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This is your WFHR Daily News Roundup for locally grown radio 97.5 FM and 13.20 AM
and WISC country 105.5 FM WIRI in Wisconsin Rapids.
For WFHR and WIR News, I'm Melissa K.
Wisconsin's 2024 presidential election saw a new record turnout.
Stuart J. Wattles has the story.
About 72.6% of eligible voters cast a ballot just shy of a 2004 record.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission says about 3.4 million people participated in this year's election,
marking the highest number of votes in the state's history.
While the presidential race drew the most attention, fewer votes participated in down ballot contests.
About 30,000 fewer votes were cast in the Senate race and 193,000 fewer in the state's voting referendum.
Attorney General Josh Kahl, alongside a bipartisan coalition of 30 state attorneys general,
announced Monday a $1.37 billion settlement agreement with Kroger.
The settlement addresses the grocery chain's role in the U.S. opioid crisis.
Wisconsin is set to receive up to $21.8 million in payments for opioid abatement.
This puts Wisconsin at $780 million in total for national prescription opioid settlements.
The number of Wisconsinites 75 and older is expected to increase by nearly 75% over the next 20 years,
according to a study by Forward Analytics.
That means by 2030, this state is looking at needing an additional 33,000 new beds,
just to keep our current ratio of essentially 194 beds for every 1000 people over the age of 75.
As of last year, the state totaled about 80,000 beds in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
There are still some open spots for the community conversations happening today from 4 to 530 at McMillan Library.
You can participate in conversations about how we can make Wood County a healthier place for everyone.
You'll need to register at healthypeoplewoodcounty.org, space is limited.
If you received an envelope in September from the Wood County Clerk of Circuit Courts,
stamped with the red official mail and you didn't return it, you may be asked to appear before a judge.
It's not for anything you've done wrong, but to see if you qualified to serve jury duty,
Wood County sent out almost 3,000 juror qualification questionnaires for 2025.
Less than 300 were not returned, and that's a fantastic return rate.
Circuit Court staff have mailed out a second notice to the people who didn't return the first questionnaire.
If you receive one of these envelopes, you'll need to fill out the questionnaire online,
even if you think you don't qualify for jury duty.
If you don't return it, the next step is in order to show cause hearing, and you'll have to appear in front of a judge.
Senator Tammy Baldwin declared victory over Eric Houghdy,
but the count was close enough for Houghdy to request a recount.
In Wisconsin elections, the trailing candidate can demand a recount if the margin between candidates is 1% or lower.
If Houghdy does request a recount, what does it look like?
Here's Chief Election Officer Megan Wolf.
They're going to bring in the election inspectors from each of the municipalities,
and then representatives from the political parties involved in that contest will be there,
and then they're going to have a bipartisan recount board.
Since the margin is above 0.25%, the Houghdy campaign would have to pay for the recount.
Houghdy has not yet called for this recount.
Be ready for a lane closure on the Jackson Street Bridge in Wisconsin Rapids.
This is due to the bridge-lighting project of the city.
The Westbound lane closure started yesterday, and will continue through Wednesday November 13th.
Westbound traffic is detoured onto first street north, then onto market street, then third street south,
before continuing onto the East Riverview Expressway.
Voters in many parts of Wisconsin were deciding on more than who will represent them.
With more, here's Civic Media's Jimmy Cusca.
All across Wisconsin, school referendum questions were on the ballot,
with over one quarter of districts asking to go over their local tax levies.
Over one quarter of districts asked a total of 138 questions for a total of over $4.2 billion to pay for operations and facilities.
The majority of these ballot measures passed, highlighted by Madison Passing two questions for a total of $607 million.
State Superintendent Jill Underley said that too many communities were forced to ask for more local property tax dollars to simply pay the bills,
and that the state legislature has underfunded public education in Wisconsin for too long.
Underley said that the next biennial budget is another opportunity for Wisconsin legislators to properly fund school districts.
Both the 120 districts going to referendum and the 138 questions asked on ballots are records.
For Civic Media News, I'm Jimmy Cusca.
Families have the opportunity to attend a free, empowered to connect training in Wisconsin Rapids next week.
This ETC training will help you identify traumas effects and apply attachment-based principles and support self-care.
This training is hosted by the Wood County Human Services Department.
It's on Wednesday, November 13th, from 5 to 7 pm.
This is open to families, foster families, and those who support them.
Traffic lights will improve at two different intersections on the expressway in Wisconsin Rapids.
The work began on Monday this week. Traffic barrels and barricades are set up at Chase Street and High Street, where they meet highways 73 and 34.
