The Buffalo County Sheriff's Department has released the name of the person found in the Mississippi River near Winona. Authorities recovered the body of 61yr old Dianna Bork of Independence on Tuesday. Borks body was found by fishermen that were fishing on an island in pool 6, and that island was determined to be in Buffalo County. The Sheriff's department is continuing the investigation into Bork's death.
A 41-year-old Chippewa Falls woman has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for her part in a kickback scheme. A news release from the U-S Attorney’s Office says Joleen Minnich pleaded guilty in April to charges of wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. Federal prosecutors told the court Minnich used her position as office manager for the Chippewa County Veterinary Hospital in Bloomer to steal more than 224-thousand dollars. She also admitted she didn’t remit the hospital’s payroll taxes to the I-R-S because she used that money to hide her embezzlement.
Republican state Senator Cathy Bernier has sent a letter to Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug LaFollette, demanding that he send documents to Congress and other states as required The documents are an application to Congress and other state legislatures for a Convention of States, as called for in a joint resolution passed by the Wisconsin legislature in January. La Folette told the State Journal his office has been dealing with staffing and budget issues, but that he expects to meet Bernier's August 1 deadline.
An early morning power outage affected over 5700 customers in Eau Claire County for about four hours on Thursday according to Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy said the outage was caused by animal contact to its downtown Eau Claire substation. The company said power was restored to all customers around 10:30 a.m. after Xcel Energy made repairs to the equipment damaged by the animal contact.
Last week, youth members of Farmers Union from around the country participated in the 84th annual National Farmers Union (NFU) All-States Leadership Retreat at Wisconsin Farmers Union's Kamp Kenwood on the shores of Lake Wissota. Participants in the retreat ranged from ages 18 to 22 and heard from speakers including motivational speaker and a former North Dakota Farmers Union camper Toby Kane, NFU Vice President of Advocacy Mike Stranz, as well as NFU President Rob Larew and Wisconsin Farmers Union President Rick Adamski.
A soon-to-be father is still in a coma following a 40-foot fall last week near Grandad Bluff. Eighteen-year-old Branden Hellrud suffered a punctured lung, four broken vertebrae in his neck, seven broken ribs, two skull fractures, and other injuries. W-K-B-T/T-V reports he was diagnosed with pneumonia Tuesday but his temperature is coming down and a draining tube has been removed from his skull. The doctors are said to be removing him from sedation as they plan to bring him out of the medically-induced coma.
A preliminary hearing for a La Crosse man charged with killing a kitten has been scheduled for September. Thirty-year-old Kenneth Becker faces a felony charge of mistreatment of animals as a repeater. W-K-B-T/T-V reports he was accused of grabbing the family kitten and throwing it against a wall after it had scratched him. The animal died. Becker is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail on a 21-thousand dollar cash bond.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says ex-officer Derek Chauvin’s 245-month federal sentence for depriving George Floyd and Jonathan Pope of their civil rights is “another step of accountability on the road to justice.” Chauvin pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, resulting in his death. He also admitted to willfully depriving the 14-year-old Pope’s civil rights in 2017 by kneeling on his neck and causing injury. Ellison’s office led the state’s successful prosecution of Chauvin on second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. The federal sentence will be served concurrently with his 22-and-a-half-year state prison sentence.
The farmland market continues to be strong across the Midwest. In southern Minnesota, corn and soybean farmer Tim Waibel says quality ground is going for ten thousand to 14-thousand dollars an acre. He also says larger parcels don’t seem to be scaring off farmers like they used to, noting that 160-acre parcels of land have been selling for close to what “an 80-acre” lot has gone for. Waibel, who farms near Courtland, says rising interest rates could soften the land market. But he doesn’t expect much immediate impact because “there’s a lot of cash in the country.”
Milwaukee appears to have jumped into the lead to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. Mayor Cavalier Johnson says Milwaukee is in a great position to land the big political convention after city council leaders in Nashville took the city’s R-N-C proposal off the agenda for this week’s meeting. Even Nashville’s city council president says Milwaukee is the likely favorite between the two finalists at this point. Nashville will consider its convention bid again in two weeks. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee says it will choose a host city in August.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz admits that talks to revive a state budget deal are stalled, but says he’s still as committed to it as ever. He says while attending Fourth of July parades in several small towns, people told him “They want us to get this deal done.” Walz says people point to transportation, nursing homes, childcare, and putting money back in taxpayers’ pockets. But he also says calling lawmakers back for a special session without a signed agreement “opens up a whole lot of things that would make this more complicated.”
A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on open records requests is being called a “dark day for transparency” by one advocate group. The court ruled four-to-three Wednesday on when people who sue over open records requests can recover attorney fees. Liberals and advocates for open government say the ruling has gutted Wisconsin’s law. The justices decided the attorney fees can only be recovered if the court issues a ruling. The state’s open records law has been in effect for 40 years.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has announced that veterans who have served from 9-11 on can now apply for a bonus payment to recognize their service. The Post-9/11 Veteran Service Bonus program was included in the most recent legislative session as part of the first comprehensive Veterans Omnibus Bill in recent memory. The law consists of nearly 25 million dollars for service bonuses to post-9/11 era veterans and Gold Star Families. Eligible veterans or currently serving military members must have served sometime between September 11th, 2001, and August 30, 2021. To apply, veterans or their beneficiaries should visit the website MinnesotaVeteran.org.
Crews and volunteers are working long hours to prepare for the E-A-A AirVenture in Oshkosh later this month. Many of the workers and groundskeepers are said to be camping on the site. E-A-A reportedly has 350-to-400 buildings on its grounds and many need work done. Director of Communication Dick Knapinski says “revenge tourism” will fuel the crowds this year. People just want to get out after the pandemic and enjoy the annual event. The 75th anniversary of the U-S Air Force will be celebrated and both “Top Gun” movies will be showing at the Fly-In Theatre. The E-A-A AirVenture takes off July 25th in Oshkosh.
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