A truck driver is hurt after colliding with a train in Dunn County. According to Elk Mound Police, a 27yr old Colfax man was traveling eastbound on Hwy 12 hauling corn when he turned left onto 970th street and stopped less than 15ft from the railroad crossing and was struck by a westbound Union Pacific train. The truck overturned and spilled the corn. There was no derailment or other issues with the train and UPRR staff were able to remove the train from the scene. UPRR staff are fully cooperating with the Elk Mound Police investigation. 970th Street was closed for several hours during the initial investigation and cleanup.
The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on issuing a notice to award the project bid for the Tarrant Park Pool, along with reports from the Mayor and Department Heads. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall and will be live streamed on the Video Streaming Page of our Website.
The Wabasha City Council will approve its final budget on December 19th, 2023. The 2024 $3,961,705 budget and reflects an 6.0% levy increase and is expected to maintain current services from the city. The budget has an overall 15.7% operating costs increase but the impact on taxpayers remained lower due to an overall 16% increase in revenues like additional local aid from the State, and increases in fees like ambulance revenues. Wages saw the highest increase in the budget. Employees received a 3% general wage increase and qualifying non-union employees received a 2% step increase.
Youth in grades 5K-12 are invited to participate in the fourth annual Art-U art education program. Grades 5K-6 will attend virtual sessions, while Grades 7 and up are invited to participate on the UW-Stout Campus. This program is put on in cooperation with Dunn, Eau Claire, and Chippewa County 4-H, UW-Stout art education students, and Arts Integration Menomonie (AIM). Everyone is welcome to attend. Youth do not need to be in 4-H to participate.The program is offered on Monday nights for five weeks starting on January 29th. There will be an in-person art show on March 4th. The cost is $5 for 4-H members and $10 for any other youth. Registration Deadline is January 3rd. Visit the Dunn County 4-H Website for more information.
One of the lawsuits surrounding a 2019 officer-involved shooting that left an Eau Claire County man dead has been dismissed. A federal judge yesterday tossed the excessive force lawsuit connected to Tyler Meier's death. Police say he attacked an Augusta police officer, and the officer shot and killed him in self-defense. Meier's family claimed excessive force. Meier's family continues to move ahead with a wrongful death suit in Eau Claire County court.
The legal battle between Eau Claire and the Town of Washington is over, and it clears the way for new homes to be built in the Orchard Hills area. The city council last night voted to drop its lawsuits against both the town and the DNR. The agreement to end the lawsuits comes with a new directive for developers who want to build houses in the Orchard Hills area. Developers must build homes and will pay the town of Washington 300 thousand-dollars over the next three years for road development. There's no word when we could see some development begin.
Eau Claire County is ready to move forward with its jail renovation project. The county approved three million-dollars for the jail project earlier this year, and now the county is ready to get started. County Board Chair Nancy Coffey says the plan is to remove two of the jail's three group cells and replace them with 12 individual cells. The work is ready, but Coffey says the county needs to figure out which account it will use to pay for the work. Originally the plan was to borrow the money, but Eau Claire County has some leftover coronavirus stimulus cash, and Coffey is considering using that.
Property taxes will be higher this year, despite local governments having a lot more money. That's according to a new a report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, that says property taxes are expected to jump about 4-point-7 percent across the state. It also says that will be 'cushioned' by two state tax credits. The new state budget added just over 250 million to the school tax levy credit and boosted the lottery tax credit by 16 million. Those two tax credits mean the nearly five percent property tax increase most people will see on their new bills will be closer to two or three percent.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is fining Bloomington-based Holiday Stationstores and parent company Circle K. They will have to pay 200-thousand-dollars after being found guilty of failing to address equipment issues at five locations between 2019 and 2022. That includes stores in Northfield, Owatonna, Pine City, Rochester, and Walker. They will also have to spend millions of dollars to upgrade the equipment.
Lawmakers in Madison will talk about keeping girls' sports for biological girls only today. A Senate panel will hold hearings on two plans, one to ban trans athletes from college sports, and another to ban them from high school sports in the state. Supporters say the idea is to make sure that biological girls continue to have opportunities to play sports and to protect them from injuries or harm. LGBTQ advocates say the plans are based on hate. They say Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin continue to push an anti-LGBTQ agenda.
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Wisconsin's secretary of state is calling for a Republican elections commissioner to be fired after he settled the lawsuit over Wisconsin's 2020 Trump electors. Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski yesterday asked the Wisconsin Senate to remove Republican commissioner Bob Spindell. He is one of ten Republicans who last week settled a lawsuit over the role as alternative electors in 2020. Spindell and the others admitted their strategy of signing up as Trump electors was used to try and challenge the 2020 election, but the Republicans themselves didn't admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement. Godlewski said that voters cannot trust Spindell to manage elections in the state. Spindell has said he has no plans to step down.
State leaders are reminding Minnesotans about available aid to help them cope with winter energy bills. Governor Walz joined Department of Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold yesterday to talk about the programs that work to help renters and homeowners during cold weather. Arnold said the state's Energy Assistance Program works with low-income Minnesotans, helping pay energy bills and replace broken furnaces. The state's weatherization program helps pay for upgrades that make homes more energy efficient. Information on both programs is available on the Minnesota Department of Commerce website.
A lawsuit filed by Rhinelander against 3M and the Rhinelander Paper Mill over PFAS contamination will stay in Wisconsin. WJFW reports a federal judicial panel decided that it was not necessary to move that case out of state to South Carolina. Attorneys for 3M argued the case matched other cases they were handling regarding PFAS. The cases in South Carolina are dealing with firefighting foam contamination, while the case in Rhinelander comes from improper handling of paper mill waste. Lawyers for the city tell WJFW the ruling means the case can get underway sooner.
A Northwoods lawmaker is criticizing the Lac du Flambeau tribe over its handling of private roads on tribal lands. WXPR in Rhinelander reports that Tomahawk Republican Mary Felzkowski told the tribe that "Good actors don’t give their neighbors 24 hours’ notice that they are barricading them in their homes." Felzkowski made that statement in reply to a complaint from the Tribe over denial of their share of the state's revenue from Tribal gaming. The Lac du Flambeau tribe and the town of Lac du Flambeau have been in a year-long dispute over those roads, which the tribe briefly blocked off last winter. The Tribe is demanding 10 million dollars in payments to keep the roads open to cover past trespassing on its land.
Several Minnesota lawmakers are demanding answers from the U.S. Postal Service after complaints about delivery delays and staffing shortages. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Congresswoman Angie Craig have all asked the Postmaster General to explain what's causing the complaints and what he plans to do about it. Craig says four post offices in the Twin Cities area are now being audited by the postal service after receiving complaints. Senator Smith says she's also heard complaints from parts of northern Minnesota, where postal service workers have allegedly been told to emphasize Amazon packages over regular mail. Smith says she's also directed questions to the postal service but has received unsatisfactory answers.
A water rescue team saved a dog that fell into Lake Superior Monday, and was struggling to swim in the extremely cold water and eight-foot waves. The Duluth Fire Department Water Rescue team went out in their inflatable rescue boat, crews put on their ice rescue suits, and got into the water to get the dog who was starting to go under. Crew members say it was difficult to get the 14-foot boat back to shore as it was being pulled out toward open water by strong currents. They and the dog made it back, and the dog was treated for exposure, but is fine.
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