Over a dozen fire departments from Buffalo, Dunn, Pepin, Trempealeau, and Wabasha Counties responded to a barn fire Sunday morning in rural Buffalo County. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, firefighters were called to the barn fire on Hwy N in the Town of Lincoln early Sunday morning. When firefighters arrived they found the barn fully engulfed. Crews were on the scene for nearly five hours, but the barn and nearby buildings could not be saved. Over 100 head of cattle were killed in the blaze. The cause of that fire is still under investigation.
The 2022 shipping season is now officially underway on the Upper Mississippi River. Melanie Peterson with the Army Corps of Engineers says the motor vessel “W-Red Harris” broke through the ice Monday at Lake Pepin. She says it’s the very first sign of spring and they’re excited to see ships and barges and tows going through our locks and dams. The Red Harris came from St. Louis and was pushing nine barges carrying fertilizer. The average opening date of the Upper Mississippi navigation season is March 20th.
Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig is co-sponsoring a bill aimed at replacing Russian oil with American biofuels. The Home Front Energy Independence Act would expand production, make E-15 available year-round, establish an E-15 tax credit, and help retailers get equipment to offer renewable fuels. Craig says in a statement, “as we work to lessen our dependence on foreign energy producers and hold Russia accountable for its unjustified invasion of Ukraine, our bipartisan legislation to prioritize home-grown domestic biofuels should be taken up without delay.” The bill would also codify into law full restrictions on U-S purchases of Russian oil.
Democrat Mark Lindquist of Moorhead says he’s suspending his campaign for U-S House in Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District so he can do humanitarian work at Poland’s border with Ukraine. Lindquist says, “if they eventually let me in the Territorial Defense, that’s where I’ll take my orders from.” The Air Force veteran says he’s also raising money for a vehicle to shuttle Ukrainian refugees to Poland. Lindquist says he feels like this is where he’s needed most and hasn’t decided whether he’ll eventually resume his campaign for Congress. He planned to challenge freshman Republican Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach in November.
Another mining group from Canada wants to take a shot at opening sulfide mining operations in northern and central Wisconsin. Green Light Metals says it’s ready to explore a pair of metal mining deposits near Wausau and the Chequomaegon Nicolet National Forest. The company bought out those rights last year from Aquila Resources of Toronto for seven million dollars. Republicans led an effort to change Wisconsin laws to allow for metal mining in 2017, but Aquila never actually went through with the plan to open up either mining site. The Department of Natural Resources says Green Light will have to go through the entire permitting process all over again.
The city of Rhinelander will use more than one-point-five million dollars in federal funds to help clean up PFAS contamination in municipal water wells. City Administration Zach Vruwink tells W-A-O-W T-V the money arrives at just the right time. Rhinelander has been dealing with PFAS contamination for the last two years and is one of dozens of areas statewide looking to remove the so-called "forever chemicals" from their water.
Three of the country's largest credit reporting agencies are removing nearly 70% of medical debt from consumer credit reports, the companies announced in a joint statement Friday. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion will eliminate billions of dollars from the accounts of consumers who faced unexpected medical bills that they were unable to pay. The announcement follows research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau showing that Americans had racked up $88 billion in medical debt on consumer credit records as of June 2021. It's the most common debt collection credit account on credit records, the CFPB said. Starting July 1, paid medical collection debt will no longer be included on consumer credit reports. Millions of Americans had credit scores previously lowered because debts paid after being sent to collections could appear on credit reports for up to seven years.
Groups pushing discredited election fraud theories will be making their case at the State Capitol. The group “True the Vote” is scheduled to speak before the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee on Thursday -- and a group calling itself “Grandpa and Grandma” says it plans to block Madison traffic with recreational vehicles in May to protest alleged voter fraud. Last week, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos met with people who want to decertify Wisconsin’s 2020 electors -- something lawmakers and experts maintain can’t be done.
Authorities have arrested a 48-year-old man in Monroe County after allegedly fleeing from officers and driving at speeds of over 110 miles per hour. W-X-O-W Television reports that the suspect was spotted in La Crosse County driving a Black Chevy Equinox with the headlights turned off, which sparked the two-county chase on Highway 27. The chase ended when Monroe County deputies used spike strips to stop the driver, who then struck a guardrail. The suspect, Chad Raymond Weaver, is charged with Operating Under the Influence for the sixth time. He’s also charged with felony fleeing an officer, felony bail jumping, and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Milwaukee officials are scheduled to make their official bid tomorrow (Tuesday) to host the Republican National Convention in 2024. W-I-S-N Television reports that R-N-C chairwoman Ronna McDaniel spent last week visiting with city officials and confirmed that Milwaukee and Nashville are the final two contenders. A final decision is due sometime this summer. Milwaukee hosted a downsized Democratic National Convention in 2020 with several events held remotely and live-streamed due to the pandemic. The city has never hosted the G-O-P convention.
A legislative auditor’s report finds the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is falling short on detecting fraud in Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance program, either by impostors or through identity theft. Republican Representative Rod Hamilton from Mountain Lake says the report’s very first recommendation was having the legislature “require DEED to report on a regular basis about fraud in the U-I program.” DEED officials say a drastic increase in U-I applications during the pandemic strained their ability to perform standard fraud prevention and detection processes. Hamilton says there needs to be “more transparency,” and that the department should have the necessary tools and resources to fight fraud.
A new report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association shows unprecedented vacancy rates in health care professions. Ann Zenk with the W-H-A notes it’s been a developing concern for years. She says their workforce can’t grow fast enough to keep up with the demands of an aging population, as more and more of Wisconsin’s population retires -- which took an even bigger jump during the pandemic. The combined factors resulted in an increase in vacancies in 13 of 17 professions tracked in W-H-A’s Health Care Workforce Report. Registered nurse vacancy rates were the highest they’ve been since 2005.
It’s pothole season in Minnesota. M-N-DOT’s Anne Meyer says people need to be mindful of where potholes may be forming and to not drive over them too fast, which can do some potential damage. She says crews are out patching potholes now until more permanent fixes can be applied in the summer and fall. If you see or hit, a pothole on a highway, you can report it at D-O-T-Dot-State-dot-M-N-dot-U-S, then look for the “Report a pothole” link on the home page.
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