This is your WCFW Daily News Roundup for 105-7CFW in Chippewa Falls and 93-5 of the tap in O'Clayer.
105-7CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
The Community Foundation of Dunn County is inviting area nonprofits, government organizations,
and community groups to submit their applications for community impact grant funding.
The organization offers funding through two grant application cycles each year.
Executive Director Georgina Tegert says the funding for those grants is raised locally,
and it can be used in a wide variety of ways, as long as the goal is to make Dunn County a better place to live for everyone.
It does a huge variety, so we don't only focus on what you might think of basic needs,
such as feeding people or housing people.
We accept grants that just create a more vibrant community across the board,
so we can take a request for a playground, we can take a request from the school district,
anybody who wants to do something good in Dunn County should consider applying.
Tegert says the Community Foundation of Dunn County is hoping to distribute at least $80,000 in grant funding this cycle,
in addition to the Community Impact Grant funding, the organization will also host a pop-up grant writing workshop
to ensure nonprofits and community groups know how to put together a strong application to receive funding awards.
If you've never written a grant before, or you've never written a grant to us before,
our program office array is going to run that workshop.
He's going to go through quite an extensive PowerPoint and just kind of define all the different parts of the application
and give lots of suggestions and examples.
We just want to be sure that everyone feels empowered to apply.
The grant writing workshop will take place on January 13th at the Monomony Market Food Co-op
and anyone interested in attending can register on the Community Foundation of Dunn County website.
Applications for Community Impact Grant funding are also available on the organization's website
and will be accepted until February 1st.
As the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services works to reduce the amount of time it takes to obtain a professional license,
the State Legislature's Joint Finance Committee has halted a request for the funding to do so.
The agency requested nearly $2 million in funding to hire more employees and introduce new technology
to speed up the process earlier this year.
The additional staff and technology aimed to answer licensing questions faster,
with officials saying the current wait time for people calling in with those questions is about half an hour.
According to agency data from 2020 and 2021, the average wait time for the state to issue a license
in fields like construction was 125 days.
The average wait time for healthcare professionals to receive their license was nearly 190 days.
Governor Tony Evers has been working to speed up the licensing process for years,
hoping that faster license processing can help alleviate the state's workforce shortages,
especially in the healthcare field.
Stakeholders are hoping the Joint Finance Committee will reconsider the request at a future hearing.
AARP Wisconsin officials are calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation limiting the use of cryptocurrency kiosks.
According to a WXPR report, agency officials say there are now hundreds of the cryptocurrency kiosks across the state.
They work similar to a typical ATM, but instead of receiving cash from the kiosks,
residents can deposit cash to be converted into cryptocurrency.
The agency is pushing for legislation that limits daily transactions through the machines,
caps the fees that the kiosk operators can charge, and requires receipts for users.
Additionally, AARP Wisconsin officials are working to reduce the use of cryptocurrency kiosks and scams,
especially those targeting the older population in the state.
Scammers often use the machines to target older residents who may not understand how the machines work,
in addition to limiting the amount of money that could be lost due to a cryptocurrency scam,
the agency is also pushing for legislation that would allow the victims of a scam to receive refunds from the kiosk operators.
17 other states have passed similar legislation.
The Eau Claire City Council approved a resolution to urbanize sections of county line road near Jeffers Park at its meeting last week.
The resolution approves the use of Wisconsin Department of Transportation grant funding to install around about
and widen county line road, as well as adding a shoulder, curb, sidewalk, and a multi-use path.
About 80% of the $3 million project will be covered by the DOT grant funding,
City officials expect to take bids for the project early next year, and construction is expected to begin in July.
Wisconsin's frozen road law has officially gone into effect for the northern half of the state.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, all of the highways north of US Highway 10 are included in the frozen road declaration.
The declaration allows vehicles carrying things like salt, sand, and logs to carry up to 98,000 pounds of weight as opposed to the usual 80,000 pound limit.
DOT officials use frost tubes under the roads to measure how frozen the ground under the roads are,
and if they'll be able to withstand the additional weight.
Officials from the Augusta Area School District will consider proposing an operational referendum on the ballot this April.
District officials cited declining enrollment and decreased state funding as the motivation behind the proposal,
a common issue leading many districts across the state to turn to local taxpayers to help maintain their services.
The specifics of what the operational referendum would request have not yet been finalized,
but the proposed question would need to be shared with local municipalities by January 27 to appear on the spring ballot.
Despite changes to vaccine policy at the federal level over recent months, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services says it will continue to recommend the Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.
The agency announced the decision in a memo sent out to providers on Thursday, reiterating that the recommendation is based on decades of research showing that the vaccine is safe and effective.
Agency officials say Hepatitis B can lead to lifelong liver disease, especially for infants who have a 90% chance of developing chronic liver disease if infected.
For 105-7 CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
It's the Packers and the Bears.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports.
When the Packers play the Bears, Saturday night in Chicago, it'll be to regain the lead in the NSC North.
The Bears now back in first place.
After beating the Browns, the Packers losing to the Broncos and losing Micah Parsons.
On MRI confirmed, he suffered a torn ACL.
Parsons likely won't be back until October, missing the first four games of next season.
Cheese quarterback Patrick Mahomes had his ACL surgery last night.
Doctors say they also had to repair a torn ACL as well.
Women's College volleyball, Wisconsin Badgers, headed to Kansas City, where they'll play number one rank Kentucky.
In the NCAA Final Four, Thursday night, 8 p.m. coverage on ESPN.
You got a credible talent, great coaching staffs.
We play together and want to tell us environments in the game.
I'm excited for them to experience what's next, because it's pretty cool.
That's Badgers volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield with Sports on Mic Clemens.
It is going to be mostly cloudy today with a high in the mid to upper 30s this afternoon.
And basically just a light breeze here across the region.
Tonight, partly to mostly cloudy, we're going to drop into the teens tomorrow, mostly sunny, with a high in the mid 30s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable. Temperature now at 19.
