This is your WCQM Daily News Roundup for 98Q Country 98.3 FM and Trail Mix 103.1 FM and 980 AM WPFP in Park Falls.
Now a look at Northwoods News, I'm Maddie Schaefer.
The boards of directors for Ascension Health and Health Partners have approved an agreement to combine the two non-profit health systems.
Ascension Health serves patients across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, with several locations in northern Wisconsin, including Hayward, Spooner, Ashland, and Superior.
The organizations say the combination would allow them to expand access to care, strengthen specialty services, and make healthcare easier to navigate and more affordable.
They also plan to invest more in technology
research and workforce development.
Together, the health systems would have 22 hospitals, more than 135 clinics, 6,000 clinicians, and about 45,000 employees.
Under the agreement, the combined organization would be called health partners, while Ascension Hospitals and Clinics would keep the Ascension Health name.
The organizations say patients should not see any interruption to their care or coverage.
However, the agreement still needs regulatory approval.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellis
says his office will review the proposal and gather public comments.
In a statement, the Minnesota Nurses Association called for close scrutiny of the deal, raising concerns about costs, staffing, patient choice, and access to care.
The organizations hope to complete the combination January 1st.
The Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles has launched a new online tool to help people find a customer service center.
The Find My DMV interactive map lets users search for locations and see their hours and available services.
It can also be filtered by county, the service you need, or the days a location is open.
The map also uses Google Maps to provide directions and includes links to DMV services that can be completed online.
The Wisconsin DMV says the goal is to make it easier for people who need to visit a DMV in person to find the most convenient location.
The new tool is available through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's website.
For Northwood's News, I'm Maddie Schaefer.
For Civic Media News, I'm Connie Feldman.
Six children in Fond du Lac County were taken to the hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Fond du Lac County Sheriff's deputies say multiple agencies responded to a home in Osceola just after 2 a.m.
for reports of several people with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Investigators say, in total, nine people had severe symptoms, including six children, ages four through 17, along with a 42-year-old woman and 46-year-old man.
Authorities say all needed to be taken to local hospitals for treatment.
No word yet on what caused the poisoning.
Chiefs officials say the investigation is ongoing.
Wisconsin health officials are confirming 22 new measles cases, pushing the state's total to 214 for the year.
The Department of Health Services reports the vast majority of infections remain concentrated in southwestern Wisconsin, with Lafayette, Iowa, and Grant County seeing the highest case counts.
For additional cases reported in northern Wisconsin stem from out-of-state travel and are not tied to the main regional outbreak.
Public health agencies continue to monitor the spread and will publish updated figures every Tuesday and Friday.
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley's got some big names backing him, including former U.S.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Hollywood actor Sean Penn.
Harris held a high-dollar fundraiser for Crowley earlier this week in California, and former opponent for Governor Jessica Hong began touring Wisconsin to campaign for Democrats up and down the ballot.
The Santa Monica event came as Crowley tries to narrow a major fundraising gap with Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany.
The latest reports show Tiffany had raised about $15.5 million
compared with roughly $1.8 million for Crowley.
Tiffany called the fundraiser an example of Crowley associating with wealthy California elites.
Crowley's campaign says Tiffany shouldn't criticize fundraising because billionaire donors and outside groups have put millions behind his campaign.
The Madison Finance Committee is approving a $350,000 grant to help equip police officers with body-worn cameras by next summer.
Awarded by the Madison Community Foundation, the grant covers software and administrative costs to accelerate a rollout plan originally expected to take three years.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and 10 city elders co-sponsored the budget amendment following community calls for police transparency after a deadly officer involved shooting in July.
The full Madison Common Council must now give final approval to accept the funding agreement and authorize operating costs.
23 minors who worked at a Wisconsin McDonald's franchise will receive $17,000 in back wages following a state child labor audit.
The Department of Workforce Development reports franchise Iron Arch committed multiple violations, including overworking teenage staff, and failing to provide required 30-minute meal breaks.
The State Department of Justice also ordered the employer to pay nearly $60,000 in civil penalties and fees.
State officials say enforcement of minor labor laws remains essential.
keeping young workers safe without sacrificing their education.
Wisconsin's two U.S.
senators found common ground this week.
Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson both backed a bill to reshape college sports.
The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act 77-22.
setting nationwide rules for athlete pay, health care, scholarships, transfers, and smaller sports.
The measure also gives the NCAA limited protection from antitrust lawsuits when it enforces those rules.
Baldwin's amendment, passed 96 to 1, preserves athletes' ability to sue schools in state court over injuries, sexual assault, and other health and safety claims.
The motion now moved to the House.
A contractor faces a felony charge in Columbia County after allegedly taking more than $45,000 for a home accessibility project and abandoning the job.
Authorities say Jay Petley was hired to modify a Columbus home for a disabled resident, but work abruptly stopped with roughly $30,000 in improvements left unfinished.
Investigators say Paley failed to buy the necessary building materials, despite receiving full payment, leaving the homeowner to hire another contractor to complete the work.
He was arrested at his Burnett home and is expected in court in November.
And that's your state news update.
I'm Connie Feldman for Civic Media News.
Here comes the Padres.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports Baseball.
It's the Brewers and the Padres 730 Saturday night for Game 1 of the NLDS in Milwaukee.
The Padres eliminated the Cubs 4-1.
Manager Craig Council.
We just didn't play well enough.
The end of the season is you're going to be disappointed.
You're going to feel unfulfilled right now.
That's that's all I feel.
The Brewers were just 2-4 against the Padres this season.
Pat Murphy.
You know, these teams that we're talking about, whether it's
what we're watching on TV, Phillies and Braves and Cubs and Padres and Dodgers.
You're just talking about such good teams.
We're gonna have to play well.
It's all there's to it.
NFL the Packers adding another veteran offensive lineman 36 year old Kevin Zitler from Waukesha played at Wisconsin and was a first-round pick by the Bengals.
That's part about playing for all these teams over the years like had access to almost every type of offense here and there so you know for day one it went pretty darn smoothly I'd say.
It's guard Kevin Zitler with sports on Mike Clemens.
It will be mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy this afternoon our high today right around 65 tonight mostly clear we're gonna drop into the low
to mid 30s and then tomorrow we kick off a nice long stretch of pleasant dry weather with sunshine highs near 60.
I'm
meteorologist Sean Cable.