Thursday, December 8, 2022

Local-Regional News Dec 8

 The Dollar General in Mondovi was forced to shutdown for several days after failing to comply with the fire code.  According to Mondovi fire officials, tThe store didnt have proper access for customers or firefighters  to leave the building in case of fire.   The store was given a month to become compliant with code after the alarm was raised by concerned citizens this fall.  The store then failed inspection on December 2 and was shutdown until this past Sunday once  it became  compliant again.   the city will continue to monitor the store for code compliance.


The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be making stops across Wisconsin this week. CP Rail spokesman Andy Cummings says the train is on a mission to raise money for local food banks with holiday music concerts at each stop.  The Train will be making stops in La Crosse on Saturday, and in Wabasha Sunday at 5:30pm, and in Hastings at 8pm.


Chippewa Falls is looking to charge more for parking tickets. The city's police chief wants to raise the fines in Chippewa Falls to match those in Eau Claire Altoona and Rice Lake. The biggest increase would be for parking in a handicapped space. That's currently a 50-dollar fine, the chief wants to raise that to 150 dollars. A parking ticket in a two-hour zone is currently six dollars, the city wants to take that to nine dollars.


No one is reported to be hurt after the La Crosse Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a hotel in La Crosse Wednesday.  According to the La Crosse Fire Department, firefighters responded to America's Best Value Inn on Rose Street early Wednesday morning after receiving a report of a fire in the entryway of the hotel.  Upon arrival, crews found heavy smoke coming from the front of the building near the entryway. Crews then began to attack the fire. The hotel was partially evacuated. All guests and staff were safe and not reported to be hurt.  The fire damage was limited to the area of origin on the exterior of the building. Smoke was cleared from the building and the hotel remains open for business with no occupants or staff displaced.


A new state survey shows half of Wisconsin school kids say they're anxious, and a third say they're depressed. The state's Department of Public Instruction released the results yesterday. They show that about 52 percent of students self-reported 'significant problems with anxiety.' The survey also says about 34 percent of students reported feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for more than two weeks in a row. That's up five percent from the last time the survey asked kids about their feelings before the coronavirus. DPI says the numbers for LGBTQ students are even higher.


It'll either be a little bit of snow or a lot of snow for southern Wisconsin, forecasters aren't sure yet. The National Weather Service is tracking a storm that will arrive Friday. If it tracks north, there will be a lot of snow. If the center of the system tracks to the south, then southern Wisconsin will have less snow. There is quite a bit of difference. The some-snow track could mean two-and-a-half inches of snow for the Madison area. The lots-of-snow track could mean as much as six inches of snow.


The FBI is now involved in tracking down a suspect in a series of Culver's drive-thru robberies in southern Wisconsin.  The suspect's spree began in September, with a series of hold-ups and attempted hold-ups at Culver's drive-thru's locations in Janesville, Beloit,  Lake Mills and Mequon. The suspect drives a reddish Jeep Wrangler and he's not just partial to Culver's. Police in Janesville say this same guy is the suspect in an armed robbery at a Best Buy earlier this week. In this heist, he pulled a gun while in the prior hold-ups he implies he has a weapon. 


The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is reminding Wisconsinites to recycle this holiday season.  The DNR recommends being conscientious about what's going in recycling and what's going in the trash.  The DNR also recommends recycling your wrapping paper at Christmas.


Federal investigators have some questions for the clerks in Milwaukee and Madison. The Justice Department subpoenaed Milwaukee and Dane counties' clerks about two weeks ago as part of the new investigation into former President Trump's behavior after he lost the 2020 election. The Justice Department wants copies of any emails or calls from the Trump campaign, Trump himself, or a handful of Trump-connected lawyers and political players here in Wisconsin. The Justice Department sent similar subpoenas to election managers in Arizona and Michigan as well.


There are charges for three people in a manure-spreading conspiracy in Kewaunee County. State prosecutors say the three under-reported the amount of manure spread on their fields. A-G Josh Kaul says that led to a flood of E. Coli washing into Lake Michigan, Kaul says the manure even closed a lake beach. Prosecutors say the farm under-reported about two million-gallons of manure. The three are all due in Kewaunee County court in January.


A town clerk in Marathon County has received a withheld sentence for altering a poll book during the 2020 presidential election. Mary Beth Gebert will pay a one thousand dollar fine and has been ordered to have no further involvement in the administration or polling of any further election after she entered a guilty plea to one count of destroying a poll list. Investigators found that Gebert had faked a signature for a voter who didn't cast a ballot in the town of Bergen during that election to balance the books. Investigators would later discover that woman had actually cast a ballot at her current address and under her married name, leading them to believe she had voted twice.  Gebert admitted the incident to investigators, calling it an error in judgment. She is still listed as the town clerk in Bergen.


Water rates in the city of Wausau are poised to become among the highest in the state. Water Works Commissioner Jim Force says a proposed increase of over 60 percent will be a burden on low-income households.   The water works commission will propose that 65 percent increase and a five percent hike in sewer rates to cover operational costs, including the instillation of a new granular activated carbon filtration system for PFA


A big electric truck order for one of the nation’s largest freight haulers.  Green Bay-based Schneider National is ordering 92 Freightliner e-Cascadia trucks from Daimler Truck North America. The company says that will make them the operator of one of the largest electric truck fleets in North America. The battery-electric vehicles are being manufactured in Portland, Oregon. Schneider says electric trucks are crucial in meeting its future sustainability goals.


Minneapolis is one of the most generous cities in the country.  That's according to GoFundMe's end-of-the-year report, which ranks Minneapolis tenth in the nation for fundraising this year.  The crowdfunding platform found the top three most-charitable cities were Marietta, Georgia, Spring, Texas, and Silver Spring, Maryland.

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