Local-Regional News Sept 24

 One person was injured in a motorcycle accident in Nelson Township on Wednesday.  According to the Buffalo County Sheriffs Department, 49yr old Melinda Peasha of Plymouth, MN was traveling northbound on Hwy 35 when she went over a bridge and lost control causing her to crash.  The front end of the motorcycle broke off and was found about 50 yards from the crash scene.  Peasha was med flighted to a Rochester hospital with serious injuries.  

A Red Wing man is jailed on two-million dollars bond for the alleged killing of his girlfriend in a Hastings motel.   The Dakota County Attorney's Office charged 32-year-old Kyle S. Williams with the second-degree murder of 36-year-old Kelly Jo Kocurek.  Hastings police found her unresponsive on a motel room floor May 18th with several cords next to her.  The criminal complaint says there was blood on her, she had a bruised and swollen face and marks around her neck.  She was hospitalized for five days in a coma before dying May 23rd. Williams told officers that Kocurek strangled herself.   But the autopsy revealed Kocurek's death was a homicide and she died of asphyxia due to strangulation.

The Pepin County board has approved the new district maps.   There will still be 12 districts in the county, each with a population near 610 people.  Because the population of the Village of Pepin declined by about 100 people, District 10 had to be extended into the town of Frankfort to make the 610 population mark.  All county board members will still have the same districts with the new map.

Pepin County is holding a surplus sale today and tomorrow at the old highway shop.  The county will be selling surplus chairs, desks, file cabinets, and other items today from 9-6 and from Saturday from 9-Noon.

The FDA has given approval for the Phizer Covid vaccine booster shots for those 65 and older.  So when will they be available in Pepin County?  Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the health department is waiting for approval from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.  Once approved, those 65 and older, essential workers, health care, and long-term care workers will be eligible for the booster.  Stewart says, however, the booster will be for those that received the Phizer vaccine.  There is no word yet on a booster for those that received the Moderna or Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The father of an Arizona man accused of killing four Minnesotans is now charged with helping dispose of the victims' bodies.  Fifty-six-year-old Darren Osborne McWright faces one felony count of aiding an offender along with charges of hiding a corpse.  His son, 38-year-old Antoine Suggs, faces four counts of second-degree murder in Ramsey County.  Suggs is accused in the shooting deaths of Matthew Pettus, Jasmine Sturm, Loyace Foreman III, and Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley.  Investigators believe the victims were shot in Minnesota.  Their bodies were found on September 12th in an abandoned S-U-V in Dunn County.

Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature don’t want the state’s new political maps to be drawn based on the current boundaries.  Party members are criticizing a resolution passed by an Assembly committee Thursday calling for the new boundary lines on those maps to be as close to the old ones as possible.  The full Assembly will vote on the resolution next week.  Democrats say the existing maps were gerrymandered and unconstitutional and the new boundaries should be drawn from scratch.  Both parties expect the final version to be determined in the courts.

The latest U-S Drought Monitor map shows the benefits of recent rainfall in Minnesota.   The precipitation pushed the last remaining pockets of "exceptional" drought off the map.  Improved conditions were seen in the areas around Hutchinson, St. Cloud, Brainerd, and along Interstate 35 north of the Twin Cities.  The northern half of Minnesota remains in "severe" drought or higher.  The southern half of the state is in "moderate" Drought or below while the southeast and southwest are no longer listed in any of the drought categories.  Here in Western Wisconsin, Western Pierce County is listed as Moderate Drought while Western Pepin County is listed as abnormally dry.  Dunn, Buffalo, and Trempealeau Counties are not listed in any drought category.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports hundreds of its workers have returned to the office this week.  About four thousand of the 61 hundred workers at D-H-S had continued to work at seven locations during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake says her department knows what it takes to stay safe after living with the virus for a year and a half.  Those workers will be required to wear face masks at all state facilities and either show their vaccination status or take regular tests.

Fort McCoy is Wisconsin’s most-vaccinated community.   Fort officials say 97-percent of the Afghan refugees who are living there have gotten their coronavirus shots. They’ve also been vaccinated against measles and other diseases. Several news accounts put the refugee head-count at Fort McCoy at 12-thousand, 500.

Verso is reportedly listening to a holding company’s purchase offer that would include the idled Wisconsin Rapids Paper Mill.  The company says Atlas Holdings need to make a "Meaningful increase" from their current offer of 20 dollars per share if a purchase is going to come together. Atlas is attempting to purchase all of Verso and its assets, which still includes the Wisconsin Rapids mill- though it's still much too soon to know if a purchase would mean that the paper would start flowing from the facility again.   The mill has been idle for nearly 15 months now- crews are working to repair a portion of the facility that was struck by lightning this summer and other bare minimum maintenance.

Ripon College will conduct a nationwide search for a new leader after its president steps down at the end of the fall semester.  President Zach Messitte has held the position for more than nine years.  The school issued a Wednesday announcement saying he is returning home to Washington, D-C in January.  Messitte helped lead the “Imagine Tomorrow” fundraising campaign that became the most successful in the college’s history, producing 67 million dollars.  He has also encouraged faculty members to start the process of reimagining the Ripon College curriculum for the first time in more than a decade.

The University of Wisconsin System is reporting that enrollment is down by about one percent when compared to last year at this time.  Nine of the 12 four-year campuses are showing a deficit.  The flagship campus in Madison is up by more than 25-hundred students – or about six percent.  Campuses in Green Bay and Superior are also showing growth.  Preliminary enrollment figures were released Wednesday.  U-W-Platteville reported the largest decrease at 11 percent.

