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Thousands of books are being given away for free through the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Greater Chippewa Valley.  Kids in Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie, and Black River Falls are the intended recipients of the partnership between Disney Publishing and the Boys and Girls Clubs to donate one-million books across the country. There are about eleven-thousand books available. The donation totals more than 137-thousand-dollars.

Wisconsin volleyball makes their debut in the N-C-A-A tournament in Omaha tonight. The Badgers will take on the Bowling Green State University Falcons or the Weber State Wildcats at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on E-S-P-N-3.

It could be the latest sign business is returning as usual in Eau Claire. Saturday morning sessions at the Children’s Museum are back. This weekend, the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire is opening sessions to the general public beginning at 9 a.m. Masks are required for all visitors five or older.

Weekly jobless claims are the lowest in more than a year.  The Labor Department reports 576-thousand U.S. workers filed initial unemployment claims last week, 193-thousand fewer than the week before and the lowest since March 14th, 2020. 

 The Wisconsin Supreme Court says Governor Evers and his health secretary went too far with their order last year limiting crowds at bars, restaurants, and all other ‘indoor venues.’ The court yesterday said the Department of Health Services ignored state law when it issued the 25-percent crowd cap order. The order is no longer in effect, but the ruling makes it clear that Governor Evers doesn’t have unlimited power to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. This is the third time

 The Minnesota officer who resigned after killing Daunte Wright is due in court today.  Kim Potter was arrested yesterday and charged with manslaughter.  She was released hours later on bond.  Video shows her shooting the 20-year-old as he got back in his car during a traffic stop on Sunday.  Police say she mistook her gun for a taser.  Wright’s death sparked a fourth night of protests, with 24 people arrested for violating curfew.

Add Chippewa County to the list of places seeing a drop in interest in the coronavirus vaccine. County health director Angela Weideman yesterday said 38-percent of the county has at least one dose of the vaccine, but fewer people are showing-up to get the shot. Weideman says they have plenty of doses available. Many cities and counties across Wisconsin are reporting similar drops in interest in the vaccine. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM CHIPPEWA HEALTH OFFICIALS.

Future UW-Eau Claire students are going to have to pay more to help keep the Sonnentag Center fresh. Current students this week approved a 90- dollar-per-semester fee for the center. Because the Sonnentag Center is not yet finished, current students won’t see the benefit of the fee. They also won’t have to pay it. With just over 10-thousand students on campus, the new fee will be worth about 1.8 million dollars a year to the university.

Audrey Hoelscher’s college application just got better. Hoelscher is a junior at Eau Claire Memorial High School, and she just scored a perfect 36 on the ACT. She got the perfect score on her second attempt at the test, and says she was shocked when she got her results. Hoelscher says she doesn’t have a college picked-out yet, but is looking to go to school in Michigan.

The proposal to make it a misdemeanor to harass referees and umpires in Wisconsin takes its first step forward today. Lawmakers have a hearing on the plan they hope will have fewer people yelling at the officials in youth and high school sports. The WIAA, the group that runs high school sports in Wisconsin, says harassment has made it difficult for them to find and keep referees and umpires. The plan is due for a vote in the Assembly’s Committee