Local-Regional News Nov 10

 

A Dunn County man is accused of using social media to upload child pornography. Colt Eastman is charged with ten counts of possession of child pornography. Investigator say they found sexual photos of underage girls uploaded to his Snapchat account. During law enforcement interviews, Eastman admitted to looking at images of young children and having some of these images on his phone. He's scheduled to appear in Dunn county Court on December 30th for an initial appearance.

One person was arrested after a high speed chase in Trempealeau County Sunday. According to the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a call of a man threatening to kill several people. Deputies located Alec Muller of Blair traveling on Hwy 53 in the township of Preston and attempted to pull him over. Muller refused to stop and a chase ensued at speeds of up to 125mph before the vehicle broke down. A loaded handgun was found in the vehicle and Muller was taken into custody on charges of fleeing an officers, stalking while armed, battery, strangulation, obstruction of an officer and disorderly conduct.

One person was stabbed in an incident in the Village of Trempealeau on Friday. According to Trempealeau police, officers responded to a reported stabbing at a residence in the village. Police executed a search warrant and a suspect was arrested in Winona and will be extricated back to Wisconsin. Another suspect was also arrested and the victim was taken to a Winona Hospital.

Security Financial Bank is warning customers of an increse in spoofed phone calls. These calls may appear to come from Security Financial Bank, but they are actually from scammers attempting to gain access to business accounts. These fraudulent calls are part of a broader scam trend affecting many financial institutions across the country. The callers often pretend to be bank representatives and may ask for sensitive information – such as online banking credentials, verification codes, or approval for ACH or wire transfers. They may even claim to have detected a suspicious payment to make their call sound convincing. Do not give out any personal information if you receive a suspicious call or text and contact SFB Directly.

The Eau Galle Town Board is meeting tonight. The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2026 Budget then after the public hearing the board will meet to and consider a resolution to exceed state levy limits and to approve a total tax levy of $363,241. Tonights meeting begins at 6pm at the Eau Galle Town Hall.

Pepin County Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to ring bells for the Annual Red Kettle Campaign. Pepin County will kick off the Annual Red Kettle Campaign on November 15, 2025.  Volunteers are needed at Durand Fresh Market, Villa Bellezza, Consumer Cooperative in Pepin and at Bank of Alma. 85% of the funds contributed to local kettles are available to be redistributed to those in need of assistance throughout Pepin County via local law enforcement and/or Human Services. For more information on volunteering call 715-279-3720.

The search for a missing Barron County woman has reached a tragic end. Sixty-year-old Rice Lake resident Toni Peterson was reported missing last Monday. Her body was found Friday afternoon in the Town of Ashland. There has been no word on Peterson's cause of death though authorities say letters had been left for members of her family.

Prison time for a Chippewa Falls man who investigators say sexually assaulted children. Prosecutors say that two young victims were assaulted multiple times by defendant Thomas Buetow who previously entered a no contest plea to charges back in July. On Friday, Buetow was sentenced to a term of 30 years in prison.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of a destructive house fire in Chippewa Falls. Crews arrived Sunday morning at a home on Irvine Street to find the residence engulfed in flames. The home's resident had already managed to escape. No one was hurt.

Scammers are targeting utility customers as winter approaches. Wisconsin Public Service spokesman Matt Cullen says they've been getting reports of calls from their entire customer base, from residential to commercial, and even religious organizations. The scammers are using old tactics, mainly threatening to turn off power and gas if you don't pay them immediately over the phone. Cullen says the most important thing you can do is hang up and contact WPS directly to check the status of your account, saying it's not rude, it's safe. Also remember legitimate businesses will never ask for immediate payment in the form of gift cards or crypto.

Lawmakers order an audit of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Wednesday’s unanimous vote in the ten-member Joint Legislative Audit Committee clears the way for an audit of DPI’s policies on revocation and suspension of educator licenses. It the week’s second appearance before a legislative committee for state Superintendent Jill Underly, who earlier announced a new online database listing educators with suspended and revoked licenses. All of this was prompted by a Capitol Times report finding the agency had investigated more than 200 teachers, aides, substitutes and administrators between 2018 and 2023 following accusations of sexual misconduct or grooming.

US Senator Ron Johnson is ready terminate a tactic used to delay votes on certain legislation, something President Donald Trump called for this week. Warning what would happen if Democrats were to eliminate the filibuster rule, the president said it's time for Republican to "terminate the filibuster.” Johnson agreed with Trump during an appearance on Newsmax, saying Trump is "100% correct.” This represents a reversal for the Wisconsin Republican, who three years ago accused Senate Democrats trying to kill the filibuster of wanting “absolute power.” The rule requires 60 votes to pass certain legislation. With a narrow 53-seat majority, Republicans require Democrats for a government funding bill to pass and end the shutdown.

More than 17-hundred people have had their protected health information mistakenly released by the state's Department of Corrections. Officials admitted the data was inadvertently disclosed while responding to a public records request. The DOC says it discovered the error in September after the information was released in July. Files included names, mental health diagnoses, and other sensitive details. Officials acknowledged the breach violated HIPAA and that they are notifying those affected.

Full November benefits are available to Wisconsin Foodshare recipients. A spokesperson for the office of Governor Tony Evers confirmed Friday that more than $104 million in benefits were paid to 337,000 households at midnight. According to the Evers administration, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services acted to release federal SNAP funding after federal judges ordered the Trump administration to make full payments, and before the Trump administration sought to block them. The Trump White House argues it lacks sufficient funds for full benefits and that the issue stems from congressional inaction amid the government shutdown. If the federal shutdown continues into next month, Wisconsin and other states will again face a halt to food assistance payments.

Minnesotans are filing for bankruptcy at a high clip. Filings statewide have increased by more than 20 percent each of the past three years, which is higher than the national average. LSS Financial Counseling, which is a program of the nonprofit Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, is seeing clients with much higher debt compared to previous years due to higher interest rates. The program has suggested bankruptcy legal services to twice as many clients this year as it did in all of 2024.