The Durand-Arkansaw School Board is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include a discussion of the preliminary 2024-25 Budget, renewal of membership in the WIAA, and reports from district administration and building administrators. Tonight's meeting begins at 6pm in the board room at Durand-Arkansaw High School.
The Pepin County Board of Supervisors is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include annual reports from the Emergency Management, Land Conservation, and Health Departments, and budget modifications for the Quite Trails Grant for Pepin County Parks and Health Department Grant Agreements. Tonight's meeting begins at 7pm in the board room at the Pepin County Government Center in Durand.
There is now an arrest in a western Wisconsin homicide case, but there are still no details. The sheriff in Trempealeau County yesterday said deputies arrested 61-year-old Todd Gieck for the killing in Ettrick back on May 15th. But the sheriff's office has yet to say anything about just what happened, how the victim died, or why they were killed. The victim has been identified as 36-year-old Kyle Dahl of Ettrick. Prosecutors have not provided any details in the case either.
The National Weather Service has extended its flood warning for the Mississippi River in Buffalo and Wabasha Counties. The weather service says because of all the heavy rain in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Mississippi is expected to rise to nearly 13 feet by Monday. At 13ft the railroad underpass on Hwy 60 in Wabasha may be flooded, flooding may also be possible on Lawrence Boulevard and Main Street East in Wabasha.
Mayo Clinic is suing Eau Claire over its million-dollar tax bill. The hospital yesterday announced a lawsuit that challenges both the real estate tax and personal property tax bills from the city. Mayo says because it is a non-profit hospital, it is exempt from property taxes in Wisconsin. Eau Claire's attorneys say the exemption only applies to the hospital portion of Mayo's facilities in the city. Office space and parking lots, the city argues, can and should be taxed. This is the first time Mayo has sued Eau Claire over its taxes.
UW-La Crosse's former chancellor plans to try and keep his teaching jobs later today. Joe Gow is facing a disciplinary hearing today. He was fired as chancellor in late December after the university discovered he was making porn movies with his wife, and sharing them on the internet. Gow accepted his firing as chancellor but is fighting to save his job as a communications professor. He says he did nothing wrong. Gow questions why the UW can have a major in sexuality, but he can't keep his job because of his now public sex life.
HSHS says it will donate nearly 16 million-dollars in former donations to its hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls. The Hospital Sisters of St. Francis Foundation yesterday said the bulk of the money, nine million-dollars, will go to the Community Foundation of Chippewa County and Eau Claire Community Foundation. Each will get four-and-a-half million-dollars. HAHS says it will give nearly five million-dollars to the Monsignor Klimek Healing Presence Endowment, the Healing Place Endowment, and the Healing Place Fund. There will be another three million in other charitable donations, and then HSHS will give 150 thousand-dollars to former employees at Sacred Heart and St. Joe's.
Wisconsin doesn't want the bird flu to ruin the fair season this summer. The state's Department of Health Services and the state's Department of Agriculture yesterday said they both plan to monitor fairs across the state this year for the bird flu. There are outbreaks in other states where the flu has been found in dairy cows. Both DHS and DATCP say people need to be aware of staying healthy after visiting fairs, but there's no reason to be afraid. DHS says your best bet to stay healthy after visiting the fair is to wash your hands. Public health managers also say parents should keep kids away from animals that may look sick, whether that's at petting zoos or livestock at the fair.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections is identifying an inmate who was found dead in his cell at Stillwater Prison over the weekend. They say 22-year-old Dalmario Smith was unresponsive when he was discovered on Saturday. Staff began life-saving measures, but Smith was pronounced dead a short time later. Authorities believe he may have overdosed on synthetic drugs. Foul play isn't suspected.
It's a guilty plea and 30-days in jail for the man who brought a pair of guns to the Wisconsin Capitol last fall in an attempt to meet the governor. Court records show Joshua Pleasnick pleaded guilty about two weeks ago to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a firearm in a public building. The judge in the case gave him 30 days in the county jail, with work-release privileges. Pleasnick said he wanted to speak to Governor Evers about why men should be taken seriously when they want an order of protection against women. He first came into the Capitol with a pistol and returned later that night with a rifle. He was arrested both times.
No one knows just how much it will cost to look at the books in Milwaukee Public Schools. Governor Evers' office yesterday approved a short list of audit firms who may be chosen for both a financial and operational audit of Milwaukee schools. The list includes Baker Tilly, the firm that's already working on MPS' months-late financial audit. But no one knows how much the new audits will cost, or just how long they will take. The governor's office has said in the past that the audits will be paid for with unspent MPS money and leftover dollars from the federal government.
Minnesota's education ranking now stands at 19th place. That's according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This year's ranking is down from tenth place in 2019. Despite previous academic success, Rochester Public Schools has also seen a decline in student performance. Steps are being taken to increase student learning, including implementing the 2023 Read Act.
No Mow May is over, but Wisconsin's conservationists continue to think about the pollinators. The state's Department of Natural Resources is celebrating Pollinator Week this week. The DNR is asking people to think about bees butterflies and other pollinators when planting a garden, dealing with their landscaping, or just walking throughout the state. The DNR says planting native Wisconsin plants is one of the best things that you can do. So is providing shelter and water for pollinators with things like a brush pile and a bird bath. The biggest piece of pollinator advice, though, is to use fewer pesticides on your lawn and garden.
There are some unusual bug populations in Wisconsin this spring. UW-Madison Entomologist PJ Liesch tells WKOW TV that spongy moths, an invasive species, are dying off in large numbers. He says wetter weather conditions are prime for fungi that kill the species. Liesch says he's also gotten reports of more Japanese beetles than usual, and a scorpion in a Wisconsinite's basement. He says scorpions have been found in Wisconsin before for reasons such as recent travel or unusual weather and climate patterns. The scorpion is in a lab for further testing.
An unusual find for a Southeast Wisconsin landscaper. West Bend Police say the landscaper discovered what appeared to be a grenade buried beneath some shrubs Monday morning. The area was evacuated, and the Milwaukee County Bomb Squad removed the item, determined to be a deactivated grenade that may have been among the shrubs for some time. No one was hurt. Authorities are investigating.
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