The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on approving the transfer of the O.R. Hanson Park Property to the Durand-Arkansaw School District, reports from the Mayor, City Administrator, and Department Heads, and updates on the Tarrant Park Pool Project. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall and will be live-streamed on our YouTube Channel.
The Durand Police Department and Pepin County Sheriff's Department announced William L. Hartung, 67, was released from prison yesterday. In 2002, he was convicted in Pepin County of second-degree sexual assault/use of force. Hartung is currently homeless, is on the sex offender registry, and is required to wear a GPS location monitoring device.
There were once again questions about whether the teenage suspect in the murder of Lily Peters can be helped behind bars. A judge in Chippewa County yesterday again listened to the suspect's lawyer try to make the case to move the trial to juvenile court. Yesterday's expert testified that the suspect had mild autism, and might not fully understand what he did. The now 15-year-old is accused of beating, strangling, killing, then raping 10-year-old Lily Peters in April of last year. The hearing continues today.
Prosecutors will charge the two suspects in the murder of an Altoona man separately. Court records show 47-year-old Brandon Gaston and 57-year-old Tracey Clark will not be tried together for last year's murder of 79-year-old Dennis Schattie. Investigators believe he was killed in Eau Claire, but his body was later found in the river near Rockford, Illinois in April of 2022. There is no word when the two will actually go on trial. There's a hearing in Gaston's case at the end of this month. A hearing in Clark's case is scheduled in October.
The Wisconsin State Patrol has begun cracking down on traffic violations this week. The patrol will be conducting aerial surveillance and enforcement this Saturday and Sunday over I-94 in Eau Claire County. The State Patrol’s goal is to enhance public safety. The agency explained with aerial surveillance, it is easier to spot drivers violating the law. When spotted from the air, it is communicated to the ground patrol to begin pursuing a stop.
A new law will allow school board members in Wisconsin to drive school buses. Governor Evers signed the law last week. It eliminates a part of Wisconsin's school board law that stopped school board members from holding second jobs with the school district. School board members can now volunteer to drive a bus, they cannot be paid. About half of Wisconsin's school districts say they are in need of bus drivers, though it's not clear just how many school board members will now take advantage of the new law.
Wisconsin's attorney general is turning down another PFAS settlement. A-G Josh Kaul yesterday joined four other attorneys general in rejecting the one billion-dollar PFS settlement from DuPont. Kaul said the company's one-point-18-billion-dollar offer isn't enough. Kaul's rejection of DuPont's offer comes about two weeks after he rejected a ten-billion-dollar settlement offer from 3M. Kaul said that offer too was too little for the millions of people in Wisconsin, and other states who now have to worry about their water because of PFAS contamination.
Governor Evers wants lawmakers to spend a billion dollars on his new workforce plans, but the Republicans in charge at the Wisconsin Capitol say it's just a stunt. The governor yesterday ordered lawmakers back to the Capitol to vote on his plan, including a 365-million dollar boost for childcare workers. The governor says he's giving lawmakers a 'second chance' to fix the state budget. But the top Republican in the state Assembly, Speaker Robin Vos, said the governor is the one who missed the mark on the new budget when he vetoed a tax cut for most people in Wisconsin. Vos called the governor's special session a 'stunt,' and promised that Republicans would not go along.
A southern Minnesota city is asking residents and businesses to boil water. Eagle Lake city officials say a power outage combined with the city's water tower being offline for maintenance caused the water system to drop in pressure. Officials say there could be groundwater intrusion and contamination in the city water lines. The city has issued a boil water advisory until the water system regains pressure.
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A building on a one-time UW Center campus will be repurposed. Richland County has sold a building at the former University of Wisconsin-Platteville Richland to the Richland School District. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the building formerly known as East Hall on the campus will be converted to become a charter school for the district. In June, the district agreed to buy the building for $150,000. UW System President Jay Rothman announced classes for the school would be discontinued July 1st after enrollment at the school fell to just 60 students. The buildings and property on the campus are now owned by Richland County.
One of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators talked about a growing problem in the state’s rural communities. Senator Tammy Baldwin visited The Harbor Recovery Center in Portage Monday to discuss the increasing number of deaths from opioid overdoses outside of Wisconsin’s urban areas. Baldwin told those assembled at the center the statewide problem of opioid addiction is one she can relate to personally. Wisconsin Department of Health Services data shows 84 opioid overdose deaths in Columbia County alone between 2014 and 2021, with more than half of them involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The Green Bay Packers celebrate the beginning of their 2023 home season a day early. The team announced their “Kickoff Weekend” will include a free concert outside of Lambeau Field the Saturday evening before their September 24th home opener against the New Orleans Saints. The concert in the stadium’s northwest side parking lot will feature the popular ‘90’s rock acts Stone Temple Pilots and Collective Soul and will begin at 5PM. First-come first-serve parking will also be free in the west-side stadium parking lots. The Packers and Saints will kick off the following Sunday at noon.
The golden anniversary of a Wisconsin business will benefit two UW schools. The Japanese food company Kikkoman announced Monday they have donated $2 million to the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences for the construction of its research vessel named Maggi Sue. The school’s chancellor, Mark Mone says the state-of-the-art vessel will provide information for safeguarding the Great Lakes. The Kikkoman Foods Foundation also donated $3 million to UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural & Life Sciences. Kikkoman made the donations in honor of the 50th anniversary of the opening of their plant in Walworth, which a UW-Milwaukee release says is the highest-producing soy sauce facility in the world.
State Capitol Police warn a man over possible stalking behavior towards an elections official. The Journal Sentinel reports that Peter Bernegger of New London was served with a warning letter last month. The July 7 letter from Capitol Police Chief David Erwin notified Bernegger that his behavior toward Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe and commission staff "could be interpreted as 'stalking' under state law.” Bernegger is an election denier who has sought to compel Wolfe to testify in a lawsuit he filed against the commission. Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a motion to protect Wolfe from having to testify, in part because of Bernegger's behavior.
A Milwaukee man who tried to escape from police through a hospital’s bathroom ceiling has been charged. A criminal complaint says on Friday, Milwaukee Police were transporting a prisoner identified as Josiah Taylor, who was diverted to Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital after Taylor complained of stomach and chest pain. Once at the hospital, police uncuffed Taylor after granting his request to go to the bathroom. After ten minutes in the bathroom, officers checking on Taylor found damage to the bathroom’s ceiling, drywall and sink estimated at $2500 caused by what officers believe was an attempted escape.
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