smoke coming from the building. Crews were able to stop the spread of the fire further into the facility. The loading dock and several vehicles were severely damaged. No one was seriously hurt, but a firefighter did suffer a minor injury.
Organizers say your kids may not be wasting their time when they spend hours playing video games. Hundreds of high school students competed in an e-sports tournament Saturday in Madison. Nearly 80 Wisconsin high schools currently offer competitive video gaming as an after-school extra-curricular activity or club. W-M-T-V Television reports that coaches say e-sports engage kids in the same way traditional sports do by building leadership skills, developing strategy, and teaching teamwork.
The sentence is 18 years in prison for an Eau Claire County man convicted of sexual exploitation a child and possession of child pornography. Forty-one-year-old Ryan Zimmerman of Fall Creek was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl numerous times when she was in fifth through seventh grades. The girl said in 2019 that Zimmerman when hold her down and take pictures during the attacks. He claimed he didn't remember committing the assaults because he was drinking heavily at the time.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission is appealing a judge’s order to shut down-ballot drop boxes. A judge in Waukesha recently ruled that ballot drop boxes are not allowed under Wisconsin’s election laws. Judge Michael Bohren says only voting in-person or by mail is legal in Wisconsin. The elections commission wants the drop boxes to be allowed for at least the February primary election. Disability advocates are joining the appeal.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos would prefer that Republican Kevin Nicholson not oppose former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in a G-O-P primary for governor. Vos says Nicholson has the right to run, "but I would rather focus on beating Governor Evers because our state needs a dramatic change. And I feel like spending a bunch of time arguing amongst ourselves is counterproductive to that effort.” Nicholson is a Marine veteran who lost the 2018 U-S Senate primary to G-O-P nominee Leah Vukmir. Incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin topped Vukmir in the general election.
Wood County court records show that former Marshfield police chief Rick Gramza has pleaded no contest to two counts of disorderly conduct. Gramza had been facing sexual assault and misconduct in office charges after a female officer accused him of making unwanted sexual contact with her. Some of the charges against him were dropped last year due to a lack of evidence. W-S-A-U Radio reports Gramza reached a separation agreement with the city last spring and he was scheduled to go to trial at one point. He was fined an undisclosed amount during a Thursday court appearance.
A U-S Senate committee has given its approval to legislation that is aimed at stopping unfair business practices on the internet. U-S Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced the bill in October. Klobuchar and Grassley say it would level the playing field for smaller businesses needing to operate on the digital platforms owned by huge companies. They say it would also benefit the consumers who use them. The measure is worded to restore competition online by stopping the dominant digital platforms from unfairly giving preference to their own products and services. It isn’t clear when the full Senate might open debate on the matter.
Officials say MNsure has seen a ten-percent increase in health care sign-ups during the recent open enrollment period. The surge is the biggest year-to-year jump in five years. MNsure officials believe the sharp increase can be credited to expanded tax credit subsidies that led to significant discounts in premium costs. The state's health insurance exchange allows individuals to shop for a health plan from several private insurers.
Kyle Rittenhouse wants his infamous rifle back, but he doesn’t plan to keep it. Rittenhouse’s lawyers this week filed the paperwork to get the rifle back from authorities. They say he wants to destroy it. Rittenhouse is also asking for other personal items police confiscated, including his cell phone. A hearing is set for the end of January. Rittenhouse was acquitted of killing two people and wounding one other during riots in Kenosha in August of 2020.
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