 Governor Tony Evers is proclaiming this week 'Ryder Cup Days' in Wisconsin.  Evers welcomed the 43rd Ryder Cup to the state today (Thursday) at Whistling Straits.  This is the first time Wisconsin has hosted the golf competition between the U-S and Europe.  A cast-iron eagle that once sat atop the flagpole at the State Capitol is on display for the Ryder Cup.  The governor said he hopes the eagle will encourage Team U-S-A to work hard, aim high and take home a Ryder Cup victory.  Celebrities were on the course today and the tournament officially begins Thursday.  The Europeans have won seven out of the last ten Ryder Cups.  The U-S last won it in 2016 at Hazeltine Golf Club in Minnesota.

The berries have achieved just the right shade of red and Wisconsin’s cranberry harvest will begin next week.  This year is expected to be a good year for the crop.  Du Bay Cranberry manager Dave Hansen tells W-S-A-W Television he monitors the marsh temperatures all yet to make sure the cranberries are cared for properly.  Probes powered by solar panels check the temperature, sending an automatic warning to him when it gets too cold.  Ocean Spray has taken a sample of the berries, using a machine to calculate the color and determine when the product is ready to be harvested

Local-Regional News Sept 23

 The Pepin County Board voted to table an amendment to the ATV/UTV ordinance at last night's meeting.  The amendment would have opened all county roads to ATVs and UTV's to year around and 24hrs a day and would have adopted the Wisconsin DNR regulations on allowing 12-15yr olds who are certified to operate an ATV under parental supervision.  Supervisors were concerned about the DNR rule on 12-15yr olds as they felt the definition of parental supervision was too vague.  On a vote of 7-5 the board tabled the amendment until the next meeting where they plan to have a DNR Warden come in and explain the rules and definition of parental supervision.

Dunn County authorities are asking for the public's help in a hit-run accident on Hwy 12 and Hwy BB.  The vehicle that left the scene of the accident is a bright red vehicle with extensive damage to the passenger side with a likely broken window.  The Sheriff's Department believes the vehicle is an older vehicle with previous bodywork done to it.  If anyone has any information on the owner of the vehicle they are to contact the Sheriff's Department or Dunn County Crimestoppers.

The Buffalo County Health and Human Services Department held a community meeting last night to answer questions regarding 14 quarantine orders for students in the Mondovi School District.  The meeting was held in response to the Mondovi School Board meeting from September 15th where the board voted to allow close contacts of those with covid-19 to return to school despite recommendations from CDC, that the students should quarantine.  On September 17th, Health Officer Josie Knauber wrote individual quarantine orders for each of the students identified as close contacts.  The district told the health department they would comply with the orders.  The Health Department says the meeting was recorded and will be posted on the county's website later in the week for those that missed it.

A recent investigation in the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District has found no evidence of violations of Wisconsin's pupil discrimination law.  In June the ACLU filed a complaint against the district claiming the district discriminated against students on the basis of race, sex, and sexual orientation by tolerating a hostile environment to students.  The investigation interviewed 35 people including parents of students and found no evidence the district created or was responsible for a hostile school environment.

Two refugees from Afghanistan are facing federal charges for crimes allegedly committed while they were housed at Fort McCoy.  Thirty-two-year-old Mohammad Haroon Imaad and 20-year-old Bahrullah Noori have federal court appearances scheduled today (Thursday) in Madison.  Noori is accused of four counts of sex crimes involving a minor.  Imaad allegedly strangled his wife while attacking her.  He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if he is convicted, while Noori could spend the rest of his life behind bars if found guilty.

Two Democratic state lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would repeal the personal property tax in Wisconsin.  Senator Brad Pfaff of Onalaska and Representative Robyn Vining of Wauwatosa say their proposal would greatly assist local businesses while holding municipalities harmless.  Vining said the goal of eliminating the personal property has been supported by both Democrats and Republicans.  Pfaff says the pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for small businesses and this will help save money and be more competitive.  Funds preserved in the state budget would be used to compensate local governments for losses incurred by getting rid of the property tax.

A redistricting lawsuit supported by Republicans in the Legislature will go directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  That decision was made by the justices Wednesday on a four-to-three vote.  Most similar cases are required to start in lower courts.  This time, the state’s high court agreed with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.  A second suit, filed by Democrats in federal court, is also being pursued right now.  In both cases, it is being argued that the courts should be ready to draw the maps with political boundaries.  The disagreement is over which court should handle the task.

The mayor Fitchburg plans to run for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin state treasurer in 2022.  Mayor Aaron Richardson served two years on the Fitchburg City Council before he was elected mayor in 2019.  Richardson said in a statement that his experience leading Fitchburg will provide him a good foundation to make a difference in the lives of Wisconsin residents.  He has a degree in marketing and management from UW-Green Bay and an M-B-A from UW-Whitewater.  Current Treasurer Sarah Godlewski is running for U-S Senate next year.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan say Minnesota child care providers are now applying for monthly direct payments to stabilize their businesses.  It's part of a 300-million-dollar state grant program that will last through June 2023.  The stabilization grants aim to enable child care providers to boost pay and benefits for their workers as Minnesota’s economy continues to recover.  Governor Walz said, "these grants will be critical in supporting our child care providers and ensuring that child care continues to be available to communities across the state.”

A Beaver Dam school board member is citing safety concerns for his decision to resign.  Tony Klatt has voted in favor of a mask mandate twice for the Beaver Dam Unified School District.  He says that was the right decision based on the “facts at hand.”  Klatt says he decided to step down from the school board when he heard talk about plans to protest at his house.  He says somebody took a picture there while his daughter was home alone and she felt unsafe.  Klatt has served on the school board since April 2019.  He explained his thought process in a Facebook post.

A half-dozen Native American tribes say Wisconsin’s plans for a November wolf hunt violate their treaty rights.  They are suing the state in an effort to stop the hunt of an animal they consider to be sacred.  The Chippewa tribes say treaties with the U-S government give them rights to half the wolf quota in the territory they gave up in the 19th Century.  The tribes say they don’t want to hunt those wolves – they want to protect them.  The Native Americans and many conservationists were angered when hunters nearly doubled the quota establish for the February hunt.

