The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include approval of an agreement for cybersecurity with Go Monthly IT and reports from the mayor and department heads. Tonights meeting begins at 5:30 at the Marten Center in Mondovi.
Due to an increase in illness among students, the Mondovi School District food kitchen is taking extra steps to reduce the risk of spreading illnesses. The district installed new sneeze guards over all cold foods, and is adding extra staffing servers during lunch periods where students normally serve themselves. All this week staff will serve the food for students. A reminder that if your student is not feeling well they should stay home.
A Chippewa Falls man is being charged with sexually assaulting an eight-year-old boy in Chippewa Falls. Elvin Lopez-Paz has been charged with three counts of sexual assault for having intercourse with a child under twelve years old. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. According to a criminal complaint, the victim told authorities that Lopez-Paz sexually assaulted him several times at a home in Chippewa Falls in December and he had to be medically treated after the assaults. The 22-year-old has no prior criminal record in Wisconsin.
The purchase of the L.E. Phillips Libertas Center by Lutheran Social Services may be on hold due to the funding freeze by the Federal Government. The President of LSS Hector Colon said that the group will continue to watch the developments in Washington and would reconsider purchasing the addition treatment center to protect LSS. The group would is also considering fundraising for the center and has set a goal of $3 million.
The Farm Angel Network of Western Wisconsin will be holding a winter social on March 2nd at the 715 Steer and Beer in Ellsworth. The event is an opportunity for farmers and rural residents to get together for some fellowship before the spring planting season. Ted Matthews a mental health professional specializing in farm mental health will be the featured speaker. The event begins at 2pm on March 2nd.
Officials in Eau Claire, Altoona, Lake Hallie and Chippewa Falls are asking residents for their opinion on future transportation needs. The Chippewa-Eau Claire Metropolitan Planning Organization released a survey to get public input on roads, walking and biking trails, public transit and more. The survey takes five-to-ten minutes to complete. It can be found on the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission website.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will be conducting prescribed burns across the state including here in Western Wisconsin. The department made the announcement on Monday saying crews will be on DNR properties where conditions are safe. By burning in the winter, the DNR can take advantage of ice and snow cover, which reduces the intensity of barren burns. The department will be posting signs to notify the public and they're asking people to avoid these areas when they're doing work. More details on current and planned prescribed burns can be found on the DNR Prescribed Fire Dashboard on DNRMaps.wi.gov.
Minnesota lawmakers are considering stricter cell phone bans in schools and classrooms across the state. Earlier this year, schools adopted a policy limiting cell phone access for students on campuses during the school day. A newly proposed bipartisan bill would require a complete ban on cell phones at schools K through eight and a classroom ban in high schools. Proponents cited increased anxiety, depression, body image issues, and more as a result of social media use, which is the primary use of cell phones.
A new rule for election observers in Wisconsin is awaiting action by lawmakers. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has drafted 12 pages of what observers may and may not do at polling places. Commission chair Ann Jacobs told the Assembly Elections Committee that there’s not a lot WEC can do if poll workers or voters have complaints regarding observers. But Republican legislative staffer and former state Representative Janel Brandtjen argued that the 60 day process to investigate complaints will take too long. Commissioner Don Millis, a Republican, told the Assembly Elections Committee that current state law is too vague, and could allow Republican observers to feel intimidated. Republican state Representative Paul Tittl of Manitowoc said the rule lacks any punishment for violations. Millis said WEC lacks authority to propose consequences, that’s up to lawmakers. Tittl drafted a bill doing that last session, but it was vetoed by Democratic Governor Tony Evers. The Committee can request changes to the rule or forward it to the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules.
Shannon and William Schmidtknect's 22-year-old son Cole died in January of last year. According to the lawsuit, their son stopped at a Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton and was told that the price of his inhaler had jumped from $66 to $539 out of pocket. He left the pharmacy without the medication and tried to manage his condition with a rescue inhaler. The lawsuit says he suffered a fatal asthma attack a few days later. The couple alleges Optum Rx violated Wisconsin law by raising the cost of the medication without a valid medical reason, and failed to notify their son so that he could talk to his doctor about alternatives.
At the Capitol, a Republican bill would reverse state Superintendent Jill Underly’s overhaul of how the Department of Public Instruction measures student achievement on state tests. Watertown Senator John Jagler co-authored the legislation and says we need to be expecting more out of our kids, not less. Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy defended the changes, saying they were made with input from educators. The bill would reset state report card standards to levels set in 2019-20, align grades 3-8 with national standards, and restore high school testing standards to levels set in the 2021-22 school year.
The bird flu is impacting the Milwaukee County Zoo. The zoo's Herb & Nada Mahler Family Aviary will be closed for the foreseeable future. Zoo veterinarian Christy Rettenmund tells Fox 6 Milwaukee it's is a precaution due to the HPAI virus. Rettenmund explains that the migratory bird season is usually in the spring, but due to changing weather patterns and unseasonably warm weather, more migration is going on. Concern about those migratory birds coming up to the zoo and bringing avian influenza with them has led to the closing of the aviary. The decision was also made after several recent bird deaths along the shores of Lake Michigan in Illinois were believed to be due to avian influenza.
Though cannabis isn’t yet legal in Wisconsin, classes on the cannabis industry are being offered at one UW campus. UW-Platteville began online cannabis education certificate programs this semester. The classes are presented through a partnership with national cannabis curriculum provider Green Flower. The lessons touch on such topics as the business of cannabis, cannabis healthcare and medicine, and how to grow the plant commercially. Students can gain experience in pot growing by practicing with hemp or similar plants. Green Flower says demand for the courses is high at the 60 schools nationwide offering them.
Some spearers are finding luck on Lake Winnebago this sturgeon season. The Wisconsin DNR says the fourth-largest fish ever was speared on the Winnebago system on opening day Saturday. The F4 female weighed 180-and-a-half pounds and was 79-point-three inches long. DNR reports a total of 169 lake sturgeon were speared across the system on Saturday.
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