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A Chippewa Falls man is facing new charges related to a vehicle chase.  Girard Jones is facing three counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and three counts of attempting to flee an officer.  Jones was originally wanted in connection with a domestic violence incident in Eau Claire County in August.  Officials say a review of squad footage led to the new charges. 

Local representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties are weighing in on a new law restricting early voting.  The law would limit early voting to just two weeks before an election day.  Local Republicans say the move is a fairway to standardize voting.  Democrats say the law infringes on voters’rights.  The provision is likely headed for litigation in federal court. 

The impact of youth vaping is being felt in Eau Claire.  A local Youth Risk Behavior Study completed in 2017 shows that nearly a quarter of high schoolers admitted to vaping, more than those who had admitted to drinking alcohol in a 30-day period.  The results track with new data from the University of Michigan that shows a record increase in vaping among teens in the United States. 

The number of cases of Legionnaires’ disease connected with UW Hospital is up to 14, with three deaths.  The outbreak is linked to a decision to reduce water flow at the hospital during low-demand times.  Regular flow has been resumed and the hospital has chlorinated the water system.  A hospital spokeswoman says the patients who died had other serious, life-limiting health conditions.  One patient remains hospitalized. 

A former Wisconsin sheriff’s detective is suing Netflix and the filmmakers of the docuseries Making a Murderer.  In a lawsuit filed Monday, former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Detective Andrew Colborn claims the series defamed him.  Colborn says the production was edited to make it appear he and other law enforcement officers planted evidence to frame Steven Avery and his 16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey.  Avery and Dassey were convicted of the 2005 murder of freelance photographer Teresa Halbach.  

The second organization that will receive $10,000 is Beaver Creek Reserve. This organization was founded in 1947 with the hopes of offering area youth environmental education opportunities. Today they have 400 acres of diverse habitats to explore filled with a variety of plants and animals. The donation will be used to cover environmental program expenses and feed the live animals in the nature center and will allow them to offer more free programs and/or make some of their current programs

Wednesday’s Wisconsin Lottery Megabucks drawing features a $5 million jackpot, its largest of 2018. The $5 million figure also marks the game’s highest jackpot since 2015. A record $22.5 million jackpot on May 30, 2015 was the most recent in Megabucks history to surpass $5 million. Megabucks is Wisconsin’s own lotto game with drawings every Wednesday and Saturday night.

A Burnett County man is facing an attempted homicide charge after being accused of strangling a five-year-old.  Court documents claim police were called to a home in Trade Lake recently on report of a man abusing a young child.  They arrived to find the child with head, face and brain injuries which lead to the arrest of 39-year-old Charles Beenken.  He is facing ten other counts in addition to the attempted homicide charge. 

An Eau Claire man is going to prison for four years after being convicted of OWI for the 16th time.  Police say 63-year-old Bradley Armstrong was arrested back in August when he almost hit a house with his car after an argument.  He was arrested and he pleaded guilty to one criminal charge but had others dropped.  After his prison sentence he will serve three years of supervised release. 

A part-time show choir director for La Crosse School District is pleading to guilty to child sexual assault.  WEAU reports 33-year-old Dustin Bagstad faced 19 counts in relation to sexual assault after multiple students accused him of acting inappropriately.  Some say they didn’t come forward initially because the ydidn’t want it to interfere with the show choir season.  Bagstad will be sentenced in April.