Friday, October 28, 2022

Local-Regional News October 28

 The Durand Arkansaw School District is working with the Pepin School District and Pepin County to create a school-based social worker position.  Durand Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the need for mental health services for students has increased since the covid pandemic.  While the district has some ways to provide mental health services, this new position would provide additional services to students.  Pepin County would cover 50% of the costs with the school districts covering the rest.


FFA Students from across the country are in Indianapolis this week for the National FFA Convention.  Ben Styer from the Menomonie FFA and former President of the Wisconsin FFA is one of 20 candidates for National FFA Officer.  Styer says he wants to continue to give back to the FFA.  Candidates will find out on Saturday if they have been elected as a National FFA Officer.


There are charges in Chippewa County for last month's high-speed chase that ended with a crash.  Prosecutors yesterday filed endangering safety and hit-and-run charges against 20-year-old Chad Myszka.  He was arrested in September in Marathon County after a chase that stretched from Marathon County into Chippewa County.  He's due back in court next week to face the charges.


The city of Eau Claire is waiting to see if it will be getting more money before deciding on next year's budget.  The city council last night agreed to hold off on its second public budget hearing until after the election.  There was supposed to be a hearing on Monday, November 7th.  But that's one day before voters will decide on the city's nearly one-and-a-half million-dollar per-year tax increase.  City Manager Stephanie Hirsch says if that referendum fails the next city budget will have to be smaller.


The Eau Claire County Humane Association says it's seeing a lot of people give up their pets. The Association's Addie Erdmann said yesterday that there's usually a two-to-three-week wait to surrender a pet, but now that window is more than a month long.  She says the earliest someone would be able to give their pet away is December.  Erdmann says no one is sure what is driving the spike in surrenders but says there is help available for animals to make sure they are taken care of.


Northwestern Wisconsin continues to be the only part of the state with coronavirus worries.  The latest numbers from the CDC show six counties in the far northwestern corner of the state all have high coronavirus activity levels.  Most of the rest of the state is rated as having low levels.   No one is saying why the northwestern counties are seeing elevated coronavirus numbers, though it could be because of their small populations.  The CDC and the state use the coronavirus level numbers to gauge things like mask requirements.


Police say the woman who crashed into a Wisconsin state senator last summer was driving 100 miles per hour.  The Wisconsin State Patrol yesterday said Alyssa Ortman was speeding down Highway 2 in Ashland last July when she smashed into Senator Janet Bewley's car.  Ortman's five-year-old daughter died in the crash, she died later at the hospital.  Bewley wasn't seriously hurt.  Troopers say the speed limit on that stretch of road is 45 miles per hour.  Ortman's ex has filed a wrongful death lawsuit because of the crash.


Another snapshot of voters in Wisconsin will be released next week.  Marquette Law School will release a poll next Wednesday that will show how voters feel about the state heading into the election.  Pollsters say the new poll will provide insight on whether voters think the state is on the right track and will show how they feel about the candidates for governor and U.S. Senate.


The Durand Trunk or Treat is tomorrow in Downtown Durand from 3-5pm.  Motorists are reminded that Main Street will be closed at first avenue west during the event.  Durand police Chief Stan Ridgeway says the regular trick or treating in the City of Durand will be on Monday from 4-7pm.


A new study shows Wisconsin voters' votes aren't very powerful.  WalletHub says it calculates how powerful each state's voters are by determining how many elected officials each state has in Washington, DC compared to that state's population.  Based on that calculation WalletHub says Wisconsin voters are the fourth-least powerful in America, just ahead of Arizona, Ohio, and California.  Wisconsin voters are most powerful when it comes to U.S. Senate elections, ranking 19th.


A man accused of killing a University of Wisconsin-Madison student back in 2008 pleads guilty in the case.  David Kahl pleaded guilty this morning to first-degree intentional homicide.  He's accused of killing Brittany Zimmerman at an apartment on West Doty Street.  Kahl has a plea agreement with the state that will allow him to petition for supervised release after 20 years in prison.  That decision will be made at a later date.


A Marinette man will not be getting his sentence reduced after pleading guilty to child abuse charges.  Troy Thiry pleaded guilty back in April to a charge of physical abuse of a child causing injury. At sentencing, Thiry was listed as a repeat offender, increasing the time he would be sentenced to 6 years in prison. Thiry tried to contest that, saying the state hadn't argued that he was a repeat offender. The appeals court disagreed, and on Thursday the state supreme court declined to take his case.


 Seven family members from Portage are looking for a new place to stay after their house was damaged by a fire.  The fire broke out at a home on New Pinery Road late last night and took nearly three hours to put out.  No one's hurt but the Red Cross is helping all seven family members with a place to stay.


Minnesota and Wisconsin are two of six states hit by a multi-million dollar theft ring targeting frozen meat.  An investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed 45 instances in which thieves stole semi-trailer loads of meat from beef and pork packaging plants in Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.  Three suspects were arrested in Florida last week.  Investigators say the arrests are part of a larger organized crime enterprise based in Miami. 


Ramsey County officials want a teenager accused of assaulting his family and killing his grandmother to stand trial as an adult.  The 17-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday after attacking five of his family members with a baseball bat in their Roseville home.  His 88-year-old grandmother was pronounced dead at the scene, and his 55-year-old mother remains hospitalized due to blunt-force trauma.  County prosecutors are filing a juvenile petition against the teen. 


Four lion cubs are finding a new home in Minnesota after escaping the war in Ukraine.  The International Fund for Animal Welfare says the cubs were surrendered to animal rescue organizations because "they face increasingly grim outcomes" as Russia continues to wage war against the country.  The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone will take in the cubs, all of which are younger than four-months-old.

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