A Pepin County man, from whose property 87 dogs were rescued last year, has entered into a plea deal to settle his legal issues. Those dogs were found at Bradley Richardson's property last June with reports saying kennels were terribly dirty and lacking food and water. Skulls were also reportedly found at the site. Richardson pleaded guilty this week to charges of mistreating animals and acting as an unlicensed breeder. He will be responsible for paying fines in addition to court costs of more than a thousand dollars.
School officials in Chippewa Falls are speaking out about a threatening incident that happened in October of last year. Superintendent Jeff Holmes and Chippewa Falls Middle School principal Derrick Kunsman, in a letter sent home to families this week, provided few details on the incident but said that there is a strong possibility that the middle school staff prevented a concern from becoming a tragedy. The letter was sent as part of an effort to get ahead of a report on the incident by a conservative YouTuber.
An energy company covering Western Wisconsin may be changing its pricing policies. Xcel Energy, which serves Minnesota, Wisconsin, and several other states, is proposing time-of-use pricing. It would increase prices in times of high demand -- for example, running the air conditioning could cost seven-times more in the afternoon and evening hours compared to overnight. Xcel says customers would save with the new pricing, and the power grid be less strained.
Gas prices are down a bit this week in parts of Western Wisconsin. Triple-A reports the average price of regular fuel in Eau Claire is now two-eighty-four per gallon. That's a dip of 4-cents per gallon from a week ago. The average cost of a gallon of regular fuel in the Badger State is two-ninety per gallon. Meanwhile here in Durand Gas is averaging $2.99 a gallon, ten cents higher than a week ago.
Accounting students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire will soon be offering tax preparation assistance through a service sponsored by the IRS and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The service will be free and available to folks who make 64-thousand dollars in income or less each year. Appointments will be required. More details can be found by searching the keyword VITA at revenue-dot-wi-dot-gov.
Charges have been filed against an Augusta woman accused of stealing nearly 12-thousand dollars from her church. Jessica Aichele's husband was the treasurer of the Morning Star Lutheran Church in Fairchild and the couple was estranged when a number of checks went missing and were later found to have been cashed by Aichele. The suspect is currently free on bond.
Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate are exploring the idea of adopting the legislative maps submitted by Democrat Governor Tony Evers. While speaking with the Wisconsin State Journal yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said it's possible GOP members could support the governor's district layouts without making any changes. Evers' legislative maps appear to be more beneficial to Republican lawmakers than the other three versions Democrats have placed before the state Supreme Court. Officials with the Wisconsin Elections Commission have said new legislative districts need to be set by March 15th to be used in the 2024 election.
Funding to support victims of crimes like domestic violence and human trafficking in Wisconsin is in danger of being slashed by congressional leaders. If federal lawmakers fail to offer continued support for the Victims of Crime Act, the 40-million dollars victim services nonprofits in the state got last year could drop to about 13-million by October. State Attorney General Josh Kaul says that would be "devastating" to various support programs, adding that those services already have less funding than they actually need. The state's Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety is expected to discuss Assembly Bill 950 today, a measure that could increase state-level funding for organizations that offer victim support.
The Universities of Wisconsin is aiming to boost enrollment numbers with a new website. The site lays out the more than 200 online courses that are available across the university system, all in one place. UW President Jay Rothman says students still won't be able to enroll in courses from several universities at once, but, the catalog does make seeing what is available more simple. The page will help Wisconsin "win the war for talent", according to Rothman.
A bill at the state Capitol looks to improve safety measures around retention ponds. The measure, introduced by two Madison-area state legislators in unison with a Madison alder proposes three safety options: A shallow ledge around the pond, vegetation that’s a minimum of two feet high between the pond and any easy point of access to the pond, or any other safety feature approved by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The legislation was prompted by the 2012 death of a five-year-old boy who wandered from his home and drowned in a retention pond in Stoughton.
The latest Marquette Poll projects a tight race for President in Wisconsin. The Marquette University Law School poll surveyed 930 registered voters in Wisconsin between January 24 and 31. Forty-nine percent said they would vote for former President Donald Trump and 49 percent said they’d vote for President Joe Biden. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.2 percent. Poll Director Charles Franklin calls that “the tightest of results that you could plausibly get.” In November, the Marquette poll found 50 percent of registered voters said they would vote Biden while 48 percent supported Trump.
Migrant farm workers in Wisconsin are getting more disease and illness prevention protections. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development says the new regulations require employee access to shade and breaks once the temperature is higher than 80 degrees. There will also be updated requirements for urinals and showerheads, and other safety upgrades like access to clothes washers and dryers. Last year, there were more than 260 state regulated migrant labor camps operated in Wisconsin by 125 different employers.
Wisconsin's attorney general is joining a group seeking to protect people who were brought into this country illegally when they were children. Attorney General Josh Kaul and 23 other attorneys general say they want the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to remain in place nationwide. Currently, a lawsuit in the U-S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit claims DACA is unauthorized by law. DACA currently allows six-thousand people in Wisconsin who were brought to the U-S as children to work and study freely.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today announced that residents will be able to purchase life-saving insulin for just 35-dollars-per-month for the next five years. It's part of a settlement with drug manufacturer Elli Lilly, which has also agreed to provide insulin supplies free of charge for 15 clinics that serve low-income patients. In announcing the agreement, Ellison said that the "landmark settlement ensures that insulin will be affordable and accessible to every Minnesotan who needs it."
A nonprofit group is asking for two-million dollars to study building a high-speed transport system between Minneapolis and Rochester. Global Wellness Connections has asked the Metropolitan Council for funding for a study of building a Hyperloop between the two cities. A capsule powered by the technology could theoretically travel at around 700 miles-an-hour, cutting travel time between the cities to about 15 minutes. Critics of the proposal have called it a waste of money, advocating for a more conventional high-speed rail system that could make the trip in less than an hour.
The man who’s led the Green Bay Packers organization will be stepping aside. The Green Bay Packers have that announced Mark Murphy, the organization's president and CEO since 2007, will formally retire in July 2025. Murphy's retirement will come when he turns 70 years old – the mandatory retirement age for the position as required by organizational by-laws. The search process for his replacement is now underway. The search committee is working with Korn Ferry, a national search firm the Packers organization said it has worked with previously.
With Valentine's Day now just a week away, many Wisconsin residents are considering gifts and treats that might make their mate smile. According to online retailer Candy Store-dot-com, Hershey's Kisses are a safe bet for those of us in the Badger State. The company says sales data from the last 16 years shows that Kisses are the favorite in Wisconsin for Valentines. The site lists Conversation Hearts as second-most popular, with the more elaborate Ghirardelli gift box landing at number three.
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