A hog confinement fire in southeast Minnesota prompted a temporary evacuation Tuesday afternoon.  The Mower County Sheriff’s Office learned about a hog confinement fire near Adams and the caller said the unoccupied building had gotten a chemical treatment earlier in the day.  That raised the possibility of a chemical release.  Several fire departments responded and sheriff's deputies went to door to door to evacuate residents in the area.  Crews were on the scene for hours trying to put out the flames.  No injuries have been reported.  Residents were allowed to return home.

The number of COVID-19 patients flooding emergency rooms has led one hospital to shut down its urgent care facility.     Doctors at Watertown Regional Medical Center are switching some responsibilities.  A spokesperson says emergency department patient volumes at the hospital are up by more than half.  Nearly 91 percent of all hospital beds in Wisconsin are occupied during the resurgence of the virus.  Medical Center officials haven’t said when the urgent care facility will reopen.

The Green Bay Packers say fans were mostly to blame for Monday night’s long lines at Lambeau Field.   Fans complain they waited for an hour just to get inside the stadium for Monday night’s home opener against the Detroit Lions. It was the Packers’ first capacity crowd in two years. While digital tickets took some getting used to, and the Packers were a bit short-staffed, the team says fans waited until the last minute to head to their seats and weren’t prepared for the delays. The Packers say they hope things will go more smoothly for the next game in Green Bay in two weeks.

Wisconsin employers can expect a worker shortage for the foreseeable future.   The end of enhanced federal unemployment benefits may have some people heading back to work, but Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce says the state didn’t have enough workers before the coronavirus pandemic, and that there aren’t enough workers now. W-M-C’s Kurt Bauer says the good news -- is that almost all manufacturers in Wisconsin are hiring.

Local-Regional News Sept 22

 The Pepin Area School District's  School-Wide Mitigation Transition Plan took effect on Tuesday.  The district is at level 4 which means that students will be required to wear a mask indoors and on school busses, while staff will be required to wear a mask when not alone.   All adult visitors will also be required to wear a mask.  The district is also offering hybrid learning options for students who are in quarantine and other students who have parental approval and have had success in the hybrid learning model.   Lunches will be served in homeroom instead of the cafeteria.

The Pepin County Board is meeting tonight.  Items on the agenda include annual reports from the Durand Public Library and District Attorney's Office, revisiting the Pepin County Government Facility Covid-19 plan, discussion of the tentative redistricting plan, and discussion of amendments to the ATV/UTV routes ordinance that would open up all county roads as ATV/UTV routes unless otherwise posted and allow certified operators 12-15 to operate on the routes under the direct supervision of a parent.  Tonight's meeting begins at 7pm at the Government Center and will also be available via zoom on the county website.

Ntec and the Town of Albany are discussing a partnership to bring fiber internet to the township.  Ntec published a form on their social media asking Town of Albany residents to complete to gauge the interest in fiber internet.  While not a commitment to sign up for service, Ntce is asking residents to fill out the form to see if there are enough people interested to move forward with the project.

One person was injured when a truck rolled over at Rowan Enterprises in Elk Mound.  According to the Dunn County Sheriff's Department, a 69yr old man was under the truck doing repairs when it slipped into gear and rolled, trapping the man underneath.  He was transported to the hospital, and no foul play is suspected in the accident.

Buffalo County residents now have to dial 10 digits for phone calls.  The change was effective yesterday.  The Federal Communications Commission regulated the change for the entire 608 area code  Residents will now have to dial the area code along with the 7 local numbers to place a call.  If long-distance don't forget to dial 1 then the 10 digits.  The 608 area code was one of the last area codes in Wisconsin to switch to 10 digit dialing for local calls.

The National Weather Service is confirming at least one tornado touched down Monday night in western Wisconsin. A La Crosse survey team determined there was an EF-1 twister in northern Trempealeau County near Sturm. A home and cabin suffered damage, a pole barn was destroyed and a silo was knocked down in the area. The twister had peak wind speeds of 105 miles per hour and was on the ground for nearly nine miles.

Eau Claire School Board President Tim Nordin stopped Monday night's meeting because members of the public refused to wear face masks.  Nordin called a halt to the meeting after just a few minutes.

 A man from Arizona is now charged with the killings of four Minnesotans found in an abandoned S-U-V in western Wisconsin.   Thirty-eight-year-old Antoine Suggs is facing four counts of second-degree murder in Ramsey County.  Suggs is accused in the shooting deaths of 26-year-old Matthew Pettus, 30-year-old Jasmine Sturm, and 35-year-old Loyace Foreman III of St. Paul, and 30-year-old Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley of Stillwater.   He and his father, 56-year-old Darren McWright Osbourne, are also charged with four counts of hiding a corpse in Dunn County, Wisconsin, where the bodies were discovered on September 12th.  Suggs is an Arizona jail awaiting extradition to Minnesota.

The University of Wisconsin System has returned to pre-pandemic levels of in-person instruction for the fall semester.   UW System President Tommy Thompson announced Tuesday that systemwide, 85 percent of undergraduate courses are being delivered in person. That exceeds the goal of 75 percent that Thompson set in February when more classes than usual were delivered remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Madison, La Crosse, and Prattville campuses are all above 90 percent in-person classes, Eau Claire is at 87%,  River Falls 83%, and Stout is at 75%.

 

A weekend bicycle accident on the trails in the bluffs east of La Crosse has left the rider with moderate injuries.  The man involved hasn’t been identified.  The Urban Search and Rescue team with the La Crosse Fire Department responded Sunday at 1:41 p-m.  The victim was rushed to Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center by ambulance.  A spokesperson for the Fire Department says the accident happened near a county road on the La Crosse Ridge.

