Home

University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics is landing on the list of most highly ranked hospitals in the nation.  US News & World Report’s Best Hospital rankings were released today and UW Hospitals are on the honor roll for the first time in history.  The hospitals ranked 17th overall.  Officials say a top 50 ranking means the hospital is in the top two-percent in the nation.  The hospitals are ranked in the top 20 in Gynecology, Urology and Orthopedics. 

The man who shot and killed four people in Chippewa County is identified as Ritchie German.  The Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office says German shot three family members in the town of Lafayette and one in Lake Hallie yesterday.  He also wounded two people in Lake Hallie.  His victims included his brother, mother and eight-year-old nephew.  German took his own life following his killing spree.  MORE DETAILS: After an afternoon press conference we are learning more details about the murder suicide

It’s confirmed a tornado touched down in Barron County over the weekend.  National Weather Service investigators confirmed an EF-zero twister touched down about six miles southeast of Barron Sunday evening.  It had top wind speeds of 74 miles per hour and is the third tornado to touch down in Barron County in the last ten days. 

We could soon learn more about the shootings that left five people dead in Lake Hallie and Lafayette.  Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk says he expects to release more information about the shootings later today.  Deputies found two people dead in Lake Hallie Sunday night, they found three more people shot and killed in Lafayette early yesterday morning.  The initial sense is that it was a murder-suicide.  Investigators say the person who pulled the trigger is among the dead. 

Police in La Crosse are asking for help in solving a weekend shooting.  Investigators released some pictures yesterday of a man who they believe was involved in the shooting outside of  Who’s On Third early Sunday morning.  Police say the man fired once into the air, possibly to break-up a fight between two other men.  Detectives say anyone with information should call the La Crosse Police Department. 

The man being held in Missouri in connection to the disappearance of two northern Wisconsin brothers is not getting out of  jail.  A judge yesterday ordered Garland “Joey” Nelson held without bond.  Police arrested Nelson for driving Nick and Justin Diemel’s pick-up truck.  Investigators in Missouri think the brothers from northeast Wisconsin are dead, but they do not know where their bodies are.  The sheriff in Callaway County, Missouri said heavy rain yesterday hampered their search for the brothers. 

Madison school leaders are the latest to go on the record opposing any and all Native American mascots at high schools across the state.  The capital city’s school board voted last night for a plan that would have all schools in the state drop names associated with Native Americans.  Wausau schools started the petition.  None of Madison’s high schools have Native American themed mascots. 

Your water bill in La Crosse is going-up.  The state’s Public Service Commission yesterday approved a nearly 20-percent rate hike for the La Crosse Water Utility.  Utility managers say people’s bills will jump about two dollars a month.  La Crosse last raised water rates in 2015, before that there was a 30-percent rate hike back in 2011. 

Lake Hallie’s Girl Scout troop will never forget the three scouts who lost their lives last year.  And, Northwestern Bank and the Northern Wisconsin State Fair are making sure that their memories will live-on for years to come.  The bank and the fair teamed-up to donate 26-thousand-dollars to Lake Hallie’s Troop.  The cash came from a matching donation from Northwestern Bank during the fair.  

The top Republicans in Madison say a report that they’re looking to force through a new political map is fake news.   Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald yesterday both released statements that push back on a story in the Wisconsin Examiner that says they are looking to approve a new political map by joint resolution.  That would side-step Governor Tony Evers.  But Vos’ spokeswoman says the idea is not up for discussion, and calls the report a ‘scare