97.5 W F H R and 105.5 W I R I, your Wisconsin Rapids Home for locally grown radio.
Here's your Daily News Roundup.
More W F H R and W I R I News, I'm Alyssa K.
The City of Wisconsin Rapids has their own power utility company called the Waterworks and Lighting Commission.
To a certain degree, it has more local control over rate increases.
One way they're hoping to capitalize on this control is by installing a solar panel array on land owned by the city.
Mayor Matt Zacker says that while WWLC is owned by the city, it mainly functions as its own entity with its own commission.
Many decisions still need to be approved by the city council.
However, the utility runs like a business.
They actually ended up in a consortium of, I think it's 16 other municipal entities called Glue Great Lakes Utility.
So they are able to pool their needs, the power needs and buy it at a cheaper rate on the open market and bring it in at a lesser cost to the users, to the ratepayers.
Great Lakes Utility offers each municipality in their consortium a five megawatt solar field.
Officials estimate this would save ratepayers as a whole around $200,000 per year and cost WWLC 100,000 to tie it into our grid.
The power generated from this solar array would stay within the WWLC distribution system helping offset rate increases as they happen from the power coming in through the main hub.
80 acre parcel on Whitrock and two mile avenue is the city's wellhead protection and cannot be used to build on.
The solar array would be centered on 25 acres in the middle with a thick tree barrier blocking the panels from view.
So there's a sizable amount of trees that will be still around it. They're intending on keeping the snowmobile trails that are in there.
I know there's some folks that live right around in the area that probably walk their dog there.
The initial public hearing was delayed until December 1st at 4 p.m. giving residents a chance to ask questions and learn more about the project.
As the assembly took up almost 50 bills yesterday, there was drama over one that has wide support from lawmakers and Wisconsinites.
Savannah's homemade Olsen takes us to the Capitol.
Representative from the 13th, we are talking about the bill.
Yelling broke out on the floor of the state assembly Wednesday over health care coverage for new moms.
If you want to protect kids, let's protect kids.
The point of order is you're not going to let me make my argument.
While talking about another bill on the floor, Democrat Robin Vining changed the subject to expanding Medicaid coverage for postpartum women.
Representative from the 13th, you're out of order.
Almost everywhere in America, low income women can stay on Medicaid for one year after giving birth.
There are two exceptions. Arkansas and Wisconsin.
Moms in need here in the Badger State have two months on Medicaid before being kicked off their coverage.
Here's the thing, a majority of lawmakers in the legislature support extending coverage to one year.
The bill to do just that has 72 sponsors.
It includes every Democrat in the assembly and 28 Republicans, more than enough votes for the bill to pass.
But one person has stood in the way, and that's Assembly Speaker Robin Voss.
He's kept the proposal in a committee that rarely meets.
He's previously said, quote, we already have enough welfare in Wisconsin.
End quote.
Democrats were ready to force the bill to come to the floor for a vote.
But Democratic Representative Lisa Suebeck says Voss found out.
The speaker chose to withdraw the bill from rules committee and move it into Assembly York.
Why might he do that to avoid getting this to a vote on the floor?
And I'm mad about it.
A Marquette poll from a few months ago shows that two thirds of Wisconsin residents would like to see Medicaid coverage extended for new moms.
For civic media news, I'm Savannah Tomay Olsen.
Two local municipalities in Wood County will be receiving funds from the state to improve drinking water quality.
More than 282 million has been allocated to 74 municipalities in the state for this purpose.
The funding will help construct needed water infrastructure projects and address contaminants such as PFAS and nitrates.
The village of Esper will receive funding for two projects.
Two point five million to construct a water main loop and another two point five million to replace a raw water main from wells to the treatment plant.
The village of Veren is allocated one point one million to install a loop extension for added accessibility.
The Wisconsin rapid city budget was approved on Tuesday by an eight to zero vote.
Mayor Matt Zachary says conversations around the budget happen throughout the year.
Well, we just passed the budget for 2026. So now we have to start thinking about the 2027 budget.
And I started that yesterday.
Departments started looking at their 2026 budgets during the summer.
They were submitted by the end of July to the finance director Tim Dessourci and the mayor.
Dessourci and Zachary sat down with each department looking at individual budgets to understand what they're asking for and why.
And then Tim will sit down after that's all said and done and say this is the money that will be coming in that we can project out.
And this is the money that's being asked for by the departments.
And for this year at that point in time it came to a $850,000 shortfall.
Zachary said this is the first time in five years that they've faced such a significant budget shortfall.
But he said it was expected with less property taxes coming in from the mills and the lack of net new construction in the area.
While they were able to get the budget to a zero deficit.
This meant tightening up departments and allowing some empty positions to remain unfilled for now.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
The Packers get set for a border battle on Sunday.
Filling in from Mike Clements, I'm Jimmy Cusco with Civic Media Sports.
Green Bay's office has been struggling as of late and it doesn't get any easier when the Packers take on the Vikings tough defense this Sunday.
Here's Coach Matt Leflur.
Brian does a hell of a job as good as anybody.
It just when you game plan for him.
I mean, it takes a lot longer than your typical game plan just because of all the different looks that he presents.
It is a real, real challenge.
When the Packers take on the Vikings Sunday, it'll be the first of five divisional matchups for Green Bay the rest of the season.
Coach Matt Leflur on ticking on the challenge of the NFC North.
Every week somebody that is perceived shouldn't win ends up winning the game.
So I think it's a great lesson for all of us involved in this thing is like you can't rest for one second.
And it's not just every game. It's every single moment when you're on the field.
Every play is so critical because the margins are in my opinion as slim as I can ever remember it.
Kickoff Sunday is at noon at Lambo Field.
Tonight the Bucks take on the 76ers at Feister Forum.
Milwaukee will be without Yanis Ateta Kumpo who has a groin injury.
Here's Coach Doc Rivers.
We're going to either find somebody or find something to run that will pay dividends later.
And that's the stretch we're about to go through.
We'll be ready.
Yanis is expected to miss one to two weeks with a groin strain.
Tip off against Philadelphia is at 7 p.m.
Today is the first day of the state high school football championships with division seven through four in action.
Three of the four games today match up undefeated teams.
Tomorrow it'll be divisions three through one.
The games are at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
You can find the pairings, stats, updates and broadcast information at WIAWI dot org.
I'm Jimmy Cusca for Civic Media Sports.
It is going to be mostly cloudy today with a few sprinkles possible at times are high right around 48 this afternoon.
Tonight mostly cloudy.
We're going to drop to the upper 20s to low 30s and then tomorrow mostly sunny with a high in the mid to upper 40s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.