This Civic Media Podcast is sponsored by UW-Organ and Tissue Donation.
Organ donations are desperately needed and now is the right time to become an organ donor.
Talk to your family, get the dot, save lives, go to heroicd.com.
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 WIRI News, I'm Melissa K.
The teenager accused of assaulting and killing 10-year-old Lily Peters in Chippewa Falls
in 2022 has entered not guilty, please.
According to court documents, the now 16-year-old is charged with first degree intentional homicide,
assault causing great bodily harm and child sexual assault.
The case is scheduled to move forward in adult court in April, at which time the teen will be identified by name.
Judge Stephen Gibbs said he expects the case to be heard in 2026 following delays
over whether he would be tried in juvenile or adult court.
A man who allegedly faked his own death and went to Eastern Europe now faces a charge of obstructing an officer, here's Lisa Hale.
45-year-old Ryan Borguard appeared in court Wednesday afternoon where a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The criminal complaint said after faking his drowning death in Green Lake, Borguard took an e-bike to Madison
where he hopped a bus to Canada and from there flew to Europe.
Green Lake County is seeking $35,000 to $40,000 in restitution for wasting the county's time and resources and searching for him.
With the defense secretary nomination still in the balance, a senator is raising concerns.
Stuart J. Wattles has more.
Very troubling. That's what Senator Tammy Baldwin called some of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet selections.
She made the comments at a WIS Politics DC event this week.
The newly re-elected Baldwin seemed happy about the possibility of Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman leading the Department of Transportation.
Baldwin noted that some of Trump's nominees, including former representative Matt Gates, have already been replaced due to controversies.
Marshfield Hillside Cemetery is an official location for the National Reads Across America event.
It begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 14th.
If you're cold, your pets are too. Bring them inside.
Meteorologist Brittany Merlot explains why.
If dogs have to remain outdoors, they'll need to be inside of an enclosed kennel with a doghouse as a shelter from the sub-zero temperatures.
Just like people, pets cold tolerance can vary from pet to pet.
Based on their coat, body fat, activity level, and health.
So be aware of your animal's tolerance for the cold weather and adjust accordingly.
For example, you'll probably need to shorten your dog's walks and frigid temperatures.
Along with short-haired pets, short-legged pets may also become colder faster because their bellies and bodies are more likely to come in contact with a snow-covered ground.
And pets with diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and hormonal imbalances may also have a harder time regulating their body temperatures.
And the same goes for very young and very old animals.
If you need help determining your pet's temperature limits, consult your vet.
And some things that you can do is provide choices or stay inside.
Play dress up and consider a dog sweater or a coat, and always check their paws.
They could crack or bleed from stepping on ice and are also prone to frostbite, just like us.
And be aware if your pet is whining, shivering, seems anxious, slows down or stops moving, or they seem weak and start looking for warm places to burrow.
Get them back inside quickly because they're showing signs of hypothermia.
Wisconsin residents will see the largest increase in K-12 property taxes since 2009 this year.
As school districts across the state struggle to keep up with their funding needs, they've turned to their communities with operational referendums.
Nearly two-thirds of all districts in the state have passed a referendum over the past few years, and this year residents will pay around $327 million more because of it.
The K-12 property taxes increased by 5.7% this year after jumping 5.4% last year.
Wisconsinites may have had some confusion over Donald Trump's pick for U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. Lisa Hale has the story.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he wants Ron Johnson to be the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.
But it's not our Ron Johnson. Wisconsin's U.S. Senator Ron Johnson took to X last night to weigh in on the confusion and remind us that it's a common name.
He said, quote, I never played in the NFL. I wasn't the CEO of JC Penny and I haven't been nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.
There are a few of us Ron Johnson's out there. End quote.
The Ron Johnson Trump appointed was the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador during Trump's first term in office.
How important is remote work to Wisconsin? Stuart J. Wattles has more.
In a recent interview, Governor Tony Evers said he'd reject a GOP proposal that would force state workers back to the office.
In the interview on WISN12's upfront, Evers threatened to veto the state budget if such a measure is included.
The governor emphasized the success of remote work is attracting talent from across the state.
The city of Marshfield is accepting sealed bids for the sale of ash tree logs.
These logs are located in the central part of Bram Park.
You can enter the park on East Grant Street following an access road to the north. Bids will be on a perpile basis.
The logs will need to be removed by the end of the day on Friday, January 31st, and you aren't allowed to cut the logs in the park.
Sealed bids will be accepted until 4 p.m. on Monday, December 30th at City Hall in Marshfield.
Low temperatures are expected to continue through Friday. Remember to dress yourself and your kids warmly.
Have an emergency winter kit in your vehicle and keep your fuel tank at least half full.
A Wisconsin watch report says the cost of jailing kids is about to jump. Here's Stuart J. Wattles.
It's reported the cost of incarcerating a juvenile at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake has ballooned nearly $463,000 a year.
It'll be nearly twice as much in two years, and that's despite a declining population of youth.
Leaders in the state have been trying to close the facility due to ongoing funding and policy issues.
Alternative plans to build smaller regional facilities have been slow to move along.
Puffy Coats may keep your little one warm, but they won't keep them safe in a car seat.
So the car seat is supposed to keep your child in place so that they're not being jostled around during the car accident.
