A petition from a Rock Creek family to move from the Durand-Arkansaw School District to the Eau Claire School District was denied last night by the Durand-Arkansaw School Board. Margo and Bryce Purgett live in the Rock Creek area and have open enrolled into the Eau Claire school district for years, but they hope to make their placement in the district permanent. While the Eau Claire District approved the move, Durand-Arkansaw did not. The family said they will appeal to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
A police officer killed in the line of duty in Burnsville was remembered last night in Wabasha. Hundreds of residents attended a candlelight vigil for Officer Matthew Ruge held beneath the Wabasha-Nelson Bridge. Family members, friends, and community members attended the vigil. Ruge graduated from the Wabasha-Kellogg School District in 2015 and went on to receive a degree from MSU-Mankato in 2018.
Voters in Menomonie have said No to a four million-dollar tax hike for the city's schools. Election managers say 59 percent of people who voted on Tuesday voted against the operating referendum. Menomonie Schools want the extra money to keep up with the cost of inflation. District administrator Joe Zydowsky warned before the vote that without the new money, they'd have to make deep cuts, or even close some schools. Meanwhile, voters in the Cumberland area approved a 32 million-dollar tax hike that will be used to expand and update their school buildings.
Former Hayfield High school Principal Grant Klennert will be sentenced on Friday in Wabasha County Circut Court. Last month, he pleaded guilty to three criminal sexual conduct charges stemming from when Klennert was a minor, according to court documents. An investigation found three victims claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Klennert from 1998 to 2003. The sentencing is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 1:15.
A months-long investigation into a western Wisconsin drug ring has ended with six arrests. Police in Eau Claire arrested the six yesterday. Investigators started looking into the suspects after the Post Office in Minneapolis flagged a number of packages of drugs that were headed to various places in Eau Claire. Investigators say the ring was moving meth, fentanyl, and other drugs through the area. Eau Claire Police say they seized at least a quarter-million dollars in drugs. Two of the suspects are expected to face federal charges in the case.
August firefighters responded to a fire Wednesday at an Amish resale store. According to Augusta Fire, the fire was called in on Wednesday afternoon at the business on Hwy RR. The fire damaged everything inside and caused an estimated $50,000 in damages. No word on what caused the blaze and no one was hurt.
Wisconsin lawmakers have approved a plan that would hold kids back if they miss too many school days. The State Assembly yesterday approved the proposal that would keep kids in their grade if they miss more than 30 days in a single school year. Supporters say the idea is to make sure that kids are actually ready to move to the next grade. Wisconsin's state superintendent of schools says the proposal is cruel and has already come out against it.
Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to move forward with deer hunting restrictions in the northern part of the state. The State Assembly is set to vote today on a ban on antlerless deer hunting in the Northern Forest Zone. The legislation specifically stops the DNR from opening an antlerless hunting season and bans hunters from taking antlerless deer for four years. Supporters say the idea is to protect the deer herd and rebuild the numbers after a few lean years for deer in the northern part of Wisconsin.
Governor Evers doesn't appear ready to sign the PFAS plan from state lawmakers. The governor yesterday said in a letter to the Republican-controlled legislature that he wants lawmakers to get serious about tackling PFAS contamination across the state. Specifically, the governor doesn't like the limits that Republicans have placed on the state's Department of Natural Resources for PFAS enforcement. Lawmakers say their goal is to provide money and assistance to communities that are dealing with high levels of PFAS, not to make it easier for the state to sue companies over PFAS contamination.
New home construction was up three percent in 2023, but the head of the Wisconsin Homebuilder's Association says that's not enough. Executive Director Brad Boycks says more workforce housing and rentals are needed to keep people housed at fair prices. Boycks says that may require changes to local zoning, and for local leaders to approve higher-density home construction.
The Wisconsin Lottery announces couple of six-figure winners in the state over the weekend. The Lottery says a winning $350,000 SuperCash ticket from Sunday’s drawing was purchased at Wittlin's Complete Car Care Food Mart in Menomonee Falls, while Saturday’s Powerball drawing yielded a winning ticket that matched four numbers and the Powerball to earn $150,000. That ticket was sold at a Kwik Trip in Tomah.
A new law in Wisconsin is making it easier for first responders to identify electric vehicles involved in emergencies. The statute requires Wisconsin residents who drive EV’s to put a sticker in the top right corner of their license plates. While first responders can tell whether a regular vehicle is running or not by listening to the engine running, EV’s run silently and can move if the emergency personnel aren’t aware that the vehicle is running. The EV sticker will remind first responders to make sure that the engine is shut off to prevent that. The state Department of Motor Vehicles will send stickers out to EV drivers over the coming months, with all expected to be delivered by the end of summer.
State lawmakers want to create more affordable housing in Minnesota. A bipartisan group of lawmakers announced the Minnesotans for More Homes Initiative yesterday in St. Paul. The proposed measure would create incentives for housing that falls in between apartments and single-family homes, such as duplexes. It would also ease restrictions on multi-family, mixed-income housing.
Wisconsin will get 24-million dollars from cigarette manufacturers after a review by former judges. State Attorney General Josh Kaul says Phillips Morris USA, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, and others will be paying. He says the payment is related to missed annual payments between 2005 and 2007. The agreement was determined through arbitration. The 24-million will go toward the Wisconsin Medical Assistance Trust Fund.
An act that would expand missing person alerts has passed through the Wisconsin Senate. The bill would allow missing children alerts to be distributed even if the case doesn't qualify for an AMBER Alert. For an AMBER Alert to be issued, the missing child has to be in danger of bodily harm or death. The proposed alert system, which would either be called the Prince Alert or Purple Alert, would be a new system comparable to the Silver Alert for seniors. It is now headed to the Wisconsin Assembly for approval
A Minnesota seventh-grader is headed back to the national spelling bee. Roberto Villasboas won the Southeast Minnesota Final Spelling Bee Tuesday, punching his ticket for a return trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the end of May. Villasboas won by correctly spelling the word "discomfiture." It was the seventh-grader's second consecutive win in the event.
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