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Fitchburg Police are changing the tentative charge for the 15-year-old suspect in Tuesday’s deadly shooting. Originally, the teen was booked on first-degree reckless homicide charges. But yesterday, Fitchburg Police amended that charge to homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon. The teen is the brother of the 11-year-old girl who was shot and killed. Their family says it was an accident. Fitchburg Police say the investigation is on-going.

Authorities are sounding the all-clear at a LaCrosse-area school. Local police and the state’s Department of Justice said they looked into a threat at West Salem High School yesterday and found that the threat is not credible. Superintendent Ryan Rieber says they got a tip Wednesday night about the possible threat. The school and the authorities say no students were ever in danger.

Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer wants to use some of the county’s coronavirus stimulus money to add-on to the county jail. The sheriff yesterday unveiled an expansion plan that could cost almost six- million-dollars. The plans call for more holding cells and a new pod of cells. Cramer says the extra space would help keep jail prisoners isolated. Eau Claire County has about 20-million-dollars in coronavirus stimulus money to spend.

The mask rules for younger kids in Menomonie schools will likely change again. The city’s school board has a special meeting planned for Sunday afternoon to talk about a ‘graduated’ mask policy. It would be different from the mask mandate the school board approved on Monday. That mandate required all kids from kindergarten through sixth grade to mask-up. No one is saying just how much the rules may change. You can join the meeting online, and the link is at

Nearly half of the almost 13-thousand Afghans living at Fort McCoy are children, and hundreds of mothers are pregnant. Commanders at the base offered a tour yesterday. Reporters got their first look at the Afghan ‘neighborhoods’ on the base. There are eight neighborhoods for the refugees, each with a mosque, barracks, a dining hall and schools. The refugees say they’re doing well, even if they are a bit bored. Fort McCoy’s General Christopher Norrie said crime on the base is

One Wisconsin lawmaker says the planned upgrades at the state’s unemployment office are more than a year late. State Rep. Ron Tusler yesterday said the plan from the Department of Workforce Development to begin the process of updating its computers should have started months ago. Thousands of people in Wisconsin waited months for DWD to process their claims and get their unemployment check in the spring and summer of 2020. Tusler says the new 16-and-a-half-million-dollar deal is Governor Evers’ attempt to ‘buy and excuse.’

Foxconn is going to build electric cars, but not in Wisconsin. The company yesterday said it is moving ahead with its partnership with the car maker Fiskers. As part of that partnership, Foxconn said it bought a former GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio for 230-million-dollars. The hope is to make an electric truck at the plant. Foxconn said it hopes to be able to start production by 2023. There is no word on what the decision to make cars in Ohio

A Wisconsin Republican wants a new law that requires police departments and sheriffs across the state to work to deport people who commit crimes while they are in this country illegally. Senator Julian Bradley said he’s surprised that Wisconsin doesn’t already have a law on the books for this. Bradley’s plan would require police departments or county jails to hold suspects for ICE or other federal agencies. It would also require the state’s Department of Justice to report on just how many criminal illegal

Culver’s is making an April Fool’s Day joke real. The company this week said it really will make the ‘CurderBurger.’ It’s a typical butter burger but with a massive fried cheese curd on top. Culver’s teased the burger last April Fool’s Day, but the response was so overwhelming that the company decided to do it for real. You will be able to buy the ‘CurderBurger’ for one day only, on National Cheese Curd Day, October 15th.

The Eau Claire County Parks & Forest Department announces that Altoona Schools is hosting a middle school and high school cross country course setup and race at Tower Ridge on October 1 and 2, 2021. The race’s course will be set up during the day on Friday, October 1. The race will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 2. Therefore, Tower Ridge will be closed to the general public during those times. Vehicle entrance fees