Police in Wisconsin Rapids say one of the department’s officers is recovering from a weekend dog attack.  The officer’s name hasn’t been released.  He was checking on the status of a juvenile runaway when a large dog charged out of a home Saturday morning and starting biting him.  The officer fired his gun after the third time he was bitten.  The dog was turned over to a veterinarian for treatment and testing.   The officer was treated at a hospital and released.

A Republican running for Wisconsin governor has tested positive for COVID-19.  A spokesperson for Rebecca Kleefisch says she was vaccinated earlier this year.  Kleefisch was exposed while attending church on September 12th.  She was informed about the exposure four days later and tested positive on September 17th.  The former Wisconsin lieutenant governor says she is feeling fine, but the campaign has canceled upcoming events.  Close contacts are being notified.

The lead investigator of the vaccine trial at U-W Health says Monday’s announcement about the safety of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children is encouraging.  Doctor Bill Hartman is heading the trial for Moderna.  The two-dose series for children is about one-third of the dosage for adults.  Hartman says results released Monday indicate the shots for young kids will be just as effective as those taken by adults.  Side effects were minimal in the trial.  Hartman says the safety profile and data about the effectiveness of Moderna’s vaccine for children should be released over the next month or so.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is now accepting applications for the Minnesota Main Street COVID Relief Grant Program.  DEED Commissioner Steve Grove says this is 64-point-two-million dollars that will be awarded in grant amounts of 10-thousand or 25-thousand dollars based on the size of a company.  The funds will be distributed through a lottery and priority will be given to businesses owned by military veterans, women, people of color, companies with less than six workers and those who didn't receive assistance through other programs.  The grants will be split between the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.  The application deadline for this round is September 29th.

Statues damaged during last summer's unrest in Madison are back in place on the grounds of the Wisconsin state Capitol.  The two statues pulled down on the night of June 23 2020 were of Forward, a female figure outside the Capitol at the top of State Street, and Colonel Hans Christian Heg, a Norwegian immigrant killed during the Civil War.  The action followed a day of demonstrations over the arrest of activist Devonere Johnson outside a Capitol Square restaurant. The nearly year-long restoration was done by a company. The bulk of the 80-thousand dollar project was paid for by federal grants, the remainder through insurance and donations to the State Historical Society.

Local-Regional News September

 The National Weather Service will conduct a preliminary storm survey of areas in western Wisconsin today to determine if a tornado touched down near Sturm.  Severe weather passed through the area Monday at 6:00 p-m, with damage reports first received from Trempealeau and Grant counties.  Trees and powerlines were knocked down and a tractor-trailer truck was blown over.    Earlier in the day, a possible tornado was reported near Plum City and Eau Galle, and no damage was reported.

Police in Minnesota are taking over the investigation into the deaths of four people found dead in western Wisconsin.  The bodies of Jasmine Sturm, Matthew Pettus, Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley and Loyace Foreman III were found just over a week ago, in an SVU abandoned in a Dunn County farm field. St. Paul Police say investigators have determined the four were killed in that city. Two men, Darren McWright and Antoine Suggs, are in custody. A witness placed Suggs and three of the victims at a St. Paul bar in the early-morning hours of September 12. 

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes were a part of the severe storms that caused extensive damage in Minnesota and western Wisconsin last Friday.  Meteorologists say all three tornadoes were rated E-F-Zero, meaning they had wind speeds of 65 to 85 miles an hour.  Tens of thousands of people were left in the dark when that storm knocked down trees and power lines.  In western Wisconsin, the Hudson Area Public Library suffered heavy storm damage.  The Library Foundation is asking for online donations to help it rebuild.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association is reporting that in the Northwest Wisconsin  Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition region there are no ICU beds available as of Monday.  According to the Association, there are 26 hospitals in the Northwest Wisconsin Region with a total of 72 ICU beds and all of the beds are currently in use.    As of Monday, 17 of the beds are in use for Covid-19 patients.

The “Return To School Road Trip” with U-S Education Secretary Miguel Cardona made three stops in Wisconsin Monday.  He visited students and teachers at Locust Lane Elementary School in Eau Claire first to promote a safe return to in-person classes.  Cardona then participated in an all-school pep rally before leaving for appearances at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in Milwaukee.  The road trip will include visits to five states in the Midwest this month.

Leaders in La Crosse County are officially on the record as welcoming Afghan refugees. County Board Chairwoman Monica Kruse acknowledges that some people are wary about some of the refugees staying at Fort McCoy, but she says she doesn’t want to encourage fear or discrimination. It’s unclear just how many of the 13-thousand refugees staying at Fort McCoy will stay in Wisconsin, or where they will go once they leave. 

The Minnesota Medical Association is cheering the news that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children.  M-M-A president Doctor Marilyn Peitso says this is really going to help ensure that kids can safely stay in school for in-person learning this school year. this is really good news for families.   Doctor Peitso cautions that it's important to wait and ensure the F-D-A does its due diligence on dosing and vaccine intervals.  Pfizer plans to seek authorization for younger kids soon in the U-S, Britain, and Europe.

You may soon need to be 21 in order to buy tobacco products in Wisconsin.  Anti-smoking advocates complain the bill in the Wisconsin Legislature has too many holes in it. Sara Sahli with the Cancer Action Network says lawmakers are letting a loophole for e-cigarettes continue. The Senate’s judiciary committee last week voted to send the proposal to the full Senate for a vote. A similar bill died in the State Assembly two years ago.

The head of the Republican-backed investigation into the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election says he will compel local officials to comply with his requests.  Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman released a six-minute video Monday on the subject.  Gableman is saying he will subpoena election officials for what he wants.  Milwaukee County election officials say they will oppose any efforts to gain control of election machines.  Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has told reporters he intends to give the investigation any subpoena it needs.  Gableman says he wants to take a very hard look at how those machines work.

