Two people were injured in a two-vehicle accident in Ettrick Township on Sunday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Department, a pickup was traveling westbound on Hwy C, entered the eastbound lane, and struck a jeep traveling eastbound. Both drivers received non-life threatening injuries and were transported to local hospitals. Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor in the accident. The names of the injured drivers were not released.
The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include an update on the North Eau Claire Street Project, a discussion of a proposal for excavation for the new playground equipment for Mirror Lake Park, and a discussion and possible action on paving considerations for Columbia Avenue. Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 at the Marten Center in Mondovi.
Xcel energy customers who use natural gas to heat their homes may see lower prices this year. Xcel says the price of wholesale gas is currently down 8% compared to last year and if that continues the saving would be passed on to customers. After being at a 15yr high natural gas prices are coming down due to decreased demand and increased supply. Xcel is estimating that bills to heat homes will be anywhere from $126-$140 a month this winter.
They're hiring at Eau Claire's fire department. Chief Robert Haller says they need to replace some firefighters who retired and replace some who just left. Eau Claire's recent tax increase allows the city to hire six firefighters, but a grant from the Department of Homeland Security will allow them to hire six more. In all, the chief says the 12 new hires should keep Eau Claire's fire department at around 96 firefighters. The chief says it'll be better to hire more firefighters, he says the city spent over $700,000 in overtime last year alone.
Deputies in Eau Claire County continue to look for an armed and dangerous man who's been on the run for a couple of days. Authorities began their search for 28-year-old Mitchell Henke Saturday night, but as of last night, he had not yet been found. Eau Claire County called out the SWAT team after they say Henke attacked a woman and her child Saturday night. The Sheriff's Office thought he was holed up in his home, but it turned out he was not. Henke's pictures are online, and the Sheriff's Office says he should be considered armed and dangerous.
A La Crosse woman is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a vehicle accident near Dover on Monday. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, 83yr old Joan Yeatman was eastbound on I-90 near milepost 228, when she lost control of her vehicle and it rolled into the median. She was taken to Mayo Clinic. That accident is still under investigation.
A western Wisconsin deputy is facing domestic battery charges after an incident last week. The Sawyer County Sheriff's Office says Deputy Ryan Schick is looking at domestic battery, false imprisonment, strangulation, and stalking charges. The Polk County Sheriff's Office is handling the investigation because Schick works for Sawyer County. As of yesterday, Schick was in the county jail, no one is saying just when he'll appear before a judge.
Voters across Wisconsin could soon have a better idea as to just how much they will be paying for a new school or a new tax increase. A State Senate panel today will hold a hearing on a plan that would require school districts to include information about the interest costs, and interest rates of any school referendum question. Currently, schools have to tell voters just how much they're asking for, but they don't have to include the price of interest. Republican lawmakers say the idea is to make sure voters know just how much money they're being asked to spend.
Minnesotans are being warned of a new scam targeting those who are no longer eligible for the state's Medicaid program. The Minnesota Department of Commerce and MNsure say scammers are trying to trick consumers into signing up for something that sounds like comprehensive health insurance but really isn't. Some state residents have already become victims by paying money to the scammers after being contacted by phone. State officials say Minnesotans seeking health insurance plans should go online to MNsure-dot-org rather than rely on anyone who calls seeking money and personal information.
Minnesota is unlikely to get as much snow this winter as it did last winter. That's the verdict of the National Weather Service, which has released its forecast for December, January and February. The weather service says the northern half of the state is likely to get less precipitation than normal, while the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota have a better chance to remain near normal levels of rain and snow. The Twin Cities and the northeast portion of the state are also likely to see higher-than-normal temperatures during those months.
The woman accused of admitting to food stamp fraud while on Judge Judy's new TV show is headed for trial in Milwaukee. A judge on Friday said there's enough evidence against 41-year-old Katrina Weems that prosecutors can move ahead with a case. She's being charged with selling her FoodShare benefits, after she admitted doing so on the 'Judy Justice' TV show. Weems and her friend Java'la Elam were on the show as part of another case, when they mentioned that they sold their food stamps. State investigators picked up on the case, and both women are facing felony charges, Elam skipped her court date last month, there's now a felony warrant out for her arrest.
There is another pitch to make marijuana legal in Wisconsin. The top Democrat in the Wisconsin Senate, Melissa Agard, on Friday introduced legislation to legalize cannabis for responsible adult use. Agard has been a big supporter of legal marijuana in Wisconsin for years, but has failed to find support at the state capitol. She says with marijuana legal in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota, it's time for Wisconsin to fall in line. Agard says 69 percent of people in Wisconsin want to see marijuana legal, including a majority of Republicans in the state. Republican lawmakers have suggested they may be open to a medical marijuana program in Wisconsin, but they are not quite ready to fully legalize pot in the state.
Threats to three Southwest Wisconsin high schools are traced back to a Madison man. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office says 19-year-old Jonah Riley was arrested Friday morning in Dane County after allegedly making threats targeting specific people at Cassville, Potosi, and River Ridge high schools. After deputies immediately took steps to ping the suspect’s phone, a statewide alert was sent to locate the suspect, who was identified as Riley. The sheriff’s office says Riley was located in a vehicle and arrested in Dane County, then transported to Iowa County where a Grant County deputy took him into custody. The incident is still under investigation.
A southern Minnesota company is laying off dozens of employees in St. Peter. Alumacraft has told the state Department of Employment and Economic Development that it plans to permanently lay off 68 employees. The company has been making aluminum fishing boats in St. Peter since the early 1970s. The company is still working with state officials to determine when the layoffs will begin.
Employees at a Central Wisconsin business will work remotely this week. That’s the word from Sentry Insurance after a threat against the company was found in one of the bathrooms at its Stevens Point headquarters on Wednesday. Stevens Point Police sent a message to Sentry employees Saturday saying their investigation of the incident won’t be done Monday. With that in mind, the company will continue to have employees work from home, with a small number of them working at the Sentry facilities under increased security. Investigators haven’t yet revealed what the threat was or how it was received.
The University of Minnesota is introducing a new kind of apple to the world. It has a crisp, juicy texture sort of like a Honeycrisp but with tropical overtones. The apple breeding program at U of M has been around for more than a century. This is their 29th variety of apple MN33, and it will be available to consumers under the brand name Kudos in the next few years. The program's most famous apple, the Honeycrisp, was developed in 1960.
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