The Durand-Arkansaw School Board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include public input on the ESSER III funding expenditures, updates on the 2nd Friday, January Pupil count and the 2022-2023 projected enrollment, and administrative reports. Tonight's meeting begins at 6pm in the board room at Durand High School.
The Pepin County Board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on a Lake Pepin Habitat Restoration Project Funding, a resolution to eliminate the Badge Care Eligibility Cliff, and adoption of the outdoor recreation plan for 2022-2027. Tonight's meeting begins at 7pm at the County Board Room at the Government Center in Durand and will also be live-streamed via zoom on the Pepin County Website.
Local EMS and Ambulance services could benefit under a funding plan proposed by Governor Evers. During his State of the State Address last night, Evers announced a plan to support and stabilize Wisconsin’s emergency medical services (EMS) system across the state with a nearly $30 million investment. The governor’s plan includes efforts to supplement the Funding Assistance Program (FAP), which provides annual grants to all public ambulance service providers, including volunteer fire departments, nonprofits, and counties and municipalities, create a new grant program to help those providers who are not eligible for FAP, and fund a 16 percent reimbursement rate increase for private and municipal ambulance providers for emergency medical transportation.
Prosecutors in La Crosse County have added a charge against the suspect in a drive-by shooting. W-K-B-T Television reports 22-year-old Julius Lloyd of La Crosse was already charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide connected to the incident last April. During a hearing, Monday morning the La Crosse County District Attorney’s Office added a fifth felony charge for discharging a firearm.
The two candidates for Holmen School Board whose pictures appeared on Reddit next to a racist message have condemned the post. W-K-B-T Television reports candidates Josh Neumann and Chad Updike are pictured on what appears to be a flyer containing the message: “Keep Holmen Schools White and Christian.” Neumann and Updike say they are the victims of a “disgusting and vile fake political ad” and they have urged the other candidates to join them in calling for an investigation by the La Crosse County District Attorney.
The last Afghan refugees departed from Fort McCoy on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that all refugees from Afghanistan that were temporarily housed at Fort McCoy are now resettled. According to a DHS release, the Wisconsin base is the seventh of eight Department of Defense locations housing Afghans that has completed operations. There were 12,600 evacuees temporarily housed at Fort McCoy, part of over 76,000 refugees who came to the U.S. as part of Operation Allies Welcome.
Minnesota courts are ordering new legislative and congressional district boundaries because state lawmakers could not agree. As expected, changes to the 2nd Congressional District appear to be potentially the most significant politically. That district, which extends from the southeast suburbs of the Twin Cities along the Mississippi River, is represented by Democrat Angie Craig and is on the national list of most hotly contested races. Wabasha and Goodhue counties will no longer be in the 2nd District -- they'll become part of the 1st District, which extends across southern Minnesota. The new 2nd District will now extend west to Le Sueur County, just north of Mankato.
A bill that would help spread fiber broadband into rural areas passed the State Senate on Tuesday. Bill author Senator Howard Marklein says the Broadband Expansion Grant Program needs more guidance to get into low population areas. A similar bill in the state assembly would also spend some of the Biden Instructructure Bill on wireless broadband in those areas.
There was a smoke-filled room at the Wisconsin Capitol building Tuesday, but this wasn’t a bunch of politicians puffing on cigars while negotiating bills. Capitol police evacuated the building after fire alarms went off and the smoke was filling the media room. Reporters said they smelled something like burnt rubber Tuesday morning. The alarms began sounding shortly before the Wisconsin Senate was about to convene for a floor session. No injuries were reported and officials haven’t said what caused the problem.
Concordia University in Mequon is doing what it can to help with the current shortage of teachers. The university received approval from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to offer a three-year bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Students can take the courses online. Concordia offers programs for secondary social studies and English and it is working on putting together programs for math and special education teachers. Officials at the school say they get phone calls from local school districts every day asking for help filling teaching positions.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is reporting one-third of the state’s businesses are planning to raise wages by more than four percent this year. The news release says just six months ago only one-fourth of businesses were planning raises that big. W-M-C spokesman Nick Novak says the good news is that workers are likely to see a pretty significant raise. Novak says the unfortunate thing is that companies are doing this because there is a lack of workers. Nearly 90-percent of companies in the state say they are having trouble filling open positions.
A package of bills aimed at limiting UW-System interactions with China and Chinese institutions was approved in the State Senate on Tuesday. Republicans say the bills will limit Chinese intellectual theft and propaganda, but State Senator Bill Wirch says it's only trying to rile up fears. Another provision in the bills would limit cultural exchanges with Chinese nationals and require the UW-System to find out if potential incoming students were members of the People's Liberation Army.
The Minnesota Senate is voting to use one million dollars for a marketing and advertising campaign to publicly promote the importance of peace officers. Roseville Democrat John Marty says, "it's really insensitive at this time to be talking about using taxpayer money to run an advertising campaign," following the Minneapolis police killing of Amir Locke. Fairmont Republican Julie Rosen says Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told her M-P-D is down over 300 officers and he requested some kind of promotional campaign. There's also a million dollars to increase funding for the "Pathways to Policing" program that backers say helps candidates from non-traditional backgrounds enter law enforcement.
Members of the Minnesota Special Redistricting Panel have released state maps just ahead of the deadline. The Legislature and the governor had until today (Tuesday) to produce maps including new political district boundaries based on the 2020 Census. The state Supreme Court established the panel last June. The new maps have been posted on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website on the “Special Redistricting Page.” People who lack internet access can find the information on computer terminals in county courthouses across the state no later than February 21st.
A postal worker delivering mail in Madison has been arrested for driving drunk. W-M-T-V reports the incident happened Thursday afternoon near the Atwood Festival venue when Michael Weerts was on his mail route. Police say his head was slumped over when they pulled him over, and that he had slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. Authorities also say Weerts failed field sobriety tests and said, “it’s because I’m intoxicated” after failing one of them. Witnesses also told police they saw him stumbling and falling outside an apartment building.
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