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The City of Altoona officially has a new police chief.  Chief Kelly Bakken was sworn in as the new chief yesterday.  Bakken was previously the Black River Falls police chief.  She’s taking over for former chief Jesse James who was recently elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly. 

Feed My People Food Bank’s largest, annual fundraiser is set to bring the whole community together to help support hunger relief efforts in west central Wisconsin. Empty Bowls will be held on Thursday March 7, 2019 at the Florian Gardens. Guests will be served locally made soup, specialty breads and desserts. Over 2,000 bowls have been donated from local artists, students and community members for guests to choose from at the event. Last year, proceeds from sponsors and ticket sales

It should now be easier for some folks to get a voter ID in the state of Wisconsin.  Governor Tony Evers yesterday ordered the state’s DMV offices to stay open later and on weekends to accommodate people who need an ID.  The governor’s executive order may even have the Department of Transportation opening new offices.

Add Wisconsin to the list of states suing to try and stop the Trump administration from shifting money away from Planned Parenthood.  Twenty Democratic attorneys general filed the lawsuit yesterday, they want to block a move to shift that money toward faith-based family planning clinics.  California is leading the suit.  The White House says it expected the challenge.

Police are continuing to investigate an officer-involved shooting that took place between the towns of Augusta and Fairchild.  Police say a suspicious person began fighting with Augusta police officers and an Eau Claire County sheriff’s deputy on Saturday.  Non-lethal forces were used to subdue the suspect but they didn’t work and the person was shot and killed.  A police officer and sheriff’s deputy have both been put on administrative leave.

The snow is continuing to cause issues for postal workers in Eau Claire.  The local USPS says it has sent hundreds of notices reminding people to clear their mailboxes as well as the streets and walkways surrounding them.  Postal workers have reported nearly 35 accidents since October.  The Eau Claire post office says mail delays and an extra workload for postal workers results when mailboxes aren’t cleared.

The Eau Claire Area School District is settled on a plan to make up school days missed because of weather.  After reviewing three options, the board passed a combination of the choices.  Board members approved a plan that will include: May 17th as a school day for elementary and middle school students.  Middle and high school students will have school June 10th and 11th.  The high schools will be starting 16 minutes earlier, while middle schools will start eight minutes

An Eau Claire woman says she lost nearly ten thousand dollars to scammers.  She says a caller claimed that her computer was going to be hacked and told her to buy gift cards from several stores to prevent the action.  The woman says she was urged to stay on the phone during the transactions and was asked to read the gift card numbers over the phone, then destroy them.  Officials say requests by phone for payment, especially with gift cards,

The UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team is going to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.  The team will face St. Thomas on Saturday in the first game of what they hope will be a journey to the national championship.  The Blugolds made their first appearance in the tournament last year, falling in the second round to Hamline. 

UW-Madison is leading the country in awarding doctoral degrees.  Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced yesterday that the university was ranked first by the National Science Foundation in 2017 with nearly 850 Ph.D’s granted.  The university moved up from second place in 2016.