Home

Eau Claire police are staying busy this month dealing with car crashes due to the winter weather.  The police department says it’s responded to over 335 car crashes in the month of February with ten of those involving injuries.  The department also says it’s responded to another 275 vehicle assists.  The Wisconsin State Patrol says it’s responded to nearly 250 crashes in Eau Claire with 23 of those involving injuries.

Some state lawmakers are working on a bill to help school districts deal with making up snow days.  In the bill, school districts would have the decision about how many snow days to make up or whether or not to make snow days at all.  However, districts that aren’t exceeding expectations would still have to follow the minimum 180 days of instruction as required by the state.  Neither Eau Claire or Chippewa Falls school districts are exceeding state expectations so

A La Crosse man is in custody after a drug investigation.  Police say they searched the house of 27-year-old Nathan Kohls earlier this week and found about four-thousand dollars worth of methamphetamine, a loaded gun, and about two-thousand dollars in cash.  Kohls was arrested and he’s facing eight charges related to the investigation.

A former Chippewa County Board Chairman is dead just weeks after resigning as a board member.  If you happen to be paging through The Leader-Telegram, you probably saw the reports that 77-year-old Larry Willkom passed away last week after 36 years of serving on the board, including a stint as chair from 2010 to 2012.  He will have a visitation on March 7th at Pederson-Volker Funeral Chapel.  His funeral will be on March 8th at Holy Ghost Catholic Church.

It might be Irving Park that shines for Christmas, but now it’s the dam’s turn to light up Chippewa Falls! You are invited to be part of the lighting of the The Chippewa Falls Hydro Dam. There are new mounted lights on top of the building that will change colors throughout the year to match the season and city events.  There’s a ceremony tonight to commemorate the new lights. Details below: TONIGHT | 6:30p Chippewa Riverfront – Stage Please join

The heavy snow is continuing to cause headaches for local postal workers.  Workers are facing difficulties delivering mail safely because of icy, snowy conditions making it unsafe to get to some boxes, some of which are blocked.  Customers are being asked to remove snow from walkways, sidewalks, steps, porches, and around mailboxes at the curb.

The Bloomer Police Commission is holding a formal hearing to discuss possible reprimands relating to an illegal deer shooting by its chief Jared Zwiefelhofer.  The commission reviewed a formal complaint against the chief at its meeting yesterday.  Records show Zwiefelhofer admitted in November to shooting a deer with a department issued rifle outside of gun-deer season, to using excessive bait near his stand, and to using a UTV with a loaded gun.  He later pleaded no contest to the charges

Wildlife officials are sharing the results of chronic wasting disease testing efforts in the Chippewa Valley.  The Department of Natural Resources met with the public in Eau Claire County yesterday, saying that of the 16-hundred deer tested in the last gun-deer season, two came back positive for CWD.  Officials say the results show that the disease is prevalent in the area.  The Chippewa Valley CWD Advisory Team meets again in the spring or early summer to discuss recommendations.

Eau Claire County farming community is mourning a farmer and volunteer firefighter who died in a snowblower accident.  Authorities say dairy farmer Jim Volbrecht was snowblowing the roof on his barn Friday when he lost his footing and fell 30 feet through a skylight onto concrete.  He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The family who owns an Eau Claire music store says they’ve been overwhelmed by support after an instrument was stolen.  Morgan Music posted video and photos to Facebook of a woman appearing to steal a 500-dollar mandolin on Tuesday.  The post was shared over 35-hundred times.  The store is working closely on the investigation with police, who say they do have a suspect.