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The latest round of coronavirus money in Wisconsin is going for crime prevention. Governor Tony Evers yesterday unveiled plans to spend 45 million-dollars on crime prevention and victim services. None of the money is earmarked for more police officers. The governor says the money is an investment in safer communities. Much of the money would go to violence prevention efforts in and around Milwaukee. The city has seen a spike in violent crimes, specifically murders and shootings, over the past two years.

The push for new hunter rules and regulations in Wisconsin got a little rock-and-roll help yesterday. Republican lawmakers welcomed Ted Nugent to the Capitol to help press for their Sporting Freedom Package. The proposal would cut red tape and make it easier for hunters and fishermen in the state to get out into the field or on the river. Nugent, who is a famous hunter himself, says too many regulations can end hunting and fishing in a blink of an eye.

The head of Wisconsin’s largest business group says every business in the state is worried about shortages.  Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce President Kurt Bauer yesterday said businesses in the state are dealing with both a shortage of workers and products. He said shortages are really hurting the state’s manufacturers. Bauer said the next worry is a possible energy shortage this winter. He said manufacturers in the state are bracing for price spikes just to keep the lights on.

The next vaccine push in Wisconsin is going to come in rural counties and certain neighborhoods in bigger cities. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday said it’s going to spend 27 million-dollars to promote racial and geographic equity in the state’s coronavirus response. DHS’s numbers show a huge racial vaccine gap. Over two-and-a-half million white people in the state have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to under 150 thousand blacks and nearly 200 thousand Hispanics. CLICK HERE

Mississippi’s state auditor says Brett Favre owes over 800 thousand-dollars in embezzled welfare money. State Auditor Shad White says Favre received over a million-dollars for speeches he gave in the state in 2017 and 2018. The problem is that Favre was paid with money that was supposed to go to needy families. Favre has already repaid a half-million dollars to Mississippi. The auditor says he needs to repay the rest or he will face a lawsuit.

The price tag to give folks on one western Wisconsin island fresh drinking water is expected to be over a half-million dollars a-year. The state’s Department of Natural Resources says it could cost as much as 600 thousand-dollars to provide bottled water to folks on French Island, which is just outside of La Crosse. The state is shipping bottled water to the island because of high PFAS levels in their drinking water. DNR’s Dave Rozeboom says spending that much money on bottled

Surveillance cameras could soon be coming to the beaches in Milwaukee County.  The sheriff’s office is looking at a plan to place cameras at the beaches, both to keep an eye on swimmers and to deter crime. The sheriff’s Ted Chisholm says they are not looking to spy on people. He says the cameras would simply keep people safe.  Some county supervisors are not buying that explanation. The camera plan comes with a 700 thousand-dollar price tag.

The Minnesota Legislature is introducing a new state office dedicated to missing and murdered Indigenous people.  State officials say they hope the Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives brings attention to the crisis of missing Natives which is largely unknown to the broader public.  According to reports, Native Americans make up just one percent of Minnesota’s population but account for as high as nine percent of all murdered girls and women in the state in  most of the last

The new Flesch Family Welcome Center on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus will be dedicated on Friday, Oct. 15, during the university’s weeklong Homecoming activities. The dedication and open house hosted by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation will be at 2 p.m. at the new building on lower campus. The center honors the families of alumni Tom and Jeannie Flesch, Blugolds who met on campus as undergraduates and eventually married. The Flesches made the lead gift for the building, a