A busy construction season is expected in Durand. At last week's city council meeting the city engineer reported that bids for the Madison Street Project will be reviewed later this week, as that project is slated to start in April, final contract numbers for the Tarrant Park Pool Project are expected soon and the city will also take bids starting this week for the 6th Ave East Project by the high school this summer.
The Chippewa Valley is looking at a bone-chilling start to the day with a Wind Chill Advisory until noon on Tuesday. All of western Wisconsin, in fact, all of the state, is included in the advisory. The National Weather Service says 10 to 15 mile-per-hour winds will make it feel as cold as 35 below. That's cold enough to cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. Overnight tonight and tomorrow look just as cold.
The Durand-Arkansaw School District is looking at redoing the parking lot and the front of the school this summer. While the school district looked at putting in a ramp at the front of the school, Durand Arkansaw Superintendent Greg Doverspike said it wasn't feasible because of the slope the ramp would need to be. The district hopes to save some money on construction and have the project done during the reconstruction of 6th Ave East.
One person is recovering from burns after a house fire in Eau Claire yesterday. Firefighters got a call about a fire at the home on Peebles Street about 2:45 p.m. Two people who were inside were able to escape with their dogs, but firefighters say one of them was burned on their stomach, chest, and hands. Investigators say the fire started in the basement, though they are not sure just what started that fire.
Chippewa County officials are getting ready to end their investigation into Sheriff Travis Hakes, without his input. The County Board of Supervisors has told the Madison-based law firm that is handling the investigation to prepare a final report. That report will not include any comments from Hakes. Investigators say he refused to speak with them on at least three occasions. Hakes says he offered to answer their questions in writing, but he says investigators refused that offer. Hakes continues to call the investigation a witch hunt. It's not clear when the investigation will end, or when the report will be finished.
A Chippewa Falls woman who stole from two local charities will not spend any time behind bars. Kacy Bresina pleaded no contest last week to charges that she never paid two charities the money that she collected during a pair of fundraisers. In all, prosecutors claimed she stole about six thousand dollars. The judge fined Bresina just 473 dollars after she said she paid the money back in full.
The Trempealeau County police chief arrested for OWI earlier this week hit a deer. New reports say Elva Police Chief Patrick McKillip hit the deer as he was speeding toward a 'high risk police call.' An Osseo police report says the chief was driving 85 miles-per-hour when he hit the deer in his squad car. The same report says the chief's blood alcohol level was point-109. The chief was not seriously hurt in the wreck. No one at city hall in Elva, however, is saying if the chief is still the chief.
A former village clerk in Monroe County is looking at charges after prosecutors say she allegedly stole thousands of dollars from the Village of Milton. Investigators say 40-year-old Leigha Barton allegedly stole as much as 200 thousand-dollars during her two years as village clerk. She quit last summer. Prosecutors say she made charges to nine different credit cards and reportedly spent the money on herself. Barton told investigators that she planned to pay the money back, but lost track. She's facing nine felony counts including identity theft and tampering with public records.
It could soon be legal in Wisconsin to leave your body to first responders or rescuers. The Wisconsin Assembly will vote tomorrow on a plan that creates new rules for human body gifts. Currently, people can only leave their bodies to medical schools or organ donation organizations. The change would allow people to leave their bodies to 'rescue organizations or recovery teams that use human remains detection canines.'
Three southern Minnesota electric cooperatives are asking customers to reduce energy use today. The Freeborn Mower, MiEnergy, and People's Energy cooperatives have issued a peak energy alert. The cooperatives say expected high demand on the regional energy grid led to the alert. They recommend turning down thermostats, using appliances like dishwashers and washing machines later in the day, and turning off TVs and gaming systems to help conserve energy.
Five years ago this week, a young girl named Jayme Closs showed us to never give up hope. It was October 2018 when Jayme Closs’s parents were murdered and the teen girl was kidnapped from her rural Barron home by Jake Patterson, who is now serving life in prison for those crimes. This week, January 10, marked the five-year anniversary of the unofficial “Jayme Closs Day,” the date in which she escaped captivity and rescued herself. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said it’s a day worth remembering for the strength and hope she showed us. Fitzgerald said the family wishes to retain privacy, but Closs has graduated high school, is off to college, and is doing well.
The state Supreme Court will now decide between seven legislative maps before the 2024 election. The court received final submissions from both sides of the aisle and third-party institutions on Friday. In 2022, the nation's highest court threw out election maps drawn by Democratic Governor Tony Evers. The court has until March 15th to enact new districts ahead of the legislative primary..
There will not be a new Elections Chief for the upcoming 2024 election. A judge ruled on Friday that Republican lawmakers do not have the authority to remove or replace Meagan Wolfe from her position. Wolfe oversees a commission that has been under fire for three years because of false election fraud claims put forward by former President Donald Trump.
Minnesota Governor Walz is happy with Minnesota's progress in expanding rural access to high-speed Internet service but says there's still more work to do. Walz was in Blue Earth County Thursday talking about the state's investment in rural broadband. The Office of Broadband Development has allocated about 300-million in grants over the past ten years, and 46-thousand homes and businesses were connected to broadband over the last year. But there are still nearly 230-thousand Minnesotans who do not have access to high-speed Internet. The Office of Broadband Development plans to hand out another 50-million in grants next month.
Three-term Democratic Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is running for re-election without a Republican opponent. Some experts believe that no GOP candidates will surface before the November election. The head of the Center for Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota Larry Jacobs says opponents would be reluctant to run against a highly popular incumbent senator. He added that Klobuchar wins easily in urban, suburban, and rural counties and has raised close to 12 million dollars between 2019 and 2023
Green Bay's Republican congressman is now pushing for statewide Packer broadcasts. Congressman Mike Gallagher yesterday signed-on to the Go Pack Go Act. It's a plan that's been floating around for years that would guarantee everyone in Wisconsin could see the Packers games on TV. Currently, Packer fans near the UP, as well as some folks in northwestern Wisconsin don't get Packer games. They get the TV out of Michigan or Minnesota, and get either Lions of Vikings games. Gallagher said no one in Wisconsin should be 'subjected to the torture of watching the Vikings or the Lions play over the Packers.' Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin has been pushing the same Go Pack Go plan for years, but has yet to get it over the goal line.
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