About 200 kids in Eau Claire could be going to new schools next year. The city’s school district last night approved a new enrollment map. Superintendent Mary Ann Hardebeck says the idea is to balance enrollment at the city’s schools. Parents will have the choice to keep kids at the same school next year, or until their kids transition to middle school or high school. In all, seven schools in Eau Claire will get new boundaries.
Read MoreThe track at Eau Claire Memorial High School is going to look much better next year. School leaders say the Pat and Connie Ulrich Trust is donating 250-thousand-dollars to the school to upgrade the track, as well as pay for new lighting and fences. The donation is far less than the one-point-two million-dollars some anonymous donors were offering Memorial. That fell apart after school leaders balked at matching part of the donation with public dollars.
Read MoreThe National Weather Service is adding to the tornado count in western Wisconsin. Forecasters yesterday said four tornadoes touched down in Barron and Clark counties Friday night. Two of the tornadoes hit Barron County, two others hit Clark County. The weather service says each county saw an EF-1 and an EF-0 storm. Top wind speeds for the storms were about 110 miles-per-hour.
Read MoreA former UW-Oskosh professor’s apparent obsession with a student will cost the university 325-thousand-dollars. The UW System yesterday said it is paying the former student, only identified as A.R, to end a sexual harassment claim against former professor Michael Beitz. A.R. says Beitz harassed her for years, coerced her into having sex, then tried to contact her after she left the school. She left the school in 2014. Beitz resigned from UW Oshkosh in 2015.
Read MoreThe state of Wisconsin is asking towns and cities to start testing for a new chemical. The state’s Department of Natural Resources yesterday sent letters to 125 local water treatment plant asking them to start the tests for chemical pollution. The chemicals, known better as PFAS, can come from firefighting foam and other industrial uses. DNR says it wants to see how common PFAS pollution is before coming up with a plan.
Read MoreNever pay anybody for work they haven’t done, and never give anyone your banking or insurance information. That’s the advice for folks in Wisconsin who are cleaning-up after last weekend’s storms. The Better Business Bureau and local utilities are warning folks in the storm zones about storm related scams. Many of the scammers offer to help with repairs, then never follow through. But the BBB is also warning of insurance and bank fraud schemes where scammers call and try and get personal
Read MoreIt is Aviation Week in Wisconsin. The governor today signed a proclamation celebrating the 130 public airports in the Badger State which accommodated six-million passengers last year. Oshkosh is hosting the World’s Greatest Aviation celebration this week. More than ten-thousand aircraft are available with an estimated 170-million-dollars in sales. More than half-a-million-people are expected to take in the show which runs through Sunday.
Read MoreAs tourism grows in the Stevens Point area, so does the need to find places for visitors to stay. To help expand the availability of short term rentals, Mayor Mike Wiza says the city has completed the process to allow homeowners to offer Airbnb or VRBO rentals. Homeowners can get more information at Stevens Point-dot-com and search for short-term rentals.
Read MoreThe Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive will roll into Altoona from the west, tomorrow, Tuesday, July 23rd , at 1 PM. You can see the world’s largest steam engine at the Union Pacific yard adjacent to the 1400 Block of Spooner Avenue between the hours of 2 PM and 5 PM. Union Pacific’s historic Big Boy is touring the Union Pacific system in 2019 to commemorate the transcontinental railroad’s 150th anniversary. The No. 4014 locomotive is the world’s
Read MoreAfter a day’s delay due to some nasty weather, the Buffalo County Fair Horse Show took place on Sunday at the Loomis Lazy L Arena in Mondovi, WI. Fourteen 4-H members from Buffalo and Pepin County participated in pleasure competitions in the morning and a gymkhana fun show in the afternoon. Events for premium included Halter, English, Western, and Trail. The horse exhibitors would like to thank Lazy L for the use of their facility, and all of the volunteers
Read More