The reconstruction of Madison Street next year will be altered to accommodate Fun Fest. During this week's city council meeting, Public Works Superintendent Matt Gills told the council that the project would be split into three different work zones, each with a different period. For the part of Madison Street by Memorial Park, construction wouldn't begin until after Fun Fest. Gills said they will also try to keep that portion of Madison Street paved until after Fun Fest, so organizers can use Madison street for events.
An Eau Claire man could be sentenced to over 400 years in prison following a federal indictment. The U.S. Department of Justice says Robert Carter is facing 25 charges stemming from a scheme where he allegedly defrauded financial institutions and other businesses. Carter is accused of obtaining over a half-million dollars through credit cards and loans by making false statements and giving false documents to various business owners and investors from 2016 through 2021. The 43-year-old also allegedly used the identity of another person. If convicted, Carter would face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each of 17 wire fraud charges, and up to 20 years on money laundering charges.
A jury didn't buy a Barron County man's insanity defense in his child pornography case. Derek Salewski pleaded guilty earlier this week to child sexual exploitation, but also claimed to be insane. The jury yesterday said Salewski did not have a mental defect when he downloaded pictures or videos showing young children being sexually assaulted. He's looking at 40 years in prison when he's sentenced in March.
The plan from Wisconsin's northwoods' congressman to protect chocolate milk in school is moving ahead on Capitol Hill. Congressman Tom Tiffany yesterday said his milk protection act was included in a House resolution this week. Tiffany's plan would stop the Biden Administration from banning chocolate milk from the nation's school lunch program. The USDA is considering a ban on chocolate and other flavored milks to keep kids from having too much sugar. Tiffany says banning chocolate milk would likely end with fewer kids drinking any milk.
The effort to dredge Lake Altoona is showing some signs of success. Crews expect to take 60 thousand cubic-yards of sediment out of the lake during this latest dredge. That's enough dirt and sand to fill a three-story building. That's also twice what crews would normally take. Lake Altoona district secretary Margaret Higley says the lake has gotten deeper, and Eau Claire continues to be protected from flooding because of the dredging effort. This latest round should wrap-up in a month or so.
There are charges for a Tomah man in an overdose death back in February. Prosecutors in Monroe County filed the charges this week against Nicholas Hage. Investigators say he sold meth and fentanyl to a man who overdosed earlier this year. A judge ordered Hage held on 20 thousand-dollars cash bond. He's due back in court at the end of next month.
There will be more Wisconsin troopers on the road starting today until New Year's Day. State Patrol says it puts more law enforcement on the road during the holiday season since they see more impaired driving. They reported 470 crashes involving drunk drivers in the last two weeks of 2022. State Patrol says these accidents killed five people and injured 178. They encourage finding designated sober drivers or other rideshare methods if celebrating with alcohol over the holidays.
Free tele-health services for COVID-19 treatment have been extended through April 10 of next year. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says an expected continued increase in COVID cases was a factor in the decision. Wisconsin DHS introduced the service in November of last year and says they completed more than 6-thousand consults since. Nearly half of those patients reported being age 60 and older. After free COVID tele-health resources expire, those without insurance will still have free or low-cost health clinics available.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is charging Xcel Energy for surpassing its storage tank capacity without a permit and for cleaning up radioactive water that slipped into the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant a year ago. Xcel Energy said on Thursday they estimated between 750 thousand and 900 thousand gallons of water leaked. As the company attempted to clean, they used more tanks without informing MPCA for a permit. Xcel was fined 14 thousand dollars for the incident.
Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol want the state to be more open about lockdowns and conditions in the state's prisons. A handful of lawmakers yesterday introduced a proposal that would require more transparency about when, and how inmates are being confined to their cells. Madison State Senator Kelda Roys says the idea is to make sure Wisconsin's prisons are treating inmates in the most humane way possible. Lockdowns have been an issue in Wisconsin prisons. Inmates in both Green Bay and Waupun have been under lockdowns for months because of staffing and safety issues.
A new plan at the Wisconsin Capitol would make unauthorized homeless camps a crime. Much of the plan, Senate Bill 669, deals with allowing cities and counties to set-up spaces in parks or other public lands to allow homeless camps. But the legislation also has punishments for homeless people who stay somewhere else. Those include a 500 dollar fine, and up to 30 days in jail. Lawmakers held a hearing on the plan last week. It will likely come-up for a vote at the statehouse after the first of the year.
Wisconsin's governor isn't happy that UW regents have reversed course, and accepted the DEI deal from Republican lawmakers. Governor Tony Evers said after Wednesday's vote to swap 40 diversity, equity, and inclusion jobs for nearly a billion-dollars in pay raises for UW workers and other university needs, that Republicans overreached and forced UW regents to bend to their political will. Evers says the university needs to be independent and autonomous. He slammed the Republican offer as a 'tantrum.' Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the regents' second vote gets 'real reforms enacted,' and slammed the governor for lobbying against the vote.
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan is calling Donald Trump an "authoritarian narcissist." The Wisconsin Republican spoke Wednesday at a virtual event and defended former Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for speaking out against Trump. Ryan said they called him out because he's "not a conservative" but "an authoritarian narcissist," and claimed all of Trump's "tendencies are basically where narcissism takes him, which is whatever makes him popular" and "makes him feel good in any given moment." Trump's campaign spokesperson responded by calling Ryan "a loser who left Congress in disgrace."
An Indiana-based flag company is memorializing some rejected Minnesota state flag designs. Flags For Good is selling a limited batch of " best, funniest, and most iconic" designs that didn't make the cut. Over two thousand designs were submitted to Minnesota's Emblems Redesign Commission, and now the field has been narrowed down to just three. Flags For Good will bring six of the rejected flags to life, including the North Star flag, the Menacing Loon flag, and the Great Lakes Pride flag.
Five men now face criminal charges for attempting to steal a bank ATM in Roseville. Four Texans and Dekorius Durham of St. Paul have been charged with theft and property damage. Police say the suspects targeted an ATM on Tuesday by placing a chain around it that was connected to an SUV. They tried to pull it but the ATM fell over and never left the bank property. All five defendants are behind bars on 50 thousand dollars bail and are expected to appear in court sometime today.
It's a sad end to the story of Wisconsin's lonely elk. The state's Department of Natural Resources yesterday said the young elk, known officially as Bull 357, died after being hit by a car in Illinois. The elk was spotted wandering around Wisconsin. He was seen near Wausau and in McFarland. The DNR says the elk was likely looking to mate, but couldn't find a partner. The DNR says the elk died after being hit near Joliet, which is 40 miles south of Chicago.
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