Memorial services for a fallen Wisconsin State Patrol officer are being announced. Trooper Brad Ritger was injured in the line of duty on September 21st near the Dunn County / Eau Claire County line. He died this past Saturday. A public visitation service for Trooper Ritger will be held this Friday at Chippewa Valley Bible Church in Chippewa Falls. A private funeral service will be held on Saturday.
Wisconsin is reporting more than 250 cases of measles across the state. According to local health officials, the majority of the 258 total cases are concentrated in southwestern counties, including Grant and Lafayette. Meanwhile, northern Wisconsin has confirmed a handful of cases in Marathon and Chippewa counties. State health officials say those northern cases stem from out-of-state travel and are not linked to the outbreak in the southwest.
The man accused of carrying a gun outside of Putnam Heights Elementary School in Eau Claire in April of 2025 has been found competent to stand trial. Andrey Sichuga will now face the gun charges along with resisting an officer and disorderly conduct after completing treatment. A plea hearing is set for next week in Eau Claire County Court.
Bond is being set at a million dollars for a suspect charged in a fatal shooting in La Crosse. Fifteen-year-old Rashied Schuelke was shot last Thursday afternoon near 7th and Hood streets. The victim later died at a local hospital. Sixteen year-old Antonio Johnson was later arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Bond was set for Johnson Wednesday in La Crosse County.
Agriculture leaders and local officials are celebrating the groundbreaking of a new soybean processing facility in Evansville. Agribusiness giant CHS is building the plant to boost domestic processing capacity for soybean oil and meal used in food, animal feed and renewable fuels. Industry leaders say the project marks a significant financial investment in Wisconsin's agricultural economy. Construction is now underway and company officials expect the new facility to be fully operational in about two years.
The Friends of the Durand Public Library’s project digitizing past newspapers is continuing. Newspapers in the collection include The Courier-Wedge, old editions of The Home Mirror, Durand Times, Pepin County Courier, The Entering Wedge and Durand Weekly Times. Donations are still being accepted and more copies will be added as the process continues. Visit community history archives dot com slash places slash durand community library to begin searching.
The Durand Youth Fishing Contest has announced the 2027 dates. The contest will be July 28 through July 31st with the contest picnic on August 1 at Memorial Park in Durand. The contest will be the same week as the Buffalo-Pepin County Fair.
As some Wisconsin communities drop contracts with license plate reader company Flock Safety, experts are raising concerns about the future of surveillance technology. Texas Christian University criminal justice professor Johnny Nhan says license plate readers could eventually be linked with artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and automated drone technology, creating powerful tracking networks. Meanwhile, researcher Steven Keener of Christopher Newport University says studies show the cameras are more heavily concentrated in higher-poverty and predominantly Black neighborhoods. Both experts say local policymakers will play a key role in setting limits and oversight as the technology continues to evolve.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is warning residents about a new scam targeting drivers. Officials say scammers are making calls and leaving voicemails claiming people have unpaid traffic citations that require immediate attention. The messages include a fake link directing victims to make a payment for the supposed violation. Transportation officials stress that the notices are fraudulent and should not be trusted. Anyone who receives one of these messages is urged not to click the link or provide personal information.
If you applied for an extension on your taxes, now's the time to get them done. Anyone who got a free extension on filing their income taxes will have to complete those filings by next Thursday, October 15. The IRS allows anyone to file and receive a one-time six month extension to file taxes, but you still need to pay what you think you owe. Online filing remains the best way to complete your return. Find out more at I R S dot Gov.
A former University of Wisconsin-Madison lab worker is getting a six-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempting to poison a colleague. Makoto Kuroda entered the plea to a felony count of placing foreign objects in edibles following his arrest last April. Prosecutors initially filed higher-level reckless endangerment charges after investigators found the 42-year-old laced his coworker's water bottle and shoes with dangerous chemicals due to workplace grievances. Because the judge credited him for time already served behind bars, Kuroda will not face additional jail time.
A town chair is ousted following a data center dispute in Rock County. There was a recall election Tuesday in the Rock County Town of Turtle. Incumbent Town Chairman Roger Anclam was defeated by Donna Redner, according to unofficial results. Redner received around 63-percent of the vote. The recall election followed a dispute over the town board's dealings with a data center developer. Redner accused Anclam of signing a nondisclosure agreement with the developer without board approval. Anclam denied wrongdoing and said the town attorney determined he did not violate state law. Anclam had been town chair since 2009.
The Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce is supporting Google's proposed data center in Pine Island. The chamber says the project would bring jobs, investment and property tax growth to the region. Plans call for more than 700 construction jobs and roughly 100 permanent positions. Project agreements include 100-million dollars in developer-funded utility and road improvements and 24-million dollars for Pine Island schools. An agreement between Google and Xcel Energy would add wind, solar and battery storage to the grid.
October is FAFSA Filing Month. Students and families are encouraged to complete their federal financial aid applications as soon as possible. The FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for federal, state and school-based financial aid, including grants, scholarships, work-study programs and student loans. Completing the application early can help students maximize available aid for the 2027-28 academic year. College Goal Wisconsin offers several free in-person and virtual FAFSA® completion events throughout the month of October.
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