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Voters in the Galesville, Trempealeau, and Ettrick areas have approved a new performing arts center for the school district.  The referendum passed in Tuesday’s election getting 52 percent of the vote.  The center is expected to cost about ten-million dollars and raise property taxes by seven dollars on property worth 100-thousand dollars.  The district hopes to start construction in the fall or next spring.

A new ski jump in Eau Claire is nearing completion.  A 100-foot tower is currently going up at Mount Washington for a new 55-meter jump, extending jump distances by about 70 feet.  After the tower is complete the track and side rails will be added.  The jump is planning to open sometime later this year. 

A medical tool that’s made in Eau Claire is a finalist for the 2019 Ed-Tech medical technology award.  The system is developed by Reality-Works Incorporated and is used to simulate different blood pressures to help nursing students learn how to deal with them.  The winner of the award will be announced later this year. 

Taxes across Wisconsin are going up by nearly a billion dollars.  The state’s Department of Public Instruction yesterday said voters approved 765-million-dollars in school tax questions on Election Day.  DPI says voters rejected another 420-million-dollars in tax increases.  Overall, 75-percent of schools that put a question on the ballot saw it pass. 

Judge Brian Hagedorn says he’s not sure a recount will do much good in the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court.  But judge Lisa Neubauer isn’t ruling it out.  Neubauer is behind by nearly six-thousand votes after Tuesday’s election.  She told supporters yesterday in a Facebook video to hang in there, and that she wants every vote counted.  Hagedorn said his lead is insurmountable, but says he’s ready for a recount if it comes to that.

The chances don’t look good for marijuana decriminalization at the Wisconsin Capitol right now.  Republican lawmakers yesterday pushed back on Governor Evers’ plan to allow people to carry small amounts of marijuana.  State Senator Tom Tiffany says decriminalizing pot sends the wrong message to kids.  Democrats, like Senator Jon Erpenbach, say the idea is to stop punishing adults for something that most people in the country support. 

After a meeting this week, a lot of people were blowing the whistle wondering what was going on with a new upgrade to the athletic complex at Memorial. Here is what we know… The folks who offered Eau Claire’s Memorial High School a new football field says the school district was supposed to match their offer.  A spokesman for the anonymous group yesterday said school leaders voted to accept their million dollars Monday, but refused to spend any district money

Western Wisconsin’s congressman is asking the Trump Administration not to close the border with Mexico.  Congressman Ron Kind this week wrote a letter to the USDA secretary asking that they don’t close the border and shutdown trade between the U.S. and Mexico.  Kind says Mexico is Wisconsin’s largest market for milk and cheese.  He says Mexico bought nearly 70-million-dollars’ worth of dairy products from Wisconsin last year alone.

The FBI is trying to see if a teen who ran to police in Ohio is a boy who was last seen in the Wisconsin Dells nearly eight years ago.  Police yesterday said the teen says he’s Timmothy Pitzen who went missing back in 2011.  His mother brought him to the Dells for a visit, but she was later found dead in Illinois.  Police say the teen ran to them yesterday claiming to have escaped from two men who kidnapped him years

The Madison Fire Department is reminding people to clean up after working on home improvement projects.  Firefighters were on the scene of a house fire over the weekend that caused about 60-thousand-dollars in smoke damage alone.  In the basement, crews found rags used for staining and painting in a pile, which can cause spontaneous combustion.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation.