Local-Regional News March 10

 

The Durand-Arkansaw Girls Basketball Team is headed to the WIAA State Tournament in Green Bay after defeating McDonell Central 41-26 Saturday Night in Altoona. Durand-Arkansaw Head Coach Darrin Lowenhagen says he happy for the team and is proud of the Durand Community for supporting the basketball program.  The Panthers will face St. Mary Catholic in the WIAA Division 4 State Semi-Final game on Thursday evening. WRDN will have coverage of the game on Thursday.

The Durand Park Board met recently to talk about the possibility of remodeling the band shell at Memorial Park. Durand Mayor Patrick Milliren says with the city so focused on the Tarrant Park Pool is was a good idea to look at other park needs in the city.  The Band Shell turns 100yrs old this year.

A person was rescued after falling through the ice in Eau Claire Sunday afternoon. According to the Eau Claire Fire Department, firefighters were called to Braun’s Bay Pavilion at 1:30 Sunday on a report of a person in the water. First responders used an ice rescue craft and brought the person to shore. Authorities are reminding everyone that the ice conditions are rapidly changing and are hazardous due to the warm weather.

La Crosse police are investigating a shooting that took place on the northside and left one person hurt. The shooting took place yesterday afternoon. When officials arrived on the scene, they found one person who was shot and transported them to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. In a press release, police said that this in an isolated incident. The shooting is under investigation and anyone in the area with a camera is asked to review their footage. If anything looks suspicious, you are encouraged to contact the police.

Hospital Sisters Health Systems is announcing investments in two Green Bay hospitals, almost a year after closing two hospitals in Western Wisconsin. The hospital says it's using 270-million dollars to expand and remodel St. Mary's and St. Vincent hospitals. CEO Bob Erickson says the health system is making a commitment in Green Bay, and will be there for the long haul. The HSHS closed Sacred Heart and St. Joseph's Hospitals last March, leaving 14-hundred workers without jobs. It cited operational and financial stresses as reasons for the closures.

Winona State University will have to do without a one-point-one million dollar grant designed to promote civic engagement. The U.S. Department of Defense terminated the award late last month. The grant was awarded last August under the Biden administration. The university started work this fall with a series of events on Promoting Civility Through Dialogue. The school also launched an internship program and was planning a speaker series this spring.

Dairy farmers and processors in Wisconsin and across the US will receive promised reimbursements under the Dairy Business Innovation Initiative grant program. The funding held up by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been released after intervention by groups including the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association, which called on members of Congress to release the funds they’d voted to approve. According to a release from the office of 3rd District Congressman Derrick Van Orden the funding was released by the USDA Friday afternoon. The pause to the program, which helps businesses use targeted grants to grow and develop new products, had caused uncertainty to 420 grant applicants.

A new weather forecasting tool is helping farmers manage crop diseases. A University of Wisconsin professor of plant pathology explains Blitecast. It's a tool that communicates risk value data based on temperature and moisture in the air. Farmers are particularly concerned over blight. Blight is a fungus-like water mold which can kill a plant in ten days that mainly impacts tomatoes and potatoes and can be managed with fungicides. The tool allows farmers to manage potential loss of crops, overspraying, labor and extra fuel costs.

Trump administration layoffs at the National Weather Service have experts concerned. “The Weather Guys,” UW Madison meteorology professors Jonathan Martin and Steve Ackerman, say any pullback of the severe weather forecasts provided by NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could put lives at risk. Ackerman says many employees being described as "probationary" are in fact experienced professionals at the agencies. Martin says the services provided by the Weather Service and NOAA cannot be easily or quickly replicated. There are NWS offices in La Crosse, Green Bay and Milwaukee Sullivan, and offices in the Twin Cities and Duluth serving western Wisconsin. The numbers to be let go at the Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration remain unclear.

Almost ten million dollars in unclaimed property is returned to Wisconsinites. The Department of Revenue says the money includes funds from bank accounts, insurance policies, and other forgotten accounts. Banks, credit unions and other institutions are required to report unclaimed property every November. Residents can check for unclaimed property at Revenue-dot-WI-dot-gov.

A man accused of smuggling guns from Wisconsin to the Mexican cartel is under arrest. Prosecutors say Roland Munoz was charged in 2021, and has been on the run since. He's accused of recruiting people to buy the guns for him and others to take them across the border in Texas. Five other people were also charged in connection to the operation. Munoz is facing as long as 20 years in prison and a million-dollar find if he's convicted.

A judge has ruled that woman who stabbed her friend years ago who wanted to act like the fictional "Slenderman" character will be released. Morgan Geyser will be released from a mental institution once the judge reviews her release plan. Geyser was 12 when she and another friend lured fellow 12-year-old Payton Leutner into a wooded area in 2014, stabbing her almost 20 times. Leutner survived and Geyser, now 22, is in the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Geyser's next hearing is March 21st. Once released, Geyser will go to a group home under supervision.

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill that will stop daylight saving time from happening in the state. The new bill is called "stop the clock." The bill would align Minnesota's time in accordance with standard time provided by federal law. An easier way of putting that: Minnesota would not spring forward an hour in the spring or fall back one hour in the fall. The bill was introduced Thursday and will go to the House State Government Finance and Policy next for discussion.

The community-based science program allows enthusiasts to conduct surveys for rare plants all over Wisconsin. The program is Wisconsin's largest source of rare plant data. Information collected by volunteers is used to assess plant population trends during state and national conservation efforts. Volunteers will be taught how to accurately estimate populations, assess habitat conditions, and use GPS to locate rare plant populations. Since 2013, volunteers have checked on the health and size of rare native plant populations in nearly every county in the state. More information is available on the DNR's website.