Friday, November 1, 2024

Local-Regional News Nov 1

 Motorists and homeowners in Southern Pepin County along Hwy 35 that use a railroad crossing will have to deal with the reconstruction of the crossings starting on Monday.  The BNSF is replacing the tracks and ties as part of routine maintenance.  Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener says the railroad has assured him that there will be a system in place to cross the tracks in case of an emergency.  The construction and closure of the crossings will happen from 7am-5pm.


The City of Durand is finanizling the proposed budget for 2025.  Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the city will look at pre-paying for a new squad car and purchase electronic voting books.  The total tax levy for 2025 is expected to be just over $772,000.  A public hearing on the budget will be held on November 20th.


Officials with Excel Energy say a fallen tree limb that fell on power lines was responsible for the Wednesday night outage that knocked out power to thousands.  The outage lasted about an hour and affected customers on the northeast side of the city and also parts of Altoona.  More than 39-hundred customers were affected by the outage.


Some numbers are in for Drug Take Back Day, Buffalo County collected over 80lbs of unwanted medications.  According to the Wisconsin DOJ, the state collected 54,949 lbs. of unused or expired meds during the Fall Drug Take Back Day.  In Spring 2024, there was 55,124 lbs. collected.  In Fall 2023, that number was 55,122 lbs.


Some deadlines for Wisconsin voters to be aware of.  In-person absentee voting in Wisconsin started October 22 and Sunday, November 3 is the last day municipal clerks can offer that option in the clerk’s office or satellite locations. Today by 5PM is the deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail or online. Voters mailing their absentee ballots or using a drop box need to be aware that they must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.


 Xcel Energy plans to invest billions to upgrade the poles in Minnesota. The upgrades should start by 2030. Over two-thirds of utility poles are more than 50-years-old. The aging poles have a rising failure rate, particularly during severe weather events. This has prompted Xcel to increase inspections and replacements. Xcel has already replaced 11 percent of the utility poles.  


 Daylight Saving Time is ending across Wisconsin and most of the U.S. this weekend.  Clocks will "fall back" one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, giving many people more time to sleep.  The current system used across the country was established with the Uniform Time Act of 1966.  There have been numerous efforts to end the practice at the federal level over the years but none of them have been adopted so far.


Wisconsin's Deer Gun Season is coming up later on this month.  The nine-day hunting period runs from November 23rd through December 1st.  Well over 400-thousand gun, bow, crossbow, sports, and patron licenses have been purchased across the state so far.  For more information on licenses, harvest registration, safety guidelines, and more go to D-N-R-dot-Wisconsin-dot-gov-slash-go-hunting.


Open enrollment for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act starts today in Wisconsin. Last year more than 254-thousand people signed up for health insurance on Healthcare-dot-gov in Wisconsin, setting a new state record. Wisconsinites will have until January 15 to enroll.  


A man from Western Wisconsin is going to prison for the rest of his life for sexually assaulting four young girls. Seventy-year-old Joseph Pierce Senior was found guilty for eight felonies in August. Three of his victims gave statements in court today, and one said the abuse started when she was five years old. Pierce had previously served 21 years in prison for another count of child sexual assault in Waupaca County. 


A man from Waukesha is accused of voting twice in both the 2018 and 2020 elections. The thirty-seven-year-old is facing two counts of election fraud after double voting in both Wisconsin and Florida. Prosecutors say he cast an absentee ballot in Florida in 2020, and also voted in person in Wisconsin in the same election. He'll appear in court next month.


Rich Minnesotans are spending plenty of money on the campaigns of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.  State donors have paid 24 million dollars to joint fundraising committees, PACs, and principal campaign committees for Harris and seven million dollars to Trump committees and PACs. The Pohlads, one of Minnesota's wealthiest families, had the largest impact on the Harris campaign with a donation of more than two million dollars.  Top GOP contributors include Coldspring Granite CEO Patrick Alexander and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.


The Minnesota Department of Transportation is getting some unexpected use out of a snowplow following a crash in Rochester.  Mn-DOT says a truck trying to get onto Highway 52 overturned yesterday morning, spilling corn across the roadway.  The agency called in a snowplow to clear the lanes before allowing traffic to move again.  The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital for treatment after the crash and investigators say he wasn't wearing a seat belt.


Minneapolis will be featured in the next season of the popular Netflix reality show Love Is Blind.  The announcement was made last night in Washington, D.C. on the dating program's reunion episode.  Three Minneapolis singles were introduced on the television show.  The eighth season will air on Valentine's Day.

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