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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.
A person threatening suicide with a handgun was safely taken into custody early yesterday. It happened a little before 6.30 on Monday morning. Wisconsin Rapids Police Officers closed off streets around a home on Pine Avenue near Woodside Elementary. The person was armed with a handgun in the front yard of a house in the 500 block of Pine Avenue. Woodside Elementary staff and the school district were notified to ensure the safety of students in staff.
Officers negotiated and de-escalated the situation. The person dropped the weapon a little after 8 AM and surrendered to officers. No charges have been filed at this time and the investigation is ongoing.
Wisconsin makes an impression for entrepreneurs starting up new businesses. Lisa Hale has the details.
Access to incubators like Green Bay's Urban Hub and regional supports in addition to tax breaks and mentorship opportunities all played into the rankings. Madison ranked highest of the Wisconsin cities at 60. Green Bay comes in at 74th and Milwaukee makes the list at 102.
Wisconsin Democrats are seeking to get big money out of campaigns with a statewide referendum. Lawmakers in the State Assembly and State Senate are reintroducing a resolution that would effectively overturn the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision by amending the state constitution. The decision allowed corporations to be treated like people in campaigns, increasing the amount of money they could contribute to their preferred candidates. If the bill makes it through the legislature, it would appear on the November 2026 ballot.
This is prime time for wildfires. Portage in Wood Counties are currently at very high risk of fire according to the Department of Natural Resources. Dana shows 63 wildfires burned 135 acres of land statewide over the weekend. We've got dry air and strong winds in the forecast today and some oil that can contribute to fire risk. A wildfire in Portage County on Oak Drive was brought under control on Monday.
The southern third of the state is all considered to have very high fire danger right now while most other areas of the state are experiencing high fire danger. Burn permits are suspended in 24 counties.
DNR wardens say spring is the most critical time for wildfires in Wisconsin. We've already experienced almost double the number of wildfires in a typical year and were four months in. 49% of wildfires this year have been caused by debris burning. Rain is in the forecast for our listening area on Thursday.
Which should bring some relief to the fire conditions. Another candidate has announced their campaign for the top spot in the state's Democratic Party. Jimmy Cusca reports.
The field for Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair grew by one as candidates emerged to replace Ben Wickler who announced last week that he is not seeking reelection William Garcia who is the current Democratic Party chair for La Crosse County and the third congressional district in Wisconsin announced his bid for the top spot on Monday.
Garcia joins a field that includes former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Devon Remaker. The new party chair will be elected at the Wisdoms Convention in June.
Registration has been extended for summer Academy at Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools. This is for students in 4k to 5th grade. The date to register has been extended to this Friday, April 18.
You can register online at wrps.org under the schools tab then summer Academy.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
A bad night for the brew crew. Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports. The Brewers first night back at home and they lose to the Tigers 9-1.
Detroit was up 9-Zip by the 5th inning. Pat Murphy says the crew didn't lose like this last year.
Yeah, this is the fourth time we've been blown out in 17 games. That's who we didn't get blown out four times in 162.
I don't think, but this is the fourth time in 17 games, so that is concerning.
NBA, the Bucks getting ready for the playoffs, they face the Pacer's Saturday at noon, head coach Doc Rivers, on how the team looks heading into that best of seven series.
I like some of the things we're doing. I actually think we need to week of practice. I really do. I think we can really hone in on some stuff that we want to do.
Especially with Yanis handling them ball more. There's some things we feel like we need to get better and I think we can do that.
The Phoenix sons of fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after just one season, they finished with a disappointing record of 36 and 46.
Budenholzer led the Bucks to an NBA championship in 2021. With sports, I'm Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Pete Schwabba. Not sure if he slept in a tent or mud wrestle, but political rock star Bernie Sanders did make an appearance at Coachella over the weekend.
The senator from Vermont took the stage to a huge response from the crowd before introducing Clareau and complimenting her on her activism.
Sanders then performed an 18 minute guitar solo before smashing the instrument and kicking over the drums before exiting the stage and telling the crowd to f*** off.
Amy Lou Wood is lashing out at Saturday Night Live for going too far by making fun of her teeth.
The White Lotus actress was no stranger to attention she received regarding her choppers, but said she was disappointed and called the teasing unfunny in mean.
SNL cast members Sarah Sherman were even bigger exaggerated teeth, a sketch is available on YouTube if you want a judge for yourself.
Despite the risk of getting vomited on or having a soda thrown at them, audiences still continue to flood theaters to see the Minecraft movie.
It was tops at the box office for the second week in a row, according to Variety. The film showed an impressive hold in its second week with the crowd-sized diminishing by only 50% in its impressive second week.
The film was now at 281 million domestically and 550 million globally. Minecraft was the only movie that was not a new release in the top five.
Coming in at second place was the religious film King of Kings, which brought in almost 20 million just a week before Easter.
20th Century Fox's The Amateur came in third place with 15 million, a 24's Warfare came in fourth place with a take of about 8.5 million.
The film received rave reviews from critics and is beyond intense.
And the thriller Drop came in fifth place with 7.5 million at the gate. In case you're scoring at home, the movie with the worst critic score was in first place and four critics darlings rounded out the top five.
Actor Mickey Rourke has been asked to leave the show celebrity Big Brother due to behavior resembling that of Mickey Rourke.
That entails using offensive language and mistreatment of others. First work used threatening and aggressive language toward a fellow housemate, and that was after he had already been warned for inappropriate homophobic comments to fellow contestant JoJo Siwa.
And he always seemed so well adjusted. When Roger Ebert really liked a film, he would say two big thumbs up. That makes sense on two fronts.
My latest peak is Warfare, a film about a platoon of Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission in Iraq that goes horribly wrong.
It has a group of young actors who portray soldiers dealing with real life war trauma. The film is written and directed by Iraq veteran Raymond Doza.
It's hard to watch at times, but the excellent direction makes Warfare the best war film I've ever seen. My thumbs aren't as big as Roger Ebert's, so I will say two medium thumbs up.
For more showbiz fun, tune in to Nightlight with me, Pete Schwabo, weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Civic Media radio network.
Partly sunny today will get to 48 for a high this afternoon. The wind will be northwest at 15 to 25 gusting to between 30 and 40 here today.
And I'm mostly clear we'll drop into the mid to upper 20s tomorrow, mostly sunny, with a high in the mid 50s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable, current temp now 37.
That's your WFHR and WIRI daily news round up from Civic Media. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you find your podcasts.
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