This is your WCFW Daily News Roundup for 105-7CFW in Chippewa Falls and 93-5 of the tap in O'Clair.
105-7CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
As data center development becomes a focus for local governments across Wisconsin,
the O'Clair Plant Commission held the discussion on industrial land use at its February meeting,
proposed data centers, especially those geared towards artificial intelligence,
have sparked community concerns over their water usage requirements and other negative environmental effects.
O'Clair Community Development Director Aaron White shared a presentation on the facilities with the Plant Commission,
highlighting that not all data centers are AI-based and require the increased resources to operate.
There are typically located industrial parks, data centers are secure facilities,
facilities that store process digital information.
But AI is what's catching a lot of the attention now, a lot of the big centers are geared towards AI technology,
but it's not AI that's the only drive in this industry.
Anything that's stored in the cloud has a data center somewhere that's storing that data.
White says O'Clair does not currently have a data center and has no plan for one in the immediate future,
but a controversial data center proposal in nearby monomony shows private companies
are considering the Chippewa Valley as a potential location for them.
He also explained why some communities are welcoming data center development.
They are highly taxed from a property tax standpoint.
Industrial projects, there's a huge number of state tax breaks that are built into industrial expansions,
so they pay a very limited industrial space compared to other comparable spaces.
Data centers don't, they are highly taxable space.
We're trying to get some, we're doing some research, trying to get some more data on what that might look like,
but that's why communities love them. They come in, they pay a huge amount of property tax across the life of the project.
White also highlighted that O'Clair does not have much developed but unoccupied industrial space,
which would make it more costly for a private company to build a data center in the area.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin has announced she will co-sponsor legislation
seeking to redirect billions of dollars, earmarked for immigration and customs enforcement
in the one big beautiful bill to local law enforcement agencies.
According to a press release, the Public Safety Act would redirect nearly $75 billion in funding
to help hire and train around 200,000 local police officers around the country.
The legislation was originally proposed by Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto from New Mexico.
Of that nearly $75 billion, $45 billion would be reallocated to the Burn JAG program
to fund support training, crime victim assistance programs, and crime prevention.
Nearly $30 billion would be reallocated to the COPS hiring program.
In the press release, Senator Baldwin says it's clear that President Donald Trump's ice is out of control
and the influx of masked armed and untrained agents is making communities less safe.
She says ice doesn't need a blank check and the funding should be used to double down on investing in local police to ensure safety.
Though Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is sharing its most common reported complaints from 2025,
according to a press release, landlord-tenant issues remained the top complaint for the third year in a row with over 2600 official complaints.
Many of those issues involved things like security deposit returns, infestations, evictions, and mold.
Telemarketing was the second most common complaint and the only other topic to bring in over 1,000 reports,
mostly regarding robo calls, harassment, and various scam practices.
Other notable common complaints over the course of 2025 include nearly 650 home improvement complaints,
over 450 reports of identity theft, over 200 travel-related complaints, and nearly 450 motor vehicle repair complaints.
According to the press release, there were nearly 12,000 complaints filed with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection in total in 2025.
Agency officials say Wisconsin also returned a total of over $4 million to consumers.
Though Wisconsin State Legislatures Joint Finance Committee unanimously approved the release of $10 million in funding
to support the construction of a new mental health and substance abuse treatment center in Chippewa Falls.
The one-time grant payment will go towards the construction of the new Rogers Behavioral Health Facility to help replace some of the services lost with the closure of HSHS St. Joseph's Hospital two years ago.
Rogers Behavioral Health officials say they expect to open the new treatment center sometime in early 2027.
School District of Codot has placed its financial director, Daniel Mittermeyer, on leave following accusations of embezzlement.
According to court documents, Mittermeyer is facing federal charges after being accused of stealing nearly $200,000 from the Alma Center Humbered Maryland School District between 2021 and this last August.
School District of Codot officials say they have no reason to believe that any of their funds were mishandled in any way,
but will seek out an independent firm to conduct a thorough investigation of its finances.
University of Wisconsin, O'Clair, accounting students will once again offer residents free assistance with their tax returns.
According to a press release, students will offer free income tax return preparation through the volunteer income tax assistance program this spring.
Residents looking to take advantage of the help should have an income of $67,000 or less.
They must also register ahead of time on the UWEC website and appointments will be held at the Davies Center every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. from March 6 through April 3rd.
The O'Clair Community Foundation is accepting proposals for funding through its Physicians Community Impact Fund.
The program provides grant funding to nonprofits seeking to support healthcare services in the Chippewa Valley, focusing on a different aspect of healthcare each year.
For 2026, the grant funding will go towards supporting preventative health in the region.
Nonprofits can receive grants of up to $15,000 to support those programs this year.
Proposals will be accepted through the end of the month and grants will be awarded in May. For 1057 CFW News, I'm James Kelly.
For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale.
The minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 an hour. For tipped workers like restaurant servers, it's $2.33 an hour.
Now, some Wisconsin Democrats are proposing raising the state's minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2030.
