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ABOVE PHOTO: Tom Barnett, UW-River Falls marching band director, leads the UWRF pep band at Smith Stadium at Ramer Field in October 2022 prior to the start of a home game against UW-Eau Claire. This fall, UWRF will restart its marching band program after more than 30 years without such a band at the university. The marching band will perform at Ramer Field, pictured in the background, for pre-game and halftime performances. More than three decades after it last appeared

ABOVE PHOTO: JPM power plant. A major spring maintenance project at Dairyland Power Cooperative’s John P. Madgett (JPM) power plant (Alma, Wis.) will support grid reliability. The planned outage of the 387 MW coal-fired JPM facility will commence on April 22, with plant operations expected to resume on June 18. During that time, up to 200 business partners will be onsite.State of Wisconsin economic modeling estimates the impact of the influx of workers to be a minimum ofa $500,000 benefit

An Illinois woman accused of killing her husband’s grandmother is bound over for criminal trial Lafayette County.  Shannon Bussan is facing first-degree intentional homicide charges in connection with the death of 83-year-old Lynne Montgomery.  Detectives with the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office say Bussan possibly smothered Montgomery at her home in the Village of Benton in late February.  Investigators say cell phone data shows Bussan at or near the victim’s residence hours before she told police she arrived there.

A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student is pleading guilty to making terrorist threats for a post on YikYak last fall. Mason Waymire admitted to making the post that “there’s a bomb at Towers,” which is a residence hall on campus, after a night of drinking. Waymire said he was dared to do it. The plea deal means he has to remain sober for a year and a half, write an apology letter to the campus, and not commit crimes.

 A Madison man is charged in a firebombing last year of the Madison office of a prominent anti-abortion group.  Hridindu Roychowdhury was arrested yesterday in Boston, Massachusetts on one federal count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive.  Police say two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the offices of Wisconsin Family Action on Mother’s Day, 2022.  The firebombs didn’t ignite, but a separate fire was lit in their place.  Roychowdhury was identified as possible suspect after DNA

The Eau Claire City Council has voted 9-1 to annex land from the Town of Washington. The over 430 acres previously known as Orchard Hills will be added to the south side of the city. Residents rallied in opposition to the move before the city council meeting yesterday. The council last June approved annexing what is now known as the Stewart/Hauge/CDPG Development.

The city of Eau Claire’s proposed 30-dollar annual vehicle registration fee commonly known as a “wheel tax” will not go into effect. The city council voted 5-5 on the fee yesterday. Drivers already pay a 30-dollar annual vehicle registration fee in Eau Claire County.

Governor Tony Evers has made a visit to Eau Claire touting his administration’s efforts on clean energy and workforce training. Evers was at Cortec Corporation, which is part of the state’s Green Tier program through the Department of Natural Resources. The program is for companies with environmental regulations above state standards. Evers says Cortec “does a great job of meeting a lot of the expectations that the state has.”

Officials with UW Health in Madison say a potentially deadly fungus that is considered a health threat by the CDC has been found at local facilities.  Infectious Disease expert Doctor Dave Andes says “a few cases” of candida auris have appeared at the university health care center.  Doctor Andes says infection from the fungus remains very uncommon and should not be a cause for alarm among the general public.  The CDC currently has one clinical case of candida auris noted

Wisconsin lawmakers are accepting a settlement from one of the state’s largest dairy farms over manure pollution allegations.  Kinnard Farms is agreeing to pay two-hundred-15-thousand dollars to end legal action connected to manure spreading concerns at locations in Kewaunee and Door counties.  The agreement also directs operators to provide documentation outlining upgrades to be done at waste and feed storage facilities.  The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to approve the terms yesterday.