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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.
WFHR and WIRI News. I'm Alyssa K.
During the Wisconsin Rapids Common Council meeting on Tuesday, the council voted to create an ordinance allowing block party permits in the city.
Older person, Jake Katnaugh, had introduced the referral.
Motion by Katnaugh, second by Delaney, to direct, to see attorney to draft an ordinance creating a residential block party permit using ordinances from Analaska, LaCrosche, Boygan, and Walkasha as a guide, and to bring the draft ordinance back to legislative committee.
Motion carried 3-0.
The council voted 8-0 to create this ordinance. The legislative committee will review the draft when completed, as well as the changes to the city's municipal code regarding animal regulations.
Resident Elizabeth Whalen requested the council to consider increasing the allowed number of animals one household can own from 2 to 4.
The legislative committee will discuss that proposal when reviewing the municipal code.
Individual conservation organizations are taking bird flu mitigation efforts into their own hands with an uncertain future on federal support for tracking the virus.
Here's Brittany Merlot.
Organizations like the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and Wisconsin Humane Society are sharing tips with residents on how to help prevent the spread of bird flu and wild animals, like removing bird feeders to keep wild birds away from backyard chickens, because this virus has appeared in multiple counties across the state.
New data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services found gun-related deaths in Wisconsin are on the decline for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the data, gun deaths overall were still at higher levels than before the pandemic, but saw slight drops from 2022 to 2023.
Gun-related suicides in the state dropped from 532 to 508, and gun-related homicides dropped from 290 to 238.
Violence prevention officials say the drop is very encouraging.
Wisconsin Rapids is holding a community input meeting next week to hear feedback on the Northern Steel Casting site.
This brownfield redevelopment project is funded by an EPA technical assistance grant.
The meeting is Tuesday, February 25th, from 6 to 715 p.m. at City Hall.
Craft breweries who use cans are getting crushed by tariffs. Brittany Merlot tells us more.
President Donald Trump's newly announced tariffs, a blanket duty of 25% on all steel and aluminum imports, are expected to negatively affect the nation's craft brewers.
By driving up the cost of critical materials used to brew, house, and serve their beer, and these potential hits are landing at an unwelcome time for the industry, so prices will probably go up.
Sales data for beer and aluminum cans accounted for approximately 75% of craft breweries packaged volume and revenue, and a good number of those beer cans aren't made in the US and come from Canada.
In terms of steel, Canada and Mexico account for nearly 40% of what the US imports.
And the new tariffs set to take effect on March 12th are forecasted to raise producer prices for steel and aluminum by 15 to 20% in the coming months.
This could cost consumers an extra 8 billion a year.
Watch out for scams this tax season. Scammers are using tax season to try and take your money.
IRS spokesperson Christopher Miller says one common trick is using scary messages to demand money.
They can come over the phone, in text messages, on social media, or even letters crafted to look like they're from government agencies.
Miller says the IRS or other government agencies will never demand immediate payment over the phone.
If you get one of these calls or messages, simply hang up or delete it.
If you're concerned about tax payments, visit the IRS website yourself at irs.gov.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
Bucks are back in action. Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports.
The Milwaukee Bucks are back from the All-Star break tonight when they host the L.A. Clippers at Fiasur Form.
The honest synthetic group listed as questionable after missing the last six games with a calf muscle injury.
I'm okay. I'm a 100% I don't know.
You see, but I'm able to go through practice.
Um, it felt good.
What do you say? You say tomorrow for my 100%? I'll know it.
Damien Lillard, also questionable.
Doc Rivers after yesterday's practice.
We went hard, but not that hard.
And so we'll see with him and Damien.
We don't know you.
College football, the Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke fickle receiving a one-year extension on his contract with the university.
Fickles deal now runs through March of 2032.
He'll earn an extra $100,000, bringing his total of $7.7 million this year.
The Badgers were five and seven last season and missed playing in a bowl game for the first time in 22 years.
With sports on Mike Clemens.
Find your entertainment beat. I'm Pete Schwabba.
If you're headed to the warm cozy theaters this weekend, here are some films you might enjoy.
Sometimes, even though a movie is reviewing well and probably pretty decent, it sounds ridiculous.
And that is the case for the monkey, which opens wide February 21st.
I'm paraphrasing, but the log line is twin brothers find a wind up monkey that causes a killing spree.
And then 25 years later, it starts a new killing spree as they try to stop it.
A wind up monkey, not even a real monkey.
The other film opening in wide release is The Unbreakable Boy, a family film about a child with autism and a bone disorder.
If you're not up for braving the cold and feel like sitting home, check out Slide Lives, a new documentary on Hulu about Sly in the family stone.
Social media users, including myself, are in a lather over it and it is pulling a 90% on rotten tomatoes.
It has a built-in, fantastic soundtrack and all the other fun stuff you'd expect from a solid rock and roll documentary.
Let's go to the movies.
Director Peter Bogdanovich's final film has been remastered and will be released digitally by Lionsgate.
The film Squirrels to Nuts was originally released under its first title, She's Funny That Way, in 2014.
A claimed director passed away in 2022.
In reality, TV stars talking just to talk news, Bethany Frankl weighed in on Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, making light of their legal issues with director Justin Belldoney,
who is also Lively's co-star in It Ends With Us.
Frankl, one of the real fake TV housewives of New York City, said joking about the lawsuits on Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary was nothing short of genius, calling it the zeitgeist, a bullseye.
She added that the only way to weather a storm is to go right through it, while also acknowledging that the storm might have actually been caused by Lively and Reynolds in the first place, admitting that no one knows what happened.
Let this be a lesson to you youngsters out there.
Always make social media posts season four you date dropped on max and the HBO show has created some controversy thanks to nitpicky social media followers, always looking for something to overanalyze.
Every season has a new cast location and theme music.
Season two's theme music was so popular it played in nightclubs across Europe.
Season three's theme music has not been well received.
Great thing to stress over in this day and age.
If you haven't seen white lotus yet give it a chance.
Saturday Night Live kicks off a new 50 years in March.
March hosts will include comedian Shane Gillis and Lady Gaga.
Neither are strangers to the SNL stage.
Gillis will host the show for the second time on March 1st.
The musical act will be Tate McCray.
Gaga will wear hosting and musical hats as she covers both roles on March 8th.
Gaga has hosted the show before and performed as the musical guest four times previously.
Wonder if they'll be invited to the 100th.
For more showbiz fun tune into Nightlight with me, Peach Wabba.
From 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm meteorologist Brandon Bourmans.
The coldest air of the week is finally behind us.
Partly sunny skies today with the high of 23.
Tonight, mostly clear, still cold just not as frigid,
lows near 3 below.
Another fine day on Friday, mostly sunny with highs in the lower 20s.
Current temperature is 6 degrees.
That's your WFHR and WIRI Daily News Roundup from Civic Media.
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