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Group That Wants To Reduce Growth In Jail Meets Tonight
Found: 4 Hours 5 Minutes ago
WEAU 13 News - A group that wants to significantly reduce growth in the Eau Claire County Jail population is scheduled to meet Thursday night....
DOT Gives Police Grant for OWIs
Found: 4 Hours 27 Minutes ago
WEAU 13 News - The funds are to try and lower the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries...
Some Area Kids Playing Without Hats and Mittens
Found: 4 Hours 52 Minutes ago
WEAU 13 News - WEAU meteorologists said Thursday morning was about 8 degrees when the kids were heading off to school. That means if they weren't wearing mittens or hats, their fingers and ears were pretty chilly....
Eau Claire Police Dept. Gets $20,000 Grant
Found: 5 Hours 12 Minutes ago
WEAU 13 News - The Wisconsin DOT is giving the Eau Claire Police Department $20,000 to help patrol OWI?s....
DNR says lower deer tallies may indicate smaller herd
Found: 10 Hours 10 Minutes ago
Pierce County Herald - Wildlife officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources say preliminary counts from the nine-day gun-deer hunt indicate that the state's deer population may be smaller than originally thought.
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Lake Hallie examining
fire and emergency optionsLake Hallie examining ...
Found: 21 Hours 47 Minutes ago
Leader-Telegram - LAKE HALLIE - Chippewa Fire District Chief John Neihart said he feels like any discussion of the village of Lake Hallie pulling out of the fire district is an attack on him and his firefighters."I think we provide very professional service," Neihart told the Lake Hallie Village Board and Hallie Town Board on Wednesday. "And we are providing that at a very reasonable rate."The Village Board and Town Board met jointly to discuss all options for fire and emergency services, which could include pulling out of the Chippewa Fire District. About 50 people - mostly volunteer firefighters - attended.Neihart said it would be a mistake for the village of Lake Hallie to leave the Chippewa Fire District."Right now, you are discrediting everything they work for," Neihart said.Lake Hallie Village President Pete Lehmann disagrees, saying the two municipalities are simply acknowledging that the Hallie area has grown, and now is the time to examine possible changes to its emergency services."No one said we are splitting (from the Chippewa Fire District)," Lehmann said. "We need to take a step back and look at how we can enhance services."The only action taken Wednesday was to form a new committee to examine emergency services. The committee could suggest forming a new fire department, contracting with a nearby municipality, such as Eau Claire or Chippewa Falls, or suggest some changes to the Chippewa Fire District to keep it intact.The committee will include Kathy Bernier, Mark Perry and Dennis Sykora from the village of Lake Hallie and Larry Marquardt and Ron Steinmetz from the town of Hallie. Whatever the village does, the town is likely to follow, Lehmann said."We came from the same start, and we want to make sure that whatever we do moves us forward," Lehmann said.There are five municipalities that comprise the Chippewa Fire District: the village of Lake Hallie and the towns of Hallie, Lafayette, Howard and Wheaton. In November, the fire district's board voted 3-2 to approve purchasing a new $515,000 engine for the town of Howard. The village of Lake Hallie and the town of Hallie cast the votes against the purchase. The day after that vote, Lehmann contacted Lafayette Town Chairman Dave Staber and informed him the village was going to examine its emergency service options.Bruno Rahn, a Lafayette Town Board member and president of the Chippewa Fire District Board, said the new truck for Howard has not yet been ordered. He asked the Hallie boards to make a decision soon."The remainder (of the fire district) cannot fund that truck," Rahn said. "The district hinges on your decision."Robert Borseth is deputy chief in the Chippewa Fire District, working at the station in the town of Howard. He defended the need for the $515,000 truck. The machine would have a 2,000-gallon tank, twice the normal size, because there are no lakes and only one small river in that town, so there is a need for the fire truck to be able to hold more water."The truck is sound, it's logical, and I don't think the town and the village board should be considering other options because we need this truck," Borseth said.Lehmann said he is disappointed that the bid request for the truck was written so specifically that only one fire truck manufacturing company - Pierce Manufacturing from Appleton - submitted a bid. Lehmann said he prefers to have at least three bids on any government project."The difficulty is we are unable to compare enhancements and features," Lehmann said. "It's never a good opportunity when you have only one bid."Borseth said the truck includes space for emergency service equipment, an additional backseat to hold more firefighters and compartments for different types of foams used to fight fires. The truck bid submitted by Pierce Manufacturing also has front airbags."It wasn't any bias to any manufacturers," Borseth said.One area that needs to be addressed is looking at more mutual aid agreements, Lehmann said. He would like to see the Chippewa Fire District try to reach an agreement with the town of Tilden, which borders both the towns of Howard and Wheaton.Vetter can be reached at 723-0303 or chris.vetter@ecpc.com....
