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“Thank you, Jeff, for saving my life.” Those were the words 14-year-old Kaden Gulich shared following what he called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconnect with Jeff Dykes, an assistant baseball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  The two embraced and posed for pictures inside the John & Carolyn Sonnentag Fieldhouse Tuesday afternoon, surrounded by Blugold baseball players and family members. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.

In Buffalo County, a Mondovi man is in custody and facing a list of drugs and weapons charges.  Search warrants executed earlier this month uncovered illegal drugs and firearms including a modified fully automatic pistol and two short-barreled shotguns.  Twenty-seven-year-old Patrick Fox — who is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a previous conviction — was arrested. 

Sentencing is being ordered for a Tomah man convicted of sexually assaulting a child.  James Ossinger was arrested in November of 2024 with investigators saying he abused the victim multiple times.  Ossinger pleaded guilty last year to charges including repeated sexual assault of the same child.  He has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

In Barron County, a defendant charged in a child pornography cases is accepting a plea deal.  Authorities report they received a tip from Snapchat that spawned an investigation leading to Tyler Sprague’s arrest last year.  Investigators say they found child pornography on Sprague’s electronic devices.  The defendant pleaded guilty this week to two counts of child porn possession and will be sentenced at a later date.

Snowmobile trails are closing today in Chippewa County.  The Chippewa Valley Snowmobile Organization reports the closure is due in part to above average temperatures being forecasted for the next several days.  Chippewasnowmobiletrails.com has more info. and you can get that with AN EASY CLICK HERE.

A man is pleading not guilty after he allegedly lit a Wisconsin Rapids house on fire.  Last September, Michael Vandenbergh allegedly set a home on fire on 17th Avenue South, while an adult and two children were inside the home.  Vandenbergh was allegedly seen on surveillance video before the fire began.  No injuries were reported and Vandenbergh pled not guilty on Monday to multiple charges of attempted murder and arson.

First time filings for unemployment are increasing across Wisconsin.  That’s according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which says for the week ending January 31st, there were more than 68-hundred first time filings in the state.  That number is more than 19-hundred filings higher than the week prior.  Nationally, there was an increase in the number of initial filings for the week.

Gas prices across Wisconsin remain well below the national average this week.  Triple A says the current cost per gallon averages at two-dollars and 55-cents in the state.  Meanwhile, the national average has risen slightly, to two-dollars and 92-cents per gallon.

Where else can you get a tattoo, learn about sour dough bread making, enjoy live music with a Grammy-nominated artist, and explore the world of Chippewa Valley artisans? Look no farther than the Folk Arts Festival at the Chippewa Valley Museum. This eclectic wintertime event offers a full line up for local culture seekers.  There are a lot of new demos coming in 2026. You can watch the magic of live basket making, intricate beadwork, and embedded visual artists. Fan

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of a cow? When your job is handling livestock, that information could be useful to know. That is the idea behind the augmented reality goggles being used to train animal handlers at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Humane Handling Institute (HHI), the first organization in North America to put the technology to use. Ashlynn Kirk, program manager of HHI and a UWRF alum, learned about the goggles, called