Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Local-Regional News Feb 8

 The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight.  Items on the agenda include an update on the planning for the North Eau Claire Street Project, a discussion of the FY22 Surface Transportation Program and a discussion of the Rural Energy Pilot Program Grant.  Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 at the Marten Center in Mondovi.


One person was injured in a three-vehicle accident in Clifton Township on Monday.  According to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, 44yr old Trisha Packard of Prescott was driving eastbound on Hwy 29, waiting to make a left turn onto 635th avenue when her vehicle was rear-ended by another eastbound vehicle driven by 74yr old Dennis Marchel of River Falls.  After the collision, Marchel's vehicle collided with a westbound vehicle driven by 44yr old David Nogle of River Falls.  Marchel was transported to Reginal Hospital in Hastings with undetermined injuries.


The man accused of stabbing a person outside of Domino's Pizza in Menomonie in November of 2020 has been found guilty in Dunn County Court.  43yr old Tasheen Goggins pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted 1st degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon on Monday.    Goggins will be sentenced on April 8th and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.  He is currently being held at the Dunn County Jail.

 

A western Wisconsin tire shop has been destroyed by a Sunday morning fire.  W-K-B-T reports the Galesville Area Fire Department was called to Jeff’s Service at about 4:12 a-m.  Fire officials say the burned building is a near-total loss, with damages estimated at one-and-a-half million dollars.  One firefighter suffered a minor injury and a cat that was inside the building died.  Twenty departments and agencies worked together fighting the fire.  The cause is still being investigated.


A Chippewa Falls man is facing mail theft charges after authorities found nearly 60 pieces of stolen mail in his possession.  According to authorities, stolen mail was found in Michael Melendez Jr's vehicle more pieces of mail were found in his home after a search warrant was executed.    Melendez Jr was charged with theft, mail theft, and multiple drug charges.


Tomah School District officials admit the support isn’t there so they are putting plans for a referendum on hold.  W-K-B-T reports voters in the district were going to be asked to give their approval to a 96-million-dollar plan to build new schools.  Local officials say the results of a survey indicate the measure wouldn’t pass.  Patrons were asked last fall about three different options for the district.  About 17 hundred people responded and the results led district officials to pause the effort.  One school board member says the survey doesn’t change things – those buildings are still aging.


The U-S Army Corps of Engineers is urging people to use extreme caution downstream of Lock and Dam 8 in Genoa, Wisconsin, this week.  The Corps says “an abundance of ice” will be released and that could cause safety issues for anyone on the river ice below that location. Contractors working on the lock chamber will cause the release.  People are being urged not to fish the Mississippi River in that location.  The work could cause open water or thin ice making the area very dangerous.


The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is warning of a texting scam.  The department has received reports of state residents receiving texts to renew their license or license plates that appear to be from the DOT,  asking the resident to go to a spoofed DMV website to reveal personal information.  The DMV says they would never send you a text asking you to respond with personal information.    If you have fallen for this scam, you are to call the state DMV and take the necessary steps to protect your private information.


The trial for a Missouri man accused of killing two brothers from Shawano County has been delayed until next year. Attorneys for Garland Nelson had asked for the postponement last week.  His double-murder trial is now scheduled to start February 6th, 2023 in Johnson County, Missouri.  It had been on the court calendar for this June.  The ruling Monday is the second time Nelson’s trial has been postponed.  He also faces federal charges for mail fraud but no hearings have been held in that case.


Blustery winter weather and geopolitical tensions are helping to drive the price of oil higher, which is in the low-$90s per barrel, nearly $30 more than in August. The recent cold weather in the U.S increased the demand for heating oil. Meanwhile, the concern that Russia will react to potential western sanctions by withholding crude oil from the already tight global market puts heavy upward pressure on prices. The national average for a gallon of gas has surged to $3.44, eight cents more than a week ago. Here is Western Wisconsin gas is averaging $3.34 a gallon.  Gas was last this expensive in 2014.


Minnesota governor Tim Walz has authorized the Minnesota National Guard to assist with security in St. Paul during the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with the death of George Floyd. But that doesn’t mean you’ll immediately see armed soldiers on the street, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Walz said in a written statement that the National Guard will assist local police “only if necessary. The three former officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane are also waiting to stand trial before the state this year. The governor also says the Guard is ready to assist Minneapolis if needed following last week's shooting death of Amir Locke.


Wisconsin Library Association President Nyama Reed says managing through the coronavirus pandemic has been challenging for public libraries across the state, and they’re not yet back to normal. Tuesday is the Library Association’s Legislative Day at the Capitol.


Charges of sexual assault have been brought forward against a Wisconsin Rapids man for an incident at a Bible Camp.  Remington Nystrom is accused of inappropriately touching a sleeping ten-year-old at the Mount Morris Camp in 2009- an incident that the victim was afraid to report until recently thanks to the state's tip line for survivors of clergy or faith leader abuse. the 33-year-old was arrested earlier this week, formal charges of sexual assault of a person under the age of 13 are pending.


An accused bank robber allegedly tried to dig himself out of the Dane County jail.   Todd Templeton is awaiting sentencing in federal court for bank robberies last year in Stoughton, Madison, and Tennessee. Fellow inmates snitched on what Templeton was up to. Authorities say he managed to chisel a hole in a concrete block under his cell that was about six inches in diameter and several inches deep.


State lawmakers want to spend Wisconsin's incoming broadband expansion money to serve rural parts of the state. State Representative David Steffen says the 70 million dollars from the Biden infrastructure bill will go towards wireless broadband.  Steffen says some of that funding will also go towards creating a detailed and updated map of where broadband connectivity is available, down to the parcel of land you're on.


The sheriff’s office says a 51-year-old Fond du Lac man was able to escape his sinking truck as it fell through the ice on Lake Winnebago last weekend.  The incident happened near Frazier Point at Lakeside Park Saturday at about 2:30 p-m.  The man’s name hasn’t been released.  He says the lower half of his body was already submerged by the time he was able to get out of the sinking vehicle.  He made it to an ice-fishing shanty to wait for rescuers.  He was checked out at Lakeside Park West and released.  The man has 30 days to retrieve his truck from the lake.

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