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.
For W F H R and W I R I News, I'm Alyssa K.
Wisconsin is a swing state.
We're purple, both Democrats and Republicans have a reasonable shot at winning an election,
and those elections are closely monitored.
Representative Scott Krug has served on the Assembly Committee on campaigns and elections for the past three years.
This year as Vice Chair, he's working across both sides of the aisle to improve voting in the state.
My whole goal has been to find bipartisan wins on elections that the legislature can pass that the governor will sign.
Krug says in previous elections there were things that people thought happened that simply didn't.
It's been a huge project for me to undertake, trying to get all of the consternation, all the misinformation, all of the craziness that's around almost every election,
in not only just locally, statewide, but across the country.
Early processing for absentee ballots is high on Krug's agenda.
The conjecture going around what early processing is versus what people think it does is the biggest bugaboo to try to get over in Wisconsin elections.
As 90% of the problem is that just late night reporting because there's so many absentee voters causes so much consternation.
43 other states in the US allow early processing at some level, according to a 2024 analysis from the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
However, no votes are counted until election day.
Then after the machine tabulates everything you got to go through all the seals and all the protections in the machine,
open it all the way up into the interior and push the count button.
Krug said minimum hours for in-person early voting passed the state assembly by a voice vote.
Those are the things I love to find as a way we can get a bill across the finish line that nobody votes against,
and that can help expand access for people to vote in the state of Wisconsin, that the governor can sign.
In just a few days, Wisconsin's version of C-SPAN will shut down, unless donors save it.
Savanna Tomay Olsen has more.
Wisconsin I is a nonprofit organization that provides access to state government.
They cover the assembly, the Senate, the executive branch, the Supreme Court, the DNR, the state health department, all kinds of things.
If you want to watch state leaders you can go in person to the Capitol or you can watch Wisconsin I.
Their whole mission is to ensure everyone can see what their representatives are doing in government.
President and CEO John Hankis told W.I.S.N.S. upfront donations have dried up simply because there are so many things to donate to these days.
You go anywhere from Madison to Milwaukee to Green Bay lacrosse were seen.
There are multiple campaigns for local causes, very good programs that serve those communities.
But when you throw tens of millions of dollars statewide into these community based projects, Wisconsin I is not first in line.
Hankis has been warning of a funding gap for months and now staff say if nothing changes they'll have to shut down.
That would mean there's no way for Wisconsin I.S. to watch the legislature and all the archives will disappear.
Those archives are huge, which I started 18 years ago.
So they've got more than 3,000 hours of video that would vanish if they don't get enough cash to keep going.
In the last state budget, lawmakers set aside $10 million for Wisconsin I.
But it has to be matching funds.
So the way it's currently written Wisconsin I has to fundraise in order to qualify for matching funds next summer.
So if we only succeeded in raising $4 million, there would still be a $4 million match.
They say it'll cost almost $900,000 to keep the service going for one year.
If they don't get that money, they'll shut down on Monday.
For civic media news, I'm Savannah Tome Olsen.
The holiday season is a good time of year to take precautions against respiratory illnesses.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services officials say flu activity is still fairly low,
but with many people planning to travel for the holidays and spending more time indoors,
those numbers could begin to spike quickly.
Health experts recommend that you make sure you're up to date on your vaccinations against things like flu and COVID-19.
Wash your hands regularly and stay home if you're sick to help protect against further spread of respiratory viruses.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Call says state crime labs need more staff.
Call says the state has been working to upgrade the equipment at labs across the state
and to build a new lab in Milwaukee to keep up with the amount of evidence to process.
But the labs really need more workers.
The Department of Justice requested 119 new positions in the budget pass this summer.
Only three of those positions were funded and none of them were DNA analysts.
If you're looking for a Christmas Eve service, Faith Lutheran Church in Marshfield is holding two.
Both services are on Saturday, December 20th.
The first is a contemporary service and begins at 3pm.
This is a modern take on the Christmas story with uplifting music, a puppet show, and candle lighting.
At 5.30 you can experience a traditional service with hymns, scripture readings,
and the annual candle lighting ceremony.
This service provides a classic and reverent celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Faith Lutheran Church is located at 207 South Cherry Street in Marshfield.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be visiting Wisconsin Rapids next week.
The clauses will be at the Winter Park Aquatic Center on December 17th from 5 to 7pm.
If you bring an unexpired non-perishable food item, you can get a photograph with the celebrated couple.
Hot Coco will also be available for purchase.
I'm Melissa K for WFHR and WIRI News.
The Badgers lose in a blowout.
High on my clement with sports.
Ben's college basketball.
The Wisconsin Badgers losing to number 23 ranked Nebraska 90 to 60.
Head coach Greg Gardest, how they managed to lose by 30 points.
We don't have a defense of identity.
Haven't had one all year.
So we'll search to find one.
And I'll find guys that want to play defense.
Stick guys on the bench.
Changes to find out in the next nine days, right?
The Badgers play next week Friday when they host Villanova NBA.
The box hosts the Celtics tonight, AJ Green, able to return to practice yesterday,
limited despite a shoulder injury.
NFL, the Packers head to Denver to play the Broncos Sunday.
How good is that Broncos defense under coordinator Vance Joseph?
It's a hell of a question.
I think everybody's trying to figure that out right now.
They do a great job, Vance does a hell of a job, putting his guys in position.
It's Matt LaFlure, which sports on my clements.
Mostly cloudy today.
We'll get to 18 for a high this afternoon.
Tonight, mostly cloudy will drop to around one above for an overnight load tomorrow.
Cloudy with some light snow, less than a half inch and getting colder will start in the teens in the morning
falling into the single digits by late afternoon.
I'm in a urology, Sean Cable.
That's your Wisconsin Rapids News Roundup from WRI and WFHR, locally grown radio.
Find more news anytime at WFHR.com and WRI.FM.
Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you find your podcasts.