A burning ban is in place in Buffalo County after a prescribed burn on W582 Burt Lane in the Town of Buffalo got out of control on Monday. According to the Buffalo County Sheriff's Department, the prescribed burn was on land owned by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy. The fire got out of control and went up the bluff and into a wooded area. Firefighters from Fountain City, Tri-Community and Dodge Fire Departments needed four hours to get the fire under control. The fire burned about 25 acres.
The Durand City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on the city administrator replacement options, an update on the Funfest location, and reports from the mayor and department heads. Tonight's meeting begins at 6:30 at Durand City Hall.
Some road construction projects will affect traffic in Wabasha County starting today. Wabasha County Road 2 will undergo pulverization in place between County Hwy 17 and Hwy 63 near Lake City. Motorists can expect loose gravel, lane closures, and traffic delays until earthwork operations begin at the end of March, when Hwy 2 will be closed to traffic until the end of September. Motorists are suggested to avoid the area and find alternate routes.
Eau Claire's other hospitals say they are ready for this month's HSHS closings. Marshfield Clinic yesterday said it has re-opened its urgent care facility and more than doubled its labor and delivery beds in Eau Claire. Mayo Clinic Health System says it too has been working to increase care in northwestern Wisconsin. Both Marshfield and Mayo say they've been at the local job fairs for the people who will lose their jobs once Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls close next week.
St. Croix County is the latest to go on the record against refugee resettlement in western Wisconsin. The county board last night approved three resolutions against the plans from World Relief to resettle the rest of the 75 refugees who are headed to the Chippewa Valley area. St. Croix County leaders say they're not against the refugees themselves, instead, they are frustrated with the lack of answers and the top-down approach that is being used. One of the resolutions is in support of a plan from Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany that would give local leaders a say in whether refugees can be sent to their communities.
The Wisconsin Senate has, once again, fired some of the governor's appointees. Republicans in the Senate yesterday fired eight of Governor Evers' people, including UW regents John Miller and Dana Wachs. They both voted against the compromise that cleared the way for pay raises for UW employees, as well as UW-Madison's new engineering building. That agreement, though, came with a freeze on diversity, equity, and inclusion positions. The Senate also fired four appointees to the Wisconsin Judicial Commission. Senators say those four either didn't know what their job was or refused to answer questions about the direction of the state's court system. Governor Evers appointed Mondovi teacher Amy Traynor to the Board of Regents. She teaches at Anthony Acres School.
Wisconsin's supreme court is reopening the debate over ballot drop boxes. The liberal-majority court yesterday accepted a case that looks to overturn Wisconsin's current ban on ballot drop boxes. The old, conservative-majority court, ruled that Wisconsin law does not allow for ballot drop boxes at any place except the election clerk's office. But Democrats and activists argued that state law didn't specifically ban them. Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote yesterday that the liberal-majority court is, once again, trying to 'increase the electoral prospects of its preferred political party.' The court will hear arguments in the case in May.
It doesn't look like the people who want to oust Wisconsin's assembly speaker got enough signatures. The Wisconsin Elections Commission yesterday said the Recall Vos effort fell about 900 signatures short in Robin Vos' original legislative district. The group got other signatures, including some from Vos' new legislative district, and the Elections Commission is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court which signatures it should count. Vos has said the recall effort comes from a small group of people with a personal grudge against him. There's no word when the Wisconsin Supreme Court may weigh-in on the recall effort.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says 32 people died in ATV/UTV crashes in 2023. Warden Jacob Holtzclaw says people need to understand how their vehicles work before they get behind the controls. Holtzclaw says you should always wear a helmet, even if state law doesn't require it in some cases. 95 percent of those who died in crashes weren't wearing theirs.
Wisconsin's public school managers are looking to let local schools decide if they want to start before September 1st. The state's Department of Public Instruction yesterday said it will hold a public meeting later this month on a proposed rule that would allow local schools to set their own start dates. Wisconsin law sets the first day of school on September 1st, and schools currently need a waiver if they want to start earlier. DPI says the new rule will allow for more local control and more flexibility for local schools.
Wisconsin lawmakers are moving ahead with new reading lessons. The powerful Joint Finance Committee yesterday approved four new reading curriculums. Schools across the state do not have to use the four chosen lessons, but the state will not pay for any reading programs not on the approved list. Republican Mark Born says the new lessons are a must because over 60 percent of kids in Wisconsin cannot read at grade level. Democrats worry about local control and say the state may be sued. The new reading lessons are part of a new state law aimed at boosting reading scores in Wisconsin by the fourth grade. Kids will see the new lessons starting next fall.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wants to know if there should be changes to its Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species list. The agency is evaluating the current list to determine if species should be added, dropped, or moved to a different protection category. Comments will be accepted through May 17th. More information on how to submit comments is available on the DNR website.
Another UW System branch campus will close. Monday’s announcement that UW-Milwaukee will close its Waukesha campus at the end of the spring 2025 semester follows the closure of UWM’s West Bend campus, UW Platteville's Richland Center campus, and the Fond du Lac campus of UW Oshkosh. The closures are a symptom of the financial challenges facing the Universities of Wisconsin. Since the 2018 merger of the 13 branch campuses with four year schools, only UW Green Bay at Manitowoc has seen enrollment grow. Enrollment at the Waukesha campus was down to 672 this spring. The closure will affect some 100 employees. Nearby Waukesha County Technical College began offering Associate degrees last year.
Minnesota lawmakers have passed differing versions of a bill that would clarify the amount of force school resource officers can use on campus. The Minnesota Senate voted 57-to-9 yesterday to approve its version of a bill that would exempt those officers from a state law barring the use of certain holds on students. An amendment adopted by the Senate would allow school workers to intervene in some situations to prevent theft, damage or destruction of property. A conference committee will resolve the differences between the bills and then send the measure to the governor for his signature.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has once again been rated the best airport in North America. It's the third time in a row the passenger survey by the Airports Council International has put M-S-P in the top spot for airports in the 25 to 40 million passenger category. It's also the seventh time in the past eight years that Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport has achieved that honor.
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