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The state of Wisconsin is a big step closer to allowing teachers from outside the state to teach in classrooms here. The state Senate yesterday approved a plan to give out-of-state teachers with three years of experience a lifetime teaching license in Wisconsin. Supporters say the change will make it easier to find teachers and deal with the state’s teacher shortage. The plan next goes to Governor Evers.

Wisconsin’s experiment with hemp may soon be permanent. The Wisconsin Senate yesterday approved a plan that would make the state’s pilot program a permanent program. State Senator Patrick Testin says the idea is to give farmers and businesses more confidence in the new crop. Wisconsin farmers first got the chance to plant hemp last year. The legislation now heads to the state Assembly.

The Department of Natural Resources is giving hunters a heads-up regarding license scams online.  Officials say there are at least two sites that claim to offer hunting licenses but once a fee is paid you only get information and not a license.  The sites also ask for personal information.  The DNR urges anyone who’s been scammed to file a complaint with the State Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Authorities in east-central Wisconsin say a recent drug bust in Outagamie County is one of the biggest ever in their area.  Brown County District Attorney David Lasse announced last night the seizure of nearly 60 pounds of methamphetamine from a room at the Wingate by Wyndham in Grand Chute last month.  Other narcotics were also confiscated and Derek Liebergen of Kaukauna was taken into custody.  Authorities say the bust will have an big impact on the supply of meth in the area.

The former congressman for Wisconsin’s northwoods is a dad, again. Former Congressman Sean Duffy and his wife yesterday announced the birth of their ninth child,  a daughter named Valentina StellaMaris Duffy. Duffy left Congress last month to spend more time with his wife and kids. The little girl has two holes in her heart and has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.

A Blair man will go to prison after being convicted in an Eau Claire child sexual assault case.  Reports say a victim told police Jebediah Johnson assaulted her when she was seven or eight-years-old and again when she was 12.  Johnson was found guilty of two counts of first-degree child sexual assault in connection with the case last Friday.  He’ll face up to 120 years in prison when he’s sentenced in December.

The Wisconsin State Senate has approved a resolution in supports of F-35 jets flying into Truax Field in Madison.  Flying the jets in Dane county has come under scrutiny since neighbors in the flight path started complaining about the noise.  Reports say Republican lawmakers introduced the resolution to raise awareness of the possible economic benefits.  It was passed on Tuesday.  The State Assembly will vote on the resolution on Thursday.

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear an over 500-million dollar case by University of Wisconsin’s patent-licensing arm against Apple.  The Wisconsin Research Alumni Foundation filed the lawsuit in 2014, claiming the company infringed on computer processing technology created by the university by using it in its products.  Apple claims the technology it uses is different.  The Supreme Court declined to take up the case on Monday.  UW is still seeking damages on two other items involving Apple.

The city of Eau Claire is closer to construction on the Sonnentag Event and Recreation Center.  The city announced Tuesday it has a plan for the building and it will be sent to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Capital and Budget Committee on Thursday.  The center would hold just more than 41-hundred people.  It would also be home to the Eau Claire YMCA and the Mayo Clinic’s sports medicine program.  If everything goes well, groundbreaking could be next summer.

A new music festival is coming to Eau Claire in November.  The Eaux Claires music festival announced the Eaux Claires Hiver festival on Tuesday.  The new event will feature music performances and improvisation during three separate events on November 22nd and 23rd.  Some of the events include a band lineup, a conversation with Ani DiFranco and Bon Iver member Justin Vernon, and a performance by Vernon and the T-U Dance troupe.