The Mondovi City Council is meeting tonight. Items on the agenda include discussion of the residency of a registered sex offender, review of a proposal from VPI Engineering and reports from the Mayor and department heads. Tonights meeting begins at 5:30 at the Marten Center.
The Lake City Police Department will be conducting training at Bluff View Elementary School this evening. The traing will be from 4-8pm and you may see a large presence of police vehicles at the school. This is for training purposes only.
The trial of a suspect charged in the killing of an Altoona man is underway in Eau Claire County. Brandon Gaston is charged with first degree homicide in the death of 79-year-old Dennis Schattie. Investigators believe Schattie was killed in Eau Claire -- though his body was found in the river near Rockford Illinois in April of 2022. Opening statements were heard in Gaston's trial yesterday. The defendant's former girlfriend -- Tracey Clark -- pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless homicide in the case last year.
Gas prices are continuing to fall in Western Wisconsin. Triple-A reports the average price of regular fuel in Eau Claire is now three-84 per gallon -- twelve-cents less than the price one week ago. In La Crosse, the average cost of a gallon of regular fuel is three-81 per gallon -- three-cents less compared to one week ago. The average cost of a gallon of regular fuel in the Badger State is three-94 per gallon.
A bill that would have provided some regulations on the siting of data centers was recently vetoed by Governor Evers. 92nd Assemblyman Clint Moses believes there is a chance to have another bill passed but its now campaign season. Moses cited a meat labeling bill as another example of areas where both sides of the legislature could come together but politics get in the way.
Republican state Senator Rob Hutton is criticizing leaders at the University of Wisconsin over a recent tuition hike. The UW Board of Regents has approved a tuition increase of two percent for the upcoming academic year. Hutton, who chairs the Wisconsin Senate's Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges, says the UW budget has grown by about three-billion dollars since 2021. The senator calls the tuition hike "disappointing", saying UW officials need to make cuts to keep costs affordable for students.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is sharing results from the 2026 spring turkey hunt. Officials say hunters registered over 47-thousand birds between April 12th and May 26th. The harvest for this year was up about eight percent over the five-year average. DNR says turkey numbers remain stable across all 72 counties in Wisconsin.
A state prison death lawsuit is settled. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections will pay $3.75 million to the family of Donald Maier. The 62-year-old died in February 2024 at Waupun Correctional Institution. His death was ruled a homicide, with probable malnutrition and dehydration cited as causes. A federal lawsuit alleged prison staff repeatedly shut off water to Maier’s cell while he was in solitary confinement and ignored his serious medical and mental health needs. The family also claimed disability discrimination. The state has not admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
President Donald Trump, at a Chippewa County farm Friday, said the war with Iran is “nearly settled” and fuel and fertilizers prices will go down. Trump was joined by 3rd District Congressman Derrick Van Orden, Congressman and Republican candidate for governor Tom Tiffany and US Senator Ron Jonnson to promote the administration’s efforts on behalf of farmers and rural Wisconsin.
A newly created panel will consider updates to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recusal rule. In a 4-to-3 vote, the court’s liberal majority approved creation of the special review committee to determine when judges should step aside from cases. The panel of judges, attorneys and campaign finance experts is expected to take up to a year to complete its work. This comes after retired judges pushed for stricter recusal rules, citing concerns about impartiality. Chief Justice Jill Karofsky pointed to strong calls for more review, and other liberal justices say clearer standards and greater transparency are needed as public trust in the judiciary declines.
Human remains are found in a northern Wisconsin community. The Forest County Sheriff's Office says the unidentified remains were discovered on a property on Silver Lake in Laona, near Crandon. According to a report from WJFW-TV in Rhinelander, a man who recently purchased the property was digging the foundation for a lakeside cabin Wednesday when the skeletal remains were found. A neighbor who lived across the street from the property told the station that two bodies were found there. Several state and local agencies have joined the sheriff’s office in an investigation of the find.
A congressional report is accusing Minnesota leaders of ignoring warnings of widespread fraud in federally funded social programs as early as 2019. The 205-page study was released today by the Republican-led House committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The study also mentioned that Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison had the authority to stop payments and ban fraudulent providers but failed to do so. There were also allegations of retaliation and discrimination against state workers who tried to raise concerns. Committee Chair James Comer is also urging the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to conduct a review of Minnesota's social services programs going as far back as 2019.
Minnesota's 511 traveler information service is getting a major reboot. The Department of Transportation is testing a cleaner version of the website and app. The new design is meant to make traffic cameras, crashes, closures, road construction and weather alerts easier to find. Users can try the pilot version now and give feedback through a survey. The state says the revamped system could go live by fall.
Wisconsin's Peninsula State Park is being named one of the greatest state parks in the nation. The area is ranked at number three on USA Today's 2026 10Best list. The Door County park is a popular destination for tourists, featuring 400 campsites, 20 miles of hiking trails, a summer theater, and more. Minnesota's Gooseberry Falls State Park and Mohican State Park in Ohio were ranked at numbers one and two on the list.
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