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Eau Claire’s former regional arts director is avoiding both jail and felony charges after police say he pushed someone to have sex against their will in his office back in 2016.  Ben Richgruber accepted a plea deal yesterday for misdemeanor Lewd and Lascivious behavior charges.  He’ll serve one year of probation.  Prosecutors originally charged Richgruber with felony sexual assault, but agreed to reduce the charges in exchange for a plea. 

A Wood County deputy is recovering after being shot during a stand-off with a suicidal suspect.  Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker says it happened last night in the village of Arpin.  The sheriff is not naming the deputy, but says he expects the deputy to survive.  There’s no word on the suspect who kept police at bay.  Authorities are also not saying just how the deputy was shot, and if the deputy returned fire. 

UW Eau Claire is getting a new science building.  Lawmakers in Madison included the project in their nearly two billion-dollar building plan.  Half of that money is being dedicated to the UW system.  UW-Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt says lawmakers have agreed to send 110-million-dollars to the school to start work on what could end-up being a 250-million-dollar science hall.  

Folks who move in Wisconsin will have a bit more time to update their voter registration.  The state’s Elections Commission yesterday voted to give people who have moved in the state two years to correct their voter registration.  The old policy gave people a month to respond to a voter outreach postcard, then they would be purged from the roles.  Many of those people still lived in Wisconsin, but had simply changed addresses.  

Wisconsin farmers are way behind where they should be at this point in June, but at least they have something in the ground.  The latest crop report for the state shows farmers are at least two weeks behind schedule.  That’s enough of a delay to put this year’s corn and soybean crop in doubt.  The report says 78-percent of corn and 60-percent of beans are planted.  

A new report says Foxconn may look to its to-be plant in Racine County to pick-up any work that Apple pulls from China.  The Nikkei Asian Review had the story yesterday.  The paper quotes Foxconn executives who say the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, namely tariffs on Chinese goods, could push production for Apple to the United States.   Foxconn is Apple’s biggest contractor.  

The budget that will decide whether campuses at the University of Wisconsin get needed renovations is facing consideration.  The Board of Regents is asking the Legislature for nearly two-billion-dollars to renovate facilities at ten campuses.  A vote by the State Joint Finance Committee could come as early as today with approval then needed by the full Legislature and ultimately the governor. 

A fire on Main Street in Rice Lake had fire fighters on scene Monday. It was at approximately 12:14 AM on Monday June 11, when the Rice Lake Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a structure fire at 920 S. Main St in the City of Rice Lake. The structure is owned by Tony and Michelle Martino. Upon arrival there was smoke coming from the basement out a back door. RLFD crew was informed all occupants were out

Police have identified a 19-year-old who was shot and killed in Wausau.  Police say Troy Wilcox was shot in the head last Friday and David Anselmo was arrested and charged with his murder.  If you were paging through The Wausau Daily Herald, then you likely saw reports that Anselmo’s attorney told police he accidentally shot Wilcox while at a party but he initially said he left the house before the shooting happened.  Anselmo is being held on 500-thousand dollars bond

The cause of death of a man who died during the Ironman triathlon in Madison last weekend is released.  The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office says Michael McCulloch’s death was consistent with a drowning caused in part by a medical event.  Additional testing is underway to determine what that medical event could have been.