Governor Tony Evers will decide if protesters can be arrested for trying to block oil and gas pipelines in the state. The Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday approved a plan that would add pipelines, as well as other oil and gas facilities to the state law that bans protesters from power plants. The ACLU of Wisconsin is railing against the idea. The ACLU says the law is clearly aimed at environmental protesters.
Read MorePolice are investigating a potential shooting threat at Menomonie High School. Police say the school was put on lockdown yesterday morning after a paper with a reference to a school shooter was found at the school. Police say there was never any credible threat and the lockdown was a precaution. The lockdown was lifted at noon.
Read MoreA man is dead after being shot by deputies and a police officer in Monroe County. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation says the man was shot Tuesday night outside the Cotter Pin bar in Sparta. DCI says the man was inside with a gun, causing a standoff. He was eventually shot and killed by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies and a Sparta police officer. The deputies and the officer involved are currently on administrative leave.
Read MoreSnow plow drivers in Eau Claire are asking drivers to pay more attention and give them some more space. Road crews say drivers could have done better with yesterday’s snow. Eau Claire Street and Fleet Manager Steve Thompson says plow drivers saw a lot of people driving too close to their trucks, and cutting snow plows off. Thompson says people need to give plow trucks more room to do their job.
Read MoreProperty taxes in Chippewa County are going up slightly as county leaders look to add more people to the county’s payroll. Taxes are set to go up about two- percent next year as the value of homes is also rises in the county. County administrator Randy Scholz says the new money will help pay the salaries of several new people hired by the county, including four new social workers and an environmental health specialist.
Read MorePublic health managers in Eau Claire are looking for a white pitbull that they say bit someone on Halloween night. It happened on the city’s southwest side in the Broadview Boulevard area. The dog’s owner was not there for the bite. The Eau Claire City-County Health Department says they need to see the dog to make sure it doesn’t have rabies.
Read MoreState education officials say the plan to teach cursive in Wisconsin schools could cost almost eight-million-dollars. Lawmakers got their first chance yesterday to hear the pitch for a cursive mandate in public schools. State Rep. Jeremy Theisfeldt says teaching cursive will help kids with other learning strategies. But the state says it will be too expensive, costing as much as six-million-dollars in textbooks and other cursive lesson materials alone.
Read MoreThere is concern for farmers’ safety in many counties across Wisconsin as they push ahead with the fall harvest. The change of the clocks means farmers are coming in from the fields after dark and if they are driving slow-moving tractors they are vulnerable to drivers who want to speed past them. Officials ask drivers to be more cautious and look out for farmers who are nearly a full month behind this year’s corn harvest schedule.
Read MoreThe U.S. Air Force will release its preferred site to host the F-35 fighter jets in the spring. The Wisconsin National Guard announced today the draft of the environmental impact statement will be taken under consideration as to whether Truax Field in Madison will be that site. If the Air Force accepts the recommendation for Truax to host the F-35, the aircraft would begin arriving at Dane County Regional Airport in 2024.
Read MoreThe legal age to purchase tobacco or vaping products may soon be raised. Assembly Bill 422 would change the age from 18 to 21 to buy nicotine products including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, smoking tobacco and vaping products. The Assembly’s Committee on Substance Abuse held a hearing today and approved moving ahead with the proposal. It would have to pass both the Senate and Assembly and be signed by the governor before becoming law.
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