No one was injured in a three-vehicle accident at the intersection of Hwy 25 and 35 in the town of Nelson on Sunday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriffs Department, 21yr old Elyssa Blodgett of Pepin was traveling southbound on Hwy 35 and failed to yield the right of way to a vehicle driven by 32yr old Rebecca Kane of Minneapolis and they collided. A vehicle waiting to turn south off of Hwy 25 and his vehicle was damaged by a road sign and pole hitting his vehicle. Speed and failure to yield are believed to be contributing factors in the accident.
OakLeaf Medical Network says Hospital Sisters Health System is not responding to their request to open negotiations so Oakleaf can create a community hospital system in the Eau Claire area. Hospital Sisters announced two weeks ago that it would be closing both Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph's in Chippewa Falls in April, as well as its system of Prevea clinics. Oakleaf says it has hired an executive to lead them through negotiations to buy the hospital properties and start up a Community Hospital, but Hospital Sisters needs to respond to their requests.
Some of the nurses and medical staff who are set to lose their jobs this spring in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls have a new opportunity. Marshfield Clinic announced on Friday that it is expanding its labor and delivery facility in Eau Claire. Marshfield says its obstetrics unit currently has eight beds, that will jump to 20. Marshfield is also looking to hire more labor and delivery nurses. The clinic says they are planning a job fair to accept applications in the coming weeks.
We are waiting for more information about a weekend stabbing in Eau Claire. Police say it happened yesterday in the 200 block of East Truman Avenue. There are no details about who was stabbed or who did the stabbing. Eau Claire Police simply say the stabbing was an isolated incident, and said last night that there's no ongoing threat to the public.
It's the latest sign of just how non-wintry this winter has been in Wisconsin. Organizers of the Snowshoe National Championships in Eau Claire changed this weekend's race to a trail run because there's no snow. The U.S. Snowshoe Association announced back in the fall that the national championships would be in Eau Claire, but at the time no one imagined there wouldn't be any snow. Instead, teams ran through Lowes Creek County Park in their sneakers This is the first time ever that the Snowshoe Championship has had to be switched because of a lack of snow.
Wisconsin lawmakers could vote on another set of political maps this week. Both the State Assembly and State Senate are in session tomorrow. Last week Republican leaders said they may vote on Governor Tony Evers' maps as a way to head-off potentially worse maps from the state supreme court. Lawmakers approved the governor's maps last month but made some tweaks. They say those maps were 99 percent of what the governor drew. He vetoed those maps because of the changes. Republicans are expected to vote on the governor's maps as-is this time.
State lawmakers are anticipating this year's edition of the Minnesota Legislature to be less active than last year's. Lawmakers return to St. Paul today and many are predicting little new spending will be approved during the session. A great deal of the focus will be on the bonding bill, which approves financing for millions of dollars in local infrastructure projects. There will also be topics sure to cause vigorous debate, such as opposition to the new state flag and seal, legalization of sports betting and a push for a statewide equal rights amendment.
Special Olympics Minnesota is getting a big boost from the 23rd annual Rochester Polar Plunge. The event was held Saturday in Foster Arend Park, with dozens of willing volunteers taking the plunge to help raise money for the organization. Organizers hoped to get 300-thousand dollars, and said 281-thousand had been raised as of Saturday night. The event has raised over four-million dollars for Special Olympics over 23 years.
Folks in Evansville are cleaning up the damage created by Wisconsin's first-ever February tornado. Thursday's twister destroyed farm equipment and tore the roofs off buildings. Roads in the area reopened on Saturday, and town residents chipped in to help fix and clean up the damage. The Evansville Fire Department is assisting with the cleanup effort and is also accepting food, and water at the fire station today to help those affected by the tornado.
Congressman Mike Gallagher says he will not seek re-election. Gallagher told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Saturday that he will leave Congress at the end of his current term to enter the private sector and spend more time with his family. The Republican from Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District is chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, the 39-year-old Gallagher said, "I firmly don't believe that the best use for the next chapter of my career is staying in Congress for another decade."
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood voters will unionize after a vote on Thursday. It was a 56-to-13 decision that led to the decision and it was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. Once to vote is certified a survey will be sent to the 133 eligible employees to determine what the most important priorities are when bargaining.
A federal court ruling banning a controversial herbicide is putting Wisconsin soybean farmers in a bind. Environmentalists rejoiced after a ban on weed preventer, dicamba, because of its dangers to plants when it drifts off-cite. Soybean farmers in Wisconsin however with just weeks to go before planting season are now caught in a bind. The herbicide was effective in keeping nasty weeds away and because of that may lose profit from it. The state is home to 11-thousand soybean growers and across the country, the ruling will affect farmland larger than the state of Neveada.
A Minnesota company will be funding research into crops that could be used to create alternatives to biofuels. Cargill announced this week that it will give two-point-five-million dollars to the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota. The money will go toward studying winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress, two crops that can be used for seed-based oil. Researchers say the two crops can be planted in the winter to help stop soil erosion and protect water quality. The seeds can then be refined as a replacement for diesel and jet fuel, providing new revenue for Minnesota farmers. The grant covers five years of research on the initiative.
A Fairbault County mayor and his son are behind bars after a marijuana bust. The raid was conducted by the South Central Drug Investigation Unit, which confiscated hundreds of pot plants as part of the operation. Authorities say they took Winnebago Mayor Scott Robertson and his son into custody as part of their investigation. Robertson became mayor in 2021 as a write-in candidate.
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