The City of Durand is moving forward with the Tarrant Park Pool Project. At last night's city council meeting the council approved moving forward with the civil engineering of the project with Cedar Corporation. Money raised by the Durand Swim Club will be used for civil engineering. The total cost of the pool project is estimated at $2.8 million.
Eau Claire parents are speaking out against the school district’s gender policy. W-E-A-U Television reports more than two dozen people spoke at a school board meeting earlier this week. Many of the parents say they are angry about a training session that said parents have no right to know whether their children are changing genders at school. Eau Claire school officials say they are standing by the policy to hide gender information. Although some Eau Claire teachers spoke in favor of the policy, parents told board members they need to know critical information about their children – including what happens while they are at school.
Amtrak officials say a train route connecting the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago is coming by 2024. W-K-B-T Television reports an announcement was made about the new service at the train station in La Crosse Wednesday. The new route will carry both passengers and cargo – and it will be added to the Empire Builder which already serves western Wisconsin. Thirty-two million dollars from the federal government will help speed up the process. Among the anticipated stops along the route are cities like Winona, and Red Wing Minnesota, and Tomah. Amtrak projects the route will carry more than 124-thousand passengers in its first year.
A La Crosse County sentencing hearing has been placed on the court calendar for June 3rd. W-E-A-U Television reports 51-year-old Mathew Kinstler entered a no-contest plea to a charge of first-degree reckless homicide. Kinstler had been accused of causing the death of an older man when they fought in the parking lot of a Menards store nearly two years ago. Investigators told the court 79-year-old Russell Paulson died after the men fought over a parking dispute. Paulson died several days after the fight.
The average per-gallon price for gas in Wisconsin is approaching four dollars. A check of the Triple-A fuel gauge for Wednesday afternoon showed a statewide average of three-ninety-nine per gallon. But it’s already more than in parts of the state. Much of northern Wisconsin is averaging north of four dollars, with Florence County averaging four and a quarter per gallon. The average price in the Milwaukee and Madison metro areas is just over three-ninety-seven, and it’s just over four bucks a gallon in the Green Bay area.
Truckers in Minnesota are now paying one thousand dollars to fill their 200-gallon fuel tanks. Minnesota Trucking Association President John Hausladen says the price for diesel is an “incredibly high” five dollars a gallon. He says it’s a serious issue for trucking companies to manage because fuel at these new prices has become the number-one cost jumping over labor costs. Hausladen is calling on the Biden administration to help bring the prices down.
Wisconsin residents won’t be getting checks for 150-dollars in the mail. Republican lawmakers ignored the Democratic governor’s call to convene a special legislative session Tuesday to take up the expenditure. W-M-T-V reports the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly were gaveled into session, then quickly gaveled out with no action being taken. Governor Tony Evers offered a plan for the tax rebates and for spending 750-million dollars on education in January. He pointed to a projected three-point-eight-billion-dollar surplus.
Wausau City Council President Becky McElhaney says PFAS contamination of the city’s water supply is worrying many residents. City leaders have approved spending up to 150 thousand dollars of American Rescue Plan Act money for a combination of bottled water and filtration systems for residents concerned about PFAS contamination.
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A report from a risk management company says Minneapolis city leaders didn’t follow emergency protocols during the George Floyd protests. W-C-C-O Television reports the 86-page document from the study conducted by Hillard Heintze points at Mayor Jacob Frey’s failure to implement those protocols. Frey has responded to the Tuesday release by asking city staff to create a plan that implements the recommendations. One recommendation is to increase police training on some controversial crowd control tactics.
A motion for a review of the Gableman investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin fell short Tuesday. State Senator Tim Carpenter was calling for an audit. Carpenter said he doesn’t think the investigation was a “great use of money” and he wanted auditors to look into the expenditures. Despite support from three Republicans, Carpenter's motion was unsuccessful. On the same day, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos reportedly extended the contract for Gableman’s work to continue.
A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators is sponsoring a bill to plug what they warn is a dangerous loophole in state law. Senator Jim Abele from Anoka read names of Minnesotans murdered by people who, before those crimes, were judged incompetent to stand trial for earlier offenses, but were then released. Senator Karla Bigham from Cottage Grove says one reason people are being released is that there’s a shortage of mental health treatment beds in Minnesota. Lawmakers are talking about beefing up funding.
The U-S Senate approved the 107 billion dollar Postal Service Reform Act Tuesday. U-S-P-S leaders say the financial overhaul will provide needed relief for the agency, allowing it to modernize and invest in efficient service. The Senate vote was 79-to-19, with Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson among the no votes. Janesville Republican Brian Steil was the lone no vote from Wisconsin when the bill passed the House in February, 342-to-92. President Joe Biden has signaled his intent to sign the legislation.
A group of five Democratic governors – including Tony Evers – is urging Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the rest of the year. W-M-T-V reports Evers and the others sent a letter to leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives. The governor’s office says the Gas Prices Relief Act would help Americans struggling with pump prices of around four dollars a gallon. Suspending the federal tax would knock the per-gallon price down by 18-point-four cents. The Wisconsin pump price has jumped by 63 cents since last month.
Governor Tony Evers is expected to sign legislation to close the state’s youth prison in northern Wisconsin. Tuesday’s state Senate vote is the latest step in what’s been a protracted process. The Legislature voted four years ago to close the Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake youth prisons in Lincoln County, but failed to provide state funding for a replacement facility. The bill approved by the Senate authorizes the state to borrow 42 million dollars for design and construction of a new youth prison in Milwaukee County, although a site would need approval by local governments. The current youth prisons would be converted to house adult prisoners.
A Minneapolis man who pleaded guilty to impersonating an F-B-I agent in 2017 will spend ten months in prison. Prosecutors say 67-year-old Bernard Holmes admitted to spoofing his phone number to make it look like he was calling his victim from the F-B-I's Minneapolis Field Office. Holmes claimed he was an agent investigating terrorism-related conduct at the victim’s home and said evidence originated from their computer.
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