The City of Durand has reached a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the Pepin County Housing Authority on property owned by the housing authority. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the agreement was necessary as there had been no written agreement in the past. Milliren says the city will receive about $9800 in the first year. If the agreement is finalized, the two years where no payments were made, the Housing Authority and the property management company will make up those back payments over the next 12 months.
As Covid 19 numbers continue to decline in Pepin County and across Wisconsin, school districts are also seeing a drop in numbers. Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent says positive covid numbers have dropped and the next big hurdle for the district is what happens after spring break. Many mask and other covid restrictions are being lifted across Wisconsin.
The Durand City and Rural Fire Department have announced the officers for 2022. Jamey King will remain as chief, 1st assistant chief will be Larry Plummer, while James Sedlmayer was moved up from 2nd Captain to 2nd Assistant Chief. Matt Gillis is the 1st Captain, while Trevor Weissinger is 2nd Captain. 1st Lieutenant is Travis Drier, 2nd Lieutenant is Chris Bates while Matt Hoyt will be the training officer.
A Buffalo County man is scheduled in court today on a charge of voter fraud in the 2020 election. According to Buffalo County authorities, 40yr old Damien Murphy voted at the Dover Town Hall during the 2020 election. Murphy is a convicted felon and is disqualified from voting. If convicted, he faces a $10,000 fine and or three and 1/2 yrs in prison.
The state Attorney General’s office is distributing 900-thousand fingerprint identification kits to schools including those here in Western Wisconsin. The idea is to take them home, so parents can have their children’s fingerprints and some personal information on-hand just in case they ever go missing. Law enforcement officials say the kits are for parents to keep, and are not meant to be sent back to the state. The kits cost a total of about three million dollars.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine boosted fuel prices last week. For the ninth straight week, U.S. fuel prices increased, with gas claiming 7.5 cents to an average of $3.59 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. The national average is up 23.2 cents from a month ago and 87.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel increased 5.5 cents in the last week and stands at $3.98 per gallon, the highest since March 23, 2014. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked high-level concern that oil production could eventually be stifled, or even sanctioned, from the world’s second-largest oil producer, leading to less supply as demand grows.” That comes at a time of year when seasonality issues push gasoline prices up by anywhere from 25 to 75 cents by Memorial Day. De Haan says, “it’s looking like a perfect storm,” adding, there is “little to no relief anytime soon.” Here in Western Wisconsin gas prices have risen to nearly $3.60 a gallon in some locations.
Acting President Tommy Thompson says the UW System stands ready to assist Ukrainian students In a statement, Thompson says the UW System educates a handful of Ukrainian international students. Thompson says that students, staff, and faculty from both Russia and Ukraine have come together, including last week at UW-Madison, in solidarity against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. He says counseling centers and other support services at all 13 universities are positioned to help.
The elections investigator hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has urged the Legislature to take a “very hard look” at decertification of the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin. Former state Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman issued his interim report at the state Capitol today (Tuesday). Leaders pushed back quickly. Republican Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke called decertification a “fool’s errand,” adding it’s not legal. The Democratic chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Ann Jacobs, tweeted that Gableman was promoting a “crazy conspiracy theory.” Gableman told lawmakers decertifying the results wouldn’t change who the current president is.
The Interagency Council on Homelessness has released a new list of recommendations for the state. The Welcoming Wisconsin Home report was issued Monday. It included recommendations like creating permanent rental assistance for veterans, providing additional support to landlords for repair work, and using targeted support services to increase the state’s housing stability. Officials say safe, stable housing is the key to ensuring Wisconsin’s continued economic recovery from the pandemic.
Assembly Democrats are backing a proposal that would create a public health coverage option for individuals and small employers. The change to BadgerCare would create a new basic health plan for people making 130-to-200-percent of the federal poverty level. Supporters say the bill would increase access to health care in the state during the pandemic. The effort to expand BadgerCare started nine years ago and was rejected by then-Governor Scott Walker.
The Minnesota State Patrol stopped 516 vehicles for speeding during a 10-day Highway Enforcement for Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) effort. Troopers also arrested 23 people for driving while impaired and six for outstanding warrants. The HEAT patrols focused on excessive speed enforcement and criminal activity for 10 nights, beginning February 14th, though the patrols were suspended for several nights due to weather. Troopers conducted patrols on roadways around Minneapolis and surrounding areas. Troopers also cited 80 people for driving without a valid license and 22 drivers for violating the hands-free cell phone law.
The Salvation Army, an international aid organization, is in Ukraine serving those in need. Spokesman Dan Furry says the Army has operation centers throughout Ukraine -- including one in the capital city of Kyiv (KEEVE) – where they are busy handing out food, toiletries, and clothing. They are also providing spiritual and emotional care for those that need it. Furry says the best way to get aid to Ukraine is through a monetary donation because there’s a very real chance that food and clothing donations may never reach their intended group. People wanting to donate can visit salvation-army-u-s-a-dot-org.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reports the state has set a record for new handgun carry permits for a second straight year. K-S-T-P Television reports more than 106 thousand permits were handed out in 2021 – an increase of more than 10 percent from the year before. The B-C-A report released Tuesday also lists the number of reported crimes by permit holders was three-thousand-863. That means about one percent of permit holders committed a crime. Most of the crimes were D-W-I or traffic offenses. There are currently just over 387-thousand valid gun carry permits in the state.
A new weather satellite launched can be traced back to an idea had by a U-W professor decades ago while he was watching a Packers football game. W-I-S-C Television reports the GOES-T satellite will provide continuous surveillance of the Pacific Ocean and western half of the country. Since most of Wisconsin’s weather comes from the west the satellite will help with forecasting. Professor Verner Soumi was watching instant replay during the Packers game when he wondered if the same technology could be applied to the weather. That was more than 50 years ago. Scientists and engineers at the University of Wisconsin helped develop the first weather satellites.
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