WCQM Wednesday News Roundup

Transcript

WCQM Wednesday News Roundup

98Q News · Wed Jul 29, 2026

For Civic Media News,

I'm Connie Feldman.

Authorities say there were no fatalities from yesterday's tornado in the Fox Valley, but a suspected lightning strike did kill a worker in Whitewater.

The worker was part of a crew that was trimming trees in the community.

The 29-year-old man was working in a tree when it was hit by lightning.

The Walworth County Medical Examiner's Office is conducting the investigation into his death.

The intersection where 38-year-old Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by Madison police is now a community gathering place.

Community members mourning his death have filled the area with flowers, candles, handwritten notes and art in his memory.

Ruiz has a lengthy list of misdemeanor convictions and long struggled with homelessness and mental health issues before he was shot and killed by one of four officers attempting to detain him while he was carrying a knife.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into his death as a homicide.

Meanwhile, Madison city leaders are dealing with neighborhood concerns around the makeshift memorial site.

District 6 Alder Davey Mayer says he has received more than 100 complaints from residents since the intersection where the shooting occurred has been closed.

City services such as trash collection have been affected.

Mayor says city leaders are trying to work out a solution to the problem.

Wisconsin Health officials report more than 100 cases of cyclospora amid the growing national outbreak of the parasitic infection.

Most of the 105 cases in the state have been linked to international travel.

Four more states have been linked to the outbreak.

The Washington Post reports the CDC is now connecting cases from Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to the nationwide outbreak caused by the cyclospora parasite.

Drivers across Wisconsin are feeling the pinch at the pump once again.

Civic Media's Melissa K tells us why recent gas prices have seen a significant jump.

Average gas prices rose 9.5 cents over the last week, the average on Monday landing at 388 per gallon.

This is 24 cents higher than a month ago and a dollar per gallon higher than this time last year.

The national average of diesel increased 17.8 cents over the last week to land at 525 per gallon.

Officials at GASBuddy say a combination of factors are keeping upward pressure on crude and refined product markets.

These include the continued escalations between the U.S.

and Iran, renewed Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and fresh Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Oil prices dropped on Sunday after a pullback in hostilities over the weekend.

But officials say prices at the pump are expected to remain elevated.

I'm Melissa Kaye, Civic Media

News.

Field experts say how elevated that will be depends on how the geopolitical situation develops this week.

Thousands of Potawatomi citizens from the United States and Canada are gathering in Crandon this week to celebrate their heritage.

The week-long event draws an estimated 5,000 participants who represent the 12 Potawatomi nations.

Part of the event focuses on preserving and revitalizing the Potawatomi language for future generations.

The National Weather Service has updated the severity of the tornado that hit northeast Wisconsin this week to a preliminary EF3 level.

That includes wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour.

They say the funnel cloud developed two miles northwest of Appleton and tracked south into Fox Crossing and Monashia before dissipating over Lake Winnebago around 2.22 p.m.

on Monday.

The National Weather Service has updated the severity of the tornado that hit northeast Wisconsin this week to a preliminary EF3 level.

That includes wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour.

They say the funnel cloud developed two miles northwest of Appleton and tracked south into Fox Crossing and Monashia before dissipating over Lake Winnebago around 2.22 p.m.

on Monday.

After that, Twister left a path of destruction throughout Northeast Wisconsin.

Communities are coming together to help out those impacted by storm damage.

If you'd like to donate your time, expertise, or supplies, Volunteer Fox Cities is coordinating efforts to help storm victims at the former UW Oshkosh Fox Cities campus.

They're looking for donations of food, water, and emergency supplies, as well as enlisting people for cleanup and recovery.

Find more information on how you can help at volunteerfoxcities.org.

Several area businesses are also collecting things like hygiene items, diapers, batteries, and portable phone chargers to help out the victims.

Dairy ear brewing in Seymour, Kalan's skin and wellness in Appleton, and Coon's RV in Swamako are just a few businesses collecting donations for relief efforts.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is warning pet owners to be extra careful after a hunting dog was killed by wolves over the weekend in the western part of our state.

Here's Civic Media's James Kelly.

According to agency officials, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services confirmed wolves were responsible for killing a hunting dog in the town of Wilson on Saturday.

The DNR is reminding dog owners to exercise caution in wolf-occupied areas and that those conflicts are more common during bear training and hunting season.

I'm James Kelly for Civic Media News.

You can find more information on wolf depredation on the DNR's website.

And that's your state news update.

I'm Connie Feldman for Civic Media News.

It's the Brewers and the Giants today.

Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports, the Brewers in Game 3 of their series in San Francisco.

Their crew winning last night 8-2 over the Giants.

The Brewers Jake Bowers with a fractured big toe after hitting a foul ball off his right foot Monday night.

My guess, I felt the ball off it, couldn't really move, got an x-ray, showed a fracture line.

At the time they weren't sure if it was old or new.

Got an MRI and a CT scan this morning and the doctors came back and said,

that it was probably old and was already there.

Bowers now list it as day to day.

NFL Packers training camp underway with practice in helmets and shorts for the first few days in Pittsburgh.

Aaron Rodgers is back with Mike McCarthy and was asked if this is his final season in the NFL.

Yeah, this is it.

Why is this?

I thought last year might be it and then Mike got hired and I talked to the wife and she said you can do one more year

at Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers with sports on Mike Clemens.

It is going to be mostly sunny today with a high in the low to mid 80s here this afternoon.

Tonight, partly cloudy, we're going to drop to 65 for a low tomorrow, sunny and warmer with a high in the upper 80s to near 90.

I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.

That's your WCQM and WPFP Daily News Roundup from Civic Media.

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