An Antigo man who was killed on December 7,1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor will be laid to rest on Saturday.  Navy Fireman 1st Class Kenneth Doernenburg was aboard the USS Oklahoma when the attack occurred, causing the battleship to capsize.  Doerneburgs remains were identified through the Defense Departments' program to identify the remains of missing military personnel and return them to their families.  He will be buried in Antigo on Saturday with full military honors.

The number of people housed at Fort McCoy has grown again in recent days, although no planes carrying refugees have landed.  A spokesperson says three babies have been born to Afghan refugees.  That adds to the 12-thousand-500 already housed there.  The military installation in western Wisconsin is one of eight bases in the country housing refugees who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took over last month.

Two people have been arrested in Monroe County after authorities seize drugs and firearms.  Thirty-four-year-old Gabriel Wilcox and 28-year-old Ember Powell are in custody.  Deputies conducted a search Thursday at a home near Ontario.  They found more than two pounds of meth, plus smaller amounts of suspected heroin, fentanyl, marijuana, and prescription pills.  They also found more than two dozen firearms – some of them possibly stolen.  Wilcox is a convicted felon who couldn’t legally possess firearms.

The Wisconsin judicial system is still dealing with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.   Courthouses were closed and most proceedings came to a complete halt starting in March of last year.  Most activities were conducted over zoom and hearings and jury trials were put on pause.  Now, some assistant district attorneys say they are dealing with caseloads two-to-three times greater than normal.  At the same time, some offices like Portage County have more than a dozen openings for assistant D-As.  That county has 32 trials scheduled between now and the end of the year.  Portage County normally has no more than 10 trials in a year.

A Wisconsin cheesemaker has told members of Congress the milk pricing system needs to be changed. Bob Wills is the founder of Clock Shadow Creamery in Milwaukee. He testified before Congress Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Wills says he fears for the future of Wisconsin’s dairy industry, and he says he told the members of Congress that federal milk pricing guidelines need to be changed. Wills says it they are it could help save family farms while lowering prices for customers. Wisconsin has lost more than 11 hundred dairy farms in the last two years. Wills told lawmakers we have an unfair system that benefits large companies, foreign competitors, and non-dairy products like soy milk – at the expense of family farmers.

Local-Regional News Sept 20

 The second suspect in the deaths of four Minnesotans found in an S-U-V in western Wisconsin is under arrest in Arizona.  The Dunn County Sheriff's Office says 38-year-old Antoine Suggs turned himself in Friday to the Gilbert Police Department on a warrant.  His father, 56-year-old Darren McWright Osbourne, was arrested Wednesday in St. Paul.  Osbourne and Suggs are currently charged with four counts of hiding a corpse in Dunn County.  They are accused in the fatal shootings of 26-year-old Matthew Pettus, 30-year-old Jasmine Sturm, and 35-year-old Loyace Foreman III, all of St. Paul, and 30-year-old Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley of Stillwater.  Suggs was reportedly living in Arizona and would come back to Minnesota to visit Flug-Presley.  All four victims were found in the abandoned vehicle with gunshot wounds to the head.

A 40-year-old Minnesota man died in a collision between a motorcycle and a truck Saturday afternoon in Wabasha County. The State Patrol says Joshua Peterson of Hayfield died when the motorcycle he was driving collided with a truck on County Road 14 in Highland Township. The driver of the truck was unharmed.

Two more schools in the U-W System have hit the 70 percent vaccination rate.  That means students on the campuses in Eau Claire and Milwaukee are eligible for about a half-million dollars in scholarship money.  U-W System President Tommy Thompson set up the “70 for 70” program to give students incentive to get their shots for COVID-19.  A total of 70 scholarships worth seven thousand dollars are up for grabs.

The Wabasha County Board is meeting tomorrow.  Items on the agenda include discussion and possible action on the 2022 property tax levy and the 2022 proposed budget and approve and hire a captain position in the Sheriff's Department.  Tomorrow's meeting begins at 9am at the Wabasha County Board room at the Government Center.

The La Crosse Fire Department says crews rescued five people stranded in a canoe on the La Crosse River Saturday evening.  No injuries were reported.  The Incident happened near Red Cloud Park shortly before 8:00 p-m on the city’s northside between the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus and La Crosse Logan High School.  The second water rescue of the summer was pulled off by using inflatable boats to bring the five people to shore.  Just two months ago two people were rescued.  They had been tubing down the La Crosse River when they were stranded on some logs.

A former La Crescent council member is accused of threatening to blow up the Houston County Courthouse and shoot people last month.  Sheriff's deputies say 36-year-old Brian Krenz was arrested in California and is now in the Houston County Jail on multiple counts of terroristic threats, harassment, and disorderly conduct.  Krenz allegedly called a court employee on August 5th and said he was going to shoot someone in the Houston County Attorney's Office and blow up the building.  He also made threats of violence to a pair of local businesses and another county office.  Bond was set at 100-thousand dollars.  Frenz has a court hearing next Friday.

A boil water order in Winona ended over the weekend.  The order was issued on Thursday after two water mains broke and the water utility was concerned about possible contamination.  On Saturday the city lifted the order and said some Winona residents may experience discolored water, due to the flushing of water mains, but the water is safe to drink and the discoloration will fade over the next few days.

A Dane County judge is rejecting the lawsuit aimed at removing the chair of the state Natural Resources Board whose term ended last spring.  Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the suit in August to force Fred Prehn from the board.  Prehn's six-year team expired May 1st and he refuses to vacate the seat.  Governor Tony Evers appointed Sandra Nass as board chair, but the Republican Senate has not confirmed her.  Circuit Court Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn refused to issue an order forcing Prehn to step down.  A-G Kaul says he plans to appeal the Dane County court ruling.

Wisconsin’s jobless rate is holding steady.   The Department of Workforce Development reports the unemployment rate for August was three-point-nine percent. That’s exactly where it’s been for months. The agency says Wisconsin lost more than eight thousand jobs last month. The national unemployment rate is five-point-two percent.

