The Family Resource Center of Buffalo and Pepin County has a new location in Durand. The Family Resource Center supports the adults in children’s lives. Lindsey Kaufman says the new location in Durand will offer play areas for toddlers and pre-school children. The new center is located at 309 3rd Avenue West in Durand and will have an open house on Monday from 10-Noon and 4-6.
Buffalo County is again offering an Ag and Household Hazardous Clean Sweep collection program for residents, businesses and farms. The event will be on May 10th from 8-1 at the Mondovi Recycling Center. Residents and farmers may bring their materials to the Mondovi site at no cost thanks to a grant from the WI Department of Agriculture. Proof of residency will be required. For more information contact Buffalo County Recycling.
A town of Weaton man suffered serious burns due to a brush fire on Thursday. According to authorities, a septic service driver noticed the fire at 10335 Hwy X and found the elderly man in the fire and quickly removed him before fire crews arrived. The man suffered burns over 40% of his body. The cause of the fire and the circumstances of how the man ended up in the fire are still under investigation.
A Missouri sex offender is reaching a plea deal for child sex crimes in Dunn County. Prosecutors say 56-year-old Joseph Gladstone was seen touching himself in a Walmart parking lot while watching a nine-year-old girl. He is pleading no contest to lewd behavior and possession of an electronic weapon, and two other charges are being dropped as part of the plea deal. Gladstone will spend fifty days in jail and have two years on probation.
A man who trespassed and brought a gun into an Eau Claire elementary school has been arrested. According to a police report, authorities were called out to Putnam Heights Elementary School after a staffer reported a man who was banned from the school was trying to get in. The school was put in "secure" which means no one can enter or leave. The suspect left the area, but police located him and made a traffic stop. Police found a loaded handgun in the car. The man will make his initial court appearance later today.
There has been an arrest in the case of a 2011 death of a baby in Winona. According to the Winona County Sheriff’s Department, 43yr old Jennifer Nichole Baechle was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of the newborn. The baby, named Baby Angel was found in the Mississippi River in 2011. Investigators learned the identity of the mother after receiving a lead from the nonprofit Firebird Forensics Group.
A Tomah man is facing multiple charges after being accused of sexually assaulting a child almost two decades ago. Craig Howard Smith was charged Monday and if he is convicted, could face up to 45 years in prison. Court documents show the victim, who was in seventh grade, came to live with the Smith family after her parents separated. After she moved in, she told police that the assaults began and continued for many years. Smith has been released on a 10-thousand-dollar bond and will be back in court for a preliminary hearing in June.
A $1 million federal grant to promote well water testing in central Wisconsin has been eliminated by The Department of Government Efficiency. The EPA-funded program was awarded to the Wisconsin DNR and aimed to serve rural, Hmong [[ mung ]], and Hispanic communities. It provided education on water safety, fish consumption, and health risks. DOGE canceled the grant in March, leading to six staff cuts at community outreach organizations.
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is calling on the Trump administration to halt plans to close Social Security field offices in Wisconsin. The Department of Government Efficiency had proposed closures and staffing cuts but faced public backlash. Baldwin warns rural seniors and veterans could lose access to critical services. She's joined by more than 40 senators demanding the offices remain open.
Legislation that could help identify Wisconsin’s Missing in Action will be reintroduced this session. Tuesday was Veterans Day at the Capitol, and Jordan Tilleson with the Wisconsin VFW spoke about the importance of the University of Wisconsin Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project, calling it important for MIA families and for the mental health of surviving veterans. The volunteer group generally receives no state or federal funding, and searches for missing personnel as assigned by the Department of Defense. Representative Christine Sinicki said her bill would establish a program to allow the UW team to focus on Wisconsin MIAs. Currently they must search for the MIAs assigned to them by the Department of Defense. There are approximately 81,000 Americans who remain missing from World War 2, Korea and Vietnam. Roughly 1500 of those are from Wisconsin. This will be the fourth session in which the Milwaukee Democrat has introduced the bill to provide annual funding for teams to search specifically for Wisconsin’s Missing in Action.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has revoked dealer licenses for 35 auto dealers statewide following investigations into illegal activity. Violations included selling directly to consumers, failing to maintain a business facility, and operating without a required security bond. The majority of revocations were finalized on April 5th and 6th following hearings and a 30-day appeal period. Dealers in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Beaver Dam, and Elkhorn were among those cited. WisDOT says security bonds are required by law to protect consumers from fraud and ensure accountability in the auto sales industry.
Underage tobacco and vape sales in Wisconsin decreased in 2024. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports that rates dropped from 13.6% in 2023 to 11.8% in 2024. Data shows tobacco and vape shops sold to underage consumers at a 30% rate, higher than gas stations and other types of retail outlets. Wisconsin is one of just eight states that has not changed its state law to match a federal law that raised the legal age for tobacco sales to 21, which DHS says has caused confusion and enforcement challenges statewide.
A federal monitor says more children are being held in Wisconsin's youth prisons than earlier this year. The federal task force that monitors Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools in northern Wisconsin says there are about 30 more residents at the facilities than in January. W J F W TV in Rhinelander reports that agents say the state should be doing more to use administrative justice to handle youth crime. However, staffing levels are up, and the state is meeting 90 percent of the goals the federal government wants in the wake of the 2017 investigation that started the monitoring.
Over 10 million trees were planted in Wisconsin last year. Governor Tony Evers announced the milestone as part of an update on Wisconsin's Trillion Trees Pledge. Evers says the state also conserved over 57,000 acres of forestland in 2024. In 2021, Evers pledged to plant 75 million new trees and conserve 125,000 acres of forest by the end of 2030, but he upped that goal last year to 100 million trees. The recently announced milestone means Wisconsin has reached 40% of its tree planting goal and 60% of its forest conservation goal.
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