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Motor oil dribbled down Darrin Witucki’s arm as about a half-dozen students crouched to see him unscrew the oil filter from a car parked in the technology research and development lab of Jarvis Hall Technology Wing. Witucki, UW-Stout’s Student Centers director, demonstrated vehicle maintenance basics as part of the Involvement Center’s Adulting 101 series. The series started about five years ago. “It was designed to help prepare students for life outside of college and the classroom,” said Heidi Germain, Involvement Center campus

Eau Claire Public Schools Foundation announced Tuesday that the fundraising goal for the GATEWAYS special education transition center has been exceeded, in conjunction with a ribbon cutting celebration to commemorate the opening of the new space. In the spring, the Eau Claire Area School District school board approved the project to begin renovation of an offsite location in EastRidge Center, to become a new transition center for the district’s students with disabilities ages 18-21, supporting their transition from school services

There’s still no verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The jury did not reach a conclusion after deliberations yesterday. Jurors asked to watch the drone video that’s become the center of the case. Prosecutors say that video shows Rittenhouse point his rifle at someone else, which they say provoked Joseph Rosenbaum and canceled Rittenhouse’s claim to self defense. The defense wants a mistrial.  The judge is allowing the jurors to watch the video, but added he’s reviewing the mistrial motion. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is not going to reopen Steven Avery’s case. The high court yesterday denied Avery’s request for a new trial. The justices did not offer a reason why. Avery’s lawyer wants a new trial, she says based on new evidence. Avery became world famous because of the Netflix special Making a Murderer which looks at his conviction for killing Theresa Halbach back in 2005.

A man who calls himself a sexual deviant and a voyeur in Barron County is now facing charges. Prosecutors filed charges this week after they say someone found Joshua Benson’s phone in the bathroom at the McDonald’s in Turtle Lake. The phone was recording, and aimed at the toilet. Investigators say Benson admitted to setting-up the camera. He’s free on a signature bond and due back in court next month.

A man who says his son is facing charges in Cumberland is now facing charges of his own after police say he crashed his car into Cumberland’s city hall. Barron County prosecutors filed the charges after watching a video that shows Nicholas Brannan crash into the building early Tuesday morning. Cumberland Police say Brannan admitted to ramming the building, he says because police mistakenly cited his son for drugs and not drinking. Brannan says he was drinking when he crashed

One state lawmaker says Madison’s decision to require coronavirus vaccinations for poll workers is basically a poll tax. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen yesterday ripped the idea from Madison’s city clerk as a hurdle to keep certain people out of the election process. The clerk’s office on Monday said anyone who wants to work during any of next year’s elections in Madison must be vaccinated by the first week of January. The application window for poll workers closes at the end

Another Wisconsin school district is facing a lawsuit over its at-school gender policy. Parents, along with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, sued the Kettle Moraine School District for allowing students to change their gender and names at school, without telling parents. The case is focused on a 12-year-old girl whose parents say was using a male name, and being treated like a boy by the school. WILL sued Madison schools over a similar policy last year.

It’s the other illness making the rounds this time of year. Officials with Gundersen Health in La Crosse say they are starting to see flu cases show-up in the hospital. Flu season runs from October to March, but tends to pick-up around the holidays. Doctors are urging people to get their flu shots this year, even if they have gotten their coronavirus shots.

Schools across Wisconsin may not have done as well on the new school report cards as first thought. Lawmakers and critics say the state’s Department of Public Instruction lowered the scores on the new report cards to make it look as if more schools are passing the state’s tests. Republican state Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt says DPI is misleading parents to cover-up for a lost year of education last year. DPI initially said 95 percent of school districts in the state met or