The Milwaukee County clerk is declining a request from the head of the state Assembly’s investigation into the 2020 election. Clerk George Christenson says the request from former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to save voter data from the county’s voting machines raises a lot of questions. For one, Christenson says clerks already save voter information for almost two years. Christenson also says the email that he got looks like it could be a scam or phishing attempt. Gableman is leading the investigation commissioned by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

 One of two Sparta Area School District Board of Education members targeted for recall has ended the process by resigning.  The resignation of Eric Solberg became effective Thursday.  A group of parents started gathering signatures to recall Solberg and Nancy Sikorski after they voted to reinstate a mask mandate.  When the four-to-two vote was taken on September 9th, people in the crowd started shouting, “Recall, recall, recall.”  Solberg says he is stepping down because his primary responsibility is to his family, his health, and then his business.  He had been elected to the board last year.  Solberg says he had already discussed the matter with the board president and superintendent Amy Van Deuren.

Ten months after he was elected, a member of the Stillwater Area Board of Education has decided to resign.  Matt Onken pointed to the current political divide to explain his move.  In a statement, Onken wrote the situation in the district is beginning to impact his physical and mental health, as well as his work and home life.  The resignation is effective Friday.  He becomes the fourth member of that school board to resign in the last 14 months.  Onken says he thought he could bring some calm to board meetings, but he finds himself struggling to maintain his composure.

A bill introduced in the Assembly would clear the way for the Wisconsin Elections Commission to move its offices to Wausau.  State statutes currently require each commission office must be based in Madison.  Assembly Bill 511 would require the elections commission to move its offices to Wausau no later than April 15th, 2023.  The high cost of leased office space in downtown Madison is cited.  State Representative David Steffen calls that a significant and unnecessary financial burden on taxpayers.  He says the move would save 100 thousand dollars a year and would make the office more accessible.  Candidates for political office visit the commission every election cycle and Wausau is more centrally located.

A popular Dane County truck stop abruptly closed last week.  A note was left on the door, blaming Governor Evers and President Biden. Turns out, the owner of the Pine Cone really closed because he says his lease was up and he "got old and tired." He has also collected over 464-thousand dollars in COVID relief funds over the past year. Owner John McKay ended up recanting and took the note down. He tells the State Journal it was "a bad decision."

For the second time in two days, police were called back to Oshkosh West High School.  A school resource officer asked for emergency assistance Thursday at 1:50 p-m.  Responding officers were told the resource officers and several staff members were able to end a fight involving several students at the school.  School leaders put the campus on “hold,” keeping other students in their classrooms for about 30 minutes.  Additional officers are going to be at the school today (Friday) as a precaution.  No arrests were announced in the Thursday disruption.

 Enbridge Energy has been ordered to pay a hefty fine for failing to follow environmental laws.  After it pierced an artesian aquifer the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources cited the Canadian company and fined it three-point-three million dollars Thursday.  State investigators say the company didn’t follow the construction plans it submitted to the D-N-R earlier this year when it started work on the Clearbrook Terminal site.  Enbridge had said trench construction would only go to a depth of eight-to-10 feet yet the trench was 18 feet deep with sheet piling installed as deep as 28 feet.  That resulted in a puncture of the aquifer and uncontrolled groundwater flowing into the trench.

Minnesota's drought conditions may mute some of the brilliant colors as the leaves change this fall.  The D-N-R's Jennifer Teegarden says there is some conflicting research that on one hand suggests a drought can actually enhance the colors, but other research suggests severe drought like we're experiencing will make those colors duller.  She says the exception may be southeastern Minnesota where the drought conditions weren't as harsh this summer.  Teegarden says recent rainfall and any additional precipitation may be too late to save the colors, but she says it will help the trees as they prepare themselves for winter.

Local-Regional News Sept 17

 Dunn County authorities say one suspect is jailed and there's an arrest warrant for another man in connection with the deaths of four Minnesotans found in an abandoned S-U-V. Sheriff Kevin Bygd (big) says 56-year-old Darren McWright was arrested Wednesday night in St. Paul and 38-year-old Antoine Suggs is still at large. McWright and Suggs are accused in the fatal shootings of 26-year-old Matthew Pettus, 30-year-old Jasmine Sturm, and 35-year-old Loyace Foreman III, all of St. Paul, and 30-year-old Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley of Stillwater. Their bodies were discovered Sunday inside a vehicle in a cornfield near the town of Sheridan. Investigators say Suggs is considered armed and dangerous and anyone with information should call law enforcement right away. There was a vigil in Sheridan last night for the victims.

The Durand-Arkansaw School District's budget for the upcoming year is in the black.  Durand-Arkansaw School Superintendent Greg Doverspike says the district is in a good spot budget-wise. The budget is expected to be finalized next month.

The passenger in the truck that killed three girl scouts and their leader in Lake Hallie has been sentenced to three years in prison.  John Stender was riding with Colten Treu when Treu drove into the group of girl scouts who were cleaning trash along a county highway three years ago.  Jayna Kelly, Autumn Helgeson, Haylee Hickle, and her mother Sara Schneider were killed.  Stender had been found guilty of helping Treu hide the truck the day of the crash.  Investigators say Treu and Stender were high after huffing chemicals earlier in the day.  Stender was taken into custody immediately after his sentencing Thursday to begin serving the prison term.

Milwaukee congresswoman Gwen Moore is calling for an investigation into the treatment of Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy.   Some of the refugees at Fort McCoy say there’s not enough to eat, with supplies of food running low toward the ends of designated meal times. Refugees also complain they don’t have any clean clothes to wear. Many of them are still wearing what they had on when they fled their home country weeks ago. Representative Moore, and Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, issued a statement Wednesday demanding answers. 

