Monday, August 8, 2022

Local-Regional News August 8

 A male motorcycle driver is wanted after an incident in the Town of Hale on Saturday.  According to the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Department, a male was mowing grass along Hwy O and some grass clippings were blown onto the roadway when another male driving a Victory motorcycle stopped and confronted the male who was mowing.  A verbal confrontation ensued, and the motorcycle driver pulled out a folding pocket knife with a 4 or five-inch blade and threatened to stab the other male in the neck.  The motorcycle driver is described as being around 6 foot tall, slender build between 20-30, and was wearing a high vis yellow-green shirt, a cream-colored face covering.  The Victory Motorcycle is gold with saddle bags.  If you have any information, you are to contact the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department.


Pierce Pepin Cooperative has a new Chief Operating Officer.  Scott Freier joined Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services (PPCS) as Chief Operating Officer on August 1. Freier is a resident of the local community, was raised on a dairy farm in Bay City, and attended Ellsworth Community Schools. He holds an associate degree in HVAC from Minnesota State College.  Freier will lead PPCS’ broadband subsidiary SwiftCurrent Connect which includes its fiber broadband service along with electrician services. Freier will also take a broader leadership role within PPCS as part of its senior leadership team.


A Dunn County Man has been sentenced in the drug overdose death of Tricia Chapek in August of 2021.  WQOW reports that Clinton Manuell, along with Rebecca Barbeau and Randy Johnson were all charged in connection to Chapek's death.  Authorities alleged that Barbeau admitted to selling methamphetamine to Manuell and Chapek the day before Chapeck died.  Manuell pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to three years probation, 50hrs of community service, maintain absolute sobriety, and pay $1000 in court costs.  


The Barron County Sheriff’s Office says a man who was causing a disturbance inside a home earlier this week is being held in the county jail.  A caller told dispatchers 41-year-old Justin Curtis of Chetek was armed with a knife and was destroying a mobile home.  Deputies say Curtis was holding the knife when they confronted him and refused to put it down.  W-E-A-U/T-V reports the Barron-Rusk Emergency Response Team was paged but Curtis was taken into custody and the call was canceled.  He had given up the knife.  Curtis was treated at a hospital, then booked into the Barron County Jail.


 The attorney who successfully defended Kyle Rittenhouse will represent the Minnesota man accused of stabbing a teenager to death on the Apple River in St. Croix County.  Madison attorney Corey Chirafisi convinced the jury that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense when he shot two men to death in Kenosha County.  Chirafisi has been retained by Nicolae Miu who says he acted in self-defense when he stabbed four people, killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman.


A new agreement has been signed allowing sports and non-sports betting at a casino owned by the Lac Courte Oreille Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.  The deal was announced Friday.  It follows a similar agreement between the state and the Oneida Nation, the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, and the Forest County Potawatomi.  The U-S Department of the Interior will review the agreement for 45 days.  It means a sports betting floor can be opened at the Sevenwinds Casino in Hayward.  Mobile betting will be allowed on land inside the reservation.


Minnesota’s primary election is tomorrow. Secretary of State Steve Simon says for candidates running for a partisan office, this is the contest that selects which one of them -- one per political party -- may be on the final ballot in November. Simon says for non-partisan offices, tomorrow’s primary contest typically picks the top two vote-getters to end up on the November ballot.


Wisconsin’s U-S Senators voted along party lines and passed the Inflation Reduction Act.   The Act authorizes 370 billion dollars towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the US economy by 40 percent by the end of this decade. It also makes good on Democrats' promise to reduce prescription drug costs for the elderly. Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin said the bill will also close tax loopholes on big corporations. Republican Ron Johnson, voted no and did not immediately release a statement.

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It’s the MKE for the RNC. Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel announces Milwaukee will host the party’s 2024 National Convention.   The choice was something of a foregone conclusion since Nashville officials recently voted down a draft agreement to host. The 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee was a largely virtual affair due to the coronavirus pandemic.


The F-B-I says a man accused of shooting at an F-B-I agent in Georgia in late July may be in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee office of the F-B-I says it has reason to believe 24-year-old Joshuia Johnathan Luke Brown is in the Johnson Creek area, which is between Madison and Milwaukee. The F-B-I is offering a 25-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to Brown's arrest.


Last week’s report from the Minnesota State Health Department showing that adverse events and instances of patient harm rose significantly last year is drawing a sharp response from the Minnesota Nurses Association (M-N-A). The report points to staff shortages as a key factor in the increase. M-N-A President Mary Turner says those adverse events weren’t because nurses were lazy or they weren’t paying attention, it was because they were being forced to take on more tasks than were “safely appropriate.” Prior to last year, the overall number of adverse events in Minnesota hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and community behavioral health hospitals had been stable, but last year saw an increase -- mainly due to new challenges and increased care associated with COVID-19.


The Wisconsin Elections Commission has decided not to recommend charges in the HOT Government case.  “HOT” stands for “honest, open, and transparent,”  W-I-S-C/T-V reports the Racine group’s president, Harry Wait, got in trouble for requesting absentee ballots in the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Racine Mayor Cory Mason, and eight others.  Wait said he was trying to expose a vulnerability in the Wisconsin election system.  The commission says it is monitoring the voter registration system for any indications that could point to more illegal requests.


 A report released this week confirms that it is nearly impossible to afford a two-bedroom rental in the U-S if a person is making minimum wage.  The report from a website called Out of Reach places Minnesota among the worst states.  The average Minnesota wage-earner would need to make more than 22-dollars an hour and work full-time to afford a two-bedroom apartment here.  With an average rent of 11-hundred-65 dollars a month, a person has to make nearly 47-thousand dollars a year to qualify.  The situation is marginally better in Minnesota markets like Rochester, Duluth, and Fargo-Moorhead.


A Wisconsin couple from Janesville has been killed by a lightning strike near the White House.  James and Donna Mueller – both in their mid-70s – died of the injuries they suffered while they were in Lafayette Park.  A-B-C News reports emergency responders were reportedly treating four people who had been standing by the tree that was hit.  Two were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and the Muellers died before they could be transported.  Police, firefighters, and E-M-S were all on the scene Thursday night.


Minnesotans looking to enter or exit farming have two new resources available. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Jim Ostlie says the program puts together teams to help farmers navigate their way through farm transition and succession planning. Ostlie says the program covers a variety of topics from property law and establishment and dissolution of partnerships to leases and other contracts, as well as psychological or spiritual support. For more information, visit the M-D-A's website.

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