Home

Eau Claire’s newest school board member starts tomorrow. The board last night named Doctor Marquell Johnson to fill Laurie Klinkhamme’s old seat. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Director of rehabilitation science at UW-Eau Claire. He once served on the Eau Claire School district’s post-secondary advisory committee.

The race for Congress in the northwoods is beginning again. Congressman-elect Tom Tiffany will take the oath of office today, he was elected last week. He will serve the rest of Sean Duffy’s term in office, which means he will be back on the ballot in November. So will Tricia Zunker. She announced yesterday that she too will run again in November. Tiffany beat her by about 15 points.

While the April election set records for absentee and mail-in voting in Wisconsin, the state’s election managers say there’s no evidence of an increase in rejected ballots. The Wisconsin Election Commission yesterday released a report into the April Election. It shows that voters cast the most absentee ballots ever in a spring election in the state, and cast the most mail-in ballots as well. But the Election Commission says the percent of ballots rejected by local clerks, less than two percent, is consistent

A fund is now available for small businesses feeling the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.  Governor Tony Evers announced today 75-million-dollars to help small businesses cover the cost of the interruption of business or for health and safety improvements, rent, salaries and other expenses.  Businesses can begin applying for the grants early next month.  The governor says more information about applying will be available later this month.

Health officials confirm 144 new COVID-19 cases in the state in the last day.  Six additional deaths are reported today.  In total nearly 12-thousand-700 people have tested positive in Wisconsin for the coronavirus.  The virus has killed 459 residents. In other case count updates, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh say there is a connection between in-person voting and the spread of the coronavirus following the state’s primary election.  Research led by UW economists and colleagues at Ball State University reveals what they

Eau Claire County community leaders and organizations across the government, education and the private sectors have joined forces to create an economic recovery task force. The formation of the Chippewa Valley COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is an effort to pull together resources, organizations and talent from across the Chippewa Valley to help us emerge from the crisis in an orderly, successful, safe and stronger position to support our local economy. Leading the task force are co-chairs Mark Faanes and

There will be less dust, but no less inspiration this year for a local favorite. For 12 years, Chalkfest has been a popular event in our area and beyond-drawing nearly 200 artists and thousands of visitors each summer, most recently to the UW-Eau Claire campus. But amid the pandemic, this years event will be drawn out differently…and virtually! Volume One announced a Chalkfest of a different color for 2020. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE EVENT PLANS FOR 2020

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) was approved to begin a $51 million payment program to support Wisconsin’s early care and education community. The funding comes as part of the state’s federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) monies. The Child Care Counts: COVID-19 Emergency Payment Program is broken into three smaller programs targeted at the most common circumstances early care and education providers are facing in the wake of the public health emergency. The department

The Bowl for Kids Sake annual fundraiser is still happening, but it will work a little differently this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin said the fundraiser is responsible for at least one third of their annual budget. This year Bowl for Kids Sake 2.0 will be a four-week virtual event, and participants will complete a weekly activity and fundraising challenge to be entered into a raffle. Organizers said they’re still trying to work

Mayor Tim Kabat is declaring this week Public Works Week. The mayor over the weekend designated May 17th through 23rd as National Public Works Week sponsored by the American and Canadian Public Works associations. The mayor is urging all citizens to pay tribute to public works professionals and the contributions they make to protecting community health, safety, and quality of life.