One person is dead and two children are injured after a 4 vehicle accident in Oak Grove Township on Monday. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 49yr old Douglas Whaley of Hager City was assisting in removing a vehicle in the ditch of Hwy 35 driven by 24yr old Brianna Cox of Prescott, when a northbound Box Truck driven by 44yr old Alim Abdullah of Dallas TX struck Whaleys vehicle. The box truck then struck a vehicle driven by 24yr old Maunee Rasmusson-Waltman of Prescott. Whaley was transported to Regions Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. A 13yr old passenger of Whaleys truck was taken to Regions hospital, while a 3yr old passenger of Cox's vehicle was taken to Regina Hospital. Road conditions were icy at the time of the accident.
The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on the Pepin County Hazardous Materials Mitigation Plan, purchasing a front-end loader that was part of the 2022 budget, and reports from the mayor and department heads. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall.
There are more people living on the streets in Eau Claire. The Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council released the results of its homeless count last night. The WDEOC says there are 30 homeless people in Eau Claire. That's up from 26 last January and just seven homeless people in January of 2021. No one is saying why there are so many more homeless people now than two years ago. Advocates say the count shows the need for more homeless resources.
The missing Tomah woman who was found dead last month froze to death. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office yesterday said Felicia Wanna died of hypothermia. She went missing just before New Year's, she was last seen at the Walmart in Tomah. Deputies found her body about a half-mile from that store nearly three weeks later.
The City of Durand and other local governments would get more money from the state under a new proposal. The governor's latest budget proposal would send a half-billion dollars to local governments, and let them raise taxes too. Governor Evers yesterday said he wants to increase so-called shared revenue to 20 percent of Wisconsin's sales taxes. That'd be about 575 million dollars in the new budget. The governor also wants lawmakers to allow counties to raise their local sales taxes. Milwaukee County would be able to add a full percent to its current half-a-percent sales tax. Other counties in Wisconsin could go as high as one percent. Republican lawmakers have been open to the idea of more money for local governments, but they didn't say anything about the governor's latest proposal.
The Republicans who control the state legislature want to know why it's taking so long for some people to get a professional license in Wisconsin. The Legislature's Joint Audit Committee yesterday ordered an audit of the Department of Safety and Professional Services. DSPS has been facing questions for months about the months-long backlog for some people to get the license they need to work in the state. Senator Eric Wimberger says lawmakers have asked for answers and gotten nothing in return. He says an audit should find what lawmakers are looking for.
100 people were set to speak Tuesday night during an online listening session on changes to the state's wolf management plans. The Department of Natural Resources is planning to expand buffer areas around tribal reservations to prevent inadvertent hunting on lands where wolf hunts are already banned, and would also be moving to an adaptive management plan for the wolf population, much like the one that's currently in use for deer management. Opponents of the plan say that stricter control needs to be kept on the wolf populations and that the DNR is allowing wolves to move farther south into more populated areas. Wolves are currently federally protected and cannot be hunted.
The state of Minnesota is making a bold step toward cutting carbon emissions. Governor Walz signed a bill yesterday that will require utilities in the state to transition to carbon-free electricity by 2040. The bill aims to move utilities toward wind and solar power sources but allows them to use hydropower, biomass, hydrogen, and existing nuclear plants to reach carbon-free goals. Minnesota's previous standard was set in 2007 and had the goal of reducing overall carbon emissions to at least 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.
A Memorial grad can now add a Grammy to his resume. Jazz pianist, Geoffrey Keezer won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Sunday night. Keezer graduated from Memorial High School, and his father is a former professor at UW-Eau Claire. Keezer won his Grammy for the song "Refuge" which is off his latest album "Playdate."
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources closes an investigation into a deadly 2019 boat collision on the Mississippi River. The announcement Monday recounts the collision between a jon boat and a bass boat near La Crosse in August of 2019. After interviewing both boat operators following the crash, the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office said the jon boat driven by 41-year-old Scott Halvorson of La Crosse cut in front of the bass boat operated by 56-year-old Keith Matush of Dane. However, a gathering of further evidence and a crash reconstruction by the DNR determine’s that Matush’s boat was overtaking Halvorson’s jon boat and should have yielded. The new details about the crash began to surface after Halvorson died two days later from injuries suffered in the crash.
Some travel impacts are possible later this week as more winter weather takes aim for Wisconsin. The National Weather Service says a rain/snow mix will hit the southern half of Wisconsin overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Come Thursday central Wisconsin could see accumulating snow, while southern Wisconsin will likely just get rain. Another chance for snow showers will come Friday.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is raising internet safety awareness for Safer Internet Day 2023. The DOJ says its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is getting more and more cyber tips, an increase of 740 percent over the last ten years. The task force also arrested over 300 people last year. For Safer Internet Day 2023 the task force has internet safety tips online on the Wisconsin Department of Justice website.
The state is seeing its first cases of toxic shock syndrome in over a decade. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it's seen four cases since last July. Wisconsin hasn't had any reported cases since 2011. Toxic shock syndrome is described as a rare bacterial infection that can be caused by skin wounds, surgery, and the use of feminine products. Symptoms include sudden fever, rash, vomiting, confusion, seizures, and headaches, among others. Toxic shock syndrome can also be life-threatening.
An investor group wants to create a new neighborhood centered on low-cost housing, farming, racial justice, and wealth building. It's a first for Madison and maybe the country. The plan is being proposed for an area of mostly wetlands and open agricultural land on the Far East Side. An anonymous group of investors, Bt Farms LLC, has engaged a team with local, national, and international experience to help forward the "agri-hood" proposal, which will be shaped through input from the community and those who hope to live there. The group has already spent four-point-nine million dollars to buy three parcels totaling two-hundred-22 acres off East Buckeye Road, east of Interstate 39-90.
An Eagle Lake woman faces multiple charges after police say she assaulted her boyfriend with a whole chicken. Officers noted the victim had "chicken residue" in his hair. She also has pending assault charges against the victim dating back to December 2021.
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