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Baby alligators are the latest residents at the Wisconsin Rapids Humane Society after police took them from a resident’s home. The city’s municipal code doesn’t allow people to own them as pets. A photo of a baby alligator next to a Wisconsin Rapids police badge is posted online. The babies aren’t much bigger than the patch.

The other person in the truck with Colten Treu has accepted a plea deal with prosecutors for his role in the deadly crash that killed three Lake Hallie Girl Scouts. John Stender Jr. pleaded no contest yesterday to hiding evidence in the case. Prosecutors say Stender helped Treu hide the truck that ran down the girls back in 2018. Stender is looking at 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced in July.

The sheriff in Kenosha County says Sunday’s shooting at the Somers House tavern happened over nothing. Sheriff David Beth said the suspect, 24-year-old Rakayo Vinson, started fighting with three men after one of them bumped into his shoulder. The fight ended when Vinson was pulled off, but the sheriff says he then started shooting. Vinson is being held in jail on four-million-dollar bond, and formal homicide charges could be filed as early as today. Three people died in the shooting,

Eau Claire’s school board is stepping away from day-to-day decisions in the city’s schools. The board last night agreed to a change that will give Superintendent Michael Johnson more power. Johnson will now be in charge of most operational decisions, including anything having to do with curriculum and learning. The school board will step back and focus on larger policy issues. Johnson says the change will make it easier to make changes in Eau Claire schools without having to wait

The internet in Drammen may get a lot faster. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski yesterday announced a 400-thousand-dollar grant to Eau Claire County for high speed internet. Drammen is the focus of the grant. The state is promising to bring fiber optic connections to the town. But crews say it will be 2022 or 2023 before the work is finished.

Governor Tony Evers spending plan is going to raise property taxes in the state. But a new report says property taxes are also set to rise without his budget becoming law. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau yesterday said Governor Evers’ budget would take the state property tax bill on the average 197-thousand-dollar home to over 33-hundred dollars. LFB says that’s not as much as taxes would jump under the current spending plan. Republican lawmakers in Madison, however, want to spend part

The idea of a summer sales tax holiday sounds good to shoppers, but business leaders in the Wisconsin Dells say they need every dollar they can get. The Wisconsin Assembly last week approved a plan to waive the state and local sales tax at restaurants, bars, movie theaters, amusement parks, and arcades from June until August this year. Wisconsin Dells Visitors and Convention Bureau COO Romy Snyder says that’s good news for the people coming to the Dells, but it’s bad news for local governments. Snyder

No one at the Wisconsin Capitol is pro-referee harassment, but some lawmakers are not sure the state needs to make it illegal. Democrats at the statehouse last week pushed back on the plan to make it a misdemeanor to harass or intimidate a ref or umpire. Democratic state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez says there are already laws to protect sports officials. The plan’s author, Republican Alex Dallman, says angry fans are ruining high school and youth sports across the state.

 Amazon is expanding its footprint in southeast Wisconsin. The company yesterday confirmed its plans to build a 165-thousand square-foot warehouse in Pewaukee. Amazon says the warehouse will employee 130 people. Amazon has several distribution centers and fulfillment centers around Milwaukee and its suburbs. The hope is to open the Pewaukee center by the fall.

The jury now controls the fate of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.  Closing arguments in the three-week trial ended today, and jurors will be sequestered at a hotel until they come to a verdict.  Chauvin is accused of killing George Floyd last year by pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes until he stopped breathing.  Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.