With the review of federal grant funding for all departments, what does that mean for the future of the proposed community shelter and field house that was proposed by the Durand-Arkansaw School District? Superintendent Ryan Nelson says that it's wait and see at this point. The FEMA Grant would pay for nearly 90% of the project.
The Mondovi Police Department is hosting a drug take-back event on April 26th. Prescription and over-the-counter medications, inhalers, and pet medications will be accepted. Medications should be taken out of their container and placed in a clear plastic bag. The event will be from 11-2 at the Mondovi Police Department.
The Dunn County Highway Department is announcing that the seasonal weight restrictions will end on Monday. Highway crews will begin the process of removing all weight limit signs from county highways and plan to have the removal of the restrictions done by the end of the day on Monday. Restrictions do not end until the signs are removed. Motorists are reminded that town and city roads will have their own restrictions that may stay in place longer.
Motorists using the Prescott Lift Bridge will encounter traffic delays between Pierce County and Minnesota April 21-24. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will be conducting an inspection of the bridge. The bridge will be down to one lane from 7am-4pm during the week. The bridge inspection is weather-dependent.
Police
are investigating a crash that injured one person in Goodhue County.
The crash took place at the intersection MN Highway 56 and County
Road Nine Boulevard. One person was taken to the hospital with
injuries. The other passengers in the vehicles did not have any
injuries.
Nineteen people have been charged in a major drug bust in Eau Claire. Police arrested 19 people last week and they were formally charged yesterday. The house that was known to be a drug house was located at 1105 Barland Street. Police found almost 20 people in the house when they made the arrests. Police found numerous amounts of drugs along with drug paraphernalia and also stated the house was in poor living conditions. Many of the charged will appear in court next month.
City leaders, residents, and businesses discussed parking changes in downtown Eau Claire. A consultant completed a yearly study and is recommending changes to parking downtown. Two of the four parking ramps are deteriorating and will need improvements or be completely shut down soon. The recommendation is to have people pay for parking on the streets. They suggest a one dollar rate in the heart of downtown, and 50 cents as you move away from the heart of downtown. Businesses are concerned that it will keep people away if they have to pay. No proposal has been officially made, but city officials plan to keep talking about this next month.
The Taylor County Sheriff's Office is investigating two deaths in Taylor County. Police officials received a call Wednesday night that two people were severely hurt. When police arrived at the home on County Road M they found the two people dead. Police could not release any more information as they are still investigating how they died. Police did say there is no immediate threat to the public.
Democrats in Wisconsin are proposing a bill that would make a change to elections. The Petition Payment Prohibition Act would make it illegal to sign documents for payments during an election. This comes after Elon Musk paid two people one million dollars each for signing a petition to get more people to vote. Democrats are hoping to get support from across the aisle.
The chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin won’t seek another term. Ben Wikler’s current two-year term ends in June, and the 44-year-old Madison native said in a letter that he won’t seek a fourth. Wikler has had a successful tenure at the head of the state party, including raising more than $200 million since assuming the leadership role in 2019, and a string of victories in statewide elections, including Dane County Judge Susan Crawford’s recent state Supreme Court win. Wikler was edged out in the January election for Democratic National Committee chair by Minnesota’s Ken Martin. His successor will be elected during the state Democratic Party Convention June 14-15 in Wisconsin Dells.
At the Capitol, legislation requiring state employees to return to the office advances. The Assembly bill cleared a committee on a partisan vote this week. It would require state employees who worked in the office before the start of the COVID pandemic to return to in-person work full-time starting July 1st. It would exempt telehealth services and duties performed off-site before March 1st, 2020. Republican authors of the legislation say taxpayers deserve to know if state employees are doing their job well with maximum output. Opponents contend the work-from-home model has been a success and there's no need to force workers back into the office. Democratic Governor Tony Evers has said he'd veto the legislation.
The former warden of Waupun Correctional Institution will plead to misconduct in office. The Wisconsin State Journal cites court documents that reveal Randall Hepp has agreed to plead to a misconduct in office charge. Jeramie Chalker, a former correctional officer at Waupun had charges dismissed last week. Both were among nine prison employees originally charged in connection to the deaths of two Waupun inmates, 24-year-old Cameron Williams and 62-year-old Donald Maier. Governor Tony Evers most recent budget proposal includes more than $500 million to overhaul the Wisconsin prison system, including converting Waupun Correctional to a medium security facility focusing on job training for those incarcerated there.
A group of Central Wisconsin state lawmakers introduced legislation to combat sextortion, which is scammers targeting and coercing victims into sending explicit images. Wausau area Representative Pat Snyder says the bill is in memory of 15-year-old high school student Brayden Bohn, who committed suicide after falling victim to sextortion. The bill would also provide the victim or victim’s family with a payment from the Department of Justice’s crime victim compensation fund if the victim is injured or dies as a result of the crime. Fellow Republicans Brent Jacobson and Senator Cory Tomczyk have also signed on to the measure. Snyder says some Democrats have expressed support as well.
State lawmakers debate what flags should be allowed to fly over the Wisconsin Capitol. Fond Du Lac Republican Representative Jerry O'Connor authored a bill that would allow only the flags of the U.S. and Wisconsin. Flags including Pride, MAGA, and Juneteenth would be prohibited under the bill, which includes exceptions such as the POW/MIA flag.
A new peregrine falcon live cam is on in Wisconsin. Xcel Energy says the new nest cam is active in Ashland at the Bay Front Power Plant on Lake Superior. The species started nesting at the power plant more than a decade ago, and have returned every year since. Thirty-five falcons have been born at the nest, with one detected as far south as Texas