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A man staying at the Eau Claire Beacon House shelter is going to prison for a number of sex crimes.  A criminal complaint claims the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children got a tip that a Google account linked to Garry James uploaded child pornography and James allegedly admitted to sexually assaulting a girl multiple times starting when she was 13.  James was sentenced to four years in jail last Friday followed by six years of supervised release. 

A Minnesota woman has been found guilty of stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from area Walmarts, including here in our area.  Police say Tempestt Robinson and two other women were accused of posing as cashiers when they stole gift cards from stores in New Richmond, Hudson, and Eau Claire.  Robinson was found guilty on one count of theft last Friday.  She’ll be sentenced in July. 

The Wisconsin Democratic party will be picking a new leader for the 2020 cycle this weekend.  If you were paging through The Chippewa Herald, you likely read reports Vice Chairman David Bowen and former Move-On-dot-org leader Ben Wikler are both in the running for the position of chairman after Martha Lanning decided she won’t seek re-election.  The leader will be elected to a two-year term by a majority vote of the more than one-thousand delegates who will meet at the party’s convention

The Irvine Park Petting Zoo is open in Chippewa Falls.  The zoo opened for the summer yesterday and all the usual animals are there except for some pigs that will show up next week.  The zoo is open everyday from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. through Labor Day.  Photo Credit: chippewa.com

A jury in Chippewa Falls will decide if the man accused of running down three Girl Scouts in guilty.  A judge last week refused to move Colten Treu’s trial out of Chippewa County.  He’s accused of being high while driving, and killing the three scouts from Lake Hallie last fall.  Treu’s lawyers say he can’t get a fair trial in Chippewa Falls. Prosecutors say they’ll wait to see if they can find a jury that hasn’t heard of the case. 

It’s another reminder to be safe on the water.  Eau Claire police say they rescued a man from the Chippewa River early yesterday morning.  Officers say the man jumped off the Clairemont Avenue footbridge.  They pulled him out of the river near the Short Street Bridge.  Eau Claire police are not saying why the man jumped into the river, or if alcohol was involved. 

A UW-Eau Claire student is heading to jail for two weeks for putting a hidden camera in a woman’s bedroom.  A judge on Friday sentenced Matthew Miller to 15 days in jail and two years of probation.  Police say he hid the camera in the woman’s room last November.  The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire put Miller on probation as well. 

Wisconsin is joining the effort to forgive student loan debt for permanently disabled veterans.  Attorney General Josh Kaul says it is the right thing to do.  He joins 51 other Attorneys General urging the U.S. Department of Education to automatically forgive loans of veterans who became totally and permanently disabled in connection with their military service.  

If you want to drink beer and watch Badger football this year, you’re going to have to do it outside of the stadium.  UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank says she doesn’t want to see beer inside Camp Randall stadium because she fears it will take away from the game.  Blank says there won’t be any beer sold for general admission fans this year.  About half the schools in the Big Ten sell beer at their football games. 

Packers fans will have a chance to say goodbye to Bart Starr.  Starr’s family yesterday said they’re planning a public memorial for the late quarterback, but said it may take some time to put everything together.  Starr died on Sunday at age 85.  His son says they will have a private funeral in Alabama sometime in the next week or so.  Then they will have a public memorial in Green Bay after that.