Friday, May 26, 2023

Local-Regional News May 26

 There will be plenty of kids for swimming lessons this summer at the Tarrant Park Pool.  Durand Public Works Superintendent Matt Gills says there were 180 kids signed up for the first round of lessons in June.  Lessons begin on June 12 and Gillis says another sign-up for the second round of swimming lessons will begin in mid June.  The Tarrant Park pool will open on June 1st with open swim, and the morning swim will begin on June 5th. 


The American Legion Post 181 will be holding Memorial Day Services on Monday at 10 and 10:30am.  Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says there will be two services on Memorial Day.  If you can't attend on Monday, your asked to take a moment to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country at 3pm on Monday.


UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse are among the few UW campuses that won't be losing money by the end of next year according to a new report. UW President Jay Rothman yesterday said a new report shows every campus but Madison, Stout, and La Crosse will be in the red next year. Rothman continues to push lawmakers for more money for the UW System. Regents already raised tuition, and now Rothman wants an eight-percent increase in the next state budget. Rothman didn't rule out closing some campuses if things don't turn around.


Police in Chippewa Falls say they knew something was wrong the minute Abraham Sanchez-Galicia walked into the police station last Saturday. Prosecutors yesterday filed attempted homicide charges against him after he walked into the police station covered in blood. Chippewa Falls Police say it took a minute to figure out what was going on because of the language barrier, but eventually realized Sanchez-Galicia had been in a fight. That's when they went to a nearby home and found a man lying in a pool of blood. The man says Sanchez-Galicia attacked him, but Sanchez-Galicia says he was the one who was attacked. A judge ordered Sanchez-Galicia held on 50 thousand-dollars bond.


Eau Claire's newest meter maid is automated. The city's police department says it is using its license plate readers to issue parking tickets. Parking Administrator Todd Bohrer says they are using the readers to make sure everyone pays at city parking garages and parking lots. If you don't pay within 10 minutes, the parking lot readers ping the police, and they come and can write you a ticket. Bohrer says the idea is to use technology to replace the old stop arms, and to make sure everyone pays what they should when they park in Eau Claire.


There's a push from a Republican lawmaker to increase the amount of money Wisconsin pays for each kid in public school. Waukesha state Rep. Scott Allen yesterday introduced a plan that would add 300 dollars in each year of the new, two-year state budget to Wisconsin's per-pupil revenue limit. The state currently sets the base revenue limit for public schools at 10 thousand-dollars per-child. Local schools can then spend more local money on kids, but not every school spends the same amount. Allen says boosting the state minimum will help schools across the state get to a more equal level going forward.


Wisconsin's PFAS grant program is taking its next step at the Capitol. The plan, which would send money to local governments for PFAS testing and treatment costs, was assigned to a statehouse committee yesterday. Green Bay state Senator Eric Wimberger says communities across the state have been waiting for years for help with their local water supplies. This grant program is in addition to the 125-million-dollar grant program for future PFAS work that is being added to the new state budget.


Minnesota Governor Walz has vetoed a bill that would have required pay increases and offered legal protections for rideshare drivers in the state.  The governor says he supports fair wages and safe working conditions but he argues this bill was not the right solution.  He also signed an executive order to set up a commission made up of drivers, riders, and rideshare companies.  The commission is charged with studying the issue and providing recommendations for another rideshare bill in the next legislative session.  Only hours earlier, Uber had threatened to stop serving outside the metro Twin Cities area if Walz signed the bill.


Triple-A says Wisconsin will see more travelers this Memorial Day weekend than in the past three years. Triple-A expects about 800 thousand people to head out in the state over the long holiday weekend. That'd be the most since 830 thousand people hit the roads in Wisconsin over Memorial Day before the coronavirus outbreak back in 2019. Ninety percent of those people are expected to drive. Nationally, Triple-A expects just over 42 million people to make a trip between Friday and Monday. Today is expected to be the busiest day for travel of the long holiday weekend.


The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has some tips for keeping black bears away.  The DNR recommends keeping food cleaned up including grills, bird feeders, and trash.  The DNR says a lot of times when bears find food they'll return to that location.


An 18-year-old Waukesha man is charged after prosecutors say he was armed with a rifle a block from Waukesha North High School last month. Asahel Ali, who was 17 at the time, is charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and other counts from the April 14 incident. Ali was found in the backyard of his home near the school armed with a rifle. He surrendered without incident and the gun and a 30-round magazine were recovered. The criminal complaint states a bullet hole was found in the living room of Ali's home, and he had the spent casing in his pocket.


A gut punch for Milwaukee’s economy. Master Lock will close its plant in the city by March of next year. A Master Lock statement says the company will transition work from Milwaukee to other North American and global locations. The closure will impact some 300 workers. Mayor Cavalier Johnson called that “a slap in the face” to those employees. Master Lock has operated in the city since 1921.


 Dane County judge has set a trial date for the lawsuit against a group of false electors for the 2020 presidential election just ahead of the 2024 election.  Judge Frank Remington will hear arguments in the case in September of next year. Two of Wisconsin's Democrat electors sued a group of 10 Republicans who falsely cast electoral college ballots for Donald Trump in 2020 after the race had been called for Joe Biden at both the circuit courts and the state Supreme Court. The Republican plan was to have those votes in place if Trump was later declared the winner. Current Wisconsin Elections Commission member Bob Spindell is one of the electors who cast ballots for Trump.


A woman has died following a fire in Reedsburg.   The fire broke out before 4 a.m. on Tuesday at a home on West 2nd Street in Reedsburg. Firefighters had to smash out a window to reach a woman trapped on the 2nd floor of the home.  She was taken to the hospital but died of her injuries. The fire is not considered suspicious, but the cause remains under investigation.


The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' camera that captures the lives of a family of peregrine falcons has revealed two additions to the family. Two of the four eggs that were laid this year have hatched.  The live-camera feed of the nest originates from the video camera that has been mounted on the 26th floor of the Town Square Tower in downtown St. Paul for more than a decade.  A DNR official sys the eggs hatched Friday and the chicks will grow fairly quickly.  They're expected to take flight and leave the nest within 35 to 45 days. 

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