Home

Lawmakers in Madison are looking to give the victims assaulted by priests more time to come forward.  A handful of Democratic lawmakers yesterday introduced a plan to end the statute of limitations for sex crimes involving clergy members.  Right now, victims have 35 years to report what happened to them.  The lawmakers say the idea is to make sure the victims are not denied justice because of a ticking clock. 

The town of Wausau is seeing a multi-million-dollar boost to its economy.  Officials say the Hmong Festival brought in nearly three-million-dollars this past weekend.  That’s about a-million-dollars more then a year ago and nearly two-million-dollars more than in 2017.  The Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau says the festival welcomed about nine-thousand-people with about 18-hundred hotel rooms booked in the area. 

Soon, children at Hope Gospel Mission’s Hope Renewal Center for Women and Children will have a safe place to play, thanks in part to a $7,000 donation from Rotary Clubs of Eau Claire and a matching district grant. The new Hope Renewal Center For Women and Children will provide a safe, stable home and programs for more single women struggling with homelessness and addiction and will begin services to care for single women with children. Hope Gospel Mission continues to

In the aftermath of the weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, there’s a push in Wisconsin for stricter gun laws. Earlier this week, Governor Tony Evers proposed a universal background check bill and a red flag law.  A red flag law allows the police or a relative to petition a court to temporarily take firearms from a person who may be a danger to others or to themselves.  Similar laws have been passed in some other states.

A nonprofit that provides clothing and toiletries to children entering foster care is the recipient of a one-thousand-dollar grant. The Walmart in Menomonie is providing the funding through its community giving program.  Wisconsin Foster Closet is moving into its new building in Menomonie and will reportedly use the money to buy supplies.   

A La Crosse man is now charged in connection with a recent motorcycle accident.  If you were reading the paper, you might have seen The La Crosse Tribune report that according to a criminal complaint, Matthew Sallander deliberately swerved his jeep when a motorcyclist tried to pass him in a no-passing zone on July 10th.  The report says he hit the motorcycle, causing it to fall and skid several feet.  Sallander is charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and faces

The Department of Natural Resources is expanding the Adopt-a-Dumpster and Adopt-a-Kiosk programs to offer more residents, organizations and businesses across the state the chance to support deer hunters having their deer tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD) and help prevent the spread of the disease. The DNR will now offer cost-sharing as an option for the Adopt-a-Dumpster (ADD) program for volunteers to sponsor a dumpster during the deer season. The main goal of the ADD program is to provide hunters

The sheriff in Chippewa Falls says they still don’t know anything about the man who killed four people late last month in Lafayette and Lake Hallie.  Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk yesterday asked for tips that could lead them to a motive for the killings, or even just some background information about the killer, Ritchie German Jr.  The sheriff says they know almost nothing about German or his past. 

Jayme Closs’ parents’ house is no more.  The bank recently ordered the home where she was taken and her parents were killed last October to be torn down.  Closs’ family says they are aware of the demolition.  No one has lived at the house since Jayme’s kidnapping and her parents’ murder. 

Prosecutors in Chippewa County are upgrading the charges against a young girl accused of killing a baby last year.  The district attorney yesterday filed first degree intentional homicide charges against the 10-year-old girl for last fall’s death of a six-month-old baby.  She was originally charged with reckless homicide.  A judge found the girl unfit for trial earlier this year.  She’s due back in court next month for a new hearing.