But if the Puffy Coat is there, like I said, you can have some of that extra space in there, which could cause your child to slide around,
which could lead to impacting with blash that could be harmful to your child.
That's Jamie Oswald, MD, and a Spiris family medicine physician.
She said, even if you think you've cinched the straps tight, there may be a significant gap because of the bulk of the coat.
So the car seat is supposed to keep your child in place so that they're not being jostled around during the car accident.
But if the Puffy Coat is there, like I said, you can have some of that extra space in there, which could cause your child to slide around,
which could lead to impacting with blash that could be harmful to your child.
Dr. Oswald said once you have your child strapped into the car seat, you can put a blanket over them to keep them warm.
If you want to check if their coat is thin enough to use in the car seat, strap them in with it on.
Then take the child out, take the coat off, and put them back into the car seat without adjusting the straps.
If the straps are snug, it's okay. If there's gaps, the coat is too thick.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
The Brewers add some lefties.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports.
At the Winter Baseball meetings, the Brewers have added two left-handed minor league pitchers to their 40-man roster,
Connor Thomas from the Cardinals, and Grant Wolfram from the Texas Rangers.
College football. The badgers need a new quarterback.
Braden Locke says he's entering the transfer portal, so as Tyler Van Dyke, last night, receiver track Kakahuna,
changed his mind, and will return to Wisconsin, and a foul the Packers face the Seahawks,
led by their new head coach Mike McDonald, former Ravens defensive coordinator, Matlow Flurr.
I think Mike's done an outstanding job. It's a great scheme. They can throw a lot of different coverages at you,
a lot of different fronts, different looks, and then you combine that with really good players, then it can be a problem.
Seattle's Mike McDonald. They play a great brand of football.
They've been doing it throughout their entire franchise history, and especially since Matt's got there and doing his thing,
so we get a lot of respect for them and how they play.
That's the Oxhead Coach Mike McDonald, with sports on Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Peach Wabba.
If you decide to watch a movie in between Christmas shopping sprees, here are some options opening this weekend in your local theaters.
The Lord of the Rings, the War of the Rohirum, opens wide December 13th.
The animated fantasy adventure film is set almost 200 years before the live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy begins.
The reviews are mostly favorable. Also, opening wide is Craven the Hunter,
an action adventure film starring Russell Crowe, and potential new James Bond actor Aaron Taylor Johnson.
Tread cautiously with this one is there are no reviews in yet.
Nickelboys is a story about two young African-American kids in a reform school in Florida.
The film opens with a limited run, but has excellent reviews, and drew a best pick nomination from the Golden Globes.
Pamela Anderson has a film opening that Tommy Lee is not in, called The Last Showgirl.
While kidding aside, the film is about, you guessed it, a showgirl, dealing with life after a 30-year run in Vegas.
It's gotten very good reviews, and critics are raving about Anderson's performance.
Let's go to the movies.
Even though the parents have already been met several times, there is talk of a new meet the parents chapter.
Deadline reports that actors Robert De Niro, Terry Polo, Ben Stiller, and Blith Danner are in talks to appear in the new film.
Most of the producer team is returning, but there is no one attached yet to direct.
Details about the plot are being kept hushed.
What on earth could this possibly be about?
I'm guessing family-related discomfort.
We are learning a lot about Jamie Foxx thanks to his new comedy special on Netflix.
In addition to addressing his stroke a couple years ago, and the 20-day coma that followed,
Fox used the platform to announce that he is done dating white women, adding humorously that he will no longer eat potato salad and raisins.
Before you judge him, if you are, I'm done dating white women too, mostly because I'm married to a white woman.
Who loves potato salad? I don't get it either, Jamie.
You might think Americans don't work as hard as they used to, but that is not true at all when it comes to TV watching.
The tube viewing was up 5% overall for the month of November, but that does not include Thanksgiving, which would have driven the numbers up even higher.
According to Nielsen, the reason for the increased viewing was the election, World Series, and the Mike Tyson J. Paul's News Fest.
A Nielsen pie graph shows broadcast networks with 23.7% of viewers.
Streaming service is accounted for 41.5%, which is up a percent from the previous month.
Cable accounted for 25% of TV watching.
In the category of other, on the graph, it showed 9.7%.
I'm guessing those are people who just leave the TV on and stare at the Roku home screen indecisively.
Speaking of streaming, Netflix really hit a home run last month with the Tyson Paul fight, even though it left viewers watching mostly a rotating buffering ball.
Netflix's The Lincoln Lawyer was the most viewed streamer for the month with 3.9 billion views.
Well done, couch potatoes.
For more showbiz fun, tune in to Nightlight with me, Peach Wabba, weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media Radio Network.
It is going to be cold, but not as windy today, mostly sunny with a high between 5 and 10 this afternoon, the wind west at 5 to 10.
Tonight, mostly clear, we're going to drop into the single digits below zero tomorrow, partly cloudy 18 with some light freezing rain and snow by Friday night into Saturday.
I meet a urologist Sean Cable outside now 7 below zero.
That's your WFHR and WIRI daily news roundup from Civic Media.
Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you find your podcasts.
Find more news at WFHR.com or WISCountry. That's WISCountry.com.
The national news cycle never stops, but it can be hard to find news about your local community.
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.
With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.
Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.