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For 121½ years, a copper weathervane shaped like a quill has perched atop the Clock Tower at University of Wisconsin-Stout — 135 feet above campus and downtown Menomonie. The quill finally is getting a rest from the elements. On Aug. 27, two workers with Building Restoration Corp. of Roseville, Minn., hung in a basket from a lift and slowly swung around the quill. They removed the molded flame — or torch — at the top of a lightning rod, then

A suspect is in custody after a stabbing in Eau Claire.  Police say Michael Alexander was fighting with another person in the eleven-hundred block of 1st Avenue early Monday morning.  Alexander is accused of leaving, coming back with a knife, and stabbing the person he was fighting with in the neck and shoulder area several times.  Alexander is charged with first-degree attempted homicide.  The victim is expected to survive. 

A Colfax man will go to prison as part of a plea deal in a Dunn County child pornography case.  A criminal complaint says authorities received a tip Brian Pautz had shared child porn earlier this year.  Pautz reportedly told investigators he got addicted to porn after his divorce and he knew what he was doing was wrong.  Pautz pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child porn yesterday and was sentenced to three years in prison. 

The Eau Claire Police Department has more officers patrolling school zones at the beginning of this year.  Police say there will be more officers around school zones before and after school over the next two weeks to make sure drivers are more careful.  Police say violating traffic laws in school zones could result in a 300 dollar fine. 

Eau Claire city hall is back open after more than a year of renovations.  City staff returned to the more than 100-year-old building yesterday after previously working at a temporary office during renovations.  Reports the work took about two years and cost about seven-million-dollars.  The city engineer says some offices are now bigger, the roof is touched up, and there are updates to the windows and interior of the building. 

There’s a hunt underway in Eau Claire County for a missing veteran who authorities say made threats against police officers.  Police issued a Green Alert for Daniel Werner last week.  Since then, Eau Claire County’s sheriff says Werner has been accused of threatening to kill any police officer who tires to arrest him. He did not show up for a court appearance Tuesday.  The sheriff says Werner was last seen buying supplies at a local hardware store. 

A dad in Chippewa Falls is heading to jail for a year after leaving his four-year-old in the car last summer so he could steal some liquor.  A judge handed down Michael Raskie Jr’s sentence yesterday.  Chippewa Falls police say Raski left his child in the car last June while he went inside a local grocery store to steal some vodka.  Officers found the child in the hot car, and they say he was just starting to feel the effects

The state of Wisconsin is asking more deer hunters to hand over parts of their deer for chronic wasting disease testing.  The state is ordering other hunters to do the same.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is ordering mandatory CWD testing for parts of Dunn, Eau Claire, and Pepin counties.  The three counties join about 25 others where the state is looking to contain chronic wasting in either captive or wild deer. 

It’s not clear how many of the 13 drunk driving laws headed before a state Senate panel in Madison may become law.  Lawmakers will hear the proposals today.  Among them is another attempt to make a first time OWI a crime.  Right now, Wisconsin treats a first OWI as little more than a traffic ticket.  The latest proposal would make a first OWI a misdemeanor.  But state Senator Van Wanggaar, who leads the panel, has long said he opposes making a first

Democratic lawmakers in Madison are turning their focus to farms in the state.  Lawmakers yesterday unveiled three proposals that all look to help Wisconsin’s farmers and dairymen.  One plan would create two new jobs at the UW Extension office, the other plans would pay off college debt for farmers and encourage farms in Wisconsin to plant or produce a more diverse set of crops and products.  State Rep. Rep. Dave Considine says the hope is to offer enough help to get Republican lawmakers