The traffic lights are shut down and turning movements will be restricted.
You won't be able to turn left at either of these intersections from either direction on both Chase and High Street.
The work is expected to take approximately three weeks.
Misinformation spread quickly after Milwaukee election officials had to retabulate around 34,000 ballots due to a snafu with some of their voting machines.
According to Anne Jacobs, the chair of the Wisconsin's Election Commission, the doors of the tabulator machines were not locked and sealed on election morning like they should have been.
There's no evidence that this was more than human error and there's no reason to believe that the ballots were tampered with or counted fraudulently.
The retabulation was only done out of caution and transparency. Here's Chief Election Official, Megan Wolfe.
All of that was done by bipartisan pairs of election inspectors and in the public eye, including many, many, many, bipartisan election observers from both the major political parties, other political parties, independent observers.
There were many people at Central Count that were part of those proceedings.
Everyone who saw the process themselves know it was simply an error.
November is thank a business month. The Better Business Bureau says the best way a small business can tell their story is through online customer reviews,
sharing a good experience highlights influences and celebrates a business.
When reviews are submitted through the BBB.org website, customers are assured every comment is legitimate and authentic.
BBB customer reviews allows a business to respond and the reviewer to also submit comments to that response.
These positive reviews, the ability to respond to negative ones and marketing reviews helps small businesses grow.
The let's keep talking, parent and caregiver series will focus on youth mental health trends.
The presentation will happen on Tuesday, November 12th at the Marshfield Public Library at 6 p.m.
Nicky Luck and Joanne Greenley will give the presentation.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
It's the Bucks and the Jazz. Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports. The Bucks and the Utah Jazz face off tonight in Milwaukee.
Both teams struggling with one in six records. Is their pressure to finally snap the six game losing streak? Doc Rivers?
No, this is the positive group. We believe we're a really good basketball team that has played poorly.
Last two games you can say we play well and lost the games.
The boys and girls state high school volleyball tournament is underway in Green Bay.
The boys final for the state title is tomorrow night at 7.30, Saturday night for the girls, NFL.
Linebacker Preston Smith and why the Packers traded him to the Steelers.
To be honest, a few weeks ago I requested a trade. I didn't feel like I was being useful in a system.
It wasn't catering to my play style and moving forward. I wasn't surprised when I got the call.
I got what I asked for and I'm at a great place with some great teammates.
I'm excited for the new start and I'm excited for the rest of the journey for this season.
That Steelers linebacker Preston Smith with sports on Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Pete Schwabba.
If you're looking for some post-election escapism, check out Apple TV's Slow Horses.
The show follows a bunch of rag tag disgraced MI5 operatives led by Gary Oldman.
Oldman is disgusting, disheveled, gaseous, curmudgeon, but a very nuanced character.
I'm late to the party myself, having just gotten halfway through season one.
But it is very entertaining and I love when I find a show where I have multiple seasons ahead of me for some serious TV binge watching.
Over the last few years, people have been talking about films as content.
That's a filthy word. It's not content, it's bleeping work.
Those are the words of Paul Muskel, the star of Gladiator 2.
Muskel says he does not like when the artistry of Good Cinema and Movie Making,
which takes time and effort and lots of patience, is compared to an Instagram post.
I don't totally disagree, but you can judge for yourself as Gladiator 2 opens November 15th.
Unlike with social media content, you will need an attention span.
According to Yahoo News, Michael Jackson got into a fight with Tupac Shakur
when he came to the defense of Kadita Jones, daughter of recently deceased music icon Quincy Jones.
Sources say Jackson was present when Tupac, who was dating Kadita, called her the B word.
Jackson, who was like an uncle to Kadita, had words with Tupac,
then the two squared off and supposedly Jackson got the better of him.
It's unclear whether or not it was a dance off.
During an interview on Conan O'Brien's podcast,
beloved actor Tom Hanks dropped one of George Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV.
Hanks used the fifth word in the seven word sequence, well worth a Google,
when referring to a critic who panned his new film here.
Hanks added that the same critic panned his directorial debut years ago,
that thing you do, and just a few months ago called it a cult classic.
Hanks did have a lighthearted tone when he dropped the CS bomb to Conan
and said that's what we signed up for.
For more showbiz fun, tune in tonight light with me, Peachwaba,
weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media radio network.
A little patchy fog or some low clouds this morning,
but we will clear out it'll be mostly sunny later this morning into this afternoon
with a high in the low fifties today.
Tonight clear with a low in the mid thirties tomorrow,
lots of sunshine with a high in the mid to upper fifties.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable, right now it's 39.
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