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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 WIRI News, I'm Melissa Kay. Today is the deadline for Wisconsin lawmakers to pass a new two-year state budget. If they don't, current spending levels remain, but that creates complications for municipalities drafting their own budgets.
The Legislature's Budget Committee met again Friday night, over 12 hours after their planned 10 AM start. They skipped debates on major funding items, but did approve budgets for several state agencies.
We're that we are adjourned.
The meeting lasted just over an hour and followed a familiar pattern. Democrats proposed motions, Republicans voted them down and then passed their own plans on party lines. But not without criticism.
Here's Democratic Senator Latanya Johnson of Milwaukee.
There is something wrong with the decisions that we are making in this body. And we aren't saving taxpayers' money, the way that we like to claim that we are.
Governor Evers says he won't sign a budget that doesn't include funding for the state's child care program. Another major item funding for the universities of Wisconsin was pulled from the agenda.
The committee also resolved a long-standing dispute by releasing $10 million to the Department of Public Instruction for Early Literacy Coaching.
We want to help kids read, and we want to give schools the tools to be able to do that, and unfortunately it's taken this legislature a tremendous amount of time to allocate the funds for that.
Democratic rep, Tip McWire from Kenosha. The money had been held up by a legal fight over the governor's veto powers. Mark Bourne co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee.
The reason for the delay was an unconstitutional veto by the governor, ruled unanimous, unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.
And so we're glad that justice has been done, and we're here now with the proper accounts and able to do these.
If lawmakers had enacted on that funding by tonight, the funds would have lapsed back into the state's $4 billion surplus. For civic media news, I'm Sholly Pittman.
Average gas prices fell 7.3 cents over the last week, landing at $296 in the state today. This is $1.5 per gallon lower than a month ago, and over $0.30 lower than this time last year.
Gas buddies Independence Day gas price forecast projects the national average price to fall to $3.15 on July 4th.
This would be down nearly $0.35 from last year's national average and the lowest Independence Day average since 2021.
Gas buddy officials say if tensions in the Middle East remain contained and the U.S. avoids a major hurricane, the national average could fall below $3 at some point this summer.
Prices in Central Wisconsin today range from $281 to $287 per gallon.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has announced another year of decreased tobacco and vape sales to underage customers. Lisa Hale has more.
According to a DHS report, the rate of tobacco and vape sales to underage customers dropped nearly 2% from 2023 to 2024.
Agency officials say the jump in underage tobacco and vape sales aligned with raising the federal legal tobacco sales age from 18 to 21 in 2019.
Prior to that change, the underage sales rate was about 5.5% and jumped over 14% in 2021.
A note of caution as we approach the Independence Day celebrations.
Fireworks are a hallmark of the day, but every year thousands of children end up in the emergency room with fireworks related injuries in the U.S.
According to Espirus Hospital Doctors, the most important safety strategies include making sure that children are supervised by a designated adult at all times.
Keep spectators at a safe distance and never use fireworks while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
I'm Melissa K for WFHRWIRI News.
A new deal for Bobby.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports Basketball, the Milwaukee Bucks offering Bobby Portis Jr.
A three-year contract extension worth $44 million, Portis asks why he's grateful Doc Rivers is his head coach.
You know, sometimes you get put in a box and not get to display what you can really do.
So I'm thankful for Doc just letting me just play ball and then the game comes to me and it's been easier to go out there and just play the game the way I know how to play.
Meanwhile, Kevin Porter Jr. has declined the Bucks offer to stay in Milwaukee and is instead headed to free agency.
Brewers have the day off. They travel to New York where they'll face the Mets tomorrow night.
The crew losing an extra innings yesterday to the struggling Colorado Rockies.
Four to three.
Not enough production at the plates at Pat Murphy.
We're three hits through the ninth inning, I believe, and one was a bloop and one was an infield hit.
We have four hits and two homers that were timely and great.
More and more, we couldn't finish the job.
That's Brewers manager Pat Murphy with sports. I'm Mike Clemens.
On your entertainment beat, I'm Peach Wava.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have many fans, both individually and as a team.
The duo through their company, Actors Equity, will be making more films as they are partnering with Sony Pictures.
Artists Equity has produced such films as Air, The Accountant 2, and small things like these.
And we'll continue to have the option to produce side projects.
Artists Equity is also the creative force behind the upcoming Animals, which Affleck will direct and star in opposite Julian Anderson.
The film is currently in post-production with no release date as of yet.
Attention Rock and Rollers, there is a new biopic on the way about the band, The Scorpions, according to therap.com.
Wind of Change, stars the wires Dominic West, David Cross, and Luke Brandon Field as a couple members of the band.
Wind of Change became an anthem for the end of the Cold War back in the early 90s.
How do Actors cope with being part of a really dark horror film?
Violet McGraw and Alison Williams, stars of Megan 2.0, made themselves happy when the cameras weren't rolling by singing Taylor Swift's songs.
The 37-year-old Williams and 14-year-old McGraw are both Swifties.
McGraw who plays Williams' niece in the film says the two bonded due to the dark material and the way they ended up coping with it was by pretending to be Taylor.
Megan 2.0 is raiding fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently in theaters.
If Mystery and Horror isn't your thing, how about Mystery and Comedy?
Peacock's remake of the 1989 Tom Hanks film The Burbs is gaining steam.
The reboot is not a movie but rather a series and the cast is headlined by Kiki Palmer whose credits include Nope and the recent surprise hit One of Them Days.
Palmer is also executive producing.
If you're feeling nostalgic for the movie, you might dig the show as it is filmed on the same street on the Universal Backlot as the movie.
If there are still any left, you can never have enough psychological thrillers as far as I'm concerned and thanks to Amazon, there is a new one on the way based on a best-selling book.
The streamer has purchased rights to Freedom McFadden's The Tenant, which has been a top-the-New York Times best-seller chart for seven weeks.
The story follows Blake Porter, a marketing executive who loses his job and takes in a border to help make ends meet.
You can imagine how that goes.
Tough to find a good roommate, much less one who won't try to kill you.
If you haven't been to Summer Fest yet but have been meaning to go, you still have time.
One more weekend to be specific.
The third and final weekend of one of the world's biggest music festivals kicks off again this Thursday, July 3rd.
This upcoming weekend's music lineup includes Benson Boone, Fountains of Wayne, Social Distortion, John Oats, Without Hall.
That doesn't seem right.
Ever clear and the luminiers.
Hot fun in the summertime.
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.
I'm meteorologist Brandon Bourmans, an isolated shower or storm this afternoon,
otherwise expect partly sunny skies with highs near 80 degrees.
For tonight, partly cloudy with lows near 60.
On Tuesday, first day of July looks like a good one, sunny skies with highs near 80.
Current temperature, 67 degrees.
That's your WFHR and WIRI, Daily News Roundup from Civic Media.
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