A western Wisconsin meat processor will expand thanks to a $1.5 million USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Grant. JM Watkins in Plum City will use the money to build a new facility just outside of Plum City. Owner Brandon Clare says the expansion will triple their processing capacity. Groundbreaking for the new facility is this August with construction to be completed by March of 2025.
A shutdown Prevea clinic will be reopened. The vacant building in Mondovi is being bought by Bellin and Gunderson Health System, who are changing their name to Emplify Health. They say the Mondovi clinic will be affiliated with Gunderson Tri-County Hospital and Clinics in Whitehall and will start seeing patients by this November. H-S-H-S and Prevea clinics shut down all of their Western Wisconsin hospitals and clinics this spring.
Severe storms moved through Wabasha, Dakota, and Goodhue Counties last night. The National Weather Service says 1.75 inch hail was reported near Plainview, while quarter inch hail was reported near Kellogg. Heavy rain accompanied the storms as there were reports of up to 4 inches of rain causing flash flooding along the Dakota and Goodhue County border. Cooler weather today before it warms back up for the weekend.
Prosecutors have cleared an Eau Claire police officer in a shooting from back in May. The D.A.'s office yesterday said the officer was justified in firing at an armed man who pointed a gun at her. Thomas Burback was grazed by a bullet and survived the shooting. Investigators say given the totality of the circumstances, that Burbank was armed, pointed his gun at the officer, was drunk, and had just gotten into a fight with his wife, the officer was justified in firing her weapon.
The 150th Buffalo County Fair begins today. Judging for many 4-H and FFA projects will be today including the Junior Swine Show starting at 5pm. A tractor pull is scheduled for Friday night along with the junior livestock auction. WRDN will have video coverage of the swine, beef and dairy shows along with the livestock auction on the video streaming page of our website along with Ntec Channel 99.
It's Eau Claire. Vice President Kamala Harris is coming to Eau Claire next Wednesday with her running mate. There's no word who that will be, but we at least now know where Harris will be making her campaign stop. Next week's visit will be the first time she's been to Eau Claire. The campaign rally will be in Eau Claire, sometime between noon and 6 p.m.
The man convicted of killing a teenager on the Apple River two years ago will spend the next two decades in prison. A judge in St. Croix County yesterday sentenced 54-year-old Nicolae Miu to 20 years behind bars. A jury convicted Miu back in April of killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman during a fight on the river. Miu was also convicted of slashing four other teens. Miu said he was looking for his phone when the teens attacked him. He claimed self-defense, but the jury disagreed. Miu's lawyers said the case is 'a tragedy all around.'
Minnesotans in 19 counties hit hard by summer flooding can now apply for federal aid. U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith released a statement yesterday that FEMA has approved financial aid for residents impacted by the June flooding. Affected counties include Blue Earth, Cook, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Cook, and Waseca. Residents can apply online for individual assistance at disaster-assistance-dot-gov.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office is offering a reward for information that leads to the location of a missing woman. The sheriff's office announced the five-thousand-dollar reward for information about Nikki Anderson yesterday. Anderson was last seen leaving her home in Randolph Township on July 6th. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office as soon as possible.
There aren't a lot of specifics in the action report from Governor Evers' AI task force. The Governor's Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence released its report yesterday. It focuses on the 'guiding principles to promote ethical decision-making related to AI,' but the task force didn't say just what that means. Evers' AI task force looked at artificial intelligence and the state's workforce. A task force from lawmakers is looking at the dangers that AI presents to Wisconsin.
According to a DWD report, there are not enough registered nurses in Wisconsin to meet current demand, and the shortage is predicted to grow if unaddressed. Two models in the report predict a deficit of between 12,000 and 19,000 nurses by 2040. DWD evaluated several factors such as high vacancy rates of registered nurses in hospitals and low unemployment rates for nurses. The report says possible approaches to addressing healthcare workforce challenges include placing extra emphasis on retaining nurses, making it possible for nurses to care for more patients, and supporting public health to reduce the number of patients.
Insurance premiums for workers' compensation in Wisconsin continue to decline. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development says starting in October, companies will pay ten-point-five percent less on average for workers' compensation. That totals about 206-million dollars in savings over the next year statewide. Specific changes in insurance premiums for employers vary based on factors like injury risk exposure. Workers comp pays for medical expenses and lost wages for employees who were injured at their workplace.
Wisconsin gets federal funding for apprenticeships. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development announced Tuesday it will receive just over a million dollars through the U.S. Department of Labor's State Apprenticeship Expansion created under President Biden's Investing in America program. DWD says the grant will grow Wisconsin's Registered Apprenticeship program which allows participants to earn wages while they gain the know-how for a high-skill, high-paying job. Last year, participation in the program broke a record with nearly 17,000 apprentices statewide.
A 19-year-old man is sentenced for a crash that killed a 13-year-old Reedsburg girl as she was about to board a school bus. Kevin Green of Platteville tearfully apologized to the family of Evelyn Gurney in Sauk County Court Wednesday morning. Green was given 4 years probation, with 3 months in jail, along with fines and community service. Green's license has also been revoked for a year. The 7th grader was killed the morning of May 12th of 2023 while she was standing in her driveway off Highway 23/33. Prosecutors say that Green had been texting and speeding leading up to the crash.
An organ transplant program at the University of Wisconsin Health has the highest one-year survival rate nationwide. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients says the UW Health Lung Transplant Program has about a 95-percent rate of survival one year post-operation. The national average rate is about 88-percent. The program also has a shorter waiting period; the average national wait time is one month, while UW's is twelve days.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is seeking a rehearing from a federal appeals court regarding the decision to allow 18 to 20-year-olds to openly carry firearms in the state. Ellison is requesting the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the ruling made by a three-judge panel in July. The attorney general argues that public safety benefits from banning open carry for this age group. The case has sparked debate over gun laws and public safety in Minnesota.
Award-winning food and drink at the Wisconsin State Fair. These are the winners of the fair’s 11th annual Sporkies and Drinkies. For food, Deep-Fried Lemonade Bites from Saz’s Barbecue won the Sporkies top spot. The deep-fried dish dips Hawaiian sweet rolls stuffed with a lemonade curd filling into a French toast batter. It’s then topped with sugar and icing. The Drinkies winner for best non-alcohol beverage was the Fairway Fusion, which blends equal parts sweet tea and lemonade, a mix of pineapple and key lime juices, and a splash of coconut syrup. The Fair begins Thursday for an 11-day run in West Allis.
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