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As COVID-19 and the rapid spread of omicron continues to impact our communities, Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) in Wisconsin is working to control the spread by updating visitor policies at the following hospitals, effective Friday, Jan. 7: HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, Eau ClaireHSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, Chippewa Falls The updated visitor policies are as follows: Emergency department patients may have ONE (1) support person who is required to be in the patient room at all times; extenuating circumstances will be evaluated.Patients

The latest plan to change Wisconsin’s bail system would set mandatory-minimums for some crimes. State Senator Julain Bradley yesterday introduced a plan that would require judges to set a minimum 10 thousand-dollar bail for anyone accused of a violent felony or violent misdemeanor. Another plan would require judges to set a minimum five thousand-dollar bail for anyone charged with bail-jumping. Bradley says he believes in second chances, but says judges have allowed too many criminals too many chances. Bradley says the

There’s a push for people to stop going to church for next month or so. The Wisconsin Council of Churches yesterday said it ‘strongly recommends’ that people skip in-person church services for the next four to six weeks. The Council’s Reverend Kerri Parker says they are asking churches to pause in order to protect vulnerable people and help keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. The Council of Churches represents over two thousand churches across the state, but does not have the power to

The Milwaukee County jail is a coronavirus hotspot. The sheriff’s office yesterday said over 250 prisoners at the jail have tested positive for the virus. Another 62 people either work in the jail or elsewhere in the sheriff’s office have also tested positive. The sheriff’s office said in a statement yesterday that the spike in coronavirus cases is making it tough to keep enough guards on duty. That means prisoners are spending more time in their cells.

Students at Marquette are getting a bit more time off for winter break. The school yesterday said it is pushing-back the start of the spring semester by a week because of the coronavirus. Classes were supposed to start on January 18th, but will now start on the 24th. Marquette President Michael Lovell said the move gives the school more time to get more people vaccinated and boosted, and pushes classes past the expected mid-January peak for the omicron variant.

Check those Powerball tickets.  At least two people will be waking up as mega millionaires after last night’s drawing.  Tickets sold in California and Wisconsin matched all six numbers for the seventh largest jackpot of 632-million dollars.  There were also more than a dozen winners of smaller prizes including two-million dollars winners in Florida and Georgia and one-million dollars winners in nine states.  The grand prize now resets to 20-million for Saturday. The numbers are: 06 14 25 33 46 17*

Prosecutors in Chandler Halderson’s case say he went door-to-door asking about security camera footage of his parents disappearance.  Jurors yesterday heard from neighbors who say Halderson came to them and asked about any video of his house in the days after his parents went missing.  Investigators say Halderson had already killed his mom and dad by that time.  Prosecutors played some of the video from those security cameras, and it simply showed Halderson’s parents’ cars coming and going from the

A southern Wisconsin man accused of killing his grandmother is avoiding prison due to mental illness.  Jamie Beggs of Brodhead pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree intentional homicide, but was found not guilty because a doctor’s report found he suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  A criminal complaint says Beggs admitted to strangling his grandmother to death last June to save her soul, saying he considered himself a martyr.  He’ll be committed under the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and will have a sentence hearing

A federal judge in Madison is not going to stop the Air Force from sending new fighter jets to the city on environmental grounds.  The judge yesterday tossed a lawsuit from the group Safe Skies Clean Water that challenged the environmental review for the new F-35 jets coming to Truax Field.  The group said the environmental studies from the National Guard are not thorough enough.  The judge disagreed.  Safe Skies Clean Water can still appeal the case.

The crowd at Eau Claire’s warming shelter is growing. The shelter’s Tom Wirth says with temperatures falling this week, more people are looking for a place to go to get warm. The shelter opened-up to fill a gap for Eau Claire’s homeless. Wirth says they are helping, but said the shelter is just a temporary solution. He wants to find a more permanent solution for the city’s homeless needs.