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Senator Tammy Baldwin says she stands with transgender service members who fight to protect our democracy and freedoms.  The Wisconsin Democrat spoke out today against the Supreme Court decision upholding President Trump’s ban on transgender Americans to serve in the armed forces.  Baldwin called the ban wrong and said the High Court’s decision shows how far the country has to go to achieve equality for everyone. 

The Eau Claire Police Department has been notified that Sex Offender 36 year old Gerald J. Glasel will be released from prison TODAY (January 22, 2019.) Glasel will be under supervision by the DOC. He has been released from prison several times on additional other convictions and rules violations after being released from his original conviction in 2005. He will be residing at a DOC monitored residence in the 100 block of Randall Street in the City of Eau Claire.

An arrest in Dunn County leads to a Minnesota man receiving his 5th OWI. It happened just before 3:30 Tuesday morning when a WI State Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle for speeding at 86 miles per hour.  The driver was identified as Patrick M. Grovum of Woodbury, who had 4 previous convictions for OWI on his Minnesota driver’s record. A subsequent investigation showed that Grovum was intoxicated. He is being charged with operating while intoxicated 5th offense possession of marijuana,

One person is dead and two are injured after a two-car crash in Onalaska.  Police say the two cars were found near a knocked down utility pole in the 11-hundred block of Main Street just after three o’clock yesterday afternoon.  The driver of one of the cars was pronounced dead at the scene and two other people involved were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

The average price of homes in Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Dunn Counties is rising but inventory is remaining low.  According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the average home price in Eau Claire rose by nearly seven percent in 2018 to just under 180-thousand dollars.  The average price in Dunn and Chippewa Counties both rose to above 165-thousand dollars but sales in all three counties went down.  There was an over two percent decrease in number of homes sold in all of Wisconsin in 2018. 

The Chippewa Falls Chamber of Commerce has a new board chair.  The Chippewa Herald reports lawyer and small claims court commissioner Ben Lane officially took over as board chair during the 108th annual luncheon on Monday to celebrate the previous year.  Lane took over for former board chair Neil Mathwig, who touted an increase in tourism in 2018.  Lane says one of his top priorities will be workforce development. 

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is offering free small business training starting this month.  The Dunn County News reports two different ten-week courses will be available through the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center aimed at helping entrepreneurs get their businesses started.  The first session will be on Tuesday evenings from January 29th to April 6th and the second will be on Thursdays from February 21st to April 18th.  Anyone who’s interested should contact the university. 

A plea hearing is scheduled in an Eau Claire County murder case.  Wayne Price is charged in the 2017 shooting deaths of his sister and her boyfriend.  A plea hearing was requested last week and will take place tomorrow.      

A Chippewa County worker is out of a job after losing the election for the clerk of court’s seat held by his boss.  Nate Liedl was fired earlier this month along with two other workers, including a woman who actively campaigned for Liedl.  Liedl says he was fired because he ran for office against his boss.  He filed a grievance letter last week with the Chippewa County human resources department.  Karen Hepfler has served as clerk of court since 2001. 

The Pablo Center at the Confluence is announcing a performance by The Voice runner-up Chris Kroeze.  Kroeze will perform at the center on Saturday, March 30th.  He gained national attention for his performances on NBC’s The Voice, where he was coached by country singer Blake Shelton.  His single Human reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top five on iTunes Top 100.