The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on the purchase of a front-end loader and plow, applying for the Wisconsin DOT grant program and reports from the Mayor and City Department heads. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 from Durand City Hall. The meeting will also be live-streamed on the WRDN website.
A convicted sex offender currently facing child sexual assault charges in Buffalo County is now charged with sexually assaulting another child in Chippewa County. WQOW-TV reports a child came forward to authorities telling them that 25yr old Charles Zaruba sexually assaulted her in 2019 Zaruba is due in Buffalo County Court in March to face charges of sexually assaulting two children in Mondovi. He will face the Chippewa County charges in May.
One person is dead after a one-vehicle accident in La Crosse County on Sunda. According to the La Crosse County Sheriffs Department, 59yr old Julie Ross was traveling westbound on Hwy 14-61 when her vehicle left the roadway, went into the westbound ditch, up an embankment and rolled several times. Ross was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rochester-based Mayo Clinic Health System plans a new 70-bed hospital in La Crosse to replace its current facility in that southwest Wisconsin community. The new six-floor building will include a surgical and procedural floor as well as a new Family Birth Center, an ICU and progressive care unit, and space for future expansion. Construction is set to begin in mid-April with completion in 2024. Along with an expansion project at Mayo's hospital in Mankato, Minnesota, the total cost of is around 353 million dollars
The state Assembly approves legislation to require school districts to hire a school resource officer under certain circumstances. It’s from Delafield Republican Cindi Duchow (DOO-co), who says many schools need the officers. Under the bill, if a district reports 100 or more violent incidents and at least 25 arrests in one semester, an armed school resource officer would have to be hired. The Madison and Milwaukee districts terminated their School Resource Officer contracts in 2020.
A State Senate bill that would have allowed for early counting of absentee ballots won't be getting a vote in the Assembly. That Senate Bill would have allowed local governments to begin early counts of absentee ballots before the polls close, on the requirement that the totals not be announced until that time. But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos called that a nonstarter ahead of Tuesday's Assembly Session. A number of city and county clerks had asked for this measure to prevent late-night elections counts like the ones that were seen in the 2020 presidential election.
The Cottage Grove Village Board has given final approval to plans for an Amazon fulfillment center. Monday’s action was the fourth and final step in the process – and it came despite the fact 12 of the 14 people who spoke were against the big project. Work on the five-story warehouse and distribution center could start this year. Opponents asked that the final decision be delayed. The center will mean 15-hundred new jobs.
A bill that gives Minnesota consumers more options for getting their electronics repaired is making its way through the state legislature. The bill would require original equipment manufacturers to make repair information and equipment available to independent repair providers and owners. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison supports the bill, saying if “my device is broken, shouldn't I get to decide how it's repaired?” Matthew Larsgard with the Pioneer Equipment Dealer's Association opposes the bill, saying safety and legal concerns will create significant liability exposure for their dealerships. If the bill passes, civil penalties would be imposed on companies and manufacturers that restrict where consumers can get their electronics and equipment repaired.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says there’s no support for a 41-million-dollar plan to build a youth corrections facility in Milwaukee among his members. State Senators were discussing the issue Tuesday. The state has been working on closing Lincoln Hills School for Boys in Irma since 2018. Speaker Vos says local and county governments are already building smaller places for youthful offenders. He says that will eventually do away with the need for a state facility.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says a Superior police officer ran over a person lying in the road while responding to an emergency call Saturday. K-B-J-R Television reports the officer didn’t realize what he had done at first. A 9-1-1 caller had reported an injured person was in the road shortly before 9:30 p-m. The victim is reported to be in critical condition at a nearby hospital. No names have been released. . State Investigators say it isn’t known if the victim had been hurt before the squad car ran over them.
Minnesota lawmakers are renewing their push for Minnesota to join a “compact” of 39 other states to help with the shortage of nurses. It would allow nurses from those states to practice here without obtaining a Minnesota license -- and Minnesota nurses could practice in those other states without getting licenses there. U-of-M Nursing School Dean, Doctor Connie White Delaney, says this is most likely the most serious, dire nursing shortage in the history of this state. The Minnesota Nurses Association says there is no shortage of nurses who want to work bedside, but hospital C-E-O’s continue to create conditions that make it impossible for them to do that.
At the Capitol, Democrats introduce a package of 8 bills to address staffing shortages in schools. The proposals would increase teacher salaries, offer bonuses to those who stay in the profession, and boost health insurance benefits. They’re unlikely to gain support from Republicans.
Former governor and U-W System President Tommy Thompson will give the commencement address at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next May. Thompson steps down as interim leader of the system March 18th. He took the temporary job in July 2020. The Board of Regents unanimously voted to remove the word “interim” from his title, making Thompson the eighth president of the statewide system. Thompson served four terms as Wisconsin governor from 1987-to-2001. He will speak at the ceremonies in Platteville May 14th.
A plan to eliminate the Minnesota state income tax on Social Security led to a spirited discussion involving the public at a Senate hearing. Stewartville resident Barry Bisbee told lawmakers people who worked hard for their money shouldn’t be taxed more in retirement. Another man, Patrick Gannon of Rochester, said getting rid of the state tax does little to benefit low-income people. Even if it passes the state Senate, the bill has very little chance in the Democrat-controlled Minnesota House.
A Madison couple tells police they found a burglar sleeping on their couch when they returned home Saturday afternoon. They say the 29-year-old suspect not only “made a mess” of their home, but he may also have taken a shower and appeared to be wearing their clothes. W-M-T-V reports arriving officers told the man to come out and, when he did, he was holding several items belonging to the couple including AirPods, charging bricks, and clothes. The suspect’s name hasn’t been released. He was booked into the Dane County Jail on suspicion of burglary.
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