Thursday, April 21, 2022

Local-Regional News April 21

 The Hwy 10 Little Town Thrift Sale will be Friday and Saturday.  Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener says motorists should be aware of the extra traffic.  The Thrift Sale will be all along Hwy 10 from Neillsville to Ellsworth.


The Durand-Arkansaw School District, like other districts in Western Wisconsin, has been seeing higher staff turn over the last few years.  Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says there are a variety of factors causing the turnover.  Doverspike says some staff members are also leaving to pursue other careers or to stay at home with their children.


Two Eau Claire police officers were injured while they were taking an intoxicated man into custody Monday night.  W-E-A-U / T-V reports one of the officers suffered a broken nose, a concussion, and an eye injury while 34-year-old Steven W. Bruns the Third was being arrested.  The second officer’s hand was injured.  Police had responded to a domestic disturbance on the city’s south side.  Bruns apparently fought with officers after he was in handcuffs.  He faces multiple charges and is being held in the Eau Claire County Jail.  He has a court appearance scheduled for today.


An Eau Claire area man who killed four people in the 1980s has withdrawn a petition to be released.  Alvin Taylor has been held at the Mendota Mental institution for the past 34yrs had petitioned the state for his release last month.  Taylor withdrew the request after his examining psychologist submitted a report on Taylor to the court before the hearing that had been scheduled for today.  


EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in West Salem and La Crosse yesterday.  According to a press release from Wisconsin 3rd District Congressman Ron Kind, Regan was in Western Wisconsin to highlight the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and toured the newly upgraded wastewater treatment plant in West Salem, and then stopped in La Crosse to see that city's electric busses.  Both projects received funding from the law.  


 Leaders of the Village of Viola say they are working to give residents some options to avoid the area’s repeated flooding.  W-E-A-U / T-V reports the village has dealt with the problem for decades with floodwaters damaging homes and businesses often.  The significant flood four years ago started conversations about what can be done.  Construction is now underway on the housing development on the south edge of the village, farther away from the Kickapoo River.  Two new apartment complexes are going up and a gas station will be located on the site.  Village President Daren Matthes says the work is being done to help people who want to move out of the floodplain.  More than three million dollars worth of federal grants is covering some of the costs.


Governor Tim Walz is criticizing Minnesota lawmakers from both parties for not replenishing the COVID-depleted Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Walz said it’s “absolutely ridiculous” the two sides didn’t reach a deal early in the legislative session -- meaning businesses are now seeing state tax increases. Chamber of Commerce President Doug Loon says Minnesota is the only state that had a trust fund deficit and hasn’t addressed it. Republicans and Democrats haven’t been able to reach a deal on repaying the trust fund or COVID bonuses for front-line workers.


 Duluth police confirm five bodies have been found in a home in the city’s East Hillside neighborhood -- and one of those who died reportedly was the suspect in an earlier standoff. Authorities say they believe the individuals are all related but are not releasing names and say the investigation is ongoing. It began late Wednesday morning in neighboring Hermantown, where police did a welfare check at a residence and couldn't contact the person. The information led authorities to a Duluth address, with concern there could be weapons on the premises. Police say after a methodical search they were able to enter the home and found five dead people and a dead dog.


The Mississippi Valley Conservancy plans to use a three-million-dollar donation to buy 16-hundred acres along the lower Kickapoo River.  Conservancy officials say the big gift from an anonymous donor is the largest it has ever received.  The land north of Wauzeka in Crawford County will be named the Plum Creek Conservation Area.  It will be restored to provide natural services and recreational opportunities.  The property includes more than five-and-a-half miles along the west bank of the Kickapoo and more than two miles along both banks of Plum Creek, a Class One trout stream.


Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says the year-long effort by his office to find victims of clergy abuse has turned up 51 new reports.  Kaul’s office has started the process of charging one suspect.  He says many of the cases the work has found are outside the statute of limitations – meaning charges can’t be filed.  Kaul says his office is working hard to make sure the victims have access to services.  He says he doesn’t expect the effort to produce a lot of prosecutions because of the age of the cases.


Experts say wild birds are playing a much larger role in spreading avian flu than in 2015 because poultry production facilities since then have put biosecurity measures in place. So, should you take in their birdfeeders?  State Veterinarian, Doctor Beth Thompson advises “if you’ve got a lot of waterfowl in your yard and you have bird feeders, maybe it’s not a good idea to put them out.” But she also says they haven’t seen any “good research” that songbirds are infected with the avian flu virus. Thompson notes that raptors such as eagles, hawks, and owls ARE being affected by avian flu.


State and federal officials want you to know that while avian flu poses a high risk to poultry, the risk to the public is low. An array of top officials checked in with poultry producers Tuesday in Willmar, as avian flu numbers grew to nearly two million birds at 40 sites in 20 Minnesota counties.  But Governor Tim Walz stresses that the food supply is safe. He says to “get out and buy poultry, turkey,” and eggs -- that doing so “makes a difference.” Officials acknowledge producers and farmworkers are experiencing emotional stress and emphasize that mental health resources are available 24 hours a day at 833-600-2670, or text FARMSTRESS (one word) to 898211, or e-mail farm-stress-at-state-dot-m-n-dot-u-s.


Governor Tony Evers is unveiling a plan to save energy and fight climate change.   Evers’ first Clean Energy Plan boosts investment in solar and wind projects, incentivizes more people to buy electric cars, and aims to have Wisconsin carbon-neutral by 2050. The governor’s report says only about four percent of Wisconsin’s electricity comes from renewables like wind and solar. But accomplishing that may be difficult. Right now, Wisconsin gets about 40-percent of its electricity from coal and another 35 percent from natural gas.


 There will be no 155th Memorial Day parade in Milwaukee.  Organizers announced Tuesday the parade will no longer be held.  W-T-M-J / T-V reports they cite rising costs and falling interest.  A statement from parade chairperson Karen Armstrong says the volunteers who have run the parade for the last 30 years have tried to keep it going.  Armstrong says all options that were available have been exhausted in efforts to keep it going.

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