Thursday, August 17, 2023

Local-Regional News August 17

 The City of Durand continues to work on the replacement of the concrete on River Street along the Chippewa River.  The road needed replacement after heaving from a large drain box underneath the street caused damage to the roadway, curb, and sidewalk.  Durand Public Works superintendent Matt Gillis to council members that the drain box was being removed in hopes that the heaving underneath the roadway will end.


The Dunn County Sherrif's Department has released the name of the driver killed in an automobile crash on Hwy 85 near Carryville on Saturday.  The man is identified as 27-year-old Jamison Fedie of Mondovi, Wis.  Fedie's cell phone called authorities after the crash.  The Sheriff’s Department says a preliminary investigation shows the sedan was heading northbound on State Hwy 85 when it left the roadway and went into the ditch. The vehicle then rolled multiple times and Fedie was ejected.


Eau Claire Schools are no longer facing a lawsuit over what children were told about one of their teachers' transitions. The city's school district agreed yesterday to release the statement read to students about the teacher's change from a man to a woman. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty sued after Eau Claire Schools initially refused to turn that statement over. Eau Claire Schools continue to say they are investigating just what was said but have not been able to make much progress on the case because teachers are gone for the summer. 


An Eau Claire man is being held on two million-dollars bond after police say he admitted to beating his wife to death with a bottle of booze. Prosecutors yesterday filed charges against 81-year-old John Berthold. Police say he told them he killed his wife for being a narcissist, and family members say they were getting divorced. Investigators say Berthold tried to kill himself after killing his wife, but his son found him before he could. Prosecutors say Berthold told detectives that he takes full responsibility for killing his wife, and said he'd do it again. 


Foxconn is selling its buildings in Green Bay and Eau Claire as it gives-up on the idea of regional centers across Wisconsin. Economic development managers in Green Bay say the WaterMark building on Pine Street in downtown Green Bay is now up for sale, as is Foxconn's Haymarket Landing space in Eau Claire. Foxconn originally promised a series of regional centers across the state, but that idea quickly fell flat. Foxconn also originally promised 13 thousand jobs at its main facility in Racine County, but that too fell flat. Governor Evers reworked a deal with Foxconn to pay the company to create just 14-hundred jobs. 


The Farming and Industry Short Course is moving to UW-River Falls after over a century at UW-Madison.  Program director Steve Kelm said the hands-on learning experience is vital for Wisconsin’s agriculture industry.  The 2-year course will teach students the business side of agriculture, and the cow-side of farming. They will be working alongside the 120 adult cows for dairy production at Mann Valley Farm, just miles from the university’s campus.    A state bipartisan bill to support the program with more funding is in the works.  Classes begin October 25.


A soil sampling crew accidentally knocked out power to many Chatfield-area residents on Tuesday morning. The crew was working along Interstate 90 near Dover, when one of the workers struck a buried power line. The worker suffered a medical emergency and was taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The incident caused over 700 customers to lose power in Chatfield, and caused an additional 676 customers to lose power in nearby Elmira Township. All power was restored shortly after noon later that day.


A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit preventing a northern Wisconsin tribe from barricading roads on its reservation.  U.S. District Judge William Conley said in his decision that the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has sovereign rights over the roadways and that his court can’t force the tribe to keep the roads open to the public.  The decision continues an ongoing and intense disagreement between the tribe and several non-tribal landowners in the town of Lac du Flambeau.  In January, tribal leaders set up barriers on four reservation roadways they claimed were being used illegally.  A suit brought forward by the landowners led to an agreement in March between the tribe and the town allowing for a 90-day opening of the roads. 

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There is a warning about fake 100-dollar bills in The Dells.  Police yesterday took to Facebook to warn about counterfeit money in the area.  The warning told shops and restaurants to be on the lookout for bills that say 'motion picture' and/or 'replica.'  Counterfeit bills also don't have a watermark.  Dells' Police, however, did not say if anyone was actually using the funny money. 


There is a plan to shrink just how much land the state can hold for roads, sewers, or ditches. State Rep. Dave Murphy has a plan that would shrink Wisconsin's current 100 foot set-back to just 50-feet. Wis-DOT says landowners must have 100 feet of open land next to highways, Murphy says that takes away usable land and value. He says the governor can give people their land back simply by signing his new plan. 


 State media in North Korea says Racine soldier Travis King crossed the border because of racial discrimination in the U.S. Army, and that he wants to stay in the country.  The Korean Central News Agency yesterday said King says he was "disillusioned at the unequal American society."  King ran across the border with North Korea in mid-July, the same day he was to be sent home to possibly face military punishment for a fight in South Korea.  The announcement from the North Korean news agency is the first word on King since he bolted across the border.  His family in Racine has not responded to the North Korean claims. 


Dane County is going to spend 12 million-dollars to add 625 acres to the Sugar River Wildlife Area.  Officials say it is the largest conservation land buy in county history.  The land is largely farmland right now, but it will be restored to woodland and wetlands over time.  The new conservation land is sandwiched between the county's hunting easement and a forest owned by Madison Metropolitan Schools. 


Wisconsin's new drought information hub lets people track just how dry the state is. The Department of Natural Resources yesterday announced a new website that tracks drought conditions and gives people more information about water, wildfires, and conservation efforts. The DNR launched the website after last week's drought report said 82-percent of the state was seeing some sort of drought conditions. This week's report comes out tomorrow.


Wisconsin is seeing its worst outbreak of spongy moth caterpillars in over ten years.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the caterpillars are invasive and can destroy several different species of trees.  The DNR says so far this summer spongy moth caterpillars have caused about 370-thousand acres of deforestation in Wisconsin.  The last time they did that much damage was 2010. 


The Wisconsin State Fair saw more than a million visitors this year.  Fair managers yesterday released the numbers for the 2023 Fair.  The headcount for this year jumped by about 40-thousand people, which is a four-percent increase over last year's numbers.  The Fair saw well over a million people before the coronavirus, and this year's numbers are not quite there.  In addition to the million people, the fair says visitors bought 300-thousand cream puffs and rode the giant slide 100-thousand times. 


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