University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson is recovering from surgery on his bicep. Thompson said on social media earlier today (Thursday), "On my way into surgery this morning. Had a little water skiing accident over the weekend and have to have my bicep reattached to the tendon." A UW System spokesman says Thompson had a little pain and is getting taken care of by medical staff. The 79-year-old longtime Wisconsin governor has been traveling to U-W campuses to rally students to get the COVID vaccination. Thompson also served as U-S Health and Human Service secretary under President George W. Bush.

A Wisconsin cheesemaker has told members of Congress the milk pricing system needs to be changed. Bob Wills is the founder of Clock Shadow Creamery in Milwaukee. He testified before Congress Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Wills says he fears for the future of Wisconsin’s dairy industry, and he says he told the members of Congress that federal milk pricing guidelines need to be changed. Wills says it they are it could help save family farms while lowering prices for customers. Wisconsin has lost more than 11 hundred dairy farms in the last two years. Wills told lawmakers we have an unfair system that benefits large companies, foreign competitors, and non-dairy products like soy milk – at the expense of family farmers.

Minnesota's unemployment is down another tenth to three-point-eight percent for August. The state Department of Employment and Economic Development reports Minnesota gained 43-hundred jobs last month. The private sector added 62-hundred jobs. DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said it’s great to see continued job growth, especially after the strong month we had in July. Grove says his department plans to highlight "the extraordinary opportunities that exist in our economy now – and work directly with businesses and job seekers to accelerate hiring.” The U-S jobless rate was five-point-two percent in August.

 A federal panel of three judges has refused to dismiss the redistricting lawsuit brought by Democrats.  The ruling against Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature keeps the federal case alive.  Republicans want it to be decided at the state court level.  The judge also combined two lawsuits and allowed five Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation and Democratic Governor Tony Evers to intervene.  A third lawsuit over redistricting is still pending before the state Supreme Court.

Parents in the Sparta School District say two members of the board of education aren’t doing their jobs.  An effort has been started to recall Nancy Sikorski and Eric Soldberg.  The two joined two other board members in a vote to reinstate the district’s mask mandate.  The parents claim the board members aren’t listening to them.  They believe masks should be optional.  A Wednesday night gathering was held in a Sparta park to organize and start the recall effort.  The parents involved say they also plan to attend the next school board meeting to continue the fight for an optional mask policy in the district.

A federal agency is accusing a ginseng producer in the Wausau area of creating a hostile work environment for employees.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Baumann Farms.  Female workers there say they were harassed with sexual propositions, lewd photos, and text messages, and were touched inappropriately over a period of 16 months.  The victims say they were fired when they complained about the sexual advances.  The suit also accuses the business of violating Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act by having an English-only policy for its workers.  The incidents allegedly happened between April 2018 and August 2019.

The U-S State Department is reporting that Wisconsin is expected to receive almost 400 Afghanistan evacuees from the first group arriving in the country.  Thirty-seven thousand evacuees are going to be resettled around the country.  They fled from their homes in Afghanistan when the U-S decided to withdraw its troops last month while ending the long war.  The Biden administration has reportedly asked Congress for funding to pay for the resettlement of 65 thousand Afghans by the end of September and 95 thousand by this month next year.

A Dane County judge has ruled that a hunting group and some Republican lawmakers won’t be allowed to join a lawsuit against the Department of Natural Resources.  The Attorney General’s Office has filed the suit in an effort to remove board chairman Fred Prehn from the post.  Prehn’s term as chairman ended in May and Governor Evers appointed his replacement – but nominee Sandra Naas has never been confirmed.  Republicans control the Wisconsin Senate and they haven’t held a vote or made any moves in that direction.  Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn denied the requests to intervene Tuesday.

An attorney who worked in the Trump administration has joined the Wisconsin election review.   No announcement has been made, but Republican Andrew Kloster is listed as the author of a letter sent to county election clerks this week.  The letter was signed by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman who is heading the Wisconsin investigation.  Kloster has a record of claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.  Gableman is heading the taxpayer-funded investigation into how the November election was conducted.

A non-profit organization is donating 950 thousand dollars to buy body cameras for law enforcement officers in Eau Claire County.  P-E-S-I, Incorporated is based in Eau Claire and describes itself as a non-profit continuing education organization.  The money would go for the purchase and implementation of body-worn cameras, the replacement of in-squad camera systems, the replacement of interview room camera systems, and the cloud-based storage of video data for Eau Claire police and the Eau Claire Sheriff’s Office.  The funding means installation and training should be completed by the end of January.

Local-Regional News Sept 16

 Two Wisconsin counties have reached "critically high" levels of COVID-19 disease activity. That category had been eliminated from the state Department of Health Services dashboard back in January, but Forest and Buffalo counties have both hit critically high levels, meaning they have a case burden of over 1,000 cases per 100,000 people. The statewide case burden is also very high. DHS confirmed 3,426 cases on Wednesday, the first time since early January that Wisconsin topped 3,400 cases. DHS also reported 20 COVID-related deaths on Wednesday.

The Durand Police Department is working on a grant to purchase some portable stop signs that would be used near the school.  The signs would be placed at the crosswalks when children are present in the morning and afternoon and would also be used at the crosswalk across Hwy 85 at the Bauer Built Sports Complex during sporting events.  

Area residents will have a chance to experience the daily operations of law enforcement as the Durand Police Department has announced it will be holding a citizens academy in April.  The program will offer participants hands-on activities covering a variety of topics including traffic stops, use of force, and law enforcement scenarios.  For more information contact the Durand Police Department.  

A local electric co-op is warning its members of a phone scam.  Eau Claire Energy Co-Op says over 100 of its members received a phone call from scammers saying the member has an overdue bill and if it's not paid within 10 minutes the power will be disconnected.    The scammers have spoofed the Co-Op's phone number so it appears the Co-Op is actually making the call.    Co-Op leaders say while they do make calls to remind people of overdue bills they do not threaten disconnection and do not ask for payment over the phone.  

