It's Wayne Mauser, Local News.
Good morning, I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.
The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors has approved the budget proposal for 2027.
County Executive Gordon Hins proposed the plan, which passed 29 to 3.
The proposal would lower the average property tax rate by 18 cents down to $3.24 while spending would increase by about 5.8 percent.
A judge kept an involuntary medication order in place for Kenneth Nelson after being ruled incompetent to stand trial for allegedly killing his father.
However, a recent report shows he remains incompetent to stand trial and Nelson resists taking the medication according to attorneys on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old Nelson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for allegedly beating his 66-year-old father Daniel to death at a town of brilliant home on January 21st.
the suspect's ability to understand the court proceedings and assist in their own defense.
With him deemed incompetent, the criminal case has paused for psychiatric treatment.
After ruling Nelson incompetent, Judge Kerry Reid ordered the involuntary administration of medication at a July hearing.
In court Wednesday, defense attorney Lucas Swank asked for that order to be reversed, saying Nelson doesn't want to take the drugs and there's no evidence it will work.
However, Judge Reid
rule that medication remains the best option for Nelson to regain competency.
Another motions hearing is scheduled for today to discuss possible changes in the medication and treatment and the most recent competency report.
Democrat David Crowley had a lead over Republican Tom Tiffany in the Wisconsin governor's race, this according to the final Marquette University Law School poll before next Tuesday's election.
The poll showed 51% of likely voters supporting Crowley and 44% backing Tiffany.
Another 4% were undecided.
The poll's march in the air among likely voters was 4.7 percentage points.
The Rip and Common Council this week approved the publication of a summary for the proposed 2027 city budget and set a public hearing date for that budget.
As of Monday night, the city was looking at a proposed property tax levy of $4.4 million and a tax rate of $6.14 per thousand dollars of value on a property.
The total tax rate that includes the city's portion, school district's portion, tech colleges and county comes to an estimated $16.40.
City Administrator Adam Soantag says things are still in motion with the budget, but that rate would be down from $24.58 last year, and the city's tax rate is the lowest in decades.
As for the public hearing, it will be 7 p.m.
on Tuesday, November 10th in the council chambers of Ripon City Hall.
The Ripon School Board recently approved a new employee health insurance plan for the district's teachers.
Ripon School Superintendent Ron Rivard says a healthcare analysis team made up of teachers and administrators
administrative staff went over proposals.
He says our goals were to mitigate costs while being cognizant of the financial state of the school district.
Both goals were achieved.
Revard notes options included staying with the same health insurance program which was going up by 15% or opting for another.
The team chose to go with a new health insurance option which will save the district about $180,000.
Revard says it will provide quality health care for their teachers.
The school board unanimously approved the plan
October 19th.
State Senate candidate Sasha Ripley has always had an interest in politics, but rather than teaching about them she wants to have a hand in making changes.
Bob Nelson reports for Civic Media News.
The Democratic candidate from Montello is a teacher who has spent more than 25 years teaching about politics, history, and other subjects.
She says higher housing costs, higher healthcare costs, and higher childcare costs motivated her to run for the 13th State Senate seat.
We have.
people really struggling to find a place to live, people, you know, moving in with their parents and grandparents, even though they're working full time because they can't afford to live on their own.
She also supports unions and protecting workers' rights.
Our workers create the wealth that the big corporations are seeing today.
They're the backbone of our economy and they should be enjoying more of the profits that they're creating.
Ripley is also concerned about school funding and data centers.
She's challenging incumbent state Senator John Jagler in next Tuesday's election.
I'm Bob Nelson for Civic Media News.
The U.S.
Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing on Thursday announced the financial close of a $5.1 billion loan package to align energy to
lower electricity costs, expand firm power generation, and strengthen reliability in Iowa and Wisconsin.
The investments will add more than 2.6 gigawatts of new or upgraded power generation capacity and deliver more than $1 billion in electricity cost savings for American families and businesses across both states.
The projects will add enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 2 million homes, lowering cost and strengthening grid reliability in Iowa.
and Wisconsin.
And a store in Rippon sold a $50,000 Powerball winner for last Saturday night's drawing.
The tickets sold at the Hy-Vee store matched four of five numbers and the Powerball.
