Monday, December 5, 2022

Local-Regional News Dec 5

 An Eau Claire man is in custody after a pursuit through Chippewa, Dunn, and Eau Claire Counties.  According to authorities, the pursuit began around 11:30 last night when an Eau Claire County Sheriff's Deputy approached 57yr old Eric Paquette in a parking lot in the Town of Union.  Parquette fled and deputies pursued him into Chippewa and Dunn Counties.  Parquette lost control of his vehicle and went into the ditch on 690th avenue in Dunn County when police used a pursuit intervention technique.  He is being charged with fleeing an officer, felony bail jumping, operating after revocation, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violating parole.


Eau Claire's school board may change its mind about dropping Japanese and Hmong language classes. The school board will meet tonight and will discuss the plan to drop the classes. Some people have been upset since the decision was announced last week. Eau Claire's superintendent says the idea was to streamline foreign language offerings. Some in the community worry about the message it sends.


Eau Claire County is seeing a spike in RSV cases. The city/county health department says they've noticed an uptick in RSV and cases of the flu. Both usually peak later in the winter. The health department says 13 people have been hospitalized with the flu so far this season. Public health managers are urging people to get a flu shot and stay at home if they are sick.


Investigators continue to try to determine the cause of the weekend house fire in Tomah. Firefighters say the home suffered major damage because of the fire on Saturday afternoon. No one was hurt, though seven people were inside at the time. Firefighters say it took several hours to put the fire out.


Doctors are telling parents that they don't need to rush out and get their kids tested for RSV.  UW Health's Dr. Gregory DeMuri says most kids can get over a case of RSV at home, with just over-the-counter medication.  He says doctors weren't testing kids for RSV before the coronavirus, and doesn't think most kids need to be tested now.  Doctors and public health officials say they are seeing a spike in RSV cases this year.  Usually, the peak comes after the holidays.


A Mayo Clinic professor is stepping down to become the next president and CEO of Kwik Trip.  Dr. Scott Zietlow will retire from his role as Professor of Surgery in the Trauma, Critical Care and General Surgery Division of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to assume his new responsibilities at Kwik Trip.  Zietlow's father, Donald P. Zietlow, will be retiring at the end of 2022 after 22 years as Kwik Trip’s president and CEO.  As part of the new leadership team, Tom Reinhart has been appointed Chief Operating Officer.  Jeff Wrobel will continue his role as Chief Financial Officer.


On Friday, La Crosse County conducted a required audit of the voting equipment.  According to the La Crosse County Clerk, reporting units were randomly selected by WEC.  The reporting units audited were the Town of Barre, Town of Burns, Village of Rockland, City of Onalaska District 2 – Wards 6-10, and the City of La Crosse Wards 4, 6, and 25. The audit showed no discrepancies or deficiencies with the voting equipment. The results were 100% accurate, according to the La Crosse County Clerk.


Winona County Emergency Response Team (WCERT) arrested one man Friday on a probation violation warrant out of Mower County for drug possession and aggravated robbery with a weapon.  Authorities conducted a search warrant at a home on the 250th block of Siouix Street in Winona on Friday and arrested 24yr old Antoine Davis of Winona.  Authorities seized three firearms, drugs, and cash.  


Waukesha's Christmas Parade was a celebration. Not just a celebration of the season, but a celebration that the community has healed over the past year. Last night's parade saw a big crowd and lots of marchers. The parade comes after a man sped through the parade last year, killing six and injuring 60 others. Just about everyone said it was important to have the parade again this year. The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies and the Xtreme Dance Team, which both lost people in last year's parade massacre, were both back in the parade this year.


Ukrainian soldiers are getting fitted for prosthetics in Minnesota and then going back to war.   FOX 9 reports that a nonprofit founded by a Ukrainian-born local prosthetist has fitting 22 soldiers since May.  Speaking through a translator, one soldier told the news outlet that his main goal is to be helpful in his homeland even though he may not be able to get back on the frontlines. 


Starting next year Lacrosse will be an official high school sport in Wisconsin.  Today the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control unanimously approved sanctioning boys and girls lacrosse starting in the 2023-2024 school year.  The WIAA says it will release more details in the future.


Fired Milwaukee Election Commission deputy director Kimberly Zapata made her initial appearance in Milwaukee County Court on Friday.  Prosecutors charged Zapata in early November with misconduct in public office and three counts of making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot. They say Zapata admitted to making up names and ordering military ballots that were then sent to a state lawmaker's home in hopes of exposing vulnerabilities with the state's online MyVote system. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.  Zapata is due back in court on December 9 for a preliminary hearing.  


A Milwaukee man is facing charges of impersonating a police officer.   Glendale police say that 35-year-old Daniel Nelson drives around a vehicle marked like a police cruiser and shows up to emergency scenes. Fox 6 News reports that Nelson was arrested this week after he was driving with his lights and sirens running on his car. Nelson claims that he is an "emergency minister" and that police are violating his First Amendment rights to administer religious services. The vehicle is unregistered as well, and Nelson does not have a driver's license. He tells Fox 6 he got too many tickets, and that he doesn't need a license because he's a minister. 


Residential customers of We Energies will see increases in their electric bills next year. The Public Service Commission on Thursday agreed to a rate increase of 10.9%. Commissioners adopted a staff recommendation that was lower than the 13% increase sought by We Energies, but higher than the amount sought by consumer advocates. We Energies estimates the increase will add about $11 to the average residential customer's monthly electric bill. The PSC received more than 1,200 public comments following We Energies’ request for the rate hike in October. Most were critical of the proposal to increase residential electric rates while dropping the proposed rate increase by 50% for its largest industrial customers. There will also be a smaller increase in residential natural gas bills. 


Minneapolis is one of the best U.S. for finding love.  That's according to a new WalletHub report that compared over 180 cities across nearly 40 factors, including percentage of single people, online dating opportunities, and the number of nightlife options.  Minneapolis ranked sixth overall.  St. Paul wasn't too far behind at 37th place. 

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