La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative is considering the addition of nuclear energy back to its mix of power sources. W-E-A-U T-V reports Dairyland is working with Oregon-based NuScale Power to use its smaller-scale nuclear generating technology. The Wisconsin utility has more than a half-million customers in four states. Xcel Energy entered into a similar arrangement with NuScale last year. Dairyland has been investing in sources like wind and solar, but the utility says there are winter days when 50-to-75-percent of its energy still comes from coal or natural gas.
Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services (PPCS) is bringing a traveling exhibit from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum to Ellsworth. The exhibit Wisconsin Remembers: A Face for Every Name is a tribute to lost life and lost potential. The exhibit was created by Wisconsin Veterans Museum in conjunction with Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television and includes photos for each of the 1,161 Wisconsinites officially listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It also includes additional photos for names that are listed on The Highground Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Neillsville, WI. PPCS members will be the first to see the exhibit as part of the PPCS 85th annual meeting on Tuesday, April 5. Following the annual meeting, the exhibit will be available to the public at the PPCS office located at the intersection of Highways 10 and 63 west of Ellsworth. The exhibit will be available for viewing from noon to 8:00 PM on Wednesday, April 6; 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Thursday, April 7; and 8:00 AM to noon on Friday, April 8.
Gov. Tony Evers today announced more than $17.2 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Housing awards were provided to regional housing authorities across the state. These funds will help low- and moderate-income families in Wisconsin purchase a home or make critical repairs to their homes. Awards were made across the state including $2.5 million in La Crosse County in the Southwest Housing Region; and $2.5 million in Chippewa County in the West Central Housing Region. Wisconsin receives CDBG funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and distributes the funds toward public facilities, housing, and economic development projects that benefit people with low to moderate incomes.
A Texas company says it plans to re-open a helicopter manufacturing plant in Menominee. MidTex Aviation says it has reached an agreement to buy the assets of Enstrom Helicopter Corporation. Enstrom announced it was closing in January. MidTex says it is buying the buildings, aircraft, parts, tools, materials, intellectual property, drawings, and assuming the airport lease. W-B-A-Y T-V reports former Enstrom President Matt Francour calls this “the best possible outcome.” Most former employees are expected to get job offers from the new owner.
A 27-year-old Minnesota man has died after being hit by a vehicle in St. Croix County. W-E-A-U Television reports the accident happened at 2:10 a-m last Sunday in Troy Township and Joshua Thesing of Ramsey, Minnesota died Wednesday. Deputies responding to a 9-1-1 call say they found Thesing lying in the roadway on Highway 35 suffering serious injuries. He was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Crash scene investigators say the weather, reduced visibility, and road conditions could also have been a factor. No information was released on the driver or vehicle that was involved.
A wholesale fish dealer has been convicted in Wisconsin’s first-ever invasive carp case. Ping Li, co-owner and sole operator of Li Fish Farm, LLC in rural Platteville, was convicted in Grant and Dane county circuit courts of two misdemeanors and 17 forfeiture violations under a plea deal. Li was ordered to pay more than 13-thousand dollars in penalties. The types of carp involved in this case are highly invasive fish that can destroy habitats of native state fish
The next Wisconsin legislative session will bring a lot of new faces to the state Capitol. At least six state senators and 14 state representatives aren’t running for re-election. Republican Senator Jerry Petrowski announced Thursday he will step aside after 24 years. Democratic Senator Janis Ringhand of Evansville isn’t running again. She was first elected in 2014 and has served as Assistant Minority Leader. Republican Senator Dale Kooyenga has decided not to run for re-election if the district boundaries approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court are allowed to stand. He was moved into the district already represented by fellow Republican Alberta Darling for almost 30 years.
Members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation split along party lines Thursday when voting on a package of bills to keep the federal government operating. The one-and-a-half-trillion-dollar package includes 14-billion in aid for Ukraine and other countries in eastern Europe. House Armed Services Committee member Mike Gallagher, a Republican, praised funding for the Pentagon and for the U-S defense posture in Europe, but he criticized Democrats for failing to include provisions for increased domestic oil production. Democrat Gwen Moore praised the bill for directing resources to things like health care, education, child hunger, and climate change – but she said some areas got less than they deserved.
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A former Wausau babysitter has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing a two-month-old boy who was in her care. W-S-A-W Television reports 31-year-old Marissa M. Tietsort was charged with child abuse for causing the boy’s death and the injuries to an 11-month-old girl. Marathon County Judge LaMont Jacobson said the families of the two victims were justified if they considered Tietsort a monster, adding what she did to the families was “depraved.” Prosecutors said she killed the boy named Benson, put him in his snowsuit and cap, and gave him back to his mother in 2018 without saying anything to her.
Minnesota's unemployment rate ticked down to two-point-nine percent in January from three in December. Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove says the state economy brought in 10-thousand-200 new jobs when rates for COVID were quite high in the state. The leisure and hospitality sector continues to grow with 18-hundred new jobs last month. The U-S unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a point to four percent.
NATO countries would only get involved militarily in Ukraine if there was some sort of “unprecedented mistake” that led to a Russian response on NATO. That’s the assessment of Carleton College analyst Steven Schier. He says “Western powers are going to continue to bring arms and material support into the Ukrainian government as long as they can, in order to make the Russian invasion as lengthy and costly as possible for President Vladimir Putin. But Schier suggests that some sort of mistake or misunderstanding could occur as western governments provide aid, triggering a military strike by Russia against NATO.
The Wisconsin National Guard is stepping up to help staff health care facilities. Governor Tony Evers and the state Department of Health Services have announced a total of 154 Wisconsin National Guard members have completed certified nursing assistant training since early January. It’s a collaborative effort intended to bring needed short-term staffing support to Wisconsin’s hospitals and nursing homes. The goal was to open 200 or more beds by the end of February. As of March 7, 226 beds have been opened at 17 nursing homes and more beds will open as 56 more Guard personnel are placed at six nursing homes across the state.
The U-S Department of Education is signaling that federal student loan payments may not restart in May. Servicers were set to send out reminders at the end of this month but have been instructed not to do so. This may mean the Biden Administration is thinking of extending the payment pause for federal student loan borrowers again. It’s unclear how long the freeze would be extended. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago, federal student loan holders have been given the option to not pay their monthly bill and interest has been frozen in the meantime.
The state tournament isn’t over for the Saint Thomas More boys’ basketball team in Milwaukee. A judge Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order, effectively overturning a forfeit ruling against the Cavaliers. It all started after a bench-clearing brawl after a game last Friday. The school sued, and the judge ruled the W-I-A-A and the game referees weren’t clear about which players should be suspended, or why. The W-I-A-A maintains its rules don’t allow for post-game appeals.
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