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Add a free beer to the list of freebies for furloughed federal workers.  Managers at the Pabst Taproom yesterday said they’re offering any federal worker who is off the job a free pint of Red, White, and Blue for as long as the government is shut down.  Workers simply need to present their government ID. 

A Chippewa Falls man is facing three felonies after being accused of sexually assaulting an eleven-year-old girl in a parking lot.  A criminal complaint says the girl told police Craig Belden assaulted her near a dog park recently while he was on a beer run.  Belden was arrested on child abuse charges and faces up to 72 years in prison.  He’s due in court on January 30th. 

A man accused of shooting and killing his sister and her boyfriend is pleading guilty to four charges.  If you were paging through the Leader Telegram, you might have see that 48-year-old Wayne Price was convicted of two counts of felony battery and two counts of false imprisonment as part of a plea deal.  According to that deal, the prosecution will seek no more than 28-and-a-half years in prison followed by 13-and-a-half years of extended supervision.  Price will be sentenced

A man accused of leading police on a chase through Eau Claire County has reached a plea deal.  Yesterday, Mandlenkosi Cronk pleaded no contest to eight charges related to the 2018 chase and a domestic assault incident.  He will be sentenced on March 12th. 

A company that donated 25-thousand dollars as a reward for the return of Barron teen Jayme Closs says the 13-year-old will receive the money now that she’s been found.  Hormel Foods is the parent company of the Jennie-O Turkey Store that employed Jayme’s parents, James and Denise Closs.  Jayme escaped from her captor nearly three months after she went missing in October.  The teen had been missing 88 days when she approached a woman for help who was walking her

A man accused of burglarizing the Closs home in Barron while Jayme Closs was still missing is being considered not competent to stand trial.  Police say Kyle Jaenke-Annis entered the home in November.  A judge agreed yesterday with a doctor that found Jaenke-Annis not competent to stand trial on burglary charges.  Authorities say he took things he didn’t think people would miss, including clothing that belonged to Jayme.  The man will be put on medication and a judge will review

Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council will be conducting a second homeless count.  Volunteers didn’t find any homeless people in public places during its twice-yearly survey Wednesday night into yesterday morning.  Officials said a new survey would be done Monday night in hopes of getting a more accurate count of Eau Claire’s homeless population. 

A line of credit is in place for Milwaukee’s bid for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.  Organizers say the third-party financing was the last major hurdle in the city’s quest to host the event.  Mayor Tom Barrett won’t say what the total amount of the guarantee is or the names of individuals or groups providing it.  The city is competing with Miami Beach and Houston for the opportunity to host the event. 

The Eau Claire Community Foundation is giving out a record number of grants.  Officials say the organization received nearly five-million dollars in donations last year.  The foundation provided over 500 grants to area organizations, for a total of nearly three million dollars.  Nonprofits receiving grants of more than ten thousand dollars include the Boys and Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley, Feed My People Food Bank, and Western Dairyland. 

The Eau Claire Police Department is working to overcome language barriers they often encounter when working with suspects or victims who don’t speak English.  The department is using a service called Language Line that gives them access to a translator for every language.  The service provides interpretation services over the phone.  The tool has been used by the department since 2007.