Home

An internal review of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections reveals that staff racked up 50-million-dollars in overtime in 2018.  The Wisconsin State Journal says that amount for overtime hours last year was an increase of seven-million-dollars from 2016.  Dodge Correctional, Waupun and Oshkosh Correctional logged the highest amounts of overtime.  Staffing vacancies are the major reason overtime is necessary. 

A 44 year old River Falls man has been arrested for an 8th OWI. Tony Gordon Hetchler, was stopped a bit after 3 on Wednesday afternoon when an Officer attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding on Highway 35 in St. Croix County. The driver, identified as Hetchler, exited Highway 35, failed to stop for a stop sign on Old 35 Road, and then parked his vehicle behind a residence on High Ridge Drive where he fled on foot. St.

A 39 year old Birchwood man has been arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence, 5th offense. On Thursday, January 10, a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper observed 1998 Toyota with a missing outside rear view mirror. The vehicle was stopped for the equipment violation. The driver, Wade T Pfalzgraf, failed then field sobriety testing, leading to his 5th offense OWI.

An Osseo man charged with child abuse is pleading not guilty.  Twenty-three-year-old Mitchel Feyen is accused of throwing a seventh-month-old child out of frustration at his home last month.  Feyen is facing up to 15-years in prison and has a pre-trial conference scheduled for January 28th.  *PHOTO CREDIT: WEAU 13 NEWS

An Eau Claire man is in custody after being accused of beating an elderly man he lives with.  A criminal complaint claims 28-year-old Steven Scharein punched his 69-year-old house mate in the jaw on January 2nd and threatened his life with a knife on January 6th.  Scharein claims the man verbally instigated one incident and that he doesn’t remember the other.  He’s being held on five-thousand dollars bond and faces up to eight years in prison. 

The bald eagle population in the Badger State continues to rise despite the animal being listed as an endangered species.  A survey by the Department of Natural Resources shows over 100 more nesting bald eagles are residing in Wisconsin this year than last year.  Milwaukee is the only county in the state that doesn’t have any recorded nests.  Vilas County has the highest number of nests with 172.  Eau Claire County has 12 and Chippewa County has eleven. 

Get ready to hear a lot more about Marcy’s Law.   Wisconsin lawmakers are being asked to place the law that details the rights of crime victims on the spring ballot.  The legislature in Madison already approved the law, but has to vote again to put the question before voters.  Advocates and supporters of the law are planning a public information push, including some commercials and advertisements. 

The folks who run high school sports in Wisconsin are asking parents to stop yelling at the refs.  The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association said in an op-ed this week that parents need to “cool it.”  The WIAA’s Karissa Niehoff says parents are having a negative impact on sports because of the way that they are treating officials.  Niehoff says in the op-ed that the harsh words and outbursts from parents are making it tough to find enough refs and umpires to staff all of

A suspect wanted for break-ins in Eau Claire County is in custody.  Authorities say 19-year-old Derrick Rapley was arrested yesterday near Big Sand Lake in Burnett County.  He was charged last week in connection with two break-ins at Eau Claire County businesses.  

Chippewa County is forming a new task force to combat meth.  The Chippewa County administrator says planning for the effort began in June.  Officials say the purpose of the task force is to gather community members and organizations around the county to create solutions to the local meth epidemic.