Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Local-Regional News August 2

 One person was injured in a single-vehicle accident in Mondovi Township on Saturday.  According to the Buffalo County Sheriffs Department, 21yr old Bradley Wirala of Alma was traveling southbound on Hwy 37 when he failed to negotiate a corner, lost control of the vehicle, and entered the northbound ditch.  The vehicle rolled several times hitting trees and coming to rest near the Buffalo River.  Wirala was able to escape the vehicle and get to a nearby residence to report the crash 6hrs later.  He was med-flighted to the hospital with serious injuries.  


Two people were injured in two separate motorcycle accidents in Pepin County on Saturday.  According to the Pepin County Sheriffs Department, 38yr old Jayson Ramthun was traveling south on Hwy J when he hit a patch of loose gravel at Hwy J and Westerberg Lane, lost control of the motorcycle, and crashed.  He was taken to Mayo Red Wing.  In the second accident, 43yr old Juan Duran-Gomez of Sheboygan was traveling westbound on Hwy 10 with a group of motorcycles when the front of the group stopped abruptly at the intersection of Hwy 10 and Kothbauer Road.  Duran-Gomez lost control of his motorcycle and crashed.  He was taken to an Eau Claire Hospital.  


There’s another simulated emergency today at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating plant near Red Wing. That means a large presence of patrol cars, ambulances, and emergency vehicles in the area. Law enforcement agencies from Minnesota and Wisconsin are taking part in the exercise to test their capabilities in the event of a real nuclear incident. The field activities are in Dakota and Goodhue counties in Minnesota and Pierce County, Wisconsin.


An Arkansaw man is charged with making terrorist threats after allegedly bringing a homemade bomb to Country Fest.   WQOW-TV reports that witnesses told police that Jeffrey Wotring had shown them a pipe bomb and that he was going to throw it into the main area.  Police located Wotring's camper and found a 3-inch silver improvised tube destructive device along with drugs.   Wotring was arrested and released on a $2500 signature bond in June and will be in Chippewa County Court today.


The Buffalo-Pepin ADRC is in urgent need of meals on wheels volunteer drivers.    Volunteers are needed on weekdays in the Buffalo City/Fountain City/Cochrane area.  Volunteers receive a mileage reimbursement and a free meal.  For more information or to volunteer, contact Heather Prissel at the ADRC at 715-672-8941 extension 163.


Tonight is National Night Out with local law enforcement agencies.  Here in Durand National Night Out will be at Tarrant Park and there will be displays from police fire and EMT services, food, games, and door prizes.  At 9pm the movie Sing 2 will be shown at the Bauer Built Sports Complex.  In Buffalo County, the Sheriff's Department is holding its National Night Out Event at the Fountain City Park.  National night out begins at 5pm.  


 A 52-year-old stabbing suspect from Minnesota has been identified and charged with attempted first-degree homicide in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.  Authorities say Nicolae Miu attacked a group that was tubing down the Apple River last weekend.  No motive for the attack has been offered.  Four people suffered injuries ranging from serious to critical and 17-year-old Isaac Schuman of Stillwater died.  Miu made a court appearance via video conference Monday afternoon.  A follow-up hearing was put on the court calendar for Friday.  Miu is being held on a one million dollar cash bond.


The cash bond has been set at one-and-a-half-million dollars for the 58-year-old arson suspect accused in a fatal Chippewa Falls house fire.  Scott Vaningan made a court appearance Friday morning.  He had been arrested the night before.  W-E-A-U/T-V reports Vaningan is scheduled to make a Chippewa County Court appearance Wednesday.  He is expected to face first-degree intentional homicide charges.  Investigators say he knew the person who died in the fire last Wednesday.


A Dane County judge says the state will have to pay legal fees in another open records case against the ongoing Republican elections probe.   On Monday, Dane County Judge Frank Remington ruled that the Office of Special Counsel, led by former state Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman, will have to pay 163 thousand dollars in legal fees to watchdog non-profit American Oversight. That funding will be coming from tax dollars. Last week, Dane County Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled against Speaker Robin Vos's office in a similar case. In both cases, attorneys for the Republicans attempted to argue that American Oversight did not deserve legal fees because it's a non-profit.


There is now a state-level investigation into claims of voter fraud in Racine County.  The Wisconsin Department of Justice says it’s opened its case into the claim of a Racine-area man who says he applied online for absentee ballots using other people’s names. Harry Wait says he did it to prove his point about how easy it would be to commit voter fraud.   The Wisconsin Elections Commission says anyone who gets an absentee ballot under false pretenses is guilty of a crime. Commission officials said last week they plan to meet to discuss what criminal charges they might seek.


More than 15 hundred early voters in Wisconsin have asked for a new ballot.   A lot can change in the weeks leading up to an election, and some candidates who got votes early on in Wisconsin’s absentee voting process drop out before election day. That’s especially the case in the Democratic primary for U-S Senate this summer. Three of the four leading candidates abandoned their campaigns last week, leaving Mandela Barnes as the presumptive nominee. The Wisconsin State Elections Commission says voters in such an event may contact their local clerks and ask for a “do-over.” Primary election day is August 9th.


Demand for Wisconsin’s limited supply of the monkeypox vaccine is fairly high, even though public health officials say the risk to the public is pretty low.   Madison-area public health officials began offering the monkeypox vaccine Monday. Appointments with Public Health Madison and Dane County are already booked out for a week. Wisconsin has enough doses for 750 people statewide. As of Monday, there are only 13 confirmed monkeypox cases throughout the entire state. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it’s prioritizing its supply of shots for those most at-risk.


The Wood County district attorney has decided not to file charges in the death of a six-year-old student who was run over by his school bus last year.  Investigators say Tyson Hoffman was hit by the bus, carried on its front for 250 yards, then fell to the pavement and suffered fatal injuries when the bus wheels rolled over him.  The incident happened March 8th, 2021.  W-S-A-W/T-V reports that 14 months later the Wisconsin Department of Transportation released its final report – finding no violations.  The family has spoken out about the lack of charges, and what it sees as the lack of effort, respect, and communications from the Wisconsin State Patrol and Wood County Officials.


 Life insurance policies sold in Minnesota are now allowed to include long-term care, under a new state law in effect Monday. The aim is to offer the product to more Minnesotans, and the law permits it as long as it is an “innovative or reasonable approach” to protect and is in the person’s best interest. And the new law offers stronger protections for those who receive payments over time to settle personal injury, workers comp, or similar lawsuits.  Under the old law, these payments over a person’s lifetime could be sold or transferred to a company for a lump sum, which experts say, while attractive, is often not in the person’s best financial interest. The new law requires that an attorney review such transfers and a judge determine if it is indeed in the person’s best interest.


The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (M-D-A) this month is hosting a series of free waste pesticide collections for residents in or near eleven northwestern Minnesota counties. The M-D-A’s Jane Boerboom says they’re accepting unwanted, unusable agricultural and consumer-type pesticides -- including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and rodenticides. For a list of sites and times, visit the M-D-A’s website.

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