Tuition
sinking
students
into debtTuition sinking students into debt
Found: 22 Hours 7 Minutes ago
Leader-Telegram - Grants and scholarships aren't keeping pace with rising college tuition, forcing Chippewa Valley students to take on more debt, according to financial aid officials at two area universities."There's a clear need to increase the amount of need-based aid," said Kathy Sahlhoff, director of financial aid at UW-Eau Claire.A new study gave Wisconsin an "F" for college affordability. Forty-eight other states also received failing grades, according to the study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. California passed with a "C."Middle-class students who don't qualify for grants especially are feeling the pinch, said Anita Wiese, a financial aid counselor at UW-Stout in Menomonie. As credit tightens nationwide, it's getting harder for students to get loans, she said.Sahlhoff has tracked UW-Eau Claire financial aid statistics since 1994. Grants and scholarships made up 35 percent of financial aid in 1994. That figure fell to 29 percent this year, she said. "We're losing ground." For Wisconsin residents, yearly tuition costs $6,208 at UW-Eau Claire and $7,584 at UW-Stout, according to the schools' Web sites. The UW-Stout tuition includes a laptop computer.Tuition could rise dramatically next fall as the UW System anticipates cuts in light of the state's projected $5.4 billion budget deficit.Even though college is costlier, more Wisconsinites are attending. Since 1991, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college has increased from 33 percent to 38 percent, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The national average is 34 percent.Students from low-income families shouldn't let tuition costs deter them from seeking a college education, said Sahlhoff, noting that UW-Eau Claire awarded $58.5 million in financial aid last year."There are ways for people to come to school," she said.The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education report card used a range of measurements to grade states on the performance of their public and private colleges. The affordability grade is based on how much of the average family's income is needed to pay for college.Almost everywhere, that figure is up, according to the survey. In Illinois, the average cost of attending a public four-year college has jumped from 19 percent of family's income in 1999-2000 to 35 percent in 2007-2008.Low-income families have been hardest hit. Nationally, enrollment at a local public college costs families in the top fifth of income just 9 percent of their earnings, while families from the bottom fifth pay 55 percent - up from 39 percent in 1999-2000, the study found....
Witt, defense push Blugolds past UMDUW-Eau Claire 67, ...
Found: 23 Hours 7 Minutes ago
Leader-Telegram - For the first 4 minutes of the second half Wednesday night against Minnesota-Duluth, it looked like the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team was going to let the host Bulldogs sneak back into the game.As it turned out, it was just a hiccup in an otherwise stellar night for the Blugolds defense, which held the Division II Bulldogs to 25 percent shooting in the second half to cruise to a 67-52 victory, their sixth straight. After the Bulldogs (2-3) grabbed a 40-38 advantage with 16:16 to go, the UW-Eau Claire (6-0) defense went into lockdown. Minnesota-Duluth would muster just two field goals and six total points in the next 15 minutes, as the Blugolds turned a narrow two-point deficit into a 15-point advantage with 1:25 to play. Heather Witt led UW-Eau Claire with a career-high 25 points and six boards, while Thorp graduate Heidi Arciszewski added 15 points and eight rebounds.Sophomore Hannah Mesick also finished in double figures with 10 points for UW-Eau Claire.Chippewa Falls graduate Monica Mayry finished with five points and six assists for the Bulldogs, while fellow Cardinals alum Kelsey Hewitt added six points. - Box Score, Scoreboard...
Woodson willing, able to play safetyGreen Bay Packers: Woodson ...
