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A Chippewa Falls mom is looking at 60 years in prison after police say she tried to hire a hitman to kill her daughter’s father. Prosecutors filed formal murder-for-hire charges yesterday against 47-year-old Melanie Schrader. Police say she wanted to kill the man because of child custody issues. The hitman she tried to hire last week turned out to be a police officer, and she was arrested a short time later.

A Chippewa Falls man is facing prison time after his fifth OWI arrest. But he’s not going behind bars for drunk driving. Prosecutors want Steven Kolpien sent to prison for violating the terms of his probation in a deadly shooting. A jury convicted Kolpien of helping two men after they shot and killed a third man back in 2016. He never went to prison in that case. Chippewa County’s D.A. wants a judge to send him to prison after his

A detachment of engineers from northwestern Wisconsin is the latest unit to be heading out on deployment. The Wisconsin National Guard yesterday said about 150 troops with the 128th Engineer Company headquartered in Spooner will head to the Middle East in a couple of weeks. The 128th will support a unit from Indiana while on deployment. The Guard is not saying just when the troops will leave, or when they will return.

Western Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind wants to make college more affordable by allowing young people to refinance their student loans and get more student aid. Kind introduced what he’s calling Higher Education Action Plan yesterday. Kind also wants to make it easier for college students to consolidate their debt. His plan would ask colleges and universities to focus more on outcomes and job training. He also wants to track how much students are paying for their degrees.

There will soon be 60 new assistant district attorneys across the state. Governor Tony Evers said the new hires are critically important.  The governor says DA’s are on the front lines of reforming the criminal justice system and they need help to do it.  Evers says the DA’s have been doing more with less for too long and points out that these are the first new positions to that department in over a decade. Locally, Eau Claire County is in

Two Wisconsin schools are on the list of the healthiest schools in America.  The Alliance for a Healthier Generation posted its results yesterday.  The criteria included schools serving healthier meals and snacks, getting more students to exercise, offering high-quality health and physical education and nurturing leadership skills.  Bay Middle School in Green Bay earned a gold standard rating and Honor Middle School in the Herman-Neosho-Rubicon School District earned a bronze rating.

We now know more about those involved in a stand off and shooting in Loyal that occurred last week. Enforcement from Loyal Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, and Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Office were engaged in a standoff with a suspect following a traffic stop and pursuit. During the standoff at the suspect’s residence, law enforcement deployed gas into the residence. As the standoff continued at the residence, the suspect fired on law enforcement and

We have a winner! Milk-n-More Tequila Naomi, a seven-year-old Jersey bred and owned by Milk-n-More Farms of Cecil, has been named the 2019 Wisconsin Cow of the Year. Naomi will be recognized with the honor at a special ceremony October 2 during World Dairy Expo. Nice shot, Tequila! Each year, a different Wisconsin purebred cattle association selects a cow to represent her breed as the Cow of the Year at World Dairy Expo. The honor rotates annually among Wisconsin’s seven

The Dunn County Criminal Justice Collaborating Council will be holding a forum on Wednesday, September 25th from 6-8 p.m. at the Dunn County Judicial Center. Attendees are invited to bring and submit questions for the panel to address. The forum will focus on the evolution of local drug trends and mental health issues in Dunn County, and how these areas impact the community as a whole. There will also be discussion surrounding current and future efforts to mitigate these evolving areas. Panelists

Today, Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced his candidacy for Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District. Fitzgerald, a 25-year legislative veteran and longtime leader of the Senate Republican caucus, released the following statement: “Washington is a mess. For too long, liberals and the elite have ignored the needs of working-class people. President Trump has made tremendous strides in fixing the D.C. dysfunction, but he needs more help. In Wisconsin, we know how to fix broken government and put taxpayers back in