A joint meeting between the Pepin and Buffalo County Extension Committees was held last night to discuss options surrounding the Pepin County 4-H and Youth Educator Position. Due to changes in extension, Pepin County could have a part-time 4-H program educator or a Community Youth Educator but not both. A proposal was discussed to have a 3/4 time 4-H Educator and full-time Youth Educator that would serve both Buffalo and Pepin Counties. Area 9 Extension Director Pat Malone says regardless of what the counties decide, 4-H will continue in Pepin County. The committee decided to table the proposal until January so details of how a merger would work are developed.
A jury says a Dunn County killer was sane at the time of his crime. The jury yesterday said there's no evidence that Ryan Steinhoff wasn't in his right mind when he killed Bruce McGuigan back in 2020. Steinhoff is looking at prison time now, and not a stint in a mental hospital. He will be formally sentenced in February.
The City of Menomonie and Menomonie Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the person or persons responsible for vandalizing the Wolske Bay Park holiday light display. Police say the park was vandalized over the Thanksgiving weekend. The park experienced similar vandalism in 2021 when the original display was erected. If anyone has any information, they are asked to contact Menomonie Police or Dunn County Crimestoppers.
A new report says at least 475 thousand dollars in coronavirus grants went to ineligible businesses, but no one really knows how much money was wasted. The Legislative Audit Bureau yesterday released a report into the We're All In and Wisconsin Tomorrow grant programs. Auditors flagged 45 of the 172 grants they reviewed as ineligible. But no one is saying how many of the rest of the grants, nearly 600 million dollars in all, may have gone to other ineligible businesses or scammers. Lawmakers say the state did have some fraud protections, but the report says the state is still trying to figure out just where all that money went.
It was a good deer season for many hunters in Wisconsin. The state's Department of Natural Resources yesterday said the deer harvest was up 14 percent compared to last year. That means hunters bagged just over 203 thousand deer during gun season this year. This year's good weather and healthy deer population are getting some of the credit for the jump in deer taken.
Beginning January 1st, inmates in the La Crosse County Jail will be able to make free phone calls. The jail will be the first in Wisconsin to allow 30 free minutes of phone calls each day. The La Crosse County Board of Supervisors passed two motions, one to eliminate county revenue from inmate phone calls the second to add $75,000 to the 2023 budget to cover the costs of inmate calls. Both motions passed unanimously. County Board supervisor David Pierce said this will remove barriers from people who need intervention for mental health and substance abuse issues. Individuals in the jail currently paid 21 cents per minute for phone calls making the average 15-minute call about $3.15
Hundreds of travelers are facing delays and cancellations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after runway operations were shut down because of a winter storm. The airport shut down all runway operations yesterday afternoon due to heavy snowfall and poor visibility. Flights in and out didn't resume for more than two hours. Metropolitan Airports Commission officials say the shutdown will impact some flights for today as the ripple effect continues.
The remains of a Wisconsin Rapids man missing for decades have been identified in Montana. Roger Lee Elis left Central Wisconsin in the 1970s, possibly to escape punishment for a charge of marijuana possession, and was never heard from again until 2004 when a hiker found human remains in Carbon County, Montana. It took advanced DNA analysis to link the remains to Elis, which happened earlier this year. Officers say they believe he may have been killed by a person or group of people who picked him up as he was hitchhiking. Officials in Carbon County have opened a cold-case homicide investigation and are asking anyone with information to reach out.
The story about last week's shooting that left a Milwaukee mom dead is changing. Prosecutors yesterday filed first-degree reckless homicide charges against the ten-year-old boy who police say shot his mother in the head. Investigators originally thought it was an accident, but now say the boy was angry that his mother wouldn't buy him a virtual reality set. Detectives say the boy got his mom's gun, pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger. Family members say the boy then ordered the VR headset online the next day. Prosecutors want the boy tried as an adult.
The man who lost Wisconsin's race for governor says Republicans need to change if they want to win again. Tim Michels yesterday said Democrats in the state have an excellent get-out-the-vote operation and used that to beat him earlier this month. Michels says the Republican Party has to modernize and launch a get-out-the-vote effort of its own. Michels says Republicans simply can't compete by relying on volunteers. As for his loss, Michels says the abortion issue looks to have blunted the expected Red Wave.
Outgoing Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler is calling for action on the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2023. The Golden Valley Democrat wrote in an opinion piece for the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the legislature has elected pro-cannabis DFL majorities in the House and Senate and re-elected a Democratic governor who supports legalization. Winkler launched his Be Heard on Cannabis tour at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair and held 15 public meetings across the state. House Democrats passed a legalization bill in May 2021, but the bill wasn't picked up by the then-GOP-controlled Minnesota Senate.
One of Wisconsin's Republican congressmen says TikTok is 'digital fentanyl' that is addicting our kids. Congressman Mike Gallagher was on Fox News on Sunday, and once again called for a TikTok ban in this country. Gallagher says because TikTok is owned by a Chinese tech company, all of the data used and created by American users is sent back to Beijing. He says TikTok can not only track where users are, it can censor what they see. Gallagher has a piece of legislation that would ban TikTok in the U,S. but it hasn't been called for a vote yet on Capitol Hill.
Portage County authorities have released details on a fatal weekend shooting in the Village of Amherst. The accused shooter is 78-year-old Miles Bradley. According to investigators he shot 92-year-old Clarence Banks Sunday morning as Banks was visiting on of his relatives, officers haven't disclosed what may have started the argument, Bradley is being held on a one million dollar bond, and faces a possible charge of first-degree intentional homicide. Court action against him is pending. Bradley, who shared a home with Banks' relative, was arrested without incident.
Madison is named one of the top midsize college cities in America. WalletHub ranks Madison the eighth-best midsize college city and the 35th-best city overall compared to over 400 cities and towns. Madison's best category is social environment, ranking 39th. Milwaukee is also on the list, ranking 229th overall. WalletHub says the top overall college city is Austin, Texas.
A couple is engaged after being trapped on the ice on Upper Red Lake. Andy LaBarge proposed to Lydia Thole while they were stuck with many other anglers on breakaway ice Monday. The Hibbing couple has been together for about three years and they like to go ice fishing on Red Lake early in the season each year. All the trapped anglers were rescued safely.
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