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One of the subjects of the popular Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer is being denied a pardon.   Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said Brendan Dassey’s pardon request was denied because Dassey had yet to meet certain criteria.  Dassey and his uncle Stephen Avery were convicted of murdering Teresa Halbach.  Questions arose about the validity of his confession. 

Republican state legislators say they want to cut property taxes.  Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said yesterday that they are working out the details of a tax cut bill to be introduced early next year.  He said the size of the cut will partly depend on the tax revenue forecast, which will be updated in January.

An Illinois woman convicted of using counterfeit money in Eau Claire is avoiding jail time.  Reports say Chianne Royster was sentenced to probation.  Royster and three other people were charged earlier this year with using fake 100 dollar bills at nearly a dozen businesses in the Eau Claire area.

The outdoors section of Gander RV in Eau Claire is closing.  Gander opened in the summer of 2018 as Gander Mountain but soon switched to Gander RV and Outdoors.  Now the outdoors part of the store is being liquidated and it’ll only be selling RV’s in the future.

The L.E. Phillips Memorial Library in Eau Claire is giving away thousands of free books to kids this Christmas.  The Library is using books gathered through its Give a Kid a Book program and distributing them to kids through community charitable organizations.  The library says it’ll give away about 35-hundred books this year.

Wisconsin women’s volleyball is one win away from its first national championship in program history.  The Badgers knocked off number one ranked Baylor in four sets in the semi finals Thursday night.  Wisconsin will take on defending national champions Stanford in the NCAA national title game Saturday night.

Leaders at the Chippewa Valley Technical College aren’t getting a lot of feedback about their plan to raise taxes. Just two people showed-up at a public meeting last night to hear a sales pitch for the idea. CVTC leaders are considering asking taxpayers to raise taxes by 49 million-dollars, that vote could come in the spring. The CVTC board will make a final decision on the tax increase question next month.

Nearly 60 older or disabled people in Chippewa County are going to have to find a new nurse to help them. Chippewa County administrator Randy Scholz yesterday said the county is moving to end its home healthcare program. He says the county is not getting enough back from the state and federal government to cover the cost of the program. In addition to the 60 people who will lose services, Scholz says seven people will lose their jobs.

Fire investigators in Eau Claire say they do not know what started the fire at the Chippewa Valley Eye Clinic. Firefighters finished their investigation yesterday. They are ruling the fire an accident, even though they do not have a specific cause. That fire, back in early November, left a gaping hole in the building’s roof but didn’t hurt anyone.

Two of western Wisconsin’s largest healthcare providers will not be merging. Gundersen Health System and the Marshfield Clinic Health System yesterday said they are no longer in talks to consolidate. Leaders at both Gunderson and Marshfield say a merger wasn’t the right fit for either group. The two had been in talks for months.