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Fire investigators in Chippewa Falls are calling a house fire suspicious. The house just north of downtown caught fire yesterday afternoon. No one was hurt, and it took firefighters about 15 minutes to put out the flames. No one is saying just why firefighters think the fire is suspicious.

Alex Lasry is out of the Democratic race for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. Lasry made the surprise announcement yesterday, saying there was ‘no path’ for him to win the race. Lasry immediately endorsed Mandela Barnes in the race. Lasry spent 12 million-dollars of his family’s money in the primary. His exit all but guarantees Barnes will be the Democrat who takes-on Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson in the fall.

 It’s another sign of the Republican split in Wisconsin’s race for governor. Former Vice President Mike Pence yesterday endorsed Rebecca Kleefisch for governor. Pence’s endorsement comes after former President Donald Trump endorsed Tim Michels in the Republican race. Pence and Trump have had a very public falling-out after the January 6th riots. Kleefisch and Michels are neck-and-neck in the latest Marquette Law School Poll in the Republican race for governor.

Eau Claire is forming a Monkeypox task force. The city/county health department says it wants to be ready if Eau Claire gets a case of the pox. The idea is to provide assistance, then contact trace any possible exposures. The CDC says there are 13 monkeypox cases in Wisconsin, none of them are in Eau Claire yet.

Wisconsin is among the states in-line to get millions from a new settlement with another opioid maker.  Wisconsin and 11 other states yesterday announced a tentative four-point-two billion-dollar settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals. The settlement is on top of last year’s 26 billion-dollar settlement with other opioid makers. Wisconsin’s attorney general is not saying just how much Wisconsin’s share of the payout will be.

The Republicans running for governor in the state all want tax reform, just not the same plans. Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels, and Tim Ramthun all debated on a Milwaukee radio station (WISN AM) yesterday. They agreed on election integrity, and on the need to get tougher on criminals in the state. Each of the three has their own tax plan, however. Kleefisch wants to lower the state’s income tax with an eye towards eliminating it, while Michels wants to look

Neighbors James Young and Bill Moeller say they absolutely want to remember young Jackson Sparks, but they have some questions about the plan to transform one of Waukesha’s baseball fields to do it. The two live next to the park that developers want to turn into the Sparks Complex. They say the lights from the field will shine into their homes, and they worry about the noise and commotion from the field as well. Waukesha’s planning commission last night paused

Environmental activists in Milwaukee are angry that We Energies is not closing down its coal fired power plants as promised. A group of protesters marched outside of We Energies’ Milwaukee headquarters yesterday. They are upset that the utility announced plans to keep its Oak Creek power plant online for another year. We Energies said it needs to keep the plant open in order to provide a reliable and affordable source of electricity in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.

The Deer District continues to grow. Planners yesterday announced that a new hotel will open in the area around Fiserv Forum sometime in 2023. The Trade Hotel MKE is part of the Marriott chain, and will have just over 200 rooms. The hotel will be built where the former Park East Freeway strip used to be.

 Madison has one of the lowest homicide rates in the country.  WalletHub says Madison’s homicide rate was less than four-tenths per 100-thousand people in the second quarter of this year, third-lowest compared to the country’s 50 largest cities.  WalletHub says Madison’s homicide rate per capita has gone down by nearly eight-tenths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.