State Senator Keldor Royse, who's also running for governor, said in a press conference that at least a million workers can't afford basic needs like housing, childcare, or health care.
Marina Prachaska, who works in the service industry, said her pay is $15.81 per hour, and it isn't enough, especially as the cost of living and healthcare costs are rising.
The proposed bill would increase the state minimum wage to $15 an hour immediately. It would then increase a dollar 25 cents each year until 2030 when it would reach $20 an hour.
The measure is unlikely to advance during this legislative session.
Wisconsin is joining another multi-state lawsuit. This one is over federal changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Attorney General Josh Call joins the governor of Pennsylvania and attorneys general from 14 other states in the suit that challenges the Trump administration's decision to remove several vaccines, including rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, and COVID-19.
State health leaders report responding to measles cases in 2025 and 2026, including 36 in late 2025. Officials say all of those cases involved unvaccinated people.
Speaking of the highly contagious viral infection called measles, numerous Wisconsin health organizations are encouraging vaccination after recent confirmed cases in the state.
Civic Media's Joanne Croulott reports.
All individuals eligible for vaccination should confirm their vaccination status by reviewing their records or by receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine commonly called the MMR vaccine cases have been increasing across North America recently, largely due to decrease in immunization rates in children after the disease was considered eliminated for decades.
It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or breeze and can linger for up to two hours.
It is so contagious that approximately nine and ten unvaccinated individuals exposed to the virus can be expected to develop infection.
While most people with measles experience high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and eventually a diffuse rash, it can lead to more serious issues like pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.
Complications are more common in younger and older individuals, as well as those with compromised immune systems.
I'm Joanne Croulott.
Wisconsin companies are going to court over tariffs tied to President Donald Trump's trade policies.
Coles, Milwaukee Tool, and several manufacturers want refunds for import taxes they say were collected illegally.
The lawsuits don't give dollar figures, but companies argue the tariffs hurt business and created uncertainty.
One CEO says most firms just want clear, consistent trade rules.
The legal fight comes as new global tariffs are again being debated in Washington.
Colorado Congressman Jason Crowe visited Western Wisconsin on Wednesday seeking to drum up support for the Democratic candidates who are challenging the incumbent Republican Derek Van Orden in the third congressional district.
Civic media's James Kelly was there.
Congressman Crowe's town hall at the Chippewa Valley Museum covered a wide range of topics, most notably issues like ensuring veterans are taking care of properly, protecting access to health care, and the effects of tariffs.
Asked about some differences between the ways tariffs are affecting Wisconsin residents and residents in his home district, Congressman Crow highlighted soybean farmers.
The soybean farmers have been hit particularly hard by tariffs.
You're talking with some of the farm groups have told me that a lot of these farms haven't received orders in five months or more.
And orders are just starting to trickle in.
People can't afford that. Family farms simply cannot afford that and they're going under.
For Civic media news, I'm James Kelly.
Traveling is set to get a little easier in Wisconsin as bus services scaled up.
The Department of Transportation and operators like Lamers and Greyhound announced updates to the statewide routes, including new connections and more reliable schedules.
One of the biggest changes is the addition of a new route between LaCrosse and Green Bay.
A couple Midwest schools rank first and second among the public universities in the United States in time magazine's list of the world's top universities of 2026.
The University of Michigan is ninth overall on the list and is the number one public university in the United States.
The number two public university in the US and 20th overall worldwide is the University of Wisconsin Madison.
The magazine looked at academic strength, economic impact, innovation and global engagement as it ranked the top 500 universities across the globe.
For Civic media news, I'm Lisa Hale.
For news anytime, visit our website at civicmedia.us.
It's the Bucks and the Celtics.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports NBA.
The Bucks host the Boston Celtics tonight.
I've got the second best record in the Eastern Conference just behind Detroit.
The Bucks was an embarrassing loss yesterday in Chicago.
120 to 97.
The Bullshead won a games in January and 11 game losing streak.
Doc Rivers.
I don't know if there's such a thing as the basketball got, but if there is, he was alive tonight.
When you approach the game and play like that, you don't deserve to win.
If we had won the game, I'd have been upset.
I had taken the win because we needed.
But that is not how you play basketball.
College Hoops, Marquette, losing at home to the DePaul Blue Demons 62 to 51.
The Golden Eagles now 10 to 19 for the year.
Women's hockey in Madison over the weekend.
The Wisconsin Badgers beat Bemidji State in overtime 2 to 1.
Layla Edwards with the winning goal, sending the number one ranked Badgers to the WCHA finals face-off.
That begins Thursday in St. Paul with sports on my Clemens.
Mostly sunny and a little warmer today.
We'll get to around 42 for a high this afternoon.
Tonight, mostly cloudy.
We'll drop to 32 for an overnight low tomorrow.
Partly to mostly cloudy.
And it will be even warmer tomorrow with a high right around 48.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.
Currently, it's 26.
That's your WCFW and the Tap Daily News Roundup from Civic Media.
Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you find your podcasts.
Find more news at wcfw.fm or the tap.fm.