Two people were injured in a motorcycle accident in the town of Gale on Saturday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, Garret Granum was traveling northbound on Hwy 53, when he lost control of the motorcycle and crashed. Granum and passenger Shannon Boylan were taken to the hospital. Granum has been charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, causing injury.
The City of Wabasha is close to realizing a long-held community goal of re-routing State Highway 60 through the former athletic field and more directly out of town. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith sponsored a bill in Congress and helped Wabasha secure $5 million in a congressionally directed request. Now the City is awaiting the outcome of the 2024 legislative session to see if they secure the balance of funds, about $4.9 million through the capital bonding process. If approved, the project could begin construction in 2027.
This week, Congressman Derrick Van Orden along with three other representatives introduced legislation to permanently extend telehealth services for Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics. Current Medicare telehealth flexibilities for FQHCs and RHCs, previously extended by Congress under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, expire on December 31, 2024. In 2020, 35.9% of Medicare claims rendered by FQHCs and RHCs included a telehealth service, allowing millions of individuals in medically underserved communities access to behavioral health and non-behavioral health services. Van Orden said, "Expanding telehealth access is an important step in bridging the gap between rural and urban communities and helps ensure that folks, no matter where they are, can receive safe, quality care.”
There was another school bus scare in the Chippewa Valley yesterday. Police say a bus driver had to pull over yesterday morning and use a fire extinguisher on their brakes. Chippewa Falls Schools say the bus was carrying kindergarteners at the time, but none of them were hurt, and the smoke from the brakes never made it into the bus. The scare is just the latest for schools in the Chippewa Valley. It comes after a bus crash in Eau Claire in mid-April, and two crashes on I-94 last week.
Prosecutors in Rusk County say a drunken fight has led to attempted homicide charges. The sheriff's office arrested 56-year-old William Irvin the Second on Tuesday after finding his brother in the hospital with broken ribs, cuts, and a possible gunshot wound to the head. Investigators say Irvin and his brother got into a fight that ended with a shooting. Irvin is being held on 20 thousand-dollars cash bail, he's due back in court next week.
Wisconsin's task force on AI is slowly building to some recommendations. The Governor's Task Force on AI will meet again next week in Wausau. This task force is focused on how AI can help workers and businesses in the state, Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development is in charge. Monday's meeting will focus on how AI can be used to help Wisconsin farmers. No one is saying just when the task force will deliver a report to the governor.
UW-Madison leaders have agreed to another meeting with campus protesters. A school spokesman said that yesterday's meeting was productive, and said they've agreed to meet again. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said earlier this week that she'd be willing to meet with protest organizers to talk about their demands, but only after they removed their tents. The university ordered the police to do that on Wednesday. Mnookin reportedly told protest leaders yesterday that she has no plans to do that again. The protesters have said they want the University of Wisconsin to divest from Israel, and they want a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Legislation to delist the gray wolf passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 209-205. The “Trust the Science Act” would remove the gray wolf from the list of federal endangered species, ensure that action is not subject to judicial review, and restore authority to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials to control the gray wolf population. Bill co-sponsor Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin says the science shows the gray wolf has recovered. 25 other members of Congress cosponsored the “Trust the Science Act,” including the entire Wisconsin Congressional delegation.
The Department of Natural Resources is reminding you to get your license before you head out to fish this weekend. Fisheries director Justine Haas says that's the most important piece of fishing gear in your tackle box. You can get your license online at Go Wild dot W I dot Gov or at most places you buy your fishing gear. Also, be sure to pick up a copy of this year's regulations so you can be sure you're legal on the water.
An elementary teacher in Hudson is on administrative leave over alleged "inappropriate conduct" with a 13-year-old. Authorities say 24-year-old Madison Bergmann, is currently behind bars for suspicion of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The fifth-grade teacher was arrested yesterday. She's also banned from contacting students, parents, or staff members connected to River Crest Elementary School.
A deadly crash is under investigation in Houston County. The Minnesota State Patrol says a motorcycle rider from Wisconsin died in the crash last night on Highway 26 near Brownsville. Investigators say the motorcycle collided with a car driven by a 45-year-old Iowa woman. The state patrol expects to release more information about the crash later today.
An advocacy group wants special interest funding out of state Supreme Court elections. Jay Heck with Common Cause in Wisconsin says too much money muddying the waters. Heck says the state needs to set clear recusal rules for judges for cases involving groups that spent money on their campaigns. He's also calling for a repeal of the 2010 Supreme Court decision that allowed for unlimited special interest funding in elections.
One of Wisconsin's Most Wanted is under arrest at the Mall of America. Israel Israel spent time in prison for sexually assaulting a woman while armed with a weapon in 1988. After his release from prison for those charges, he was quickly put back in prison for non-compliance. He was released again last September, but cut off his GPS monitor and went on the run within days. Investigators tell Fox News 6 out of Milwaukee that Israel had applied for a job at the mall using an alias. After searching for the name online, the mall found a news article about him that included the alias, and called a tipline.
The Minnesota House is advancing a bill that would protect children who create or are used in social media content. The House voted 103-26 yesterday to pass the measure. The bill would require parents who use their children in at least 30-percent of revenue-producing social media posts to set aside the profits for the child. Children under 14 would be prohibited from creating paid social media content, while those between 14 and 18-years-old would be required to put their profits in a trust until they become adults. A companion bill is still being considered in the state Senate.
The first peregrine falcon chick of this year's nesting season from sites at We Energies facilities has hatched. The baby falcon was born at the Valley Power Plant in Milwaukee to father, Rolo, and an unbanded female. The avian couple has nested together two years in a row. Hundreds of the chicks have been hatched at We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service facilities since the early 90s. More than a fifth of peregrine falcons born in the wild in Wisconsin were hatched in these nest boxes. People can watch live streamed footage of the nests on the WEC Energy Group website.
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