Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Local-Regional News August 9

 Today is the day the City of Durand will be closing the bidding bids for the Tarrant Park Pool project.  Due to supply chain issues, construction had to be moved back to 2023.  With the delay that means the old pool will be used for one more year.  This year the main boiler for the pool was down to only one of 4 stages still working.  Durand Public Works Superintendent Matt Gills says that and other issues do have him concerned about using the pool next year.  The pool closed for the season this past Sunday.  The city has 60 days to approve a bid for the new pool.


Local officials say about 30 goats were killed in an overnight barn fire in Chippewa County.  The owners of the barn in the Town of Cleveland reported the fire at about 1:30 a-m Monday.  W-E-A-U/T-V reports when fire crews arrived they say the barn structure was fully engulfed in flames.  The fire had also spread to a nearby shed.  Authorities say 40 firefighters from several districts responded and had the flames under control by 2:30 a-m.  They were totally extinguished by 4:30 a-m.  No people were injured.  Cornell Fire Chief Matt Boulding says because there was a thunderstorm in the area it is possible a lightning strike caused the fire.  That hasn’t been determined.  The barn is considered a total loss.


A Wausau man has been sentenced for the bomb scare that caused the lockdown of Boyceville Middle School in April.  Authorities accused Alexander Tillou of using Snapchat to threaten to kill a student at the school and telling another student the school would be shot up or bombed.   Tillou pleaded no contest to making terrorist threats and bail jumping and was sentenced to three years probation, four months of conditional jail time, and is to have no contact with his victims.

 

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has denied the argument from a Chippewa Falls man that he should get a new trial.  Prosecutors told the court Colton Treu had been huffing aerosol fumes moments before his vehicle veered off the road near Lake Hallie and killed a Girl Scout leader, her daughter, and two other Scouts in November 2018.  The four victims were pickup up roadside litter when they were hit by his pickup.  Treu claimed he should have been allowed to withdraw his guilty and no contest pleas.  He also claimed his lawyers provided ineffective defense.  The court disagreed and he will have to serve the 54-year sentence.


An Eau Claire man is dead after jumping off a cliff in Big Bay State Park over the weekend.  According to the La Pointe Police Department, rescue crews were called after 41yr old Curtis Wilmer had jumped off one of the cliffs into Lake Superior and had not resurfaced.  Authorities were able to recover his body on Monday and they believe weather and lake conditions are factors in Wilmer's death.


Two area county fairs are this week.  Today, the 160th Goodhue County Fair begins in Zumbro Falls.  The fair will feature a truck and tractor pull, livestock shows, and live entertainment. The Goodhue County Fair runs through Saturday.    On  Wednesday, the 139th Pierce County Fair begins and runs through Sunday.  The fair will also feature a carnival, truck and tractor pull, and livestock shows.  WRDN will live stream the Dairy, Beef, Swine Shows, and the Livestock Auction on our YouTube Channel, website, and Facebook Page.


Wisconsin voters have a way to check to make sure their ballot in today's primary election has been counted.  That check needs to be made before the polls close at 8:00 p-m.  If you cast an absentee ballot in the election you can go online to MyVote-dot-Wi-dot-Gov to make sure it was received.  Type in your name and birthday to check the status.  If you find it hasn’t been received at your local election office you would then have time to go to the polls and cast your vote.  Any ballots received after 8:00 p-m Tuesday won’t be counted.


A major brand has bought out a Wisconsin-based sink disposal company.   Whirlpool has purchased the InSinkErator brand for 3 billion dollars. InSinkErator is owned by Emerson and is based out of Pleasant Prairie and is the world's largest manufacturer of sink disposals and on-demand hot water dispensers. In a statement on Monday, Whirlpool says they'll be keeping production in Wisconsin. They're hoping to make 650 million dollars a year in sales.


Wisconsin health care administrators are hoping the development of an online employment portal helps ease the hiring process as they deal with staff shortages.  Officials at S-S-M Health St. Clare Meadows Care Center in Baraboo say they can’t take care of as many people as they would like to because they are short of certified nurse assistants.  W-M-T-V reports WisCaregiverCNA-dot-com is an online portal that connects long-term care facilities with potential employees.  The website covers C-N-A training costs and promises 500-dollar retention bonuses after new hires have stayed on the job for six months.


Former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman is endorsing his boss’ political opponent.  Gableman spoke for Adam Steen – who is running against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos – at the Trump campaign event Friday night.  Vos hired the former justice to review the 2020 presidential election and renewed his contract in May.  The probe has never revealed any evidence of election fraud and Gableman has been paid more than 125-thousand dollars for his work.  Trump was in Waukesha Friday at a rally to support Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor Tim Michels.


Wisconsin’s Republican race for governor is a pick-em heading into primary election day.  A new poll from Emerson College in Boston gives Rebecca Kleefisch a two-point lead over Tim Michels, 36-to-34, but that’s within the poll’s margin of error. 14-percent of Republican primary voters tell the poll they’re undecided, while support for Tim Ramthun is at eight-percent.


Milwaukee will host the 2024 Republican National Convention, and UW Milwaukee political scientist Thomas Holbrook says that’s likely to be beneficial to the city.  Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced the pick Friday during the RNC’s August meeting in Chicago. That came after officials in Nashville had rejected a preliminary contract to host the convention.    


The Minnesota Department of Revenue is reminding you to save those back-to-school shopping receipts for valuable tax credits. Spokesman Ryan Broman says most expenses for educational instruction or materials qualify -- things like pens, notebooks, papers, and textbooks. He says buying or renting educational equipment -- including computer hardware and software, even musical instruments for marching band -- also qualifies. Fees for internet services don’t qualify, however. Brown says the child must be attending kindergarten through 12th grade at a public, private, or home school and meet other qualifications.


They weren’t a band on the run – they were members of a band wanting to stop.  Pleasant Prairie police had to pull over a vintage fire truck with the members of that Illinois band stuck on top which it drove down State Highway 31 last Wednesday.  The Sinful Saints Band had just taken part in a Founders Day Parade when the driver took a wrong turn heading toward Wisconsin rather than the disassemble point for the parade.  When the truck was finally stopped its driver was taken to Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital for observation of a medical condition.  Band members hadn’t been able to get his attention while he was going in the wrong direction.

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