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The investigation into Chippewa County’s new sheriff will continue. The County Board last night voted to continue the investigation into Travis Hakes. There’s no new information in the case, but some supervisors want to see if they can find something new. Hakes is facing criticism after the investigation found he sent sexually suggestive memes to a former 911 dispatcher. The sheriff says he’s done nothing wrong, and says his political opponents are driving the investigation. Chippewa County’s board is considering

Deputies in Buffalo County are investigating the cause of a rollover crash that spilled thousands of gallons of manure. It happened last night near the Town of Nelson. Deputies say they found the truck on fire, and the 63-year-old driver dead inside.  The crash spilled about five thousand gallons of manure. Crews are not saying how long it will take to clean the spill up, or what kind of environmental issues may come next.

There’s an open seat on the Eau Claire County Board, and now supervisors are looking to fill it. The county yesterday said it is accepting applications to fill the term of former supervisor Judy Gatlin, which runs till the middle of April next year. The district is made up of the town of Washington, and parts of the city of Eau Claire. Anyone interested in being appointed to the board needs to have their application to the county by Friday

The latest standardized test scores for Wisconsin public school students are better than they’ve been in years, but they’re still not good, and they’re still not to where kids were before the coronavirus. The Department of Public Instruction released the test scores yesterday. Just 39 percent  of kids are at grade level in English, and not quite 38 percent are grade level in math. Those numbers are up compared to the past few years, but are not to where kids

Wisconsin’s governor is asking to play a role in creating the State’s new political maps. Governor Tony Evers yesterday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court if he could intervene in the lawsuit over Wisconsin’s current political maps. The governor says the people should get to choose their elected officials, and accuses the Republican drawn maps of doing the opposite. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear arguments about new political maps next month. A number of progressive groups want the

There is a warning about a spike in syphilis cases in Wisconsin. The state’s Department of Health Services yesterday issued a memo to health care providers in the state warning them that syphilis cases are on the rise. DHS says syphilis cases jumped 19 percent from 2021 to 2022. DHS says the increase is concerning because more cases are showing up that are affecting babies, teens, and adult women. DHS’ memo asks local doctors to be more aware, and offer

Speaker’s Task Force on AI will hold  a meeting later today at the Capitol in Madison. One of Google’s directors of engineering is set to testify, as are representatives from the National Conference of State legislatures who are expected to tell Wisconsin lawmakers how other states are dealing with the challenges of AI. The task force is looking to study AI before making any recommendations about possible new laws.

No one is calling it a hack, instead Kwik Trip is calling it an ‘incident’ that is causing some ‘challenges.’ The company yesterday said some stores may have problems with the Kwik Reward system, and there may be some product shortages and troubles with pricing. A Kwik Trip spokesperson did not say just what the issue is, or how long Kwik Trip has been dealing with it. Kwik Trip did ask people for patience as they work through the issue.

Fans of Milwaukee Brewers, and fans of The Rolling Stones now have something in common. The band yesterday released new covers for its Hackney Diamonds album, with a Milwaukee Brewers theme. The Stones are teaming up with Major League Baseball to release team-themed album covers for a limited edition of their new album. Each Major League Baseball team has its own design. The Brewers-themed cover features the Stones’ famous open mouth with a tongue, but shaded with Brewers royal blue

The University of Wisconsin System is going by a new name. The group of 13 Wisconsin universities will now go by the Universities of Wisconsin. The President says the new name takes focus away from the system itself, and puts it on the universities. The name will legally stay the University of Wisconsin System, but letterheads and marketing materials will make shifts to the new name over the next few months.