This is your WCFW Daily News Roundup for 105-7 CFW in Chippewa Falls and 93-5 of the
tap in O'Clayer.
For 105-7 CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
A popular Chippewa Falls attraction will get much needed renovations over the coming
months.
The Chippewa Falls City Council has signed off on over $16,000 in funding to replace
the panels and gates on the containment pens of the vacant Tigray exhibit at the Irvin
Park Zoo.
John Jimenez is the Director of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry for the City.
He says the renovation work is critical to ensuring the safety of the animals in their
care.
It's critical for our animals to have the added renovations there so that we can ensure
their safety with rust, building on the key teen doors that allow them to transfer
in from one section to another.
The exhibit has been vacant since Lulu, the zoo's white tiger, passed away nearly a
year ago.
The zoo's also planning to add a link species in the space after the renovations.
Jimenez adds that the zoo's hyena and bear have lived beyond their expected years, so
they're planning future improvements for those exhibits as well.
The long-term goal and vision for all three of those exhibits is to continue to naturalize
them as best as possible.
Right now, there's a lot of concrete cement in those exhibits.
Our goal is to try to put some different type of material there for them to walk on
whether it's pea gravel, dirt, sand, different types of elements there to create a more natural
setting for the animals.
The city signed off on funding for the renovations in December, but Jimenez says the zoo can always
use community donations for other restoration and improvement projects.
Proper posed rule change by the Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers
could leave Wisconsin with less than 800,000 acres of federally protected wetlands.
According to a WPR report, the rule change could strip those federal protections for over
80% of the wetlands across the country, including all but 13% of Wisconsin's wetlands.
The rule change comes as the result of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that limited the
agency's power to prevent pollution of certain wetlands.
The court found that only wetlands with a continuous surface connection to relatively
permanent waterways like lakes or rivers can be regulated under the Clean Water Act that
proposed rule change would redefine relatively permanent waterways as those that flow during
the wet season or year round.
The rule change would affect whether developers need to obtain federal permits for projects
near waterways, but Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials say those developers
would still need to receive state permits.
The EPA will accept public comments on the proposed rule change until January 5th.
Wisconsin will receive over $203 million next year through the Rural Health Transformation
program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the funding this week with
awards ranging from $147 million to $281 million.
In total, the program will distribute $50 billion in funding over 5 years to support rural
healthcare access.
Half of that funding will be split evenly among all 50 states and the other half is expected
to be awarded through a point system.
The point system will be based on various criteria, including need, policy innovation,
and the potential to deliver measurable improvements.
About 20% of the discretionary funding through the program is also dependent on states committing
to certain federal policy actions.
Addressing rural healthcare access has been a major focus in Wisconsin over recent years,
especially in the Chippewa Valley following the loss of two hospitals and dozens of clinics.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services applied for $1 billion in federal funding to
support rural healthcare access in November.
According to weather conditions on Sunday led to a number of crashes and runoffs on Western
Wisconsin roadways, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol, troopers at the Oaklair Post responded
to over 60 runoffs and 30 crashes between Sunday and Monday mornings.
The winter storm saw snow piling up on the roads and limiting visibility, leaving the road
slick and difficult to navigate.
Wisconsin State Patrol officials are reminding drivers to stay alert in winter conditions
or avoid traveling altogether if possible to reduce the risk of crashes.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is inviting residents to celebrate the start
of 2026 with a New Year's Day hike.
The agency's first-day hikes will take place at over a dozen state parks across Wisconsin,
including Lake Wisota State Park and the Red Seater Trail in the Chippewa Valley.
DNR officials say the community hikes are a great way for residents to explore the outdoors
in their areas, and each one will cover between one to three miles.
There will also be other activities for residents who don't want to participate in the hikes,
and a full schedule of events is available on the DNR's website.
The city of Monomity is reminding residents to be careful of what they put in the trash following
the holidays.
In a social media post, city officials reminded residents that many electronics are banned from
Wisconsin landfills, especially items with screens and computer components.
Those electronics that cannot be placed in a landfill can be recycled at various locations,
including recycle, services, and Monomity and first-choice computer recycling in Eau Claire.
Some larger electronics may require a fee for recycling.
The lawmakers will consider a proposal to make it easier for older school bus drivers
to maintain their licenses next week.
The proposed bill would reduce the frequency of commercial drivers' license testing for
school bus drivers who are over 70 years old from every two years to every four years.
Lawmakers say about a quarter of school bus drivers in the state are over 65, and between
the frequent testing and medical review process, the state has about 20% fee for school bus drivers
than it did 20 years ago.
The bill will receive a committee vote on January 7th.
For 105-7 CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
The Badgers beat the Panthers, high on my clements with sports, men's college basketball,
Wisconsin over Milwaukee, 80-60 at the Cole Center, the Badgers Greg guard, thank the Panthers
head coach Bart Lundy for adjusting their schedule.
Bart's got a good team.
I think they're going to do very well in their league and to be able to fit this game
in with their league playing games here between the holidays, and so it's credit to them
to still want to play the game, and now obviously we wrap up the non-conference and head
into the league play starting Saturday night and get ready for games coming next year.
Wisconsin holds produced Saturday 7 p.m. NBA, it's the Bucks and the Wizards tonight at
Pfizer form, Milwaukee looking for their third win in a row, NFL, the Packers making
roster changes, defensive tackle Jordan Riley, and defensive back Kamal Hayden placed on
season ending IR after their injuries against the Ravens, safety Zane Anderson recovering
from an ankle injury, so they promoted two defensive backs from the practice squad for
Sunday's game in Minnesota, with sports on my clements.
A little light snow this morning, gradual clearing this afternoon with temperatures in the
mid to upper teens early on, but we are going to drop through the day into the single digits
by late afternoon.
Tonight, mostly clear, we're going to drop to around two to three below.
Tomorrow, mostly cloudy, a little light snow with a high near 12.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable, currently it's 28.
