97.5 WFHR and 105.5 WIRI. Your Wisconsin Rapids Home, or locally grown radio. Here's your Daily News Roundup.
From the Wisconsin Rapids Global Newsroom, I'm Melissa K.
A school district referendum question will appear on the April 7th ballot for Wisconsin Rapids voters.
The school board approved a resolution to place a non-recurring operational referendum on the ballot at their meeting on Monday.
The referendum will ask voters to allow the district to exceed the state revenue limit by $3.8 million per year for the next five years.
The funds will be used for daily operational purposes. These include updates to technology, curriculum, and security.
It will also allow the district to maintain current academic and educational programs.
WRPS, like many districts across the state, faces a projected budget deficit due to state funding not keeping pace with inflation and rising costs in utilities, transportation, and staffing.
General aid for the WRPS district was cut by more than $95,000 for the 2025-26 school year, according to the Department of Public Instruction.
The proposed $3.8 million would replace funding from the previous referendum that expires this year while addressing new inflation-related challenges.
Superintendent Ron Rasmussen explains that the referendum would allow the district to protect the programs that help students succeed while at the same time aligning operations to the current enrollment.
The district also plans to implement proposed budget reductions.
Rasmussen says the district works hard to spend tax dollars wisely. However, the cost of educating students, meeting expectations of families, and keeping schools safe continues to rise.
The resolution will appear on the April 7 ballot in Wisconsin Rapids, and it asks for approval to exceed the revenue limit by $3.8 million per year until the 2030-31 school year.
The Public Service Commission has announced grants for telecommunication access and affordability, non-profit medical clinics and hospitals, and public health agencies, including tribal health care facilities or programs, are eligible for the program.
Up to $1 million per grant is available to improve medical services in rural Wisconsin. Applications are due March 4.
The Lifeline Outreach Grant Program is intended to improve participation in the Lifeline Program. This grant helps provide a discount on essential telecommunication services like Internet and Phone for low-income households.
Awards may be up to $250,000. Applications are due by March 11. You can find more information and application materials on both of these grant programs at psc.wi.gov.
Crop insurance premium rebate applications are available through January 31 from the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency.
Eligible producers will receive $5 per acre on their summer 2026 crop insurance premiums for acres that were planted with cover crops in 2025, then planted with an insurable crop for the next growing season.
The deadline to apply is January 31 or until program funding is exhausted. You can find more information and apply at datcp.wi.gov.
The American Red Cross is asking donors to make appointments to give blood or platelets now to prevent a winter blood shortage. Donors with type O, A negative and B negative are especially needed now.
Crop insurance collected now through January 25 will be entered for a chance to win a Super Bowl 60 experience.
Criminal charges have been filed against the man from Almond, connected to a three-day manhunt for a missing child in September of last year.
Jordan Coil has been charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater, along with interference with child custody.
These charges were filed on Monday in Portage County Circuit Court. The hunt for Coil began after the six-year-old child went missing on September 11.
She was found with Coil in the woods on September 13. DNA evidence processed by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab resulted in the filed charges.
At this time, Coil is presumed innocent until and unless the criminal charges are proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
If convicted, Coil faces a mandatory life sentence as a persistent repeater because of his previous conviction of child sexual assault in 2008.
The deadline to pay your property taxes is fast approaching. Payments must be postmarked by January 31, but treasurers around the state are warning property owners not to wait.
The U.S. Postal Service instituted a nationwide change as to when the postmark is affixed to incoming mail. They're not stamped when you drop them off at your local post office.
Instead, they're postmarked at regional sorting centers, which could be days later.
To avoid paying your property taxes late, treasurers encourage you to mail your payments early or use an e-check payment option online or over-dedicated phone lines.
You can also ask for a postmark to be affixed while you're at the post office window in person.
Local news at the top and bottom of every hour throughout the day or on demand anytime at WFHR.com and WIRI.FM.
From the Wisconsin Rapids local newsroom, I'm Melissa K.
The Badgers win at the buzzer. I am Mike Clemens with sports, men's basketball, Wisconsin over Minnesota, 78 to 75 in Minneapolis.
The Badgers John Blackwell, with a three-point shot at the buzzer for the win.
I just went to my go-to move, Hezzie 3. Then, honestly, it looked good when he came off the hands and I had it up.
And then, you know, give out glad all the glory for him when they go in.
Next, the Badgers host Rutgers, Saturday at 1 o'clock.
Marquette losing on the road to St. John's 92 to 68, the Bucks blown out at home, 139 to 106 by the Timberwolves.
You know, no excuses. We just didn't have it. We were flat.
I thought our guys tried at the beginning of the third quarter to fight back a little bit.
But when you did yourself that big of a hole, every basket, every turnover, anything hurts.
So, I actually probably should have pulled the plug earlier because I just thought we were flat.
I didn't think we had anything tonight.
That's Buckshead Coach Stock Rivers. With sports, I'm Mike Clemens.
I'm meteorologist, Mace Michaels, partly sunny for today. Temperatures holding steady in the upper teens to near 20.
A partly cloudy sky for tonight, a low of 5 to 10 degrees above zero.
Snow ahead for Thursday and Friday. The win will pick up and colder temperatures will move into the area.
That's your Wisconsin Rapids News Roundup from WIRI and WFHR, locally grown radio.
Find more news anytime at WFHR.com and WIRI.FM.
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