The state of Wisconsin is looking into the weekend's deadly police shooting in Chippewa County. The shooting happened Saturday night in the town of Lafayette. The sheriff's office originally got a call about a domestic violence situation. Before they arrived, they say one of the suspects sped off. When deputies stopped him a short time later, they say he started shooting at them. Eventually the Eau Claire County Regional SWAT team was called in. That's when police say the suspect started shooting at the SWAT team, and they fired back. Those are the shots that killed the suspect. The Department of Justice is looking into the chase and the officer-involved shooting.
One person was injured in a single vehicle accident in the town of Arcadia on Saturday morning. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Department, Manuel Ortiz of Austin, MN was traveling on Hwy A near Hwy 93, when he lost control of the vehicle, went over a driveway and the vehicle went airborne and rolled onto its side. Ortiz was taken to the hospital, and was later charged with Operating While Intoxicated.
Amtrak's new Borealis train became stuck for almost four hours this weekend near Hastings, almost 20 miles from its destination. Some 300 travelers were on board at the time the train became stuck late Saturday night. Amtrak officials blamed the problem on a switching issue. The Borealis launched in May as the second Amtrak train to provide daily service between St. Paul and Chicago.
A Chippewa County man is found guilty of sexual assault. Raymond Buchli of Arizona was found guilty by of a jury of four out of five charges. Prosecutors say the victim was asleep then he began assaulting them. Buchli will be sentenced in Chippewa County in March.
Eau Claire's city manager is seemingly blaming the D.A's office for last week's deadly stabbing at the Do Dodge Inn. The city manager's office took to its website with a response to questions about how Anthony Jackson was not in jail or prison. Jackson has dozens of arrests, at least 26 in Eau Claire alone. The city manager's office says once those arrests happen, however, it's not up to the city to decide what happened. The city manager said those decisions are made by the District Attorney, and after that by judges.
Both the state and Barron County's public health managers are keeping a close eye on the people who worked at the poultry farm that saw Wisconsin's first human case of the bird flu. The state's Department of Health Services on Wednesday reported that a man who works at the farm has come down with the flu. No one is sure how or just when. The man is being treated and monitored. DHS says the man had direct contact with a flock of birds that tested positive for the flu. The state says there does not appear to be a risk of anyone else getting sick.
Two men are sentenced for a drive-by shooting that killed another man in Eau Claire. Prosecutors say Michael Purnell and Jamon Sullivan killed Christopher Conner two years ago after an argument at a bar. Purnell was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday, including time served. Sullivan gets two years of probation. Two other men involved in the murder have already been sentenced. Kemone Golden, who prosecutors believe pulled the trigger, was sentenced to eleven years.
A Sparta woman has been sentenced to 8yrs probation in connection with starting a fire at the Sparta Walmart last year. 18yr old Emma Smith plead guilty to Arson of Property and criminal damage to property in Monroe County Court. In addition to the probation, Smith must serve 60 days in jail without Huber privileges. In December of last year, Smith started a fire inside of the Sparta Walmart causing over $7 million in damages.
$2 million in grants is going towards housing assistance in Wisconsin. More than 50 organizations will get funding from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to improve emergency shelters, transitional residences, and extremely low-income housing. Governor Tony Evers says expanding access to affordable housing remains a priority, and the grants will provide critical resources to those who need them and help foster safer spaces for Wisconsinites. Over the last five years, more than 17,000 affordable housing units and more than 26,000 housing units have been built across the state.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation calls 2024 a successful. In 2024, WisDOT moved forward 380 improvement projects valued at more than $1.3 billion. WisDOT also launched four new programs including a driver education grant, electric vehicle infrastructure projects, a bridge inventory program, and its Agricultural Roads Improvement Program. WisDOT launched the new Amtrak Borealis service in 2024, the first passenger rail expansion in Wisconsin in 22 years. The Borealis doubles service between the Twin Cities and Chicago with eight stops in Wisconsin. WisDOT also welcomed Wisconsin's first female secretary of transportation, Kristina Boardman.
A former Wisconsin supreme court justice continues to deny accusations of ethics violations. Mike Gableman says sanction recommendations from the state Office of Lawyer Regulations are unfounded and have no merit. O L R accuses Gableman of lying to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, disrupting court proceedings and violations of Wisconsin's open records laws while he led an unproductive investigation into the 2020 presidential election. Gableman is offering an affirmative defense, saying one or more of those claims does not actually violate the state's rules on professional conduct for lawyers.
Lawmakers are furious with the UW for the latest move on university construction. The state Senate this week voted down about 70 million-dollars in funding for a handful of construction projects at the university. Republican leader Devin LeMaheiu said Republicans scuttled the money because the university refused to answer their questions, and seemed to be trying to rush the construction projects through without being honest. One of those projects is UW-Madison's engineering building. The university is not saying what the delay means for the building. LeMahieu said Republicans will consider releasing the money, but only if the UW comes back to the statehouse with answers and honesty.
Prison time for a 12th drunk driving conviction. 59-year-old Jon Miner of Tomah pleaded no contest to charges on Thursday and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Miner was pulled over for speeding in April of this year and admitted to a Kaukauna police officer that he was drunk. He then took a swig of vodka from an open bottle before his arrest. Miner, whose drunk driving convictions date back to 1997, apologized in court and said he knows he can't beat his alcoholism on his own.
The investigation into Madison's school shooter is now looking at TikTok. An account that may have belonged to Natalie Rupnow contains all manner of violent images and content. The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday said it found the account. The ADL says it connected the account to Rupnow through a geotag. The account has just two original videos, but has reposts of several violent themes. One of them links to posts about the man who's accused of killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO. That post says 'When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive.'
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is reminding residents to use caution when heading out onto the ice this winter. DNR is urging people to measure ice thickness before walking or driving on it to go ice fishing or enjoy other activities. They say no one should go on ice under four inches and it takes about five inches to support a small ATV or snowmobile. A large truck with a wheel house shelter needs at least 20 inches of ice, according to DNR.
The Wisconsin State Patrol is paying tribute to two retired K-9 officers who died last week. On Facebook Friday, the State Patrol said K-9 Cirus had passed away December 12th at the age of 12. Cirus spent eight years with the State Patrol, conducting narcotics detection sweeps that resulted in significant seizures of illegal contraband. Also passing is K-9 Nora, who died last week at the age of 13. Nora had a 9-year career of detecting large amounts of contraband in the Northcentral and Northwest regions.
Add this to the scientific resume at UW-Eau Claire. The university yesterday said a team of students helped discover a group of flesh-eating squirrels in California. The researchers studied the carnivorous squirrels for 12 years, and found that it is common for them to hunt and eat smaller woodland creatures like voles. UW-Eau Claire professor Jennifer Smith says this is the first time anyone has studied flesh-eating squirrels. She said the work from the team in Eau Claire is groundbreaking.
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