WFHR Tuesday News Roundup

Transcript

WFHR Tuesday News Roundup

WFHR News · Tue Aug 5, 2025

You're listening to Civic Media. You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app. Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime, anywhere.

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 Alyssa K.

The federal government has pulled funding for a local camp meant to help neurodivergent kids enjoy STEM subjects. Savannah Tomay Olsen reports.

Michael Notaro is the director of the Center for Climatic Research at UW-Madison. He started the first STEM camp four years ago in Balloy and has added two more in Madison and Baraboo.

They're geared toward middle and high school students and inspire by Notaro's own family.

And the goals of the camps are basically to support and foster neurodiversity to encourage autistic and neurodiverse youth to consider pursuing science degrees and careers.

The camps were funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, but now they've been canceled. Notaro says because it's geared toward neurodivergent kids,

the camp counts as a diversity, equity, and inclusion program. Those types of programs have been targets for the Trump administration.

It was disheartening. It was not surprised at all that it happened. It was, you know, had a pretty hard impact because it was right before the summer where we were getting ready to start up our three camps.

The Coakley Foundation stepped up to keep the camps running this summer. Notaro says thank goodness because families rely on this.

These camps help other kids develop advocacy, build social skills and friendships.

In the last four years, we've had youth from middle school and high school age kids come from 35 different communities across Wisconsin and Illinois.

It's across about a 300 mile radius. It really demonstrates the fact that families are willing to drive very long distances for these camps.

The future is uncertain and Notaro is searching for other ways to fund the camps. For civic media news, I'm Savannah Tome Olsen.

We're getting closer to the start of the school year and that means more kids walking or biking early in the morning and in the early afternoon.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reminds drivers the August law of the month is school bus safety. They say traffic patterns change when school is in session.

You'll see more school buses on the road and you'll need to be mindful of your surroundings to help keep kids safe.

Each year, more than 600 crashes happen in Wisconsin involving school buses. The Wisconsin DOT says these crashes are preventable.

Remember the rules. When you see flashing red lights, stop at least 20 feet away in both directions. Flashing amber or yellow lights mean the bus is approaching a pickup point and you should slow down and be ready to stop.

There are some big changes for high school sports this season, Jimmy Cusco reports.

High school sports are back and there are plenty of changes for the upcoming school year in Wisconsin.

A new policy allows for name, image, and likeness deals, meaning that high school student athletes can receive compensation for NIL.

However, the new policy is extremely restrictive on who can pay a student and what products, services, or materials a student can endorse.

Another new rule this year will require any spectator remove from an event to take an online sportsmanship course before being allowed back and after serving a one game suspension.

The advisory for elevated levels of E. coli at Mission Lake Beach in Marathon County has been lifted. The beaches again open for swimming and boating.

Several departments are working together to identify exactly where the sewage spill came from and while several potential sources were evaluated all have been ruled out so far.

If you notice any unusual activity at the lake, you can contact the Marathon County Sheriff's Office.

If you visited Mission Lake between July 22nd to July 28th and got sick, contact the Marathon County Health Department.

I'm Melissa K for WFHRWIRI news.

A brewers win in Atlanta.

Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports baseball.

The brewers say the braves again tonight after winning last night, three to one. Isaac Collins, a three run homer, starting pitcher Quinn Priester going seven innings, manager Pat Murphy.

He's been sensational. It's kind of thinking today and about the fifth inning. This kid kind of represents who we are. Nobody knew who Quinn Priester was and now they do.

It's just amazing to see the kid just flourish the way is NFL Packers defensive back Nate Hobbs is out for at least the next three weeks after having knee surgery over the weekend.

GM Brian Gutecans why he signed Hobbs from the Raiders to a four year deal worth $48 million.

We're trying to become a certain kind of football team that can win and win, you know, deep into the playoffs.

And there's certain kind of a physicality that you have to have and Nate Hobbs brings all that and that's why we brought him here.

The team is resigned defensive back Corey Valentine after he was released by the Colts with sports. I'm Mike Clemens.

On your entertainment beat, I'm Pete Schwabba. In just a few weeks, Jaws will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a return to the big screen for one week.

Not to be outdone, Star Wars will also commemorate its 50th anniversary. It's a ways away, but Disney just announced the release is scheduled for April 30th, 2027.

The naked gun cracked up audiences over the weekend. A subplot of the film is the romance that developed between stars Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.

Neeson's deceased wife Natasha Richardson died in 2009 after a fall while skiing. The actress, who seemed fine at first, later developed a subdural hematoma and passed away at the age of 45, which Neeson has been dealing with for years.

Not only does Neeson seem to be happy dating Anderson, but he appears to have the approval of his late wife's family as well.

Neeson's former sister-in-law sent heart emojis after Pamela Anderson posted about the naked gun.

That's right folks, I break all the big stories. Still lots of time for Summer Fun in Wisconsin as the state fair isn't full swing.

There are lots of good music options, especially if you like a trip down memory lane. Some of the acts include boys to men, Darius Rucker, that's hoodie without the blowfish,

Queen's Reich, Great White, and Quiet Riot, that's a trio that will blow the roof off the joint even at an outdoor venue.

Party safely folks.

Actress Lonnie Anderson has passed away. Anderson played Secretary Jennifer Marlow on the show WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran from 1978 to 1982.

Anderson had built up a decent resume doing guest-starring roles before getting the chance to audition.

At first, she turned down the role saying she didn't want to be a stereotypical blonde.

The producers took her notes and made her the secretary that doesn't get coffee, doesn't take dictation, and is the smartest person in the room.

She was nominated for an Emmy twice for the role. Lonnie Anderson was 79 years old.

Fantastic four of the first steps was tops at the box office this past weekend, despite a bigger attendance dip than prognosticators initially thought.

The film opened strong with 117 million last weekend, but dropped off by almost 70% to pull in only 40 million this past weekend.

According to Variety, that is a sign the film has not connected with audiences beyond superhero fans.

The film is sitting at 198 million bucks domestically and costs 200 million to make.

Coming in second place was the Bad Guys 2, which brought in just under 23 million, matching the original film's take on opening weekend in 2022.

Audience scores were through the roof, which could mean the film will be in theaters for a while.

Landing in third place with 17 million bucks at the gate was the highly anticipated, The Naked Gun.

The film pulled in another 12 million overseas audience scores for this comedy are also strong.

Superman and Jurassic World rebirth rounded out the top five.

From our show is fun tune into night light with me, Peach Waba, weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. on the civic media radio network.

We are going to be dealing with more of that wildfire smoke today, otherwise mostly sunny with a high right around 82 this afternoon.

Tonight clear we're going to drop down to 63 tomorrow.

More sunshine with a high right around 85.

I'm meteorologist Sean Cable. Right now it's 57.

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