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.
4 W-F-H-R and W-I-R-I News. I'm Melissa K.
Rinking water contaminated with PFAS is affecting more and more communities. Isabel Añeto reports from the Village of Weston.
In 2022, the village had to shut off two of their six wells after testing showed elevated levels of PFAS flowing into its water treatment plant.
Joshua Swenson is Weston's utility superintendent.
With the elevated numbers of those two wells, we actually ended up taking well number three offline and that's been offline since May of 2022.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, PFAS chemicals are called forever chemicals because they break down slowly.
They're present in many everyday products, including nonstick packaging or cookware and stain-resistant clothing or carpets.
As humans ingest the chemicals, the amount of some PFAS builds up in our bloodstream.
Our well number four was offline temporarily. We did put that onto a temporary system that removed the PFAS contamination through a process called Ion Exchange.
So we actually were able to take that temporary system out to now that we have the permanent system.
Weston's new permanent water treatment system removes PFAS from water through a process called adsorption.
The water moves through a granular activated carbon tank where PFAS chemicals attach themselves or adsorb to the carbon material.
And then as it goes through, it'll run into our clear well that we have a large reservoir where then it'll get pumped out.
Swenson says they hope to have another treatment system installed on well three next year with an added layer of filtration.
Installing both systems will cost $6.6 million and half is paid for through the state Safe Drinking Water Lone Program.
As part of International Fraud Awareness Week, Attorney General Josh Call is drawing attention to the significant financial harm caused by Fraud and Wisconsin and launching a new public education flyer, Joanne Kruelats reports.
According to data compiled by the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network, more than 30,000 Fraud reports were submitted by Wisconsin residents in 2024.
Reported losses in Wisconsin totaled more than $109 million and the median reported loss was $360.
The most frequently reported types of fraud for Wisconsin consumers included online shopping scams, business imposters and government imposters.
Older adults continue to be especially affected by financial scams.
FTC data from Wisconsin shows that people ages 60 and over reported higher median losses than a younger age group.
Financial exploitation of older adults is often under reported and financial harm may be greater than what appears in available data.
To help people recognize when they may be in the middle of a scam, the Wisconsin DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation has created a public education flyer.
The flyer outlines several warning signs, including being pressured to act quickly, being told to keep a transaction secret, having someone on the phone direct what to do or feeling confusion around certainty.
When these signs appear, the flyer advises people to stop and not withdraw or send money until they have had time to verify what is happening.
Scammers frequently impersonate government agencies, law enforcement, tech support, bank or credit union staff or a family member or romantic partner claiming to be in trouble.
You can find more information on how to protect yourself and loved ones from fraud on the Wisconsin Department of Justice website.
Governor Evers has sent a letter to the US Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon demanding that she immediately release federal impact aid payments for 20 school districts across Wisconsin that serve over 21,000 Wisconsin children.
Schools are supposed to receive the first round of payments in October for federal school funding known as impact aid, which is used by schools for basic operations such as payroll, transportation, programs and new positions among other critical areas.
This is especially critical for eligible Wisconsin school districts as many of these schools are in rural areas of the state and face unique transportation challenges.
Most but not all eligible schools are operated by federally recognized tribal nations located in Wisconsin.
Hunters across Wisconsin are gearing up for the fall season, but officials want safety to come first. Lisa Hale has more.
The DNR says almost all injuries happen when people forget the four basics. They offer reminders to treat every gun like it's loaded, always point it safe, know your target and keep the finger clear of the trigger.
Officials say blaze orange or bright pink are acceptable colors tree stand users should double check their gear, keep three points of contact and stay connected with a lifeline from the ground up.
Gun deer season starts this weekend. Hunters can donate deer to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources program that has been stalking venison at food pantries across the state since the year 2000.
In that time, over 100,000 deer and 4 million pounds of ground venison have been used to help residents in need. Hunters interested in donating their deer must feel dress it as they usually would, test it or chronic wasting disease and contact a participating processor.
I'm Melissa K for W F HR and W I R I news.
And NFC North Showdown awaits the Packers this Sunday, filling in from my clements. I'm Jimmy Cusca with civic media sports when the Packers take on the Viking Sunday.
It'll be the first of five divisional matchups for green Bay the rest of the season quarterback Jordan love on the importance of these late season games.
Definitely, you know, I think you look at the teams in our division, everybody's in it. You know, everybody's kind of got somewhere records and obviously like you said when we playing everybody here at the back half, so definitely some games we're going to have to go out there and win.
But like you said, you know, the NFC North is wide open and we have to take advantage of these games go out there and go win it.
But yeah, it's like said, it's an interesting schedule.
It was the opening week of the season. The last time the Packers played in NFC North opponent, they'll play five in seven games the rest of the season. Jordan love on the quirky schedule.
Definitely, yes, it's been a weird schedule for us, you know, playing obviously week one division game.
And now, I don't even know what week it is 12. Yeah, and it's been a long time. So it felt weird and obviously we'll have a couple back to back right now.
So I'm definitely stretched that we'll have to take advantage of.
Kickoff is at noon on Sunday at Lambo Field. Also the Packers game against the Bears on December 7 was flexed from noon to 325 in the afternoon.
The Bucks lost an overtime to the 76ers last night, 123 to 114. Coach Doc Rivers said that they have to play better even without Yannis.
And when the ball stuck, we didn't score. When a play broke down and we moved it and kept moving it, we got whatever we wanted all night.
And I couldn't, you know, you know, you implore on we worked on that for two days because we you anticipate things breaking down, you know, and that having Yannis.
Milwaukee plays Red Hot Detroit tomorrow night at 7 p.m. College sports Wisconsin football gets Illinois tomorrow night with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
Meanwhile, men's hoops is at BYU this evening to take on the ninth ranked Cougars.
Today is the final day of the state high school football championships with divisions three through one in action.
Winning titles yesterday were Kenosha St. Joseph, Darlington, Mayville and Winnecani. The games are at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
You can find more information on the matchups at WIAWI.org. I'm Jimmy Cusca for Civic Media Sports.
Mostly sunny today. We'll get to the low to mid 40s for a high this afternoon with just a light breeze tonight.
Mostly clear. We're going to drop into the low to mid 20s overnight tomorrow, partly cloudy with a high in the low to mid 40s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.
That's your Wisconsin Rapids news roundup from WIRI and WFHR locally grown radio.
Find more news anytime at WFHR.com and WIRI.FM.
Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you find your podcasts.