The Durand City Council has approved moving forward with an organized farmers Market. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says the goal is to get people to come into town. The Market would be held on Mondays at Memorial Park, and vendors wanting to sell at the market would be charged a fee by the city to help promote the market.
The man who helped his son hide four bodies in rural Dunn County has been sentenced. Darren Osborne, who was found guilty of four counts of being party to hiding a corpse, was sentenced on Thursday morning to 16 years in prison with 8 years of extended supervision. In 2021, a farmer discovered the victims' bodies in a cornfield north of Wheeler.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is sharing more information about the man who was shot and killed by law enforcement in Chippewa Falls. On December 21st, 2024, 49-year-old Matthew Luke fired shots at law enforcement, which led members of the Eau Claire Regional SWAT Team to fire their weapons. Luke was hit and pronounced at the scene. The Chippewa County Sheriff's office had originally been called for a domestic abuse incident and Luke ran from the scene. He led police on a car chase and eventually crashed before shooting at a Chippewa County Sheriff's squad car. According to a press release the Department of Criminal Investigations is still reviewing evidence and will turn their findings over to the Chippewa County DA when they're done.
Some big changes could be happening at the Indian Motel in Chippewa Falls. The non-profit Hope Village is looking to buy the landmark motel and convert it into 27 affordable, single occupancy living spaces. The organization's goal is to prevent homelessness in the community with this project. Hope Village has secured over two-point-six-million-dollars in funds thanks to state grants. The next step is a public comment in front of city council and then the city will need to approve a permit for the remodel. That's scheduled for February 4th. If everything goes as expected, remodeling will begin this summer.
Chippewa Valley Technical College is offering free dental care for kids in February. During the "Give Kids a Smile" event, the college will provide free cleanings, x-rays, fluoride, dental sealants, fillings and extractions. The clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, February 7th at the Health Education Center on Clairemont Avenue in Eau Claire. Registration is required and there are limited spots available.
The advocacy group, Jonah, is helping the homeless in Eau Claire access resources. On Thursday morning, the group put on a "Connect" event, where they were offering food and winter gear through vendors across the Chippewa Valley. There were also parole officers for people to check in with and members of the register of deeds so people could get birth certificates and valid IDs. Jeanne Semb, the Housing Services Program Manager at Jonah, said these events are important because all these services are available on the spot and the homeless don't have to travel across town.
The Senate Commerce Committee has unanimously voted to advance the former Wisconsin 7th Congressional District representative to run the Department of Transportation. Panel Chair Texas Senator Ted Cruz says Duffy will work with both sides of the aisle to improve the country's infrastructure and address the challenges that arise in the years ahead. During his confirmation hearing last week, Duffy said he will focus on aviation and highway safety, and working on gaining back public trust in Boeing. The procedural vote passed by a count of 28-0, and the full body of the U.S. Senate still needs to vote on Duffy's confirmation.
Wisconsin volunteers with the American Red Cross are carrying on their aid efforts in southern California. The new Hughes fire took off in Los Angeles County earlier this week and burned more than ten-thousand acres in just two days. Audrey Erdmann is one of eight Wisconsin residents who travelled to California to help displaced people back on January tenth. She now says she is extending her stay. Another Wisconsin aid worker also just arrived in L.A. on Wednesday.
A woman accused of causing a southern Minnesota buggy crash that killed two children is likely to be tried in June. A settlement conference for Samantha Petersen was held yesterday in Fillmore County. No agreement on a possible plea was reached yesterday. Petersen is facing more than a dozen charges for the 2023 crash, including criminal vehicular homicide. Petersen's sister Sarah is also facing charges for allegedly trying to cover up her identical twin's role in the crash. A settlement conference in that case is set for next month.
Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation that would reverse new Department of Public Instruction state testing benchmarks. Those changes, announced last fall, included lowering the threshold for what is considered proficient and changing terms used to describe student performance. DPI started using "meeting expectations” rather than calling students “proficient,” while dropping use of “basic” and “below basic.” State Superintendent Jill Underly has said the new standards illustrate what students should know at a given grade level. The Republican bill would reset report card standards to levels set in 2019-2020, align grades 3-8 with national standards, and restore high school testing standards to levels set in the 2021-2022 school year. It would also require DPI to use the terms “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced” for pupil performance assessments.
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Milwaukee family is suing Kia America over the death of a loved one.
Forty-seven-year-old Marquis Hacket died in January of 2023 after
teen ran a red light in a stolen Kia and hit his car. Hacket's family
is now filing a civil lawsuit against Kia, arguing that they cut
corners and were aware of manufactured vehicles with "subpar
security measures," which the family says allowed the teen to
steal the vehicle. Hacket's family is seeking monetary damages from
Kia.
Wisconsinites heading south to help Houston dig out of a freak snowstorm. Milwaukee-area snow removal company Weber Landscaping sent sixteen men and eight trucks on a 20-hour trip to Texas Sunday morning to help the Gulf Coast community clear three to five inches of snow. In addition to bringing down the trucks and skid loaders to remove the snow for several Houston businesses, the Wisconsinites also had to bring their own salt and fuel. The snow also impacted the Milwaukee Bucks, whose Wednesday game against the New Orleans Pelicans was postponed after about a foot of snow covered the Big Easy.
New numbers show chronic wasting disease is substantially reducing the survival probability of white-tailed deer in Wisconsin. The Department of Natural Resources says it studied deer populations in northern Iowa, Dane and Grant counties starting in 2016. The DNR says CWD is suppressing deer population growth in Wisconsin, and could lead to population declines in areas where more female deer have the disease. More information about the study is available on DNR-dot-Wisconsin-dot-gov.
Minnesota's largest police association is suing the state Board of Peace Officers Standards and Training. The suit filed by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association claims the defendants illegally released the identities of 257 undercover officers, which put them and their families in jeopardy. Minnesota law classifies the personnel data of undercover officers as private. The officer's names and birth dates were given to an independent journalist. The data was also provided to a Chicago-based nonprofit database that shows police employment history. That data has since been removed.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is reminding car owners to keep an eye on their tire pressure as winter continues. Officials say the air pressure in a tire can go down by one pound per square inch for every ten degrees in falling outdoor temperature. Underinflated tires can lead to improper wear, reduced traction, and more flats, according to officials
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