Visitors at Wabasha’s Beach Park had to deal with some flooding as high-water levels overtook the beach. Minor flooding along the Mississippi River completely covered the sand leaving beachgoers setting up camp in the grass. The high water levels are because of the rain so far this spring. The National Weather Service has a flood warning for the Mississippi River in Buffalo and Wabasha Counties until June 16th. The river crested at 12.44 feet over the weekend and should begin to go down over the rest of the week.
While there was rain to begin the day, over 2100 people were served during the Pepin County Town and Country Dairy Breakfast on Saturday at Koller Farms. The rain didn't stop the crowds from enjoying breakfast and also touring the farm. Also this weekend good crowds were reported for Durand Fun Fest. Festival organizers had to reconfigure Memorial Park, but events and the carnival ran smoothly. This weekend will be the Arkansaw Creek Park Days in Arkansaw and the Pierce County Dairy Breakfast at LoRan Acres just south of Plum City.
Construction on 6th Avenue East should begin this week. The road surface and sidewalks will be redone as part of the city's plan to do some smaller projects each year. At the same time, the Durand Arkansaw School District will be replacing the parking lot at Durand-Arkansaw High School along with some remodeling of the front of the school. Both projects are expected to be done before the new school year begins in August.
The sheriff in Eau Claire is looking for a stabbing suspect. The stabbing happened last week in Fairchild. Deputies are not saying what led-up to the stabbing, or if anything was taken. Investigators are asking anyone who may have a doorbell camera to check their footage. In the meantime, the sheriff's office says there's no danger to the public in the case.
There is another memorial to one of western Wisconsin's fallen deputies. Leaders in St, Croix County on Saturday dedicated a portion of Highway 128 in honor of Deputy Kaitie Leising. She was gunned down during a traffic stop last May. St. Croix County's sheriff says the new highway means Leising will be remembered forever.
Attorneys for the man accused of killing Madeline Kingsbury are again asking a judge to have the trial moved to another venue. A motion filed Friday in Winona County urged the judge to move the trial because Adam Fravel won't receive a fair hearing. The motion cited extensive media coverage of Kingsbury's death and claimed the public was biased against Fravel. Kingsbury was found dead last year and Fravel was initially charged with second-degree murder. A grand jury later indicted Fravel on first-degree murder charges.
It's a busy week for the Wisconsin Elections Commission this week. The commission is meeting today to decide ballot access questions in 10 different races across the state. Commissioners are also looking to certify the ballot for both the August primary and the November general election. The Elections Commission is also scheduled to meet on Wednesday to deal with election clerk training.
There are new calls for an audit of Milwaukee Public Schools. Both Governor Tony Evers and the top Republican in the Wisconsin Senate, Devin LeMahieu, on Friday called for state auditors to look-over the books at MPS. LeMahieu said the legislature's audit bureau is more than capable of looking into how MPS is spending its money, and where there could be savings. The governor said he wants to make sure there is a full accounting in Milwaukee Public Schools. The audit comes after MPS lost nearly 17-million dollars in state aid because of late and incomplete financial reports from last year.
The largest budget increase ever proposed for the Universities of Wisconsin System. Governor Tony Evers announced that Friday to the Board of Regents. He said in his next biennial budget, he will ask the legislature to provide an increase of over $400 million in each year of the biennium for the UW system. Evers said the big boost is needed to prevent “further degradation” of the UW System, and that being 42nd in the nation in support of public universities “doesn’t cut it.” Seven four-year campuses are facing budget shortfalls and UW Oshkosh has exhausted its reserves. Republicans on the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee have rejected the Democratic governor’s previous UW budget requests.
Waupun inmates held a sit-in protest, asking for better conditions following the arrest of nine staff members, including the former warden. Fox Six News reports inmates say conditions haven't improved since the Wednesday arrests. One person serving time says inmates are getting cold meals and improper medical care. The nine staff members were arrested on charges related to two inmate deaths, after an investigation into four total deaths. Fox Six hasn't gotten a response to a request for comment about the sit-in, which happened yesterday.
Wisconsin's attorney general attended training about the state's address confidentiality program in Appleton. The Safe at Home program gives Wisconsin residents who are facing abuse, stalking, or trafficking threats to keep their addresses private. Anyone enrolled in the program sends and receives mail at an assigned address different from their own, and gets their mail forwarded to them, free of charge. There are more than a thousand households in Wisconsin using the program, and more than two thousand participants.
It's the fourth-highest spring turkey hunting season on record in Wisconsin. The state Department of Natural Resources says hunters registered more than 50-thousand turkeys this year. That's more than 20-percent more than the average season. The turkey season started in mid-April and ended at the end of May. The deadline to register for a license for next year's season is in December.
There are guilty verdicts in the federal Feeding Our Future fraud trial in Minneapolis. The U.S. Attorney's Office says seven people conspired to steal about 250-million dollars from government nutrition programs meant for children during COVID. A jury found five of seven defendants guilty Friday. One jury member was dismissed after being offered 120 thousand dollars in cash to acquit the defendants. Another juror was let go after a family member asked if the judge was sequestering the jury because of the bribe.
A cow herd in Benson County is the first in Minnesota to test positive for the bird flu. The state's Board of Animal Health confirmed the flu this week. The farmer notified the state after one cow started showing signs of the bird flu, but later said 40 of his cows were sick. The Board of Animal Health says the risk of bird flu remains low in Minnesota, but the board is telling farmers to take precautions. Scientists say even if a cow has the bird flu, drinking milk that has been pasteurized is safe.
A meat processor is closing its Milwaukee-area facility. Strauss Brands announced Tuesday it’ll close its Franklin plant to move production of grass-fed beef products to Illinois. The company previously dropped veal and lamb products to focus exclusively on grass-fed beef. A notice sent to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development says the layoffs will affect 70 employees beginning in early August.
Minneapolis Airport ranks second on the list of 'Best Airports To Fly Out Of.' According to data by Air Help, MSP Airport only had 20 percent of flights disrupted, falling short to Salt Lake City's international airport with only 18 percent of flights disrupted. The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ranked last, with about 45-percent of flights being disrupted. The company bases its findings on data gathered from airports that dealt with the most and least flight disruptions before the start of the summer travel season.
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