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The first woman who helped Jayme Closs to safety after she escaped her alleged abductor is being recognized.  Jeanne Nutter was among six child welfare professionals honored in Madison yesterday with the 2019 Caring for Kids award by the Department of Children and Families.  Nutter was walking her dog in rural Gordon when Closs approached her for help after escaping the home of alleged captor Jake Patterson.

Candidates for five at-large seats on the Eau Claire City Council are meeting with voters.  CVTC’s Business Education Center was the site of a candidate forum and meet and greet last night.  The event had been delayed six weeks because of winter weather.  The top five vote-getters of the ten candidates will each serve a three-year term in at-large seats on the council.

A decision by the State Building Commission could impact UW-Eau Claire’s Phillips Science Hall project.  The commission didn’t recommend any capital building projects proposed by Governor Evers, but also didn’t exclude any.  The 109 million dollar investment would help to replace the science hall building constructed in 1963.  The current building has major issues, including the lack of a fire sprinkler system.

The Wisconsin DOJ is withdrawing the state from a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act  [[ ACA ]].  Governor Evers said throughout his campaign that he intended to pull the state out of the ACA lawsuit, but his effort was stopped when Republicans passed lame-duck laws last session limiting his authority.  Today, Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess issued a temporary injunction blocking the lame-duck laws and State Attorney General Josh Kaul submitted a series of filings

The Wisconsin unemployment rate is down to a near-record low.  The Department of Workforce Development released its numbers today showing the state’s jobless rate dropping to two-point-nine-percent in February from the three-percent reported over the prior five months.  The record low for the state is two-point-eight-percent reached in April 2018. 

An employee with the City of La Crosse is charged with possessing child pornography.  Francis Devine is a La Crosse Division Fire Chief and he was charged yesterday.  A criminal complaint shows he was arrested over the weekend after a tip came in to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children.  Devine has been working for the city for 19 years and has been put on administrative leave. 

A Fall Creek man convicted in a false imprisonment and child enticement case is facing new charges.  Ryan Zimmerman is now charged with nine counts connected to the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.  A criminal complaint says Zimmerman committed the assaults while he had been drinking.  He has a hearing scheduled for next week.

A Minnesota man is in custody after leading police on a car chase through La Crosse County.  The sheriff’s office says a deputy tried to pull over a car in West Salem yesterday for running a stop sign but it hit another car and drove off.  The suspect briefly got away from police after heading east on Highway 16 but he was spotted again in Hamilton.  A State Trooper deployed a spike strip that caused the car to crash into

The search is continuing for a Menomonie veteran last seen in Eau Claire four months ago.  UW-Stout student 28-year-old James Liedtka was last seen November 4th walking behind the Pickle Tavern on Water Street in the early morning headed toward the bike trail.  Police don’t believe foul play is involved in his disappearance. If you have any information you are asked to take that to authorities.

Republican lawmakers are rejecting all of Governor Tony Evers’ capital budget recommendations, including a new science hall at UWEC.  The statewide proposals were rejected yesterday, and also include funding for a cancer research center, a new veterans nursing home, and upgrades at other University of Wisconsin campuses.  Evers announced earlier this month that his was including funding for a replacement for Phillips Hall at UW-Eau Claire in the capital budget.  The future of the project is now in doubt.