One person was injured in a snowmobile accident in River Falls Township on Sunday. According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, 55yr old Jeffrey Klingfus was traveling northbound on a trail near 855th Avenue when he lost control and was ejected from the snowmobile when it overturned. Klingfus was taken to River Falls Area Hospital.
Members of the public will have a chance to meet the four candidates for the Menomonie City Administrator today. The four candidates are Eric Atkinson, the current Menomonie police chief; Steven Lee, a lawyer and partner at a law firm in Hong Kong; Randall Reeg, the city administrator in Mauston,; and Jason Rohloff, a budget analyst for the city of Eau Claire. The meet and greet is today from 5-7 at Menomonie City Hall. The current administrator Lowell Prange will retire on March 31.
A Colfax man is facing numerous drug charges in Eau Claire County. Dalton Clayton was charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession of THC, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Clayton was pulled over on February 13 after the West Central Drug Task Force received a tip that Clayton was in possession of a large amount of meth. When pulled over Clayton was in possession of 1,918 grams of meth, 18 grams of marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia. Clayton's next court date is April 5.
A capital spending plan from Governor Tony Evers includes funding to complete the UW-Eau Claire Science and Health Sciences Building. The proposed $345 million project has been in the works for years and would replace the current Phillips Science Hall. The first phase of funding was included in the 2019-21 state budget. The capital spending plan will ultimately need approval by the Republican-controlled legislature. Evers made the announcement Tuesday.
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit over Eau Claire School's gender policy for kids. A federal judge says the group, Parents Protecting Our Children, doesn't have the standing to sue over the policy. Parents in Eau Claire continue to be angry over the school's policy that hides gender changes at school from parents. Eau Claire Schools argued that none of the parents who sued over the policy had children who were impacted. Lawyers for the parents' group say they will appeal.
There's a warning for Eau Claire school leaders about the city's charter school. The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty is urging Eau Claire's school board not to change the charter, or close the Chippewa Valley Montessori School. WILL sent a letter to the school board yesterday, saying it would be discrimination to close the school because of racial quotas. WILL said Eau Claire's school board president recently said the charter school serves mostly 'white and wealthy' students, while other school leaders say the school doesn't 'align' with the district's 'equity commitment.'
It will be a while before we see the reaction to Wisconsin's new wolf plan. The state's Department of Natural Resources is not saying when it will release the public comments on the new plan. A DNR official said they will 'eventually; come out. The deadline for people to comment on the new plan, which sets new policies for everything from hunting and trapping to the state's wolf population goals, ended last night. A DNR spokesperson says they need time to 'process' what they've received.
Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to make the UW's Merit Scholarships permanent. Lawmakers will hold a hearing today on a plan that will erase the deadline for the scholarships. Currently, Merit Scholarships are set to end next month. The new legislation would simply erase the sunset clause in state law. UW Merit Scholarships are worth five-thousand-dollars and are given to students with excellent grades and test scores.
Minnesota lawmakers are considering a GOP-backed tax relief package. The 13-billion dollar Give It Back plan includes tax changes, a child tax credit, and five billion dollars in one-time rebate checks distributed from the state's surplus. The plan would also reduce the two lowest tax tiers in the state by one percent and adjust the homestead market value exclusion. Republicans face an uphill battle to pass the plan with Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate.
The Wisconsin Counties Association’s Opioid Task Force aims to help counties make the best use of their opioid settlement funds. Task force chair, Winnebago County Executive Jon Doemel says that includes helping individual counties assess their needs. Doemel provided an update during the Counties Association Legislative Conference in Madison on Tuesday.
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Wisconsin Republicans are working on a plan to prevent the number of tuition increases at the University of Wisconsin schools. A bill in the state legislature would only allow the University of Wisconsin to raise in-state tuition with the rate of inflation. The Wisconsin Board of Regents froze tuition for the current school year after the Wisconsin Legislature returned tuition control to the board. Governor Tony Evers says he's in favor of keeping tuition low but he hasn't read the bill.
The price tag for Wisconsin's race for Supreme Court continues to go up. Ad Impact, which tracks ad buying in races across the country, yesterday said a pro-Dan Kelly group bought 180 thousand dollars in ads. That's small compared to the one-point-four-million-dollars in ads that Janet Protasiewicz bought last week. The two candidates, and the groups that support them, spent nine million dollars in the primary. They're expected to spend millions more between now and the April election.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is sending over a million dollars to local business incubators. W E D C C O O Sam Rikkers says those local groups have a much better connection to potential small business owners than state officials. Groups getting that funding include MCDEVCO in central Wisconsin, The UW Madison extension in West Allis, and the Five Lakes Institute in Milwaukee.
For the first time in a decade, the Environmental Protection Agency proposes updates to the standard for soot. Clean Wisconsin Energy Manager Ciaran Gallagher says that’s still far short of what’s needed to protect people’s health. Soot is fine particulates linked to asthma, heart disease and even premature deaths. Gallagher says six Wisconsin counties - Outagamie, Waukesha, Grant, Eau Claire, Milwaukee, and Dane - could see improved health outcomes with a stronger standard. The EPA proposal brings the annual standard down from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to a level between nine and 10. The agency is seeking comment on that as well as alternative standards.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is getting ten-million dollars for renovations. The money will go toward new bathrooms, additional passenger seating, and upgrading concession spaces. The FAA says the funding comes from an infrastructure bill to improve airports across the U.S.
Madison is one of the happiest cities in the country. That's according to WalletHub, which ranks Madison third compared to the 182 largest cities in the U.S. WalletHub says it uses 30 key indicators of happiness to make its rankings including depression rate, income-growth rate, and sports participation rate. Madison ranks second in one individual category, adequate sleep rate. WalletHub says the happiest city in the country is Fremont, California.
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