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“Tourism is both big fun and big business…” The Wisconsin Department of Tourism released 2022 economic impact data, showing the tourism industry generated a record-breaking $23.7 billion in total economic impact. The highest-ever overnight stays helped fuel the growth, with Chippewa County contributing $174 million in total economic impact. The 2022 total economic impact surpassed the previous statewide record of $22.2 billion set in 2019.Chippewa County also surpassed the previous record of $162 million set in 2019. Additionally, last year,

Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change, and Manufacturing, announced a $2.6 billion plan to invest in Great Lakes and coastal resiliency through the Baldwin-supported Inflation Reduction Act. “Our fresh coasts are critical to our economy, our environment, and our way of life in Wisconsin, and we need to do everything we can to protect them for generations to come.”  -Senator Baldwin The funding, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

ABOVE PHOTO: The bronze Award of Hope from UW Organ and Tissue Donation was presented to HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital on May 23 during a ceremony in Wisconsin Dells. From left to right: Sami Komro, HSHS; Lindsey Ludwikowski, HSHS; Michelle Willcutt, HSHS; Anne Pretasky, HSHS; Dr. Nikole Neidlinger, UW Health; Mike Anderson, UW Organ and Tissue Donation. ”One organ donor can save up to eight lives…” HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire has received the bronze Award of Hope

 There is a suspect behind bars for the weekend killing of a one-year-old Milwaukee girl. Police yesterday said they arrested a 27-year-old man for the Saturday shooting of one-year-old Zy’Aire Nevels. She was shot outside the library at 19th and Atkinson Saturday night. She was inside a car, two men outside were fighting, and one of them opened fire. Milwaukee Police say the suspect was arrested after a traffic stop in Kenosha county on Sunday.

A Dane County judge has ordered the state to keep the records from the Gableman investigation. Judge Jacob Frost said the failed investigation into the 2020 election falls under Wisconsin’s open records laws, and the information gathered as part of the probe is public information. A number of liberal-leaning groups have sued Gableman, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, and the state legislature over the Gabelman investigation. Yesterday’s ruling is just the latest to go against Gableman. Speaker Vos shut down Gableman’s investigation

A Barron County man is in jail after his mother called police to say he stabbed her in the neck. It happened yesterday in Cameron. The 54-year-old woman called 911 just before 9 a.m. yesterday morning to say she’d been stabbed. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department and the State Patrol rushed to the house. That’s when they arrested the woman’s son, 30-year-old Michael Townsend, without incident. The woman was flown to the hospital in Eau Claire in serious condition.

 Eau Claire is one of about two dozen counties under an air quality alert. The Department of Natural Resources yesterday issued an air quality advisory that lasts til midnight tonight. More than two dozen counties are covered by the advisory. Brown County, Eau Claire County, and Taylor County are under a red air quality warning, which DNR says means the air is unhealthy for healthy people and non-sensitive groups. Most of the southeast corner of the state is also covered

A former Chippewa Valley lawmaker is leading an election integrity effort in the state. Kathy Bernier served as both a state senator and Chippewa County’s clerk, she is now leading the Keep Our Republic group in the state. The group’s goal is to keep people informed about elections, and keep people aware of election misinformation. Bernier was a critic of the investigations in Wisconsin into the 2020 election. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are all part of the effort.

Wisconsin’s new drivers licenses have some new security features. The Department of Transportation unveiled the new design yesterday. In addition to a picture and all your information, the new licenses have some artwork that is supposed to make it harder to counterfeit a drovers’ license. There are both regular and Real ID license options. DOT says people will be issued the new licenses as they need to replace their old one.

Wisconsin’s attorney general is going to ask for more state crime lab workers today. A-G Josh Kaul has a new conference scheduled for 12:30 to ask for 16 new people, and millions of dollars more for the crime lab. Among the new hires would be 10 new DNA analysts. Kaul says he needs to beef-up the number of people working at the crime lab to keep-up with the caseload. Lawmakers have been reluctant to give Kaul more people, saying his