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A fire heavily damaged a pole shed. It was on May 6th when the Black River Falls Fire Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fire Control were paged by the Jackson County Emergency Dispatch Center for reported structure fire located at N7925 County Highway K. This address is located in the Township of Komensky and County of Jackson. Upon arrival the BRFFD had pole shed with heavy smoke showing and some flames. The department knocked down the fire

The Economic Recovery Task Force isn’t focusing on when businesses will reopen, but how. The Eau Claire Chamber held a virtual town hall yesterday to update the board on what the task force has accomplished so far. Officials say the overall goal of the task force is to help restart local businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Department Director said several businesses have already begun reopening, and the board has a checklist about how that’s done in a safe

There’s a new hotline for veterans that have questions about benefits. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday said the hotline will connect people with staff to answer any questions veterans have about programs, benefits and the eligibility process. The hotline is a substitute for face-to-face meetings and walk-in appointments amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Veterans can call 1-800-WIS-VETS, or 1-800-947-8387. 

Governor Tony Evers’ push to get more people in Wisconsin tested for the coronavirus is headed online. The governor yesterday announced a website where people can search for their nearest testing facility. The governor has said for the past week that he wants anyone who needs to get a test, to be able to get one. Wisconsin has the capacity to test as many as 12 thousand people per-day for the coronavirus. But the governor says not nearly that many people are actually being

An Eau Claire man who served time for a drug-related death is heading back to jail for using drugs himself. A judge yesterday sentenced Dustin Leshock to eight months in jail for possession. Leshock was on parole for the 2016 drug related death charge that sent him to prison. Police say he provided the heroin that killed a man.

The state of Wisconsin is not reporting any coronavirus hotspot investigations in the Chippewa Valley. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday released numbers regarding facility-wide coronavirus investigations. There are none in Eau Claire, Chippewa, or Dunn counties. In fact there are only four investigations in all of western Wisconsin. Most of the state’s hotspot investigations are in the Milwaukee-area, Madison, and Green Bay. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday said most of its 235 facility-wide coronavirus investigations have come in Milwaukee,

Eau Claire County’s sheriff says it’s up to parents to make sure teenagers are ready for the road. The state’s DMV on Tuesday said it is suspending driving tests for teenagers because of the coronavirus. Sheriff Ron Cramer says that means parents are going to have to be responsible and make sure their teens are ready to drive. Cramer says parents also need to remind their new drivers that points are double for anyone still on a graduated driver’s license.

State government in Wisconsin is feeling the impact of most people staying home and not spending money. New numbers from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau show tax money paid to the state last month was 870 million-dollars lower than last April. Some of that is because of the extension to file taxes, but much of it is being blamed on the cratering economy and the coronavirus. The Fiscal Bureau says it’s too early to tell what the coronavirus will do to the state’s

A local bus driver had an unlikely passenger this week. It was on Tuesday, May 5th when a local city bus driver saw a toddler in the middle of the traffic lanes on Harding Ave as he was driving the Eau Claire Transit Route #5. He stopped the bus in the lane of traffic, got out, and retrieved the toddler. The driver then called the dispatch center to receive assistance findingout where the child belonged. Mike Steinke, a Bus Operator

The state continues to move towards reopening.  The Badger Bounce Back plan has six criteria the state has to meet before reopening.  Two criteria have been met so far. This week which showed a critical two-week downward trend of coronavirus cases among healthcare workers. Nine more people are dead in the state as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases climb.  The State Department of Health Services says COVID-19 cases now top 89-hundred statewide.  The virus has killed 362 Wisconsinites.