According to Wisconsin Lottery officials, it was the sixth time this month that a Wisconsin Powerball player won $50,000.
The area also saw $48,000 Badger 5 winner in Wontoma last Thursday.
It was sold at Casey's General Store.
I'm Wayne Mauser for Civic Media News.
For Civic Media News, I'm Connie Feldman.
Less than a week away from our midterm elections, we're getting a glimpse into how much weight Wisconsin holds when it comes to elections.
Earlier this week, former Vice President Kamala Harris rallied for Democratic candidate David Crowley, and as Civic Media's James Kelly tells us, Democrats in the third congressional district were feeling the burn.
Senator Bernie Sanders visited the Chippewa Valley over the weekend for a campaign event with Democratic Third Congressional District candidate Rebecca Cook.
The event at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire on Sunday sought to highlight a number of important issues ahead of the midterm election, including wealth inequality and health care affordability.
During his speech, Senator Sanders tried to put just how large the wealth inequality gap has become into perspective.
have an
Senator Sanders has endorsed Cook in the midterm election, who will look to unseating incumbent Republican Congressman Derek Van Orden next week.
I'm James Kelly for Civic Media News.
Republican candidate Tom Tiffany characterized the former VP's appearance as a last-ditch desperation by Democrats as he continues his 55-stop common-sense campaign tour across the state.
The congressman is making stops in Rhinelander, Antigo, Chano, and Krivitz today.
The Milwaukee Brewers made history last night, winning their first World Series title in league history.
While fans are still reveling in the afterglow of another Wisconsin championship, retailers are cashing in on Brewers' fever with record-setting merchandise sales.
Local sports and apparel shops report a major spike in gear and souvenir sales.
Even before the Brewers could call themselves world champions, retailers say sales of Brewers merchandise has tripled during the run.
Richland County is the latest to join the growing group of Wisconsin counties linked to the measles outbreak across the southwestern part of our state.
Health officials confirming a new case of measles there.
Contract tracers are working to identify anyone who may have been exposed, as cases continue to pop up across multiple counties.
Public health agencies in Jackson County also reported two additional travel-related cases earlier this week.
Officials warn the virus is highly contagious and airborne, lingering in rooms long after in
infected person leaves.
Residents are urged to monitor for fever and rash.
The final Marquette University Law School poll ahead of the November 3rd election shows Democrat David Crowley leading Republican Tom Tiffany by 7 percentage points in the race for Wisconsin governor.
It's the largest lead yet for Crowley in the Marquette polls.
The results show 51 percent of likely voters said they'd vote for Crowley, while 44 percent said they'd vote for Tiffany.
Another 4 percent said they were undecided.
Madison is finding itself among the safest cities in America.
Finance website Wallet Hub recently ranked 180 cities across the U.S.
based on more than three dozen indicators of safety.
Wisconsin's capital city was ranked 12th overall, receiving high marks for home and community safety as well as financial safety.
Milwaukee was ranked much lower at 147th overall.
And that's your state news update.
I'm Connie Feldman for Civic Media News.
The Brewers win the World Series.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports last night in Tampa Bay.
We've got the first time World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers beat the Rays 4-1 to win game 5 and take the best of 7 series 4 games to 1.
Manager Pat Murphy after accepting the Commissioner's Trophy.
When you talk about this team, you got to talk about people who care about each other.
I can't be more grateful for this group of guys right here.
Really, really special.
The last time Wisconsin celebrated a World Series win was 1957 when the Milwaukee Braves beat the Yankees.
Catcher William Contreras named the series most valuable player had this message for Brewers fans.
Thanks.
Thank you for everything.
I did this for you guys.
I love this guy.
I love the Brewers.
Go Brewers.
See you in
Milwaukee.
The team parade in downtown Milwaukee near the Summerfest grounds begins tomorrow at 10 a.m.
with sports on Mike Clemens.
Mostly sunny today with a high in the low to mid 60s this afternoon.
Tonight mostly clear and it will be cooler with temperatures dropping into the low 40s tomorrow.
Partly to mostly cloudy.
with a high in the mid fifties.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.
Local interviews, podcasts and more are always fresh and always on file
at thebug.fm.