Authorities are identifying the two people killed when their car rear-ended a semi on Interstate 90 in Monroe County.  The Wisconsin State Patrol says a vehicle driven by 24-year-old Jace Scholler of La Crosse struck the rear end of the truck, went under the trailer, and caught fire.  His passenger - 27-year-old Hannah Hood from Tomah - also died in the crash.  State troopers say the semi was disabled on the shoulder Monday night and Scholler's car didn't have its headlights on at the time.  The 30-year-old man driving the semi wasn't injured.

The state has reached a settlement with an online ticket company.  Wisconsin is part of a multi-state settlement with StubHub for its refusal to give refunds to people who bought tickets to concerts, sports, and other events that were canceled due to COVID-19. StubHub told customers they would receive account credits equal to 120 percent of their purchases to be used for future events, but denied refund requests. Customers who purchased tickets before the March 25, 2020 policy change and had their events canceled can receive a full refund of the amount they paid for tickets, or they can choose to keep their account credits.

Port Washington police say an officer may have saved a man’s life last weekend by pulling him out of a burning condominium.  Officer Tony Becker was the first emergency responder to arrive on the scene at about 5:30 p-m Sunday.  Port Washington police headquarters is just a few blocks from the location of the burning building.  A woman was already out, but she told Becker her husband was inside.  Bodycam video shows Becker entering the condo as he looked for the man.  He yelled at him to crawl, then grabbed him and helped him escape the flames and smoke.

Minnesota is celebrating the agricultural education profession today and trying to raise awareness about the growing demand for teachers.  Governor Tim Walz declared September 16th as "Teach Ag Day in Minnesota."     More than 35-thousand students receive school-based agricultural, food, and natural resource (AFNR) education in grades 7-12.   The state has nearly 300 ag teachers in over 200 programs.   Twenty-seven school districts have added ag education programs since 2007 which required 75 more teaching positions.

The Minnesota Supreme Court Wednesday overturned the third-degree murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor in the 2017 shooting of Justine Damond.  Noor's attorneys challenged the third-degree murder charge saying it did not fit the crime.  During his trial, Noor testified he feared an ambush when Damond walked up to the squad car and shot across his partner, killing the 40-year-old Australian woman.  A jury convicted Noor of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and he was sentenced to over 12 years in prison.  Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says he is “disappointed” in the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the third-degree murder conviction of Mohamed Noor.  The manslaughter case has been remanded to the trial court for re-sentencing and Freeman says he will seek the maximum sentence possible.

A Dane County man faces up to six months in federal prison for his role in the January 6th riot at the U-S Capitol.  Twenty-nine-year-old Brandon Nelson pleaded guilty during a video hearing today (Wednesday) to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.  Nelson traveled to Washington D-C with Abram Markofski of La Crosse to attend a Trump rally challenging the election results.  Prosecutors say Nelson entered the Capitol through a door in the Senate wing and was inside the building for 90 minutes.  Markofski pleaded guilty to the same charges as Nelson on September 1st.  Both will be sentenced on December 10th.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is now hearing the case involving the wording of the proposed ballot question on replacing the Minneapolis Police Department.  Backers of the measure appealed after a Hennepin County judge late Tuesday rejected the third version that city officials proposed, saying the wording is misleading and "does not ensure that voters are able to understand the essential purpose of the proposed amendment."  Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea (GIL-day) asked attorneys for informal memoranda by close of business Wednesday.  The high court is under pressure for a quick ruling, as ballots have already been printed and early voting begins Friday.

Conditions are reportedly improving for Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy.  The Department of Homeland Security confirms reports of past food shortages but says the problem has since been fixed. D-H-S says some refugees are still waiting for new clean clothes. There are about 13-thousand refugees at the western Wisconsin military base. So far, there’s no word on when they will be allowed to leave, or where they will go.

A 52-year-old Brockway woman is being held in the Jackson County Jail for the killing of a man last week.  The sheriff’s office is recommending first-degree intentional homicide charges be filed against Kellie Schmidt.  A 9-1-1 caller told authorities last Thursday that a man needed emergency medical attention.  Fifty-three-year-old Thomas Boetcher was airlifted to Marshfield Hospital where he died.  Authorities say Schmidt and Boetcher lived together.  They took her into custody based on information from a forensic autopsy and evidence collected at the scene.

A woman has told Marshfield police she stabbed a man Monday night after he attacked her.  No names have been released.  Police say officers responded to a call and when they arrived they found a man with a stab wound to his face.  He was taken to a hospital for treatment.  Based on the information from the woman, the man was transferred to the Wood County Jail.  Authorities are asking that charges of domestic abuse-related battery, strangulation and bail jumping be filed by the Wood County District Attorney’s Office.

Cross one name off the list of potential Republican candidates for governor in 2022.  WisPolitics.com reports that longtime lobbyist Bill McCoshen has indicated he doesn't plan to run, according to multiple sources. McCoshen, who served in Governor Tommy Thompson's cabinet, recently completed the sale of his lobbying firm, something viewed as a preliminary to a campaign launch. So far, former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch is the only high-profile Republican who's running to oppose Governor Tony Evers. Others considering that include state Representative John Macco and former U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson. 

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety is reporting a 31-percent decrease in D-W-I arrests during the end of summer extra patrols.  Officers, deputies, and state troopers arrested one-thousand-147 impaired drivers from August 20th through Labor Day.  That compares with one-thousand-649 D-W-I arrests during the same period in 2020.  More than 300 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota participated in the D-W-I campaign.  There were also 130 citations for drivers not complying with the Ted Foss Move Over Law.

Two zebras that were briefly on the loose in the Fox Valley are home again.   The zebras’ owner lives in the Seymour area. The Outagamie County sheriff's office got a tip Tuesday afternoon that the animals were loose. The sheriff’s Facebook page says it didn't take long for deputies to corral them. The incident was referred to the Department of Natural Resources, to make sure their owner is properly licensed.