Found: 23 Hours 16 Minutes ago
Leader-Telegram - GREEN BAY - The second he saw Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme heave the ball deep down the middle of the field, Green Bay Packers secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer knew what was coming: Charles Woodson was going to come down with the ball.And the Packers were going to hold on to win a close game."When the ball left the quarterback's hands, I thought the game was over," Schottenheimer said. "There was no doubt in my mind."But it didn't happen.On film, Schottenheimer saw Woodson let up slightly, then absorb a small body bump from receiver Steve Smith that put him off balance. Smith came down with the ball on the 1-yard line, and the Panthers scored what would become the game-winning touchdown on the next play.Woodson took the blame for a play he should have made."I did get bumped off a little bit, but I should've made the play," Woodson said. "Maybe I could've got up sooner or whatever. He shouldn't have made that catch, but he did and they won the game."Still, Packers coaches consider Woodson's unexpected move to safety for Sunday's game a success story.Facing injuries to starting strong safety Atari Bigby and backup Aaron Rouse - and still licking their wounds from a blowout loss to a pass-happy New Orleans team just six days earlier - the Packers had Woodson switch positions. And given the injury situation, he'll probably stay there for Sunday's game against Houston at Lambeau Field.Given the far more glamorous nature of the cornerback position, some star players might resist moving to safety - especially when they're putting together a potentially Pro Bowl-worthy season, as Woodson is.But that wasn't the case with Woodson, who has successfully shed the me-first reputation he carried with him when he left Oakland after the 2005 season."Charles Woodson has one very, very strong motivation, and that is to win," Schottenheimer said.Under ideal circumstances, Woodson is more valuable to the Packers as a cornerback."He's having a Pro Bowl year," Schottenheimer said. "He's had three Pro Bowl years in a row in my opinion. So yeah, you take a pretty good player out of the corner position. But again, the objective there is, let's get healthy players on the field, let's get the best athletes on the field. And he did a heck of a job."By moving, Woodson helped the Packers avoid putting a banged-up Bigby or Rouse on the field. The move also allowed the Packers to get their three best coverage corners on the field all the time: Woodson, Al Harris and Tramon Williams, who was promoted from nickel cornerback."It was initiated with the medical situation of the safeties, and the second part of it was getting your best players on the field," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Tramon Williams has played very well throughout the season, and the opportunity to have him in our base defense was something we felt would benefit us as we move forward. I thought Charles played well at the safety position. I think he is extraordinary when he is around the football.""That's a good move by a great teammate," Williams said.Woodson said he's comfortable at safety, a position he played occasionally in Oakland."I know how to play the position," Woodson said. "I got a little work this (past) week. I just tried to get different reads down and that type of thing. I was definitely ready."...
Manufacturers face challengesSurvey: State manufacturers face ...
Found: 1 Day 34 Minutes ago
Leader-Telegram - MADISON (AP) - There is a large gap between Wisconsin manufacturing firms understanding the importance of meeting certain performance goals and actually doing it, a new survey released Wednesday showed.The survey commissioned by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership revealed challenges faced by the state's 10,000 manufacturing companies as they try to compete in a global market, meet increasing customer demands and work to become environmentally friendly.The challenges aren't insurmountable, but companies need to prepare for what lies ahead, said Mike Klosinski, executive director of the partnership.The study looked at six strategies that are part of what is called "Next Generation Manufacturing." They include using innovation to meet customers' needs, retaining and training quality workers, developing products and getting them to market faster, engaging in the global market and becoming more environmentally friendly.Of those Wisconsin manufacturers that identified themselves as world-class, roughly the same percentage also said they were making no progress on the goals identified, said John Brandt, chief executive officer of the Manufacturing Performance Institute, an Ohio-based research firm that did the study for WMEP.Among the survey's more troublesome findings:- 26 percent said less than 5 percent of annual sales comes from new products introduced in the past three years.- 22 percent said less than 1 percent of their workforce is dedicated to new product development.- 29 percent said fewer than eight hours of formal training is devoted annually to each employee.- 56 percent said less than half of the products they produce are completely recyclable or reusable.- 58 percent said they have no employees located overseas or dedicated to overseas business.The survey showed that world-class manufacturers were more likely to invest in new product development, train their workers and improve their technologies.Policymakers need to look for ways to help manufacturers put the strategies in place more quickly and more broadly than other regions of the country and the world, Klosinski said.There are plans to revisit the survey in four years to see how much manufacturers improve, he said....
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