Three people had to be rescued by the Minnesota Air Rescue team on Sunday in Red Wing. According to authorities, a man, a woman, and their three-year-old child were on He Mni Can-Barn Bluff when they became stuck due to snowy and icy conditions. The team was able to rescue all three safely, and no injuries were reported. The Minnesota Air Rescue Team is a partnership between the Minnesota State Patrol Aviation Division and the St. Paul Fire Department Advanced Technical Rescue Team.
Motorists along Hwy 10 in Durand may have noticed all of the street lights back in use. Earlier this year, the city had turned off a number of the lights to see how it would affect visibility at night. Because the city was able to receive a large rebate on new LED lights, along with the use of some ARPA, all the lights were replaced at a cost similar to replacing only half of the standard lights.
Two police officers are dead after a shootout in Barron County. A news release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice says there was an exchange of gunfire in Cameron Saturday afternoon after an officer from the Chetek Police Department conducted a traffic stop with a Cameron police officer. Both officers were shot and pronounced dead at the scene. A third person involved in the incident was also shot and died later at the hospital. Authorities have not released any further details.
Wisconsin gas prices are back on the rise. Triple-A says the statewide average is up 13 cents in the last week to three dollars and 47 cents a gallon. The average here in Western Wisconsin is 3.44 a gallon, up 13 cents from last week. OPEC recently announced it's cutting oil production by a million barrels a day, and Triple-A says that's leading to higher prices at the pump.
The Winona Police Department has announced the end of the organized search for missing woman Madeline Kingsbury. Due to the large turnout for searches, police said they were able to cover more ground in a shorter amount of time. Around 19 hundred people searched for Kingsbury Friday and 700 searched Saturday. Police added that neither the search for Kingsbury nor the investigation into her disappearance is ending. As investigators develop new leads, teams of law enforcement will begin targeted searches. Kingsbury was last seen a week ago on March 31st after dropping her kids off at daycare with her partner.
Wisconsin's budget road-show is on the move again this week. The legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance Committee will be in Eau Claire and the Wisconsin Dells for hearings this week. The idea is to allow the public to present lawmakers with their budget priorities. At the first hearing last week, local leaders turned out in droves to ask for more state money. After this week, there will be one final budget hearing at the end of the month. Then lawmakers will begin to write Wisconsin's new spending plan.
More than three thousand people have weighed in on Wisconsin's proposed wolf management plan. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources released public comments on the plan late Friday. Many of the people who commented are against the plan. DNR wants to change the state's strategy for wolves, in particular, the agency wants to get away from a wolf population number. Environmentalists are happy to see the changes, they want to have fewer 'human-wolf interactions' in the future.
Governor Evers is closing-in on one thousand pardons. The governor on Friday issued 159 more pardons, bringing the total for his time in office to 933. Most of the people on the most recent pardon list had decades-old convictions for drugs or other non-violent crimes. The governor says they all paid the price for their crimes, and have gone on to make a difference in their community. The governor says they all deserve a 'new start.'
Wisconsin lawmakers could get an up-or-down vote on whether to spend taxpayer dollars on American Family Field. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Friday said the proposal to spend 300 million dollars on the ballpark will likely be separate from the new state budget. A stand-alone piece of legislation would allow lawmakers to vote on the America Family Field funding without having to vote for or against another plan. Vos is not saying why the ballpark deal is being looked at on its own, though there is some opposition to the plan at the Capitol.
You've got a little extra time to file your taxes this year. IRS spokesman Christopher Miller says this year's deadline is not the traditional date of April 15. Because the 15th falls on a weekend and that's followed by a holiday in DC, this year's deadline is the 18th. If you still need to file, Miller says using e-filing services will get your taxes done quicker and more reliably. You can find free options online at IRS dot Gov.
A new area code is coming to more than a dozen Wisconsin counties. The state Public Service Commission announced on Friday that some new phone numbers in the 920 area code could be assigned to the new 274 area code. The affected areas cover much of northeast Wisconsin but extend as far south as Beaver Dam, Fort Atkinson, and Watertown. People who have 920 area code numbers won't see any change. The new area code will go into effect on May 5th.
Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. Senator says one of the main reasons he ran for reelection in 2022 was to advocate for vaccine injuries. On Fox Business Thursday, Senator Ron Johnson such injuries are real and serious, and he hopes to "expose the truth." Johnson - who has previously claimed that COVID vaccines resulted in thousands of deaths - made his comments Thursday to Fox Business. Johnson defeated Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes in the 2022 midterms.
We’ll know soon whether U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin will run for a third term. The Wisconsin Democrat said on Thursday that this week’s state Supreme Court win by liberal Judge Janet Protasiewicz shows Democrats have a lot of momentum. She said she'll "be having an announcement coming up." Several Republicans have been mentioned as potential challengers to Baldwin in 2024.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is asking for more money in the state budget, for school safety. He said Thursday that he's asked for full funding for DOJ's Office of School Safety -- about $2.2 million over a two-year budget period. The AG said that would help sustain the "Speak Up, Speak Out" program once federal funding runs out at year’s end. Wauwatosa Schools Chief of Pupil and Family Supports Luke Pinion says that’s proven effective, with tips ranging from bullying to alcohol tobacco, and other drug use, to self-harm, to fighting.
The Hennepin County Attorney says Governor Tim Walz is setting "a very dangerous precedent" after he appointed the Minnesota Attorney General to take over a high-profile murder case. Walz appointed Keith Ellison to take over the case against two minors accused of murder after Mary Moriarty's office offered them a plea deal for time at a juvenile facility. Speaking at the courthouse this morning, Moriarty said Walz and Ellison "don't really believe fully in democracy" because they're stopping her from doing the job voters elected her to do.
Milwaukee hosts a burrito-eating competition. Major League Eating’s first-ever World Burrito Eating Championship took place Thursday in the city’s downtown Deer District, with eight competitors gorging on as many one-pound Qdoba burritos as they can in 10 minutes. The winner of the competition was 15-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut, who put away 14-and-a-half burritos total. Chestnut has competed in Wisconsin before, taking third place in a cheese curd eating contest at the State Fair in 2018.
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