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After years of planning and many months of work, the newest public space in Downtown Eau Claire will open on July 2! When you come out to hang in the plaza you will see interactive water fountains, fire features, green space, seating, and river access. All part of the continuing downtown makeover into a favorite space in our city.

Eau Claire Parks & Recreation announces that the Fairfax Swimming Pool will be closed this weekend, June 29 and 30 for the annual YMCA Swim Meet.With temperatures reaching the 90 degree mark on these days, there will be opportunities to splash in Chippewa and Menomonie pools!

The Eau Claire County Parks & Forest Department announces that water testing results by the City County Health Department indicate Coon Fork Lake dayside and campground beaches have unsafe bacteria levels and are closed effective immediately. Lake Eau Claire, Big Falls, and Lake Altoona Park beaches are currently within acceptable standards for swimming and therefore open. The Health Department will retest the areas today and the Parks & Forest Department will inform the public when bacteria levels are within acceptable

The Wisconsin State Patrol is working to reduce the number of car crashes in Chippewa County.  The University of Wisconsin Traffic Operations and Safety Lab has identified the three most accident prone areas in the county so the state patrol can create a safer environment in those areas.  There have been nearly 200 crashes in Chippewa County in the last three years. 

There’s a new starting line for the 2020 Eau Claire Marathon.  Yesterday the city council approved moving the central hub from Carson Park to the Madison Street Bridge in downtown.  The finish line has also been moved to the end of Barstow Street near the Confluence Center. 

Eau Claire’s Owen Park will be getting new restrooms that will accommodate all genders.  Reports say the city council approved the updated bathrooms and a new pavilion yesterday.  There will be a male restroom, female restroom, and a gender inclusive restroom that anyone can use.  The project will cost around 280-thousand dollars and should be done by next spring. 

UPDATES: Two women are lucky to be alive after escaping a deadly fire.  The two survivors escaped the blaze on County Highway DD in Pickerel that killed two adults and four children yesterday.  The adults reportedly were in their early 30s  and the children ranged in age from ten months to seven-years-old.  The cause of the fire has not been determined.  Six people are dead after a house fire in Pickerel in northeast Wisconsin. Reports say the fire broke out

Wisconsin is likely out of the challenge to Obamacare.   Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul yesterday said he has no plans to rejoin the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act.  Kaul pulled the state from the lawsuit during the brief period when a law that curbed his power over lawsuits was in legal limbo.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court last week said that law should stand.  But, Kaul yesterday said he doesn’t plan to jump back into the suit. 

A western Wisconsin nurse is free on bond after two local hospitals say she stole fentanyl.  HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire says 40-year-old Jessica Gums stole 500 vials of fentanyl, and the Mayo Clinic says Gums also stole fentanyl from them as well.  She’s out on a signature bond after being arrested this week.  Prosecutors are not saying if Gums stole the drugs for herself or to sell. She is due in court next month. *PHOTO CREDIT: WEAU 13 NEWS

The city of Eau Claire is looking to borrow to fix a laundry list of projects. City finance director Jay Winzenz last night pitched city leaders on a plan to borrow 26-million-dollars to pay for work on everything from city streets to library improvements to work at the Hobbs Ice Arena.  Winzenz says some of the money could also be earmarked to pay off old debt from the last couple rounds of borrowing.