97.5 WFHR and 105.5 WIRI. Your Wisconsin Rapids Home, or locally grown radio. Here's
your Daily News Roundup.
From your Wisconsin Rapids local newsroom, I'm Melissa Kaye.
Across rural Wisconsin, residents are traveling further for care as hospitals close and staffing
shortages grow. Lieutenant Governor and Democratic Gubernatorial
candidate Sarah Rodriguez says rural health care must be a top priority.
Isabellaniato has more.
In an appearance on the WXCO Morning Show, Rodriguez said decisions made in Washington
are putting additional strain on rural hospital systems that already operate on thin margins.
They're having cuts to Medicaid, cuts to Medicare.
This is going to hit our rural hospital systems way harder than it's going to hit our suburban
and urban hospital systems.
Rodriguez said keeping hospitals open is essential if Wisconsin wants rural areas to grow.
They're going to have to have housing. They're going to have to have childcare. And they're
going to have to have a health care system that isn't four hours away to be able to deliver
a baby. Rodriguez says there's a severe workforce shortage compounding access problems,
especially outside urban centers.
We're going to be short about 20,000 nurses in the next five or six years. I mean, it's
that dire of a situation. We're also short of clinicians in our rural spaces of physicians,
nurse practitioners, physician assistants.
Rodriguez said as governor, she would focus on incentives to bring health care workers
to underserved communities.
Whether that is assistance with loan repayment, whether that's assistance with down payment
on a home, something that we can financially entice of providers to be able to go into places
where we have a shortage. As she travels the state, Rodriguez said concerns about access to care
are top of mind state wide.
There is so much more that United States then divides us in the state of Wisconsin.
I'm Isabellanieto. Many schools in the area are either closed or holding virtual classes today
because of the cold temperatures. Meteorologist Brittany Merlot explains why it's so dangerous
to be outside an extreme cold warning extends state wide where actual temperatures will be
tumbling to 30 below zero up north and nearly 15 below zero south.
Toss some gusty winds on top of that. You get a wind chill as the cold air moves the protective
bubble of heat away from your body. This means it will really feel more like 30 below to nearly
50 below and Friday's high temperatures across the state won't climb above zero the entire day.
Frostbite knee situations can happen in as little as 5 to 10 minutes on any exposed skin,
so bundle up and layer up. Cover up your face with a scarf and I suggest mittens instead of gloves
because your fingers together actually hold the warmth better. Also, your pet's paws are subject to
this as well. Don't leave them outside. There's a meeting in Portage County next week to discuss
changes to county trunk highway D. The stretch of road is located in the towns of Lanark and Belmont
from county trunk highway A to state highway 54. The Portage County Highway Department is
planning to re-condition county D to improve the roadway profile pavement structure and drainage
along the project. Ditch slopes will be upgraded to meet current design standards and the deteriorated
asphalt surface will be replaced. Roadway and driveway culverts may be replaced as well.
This project scheduled for construction in 2026 is part of the highway department's 5-year
capital improvement plan. The meeting is from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 28th at the Portage
County Highway Department in Clover. Portage County snowmobile trails will open at noon today,
but only zone 7 and corridor 22 east of intersection 26 into Roshalt. All other trails and zones
are still closed. In Marathon County, zones 1, 2 and 5 are open. Zones 3 and 4 open today at 8 a.m.
Wood County snowmobile trails will remain closed this weekend due to the frigid weather. They'll
possibly open up next week. Powers bluff will remain closed this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday
because of the extreme cold weather conditions. Bruce Mound Winter Sports Area is also closed today
and will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday because of the temperatures. They had planned
to be open on Sunday, but for the safety of guests, staff and equipment, they'll remain closed
all weekend. With all this cold weather, camping maybe doesn't sound like a great idea,
but Greenway RV sales and services in Wisconsin Rapids is holding a free indoor camping experience
and open house that started yesterday and continues through Saturday. They've transformed their
indoor showroom to feel like a campground at night. This free event includes a large-screen gaming
area for kids with both an Nintendo Switch and old-school Nintendo games, hot cocoa and a
smore station, and even a big-foot scavenger hunt activity for the kiddos. Stay safe out there,
campers. Speaking of staying safe in the extreme cold weather, the whole
junk nation recommends limiting outdoor activities as much as possible and dressing for conditions
if you must go out, also knowing the signs of frostbite and hypothermia. Check on your neighbors,
make sure you have all prescriptions you need and in case of a power outage, have a backup plan.
Local news at the top and bottom of every hour throughout the day or on demand any time at
wfhr.com and wiri.fm. From the Wisconsin Rapids local newsroom, I'm Alyssa K.
It's the Bucks and the Nuggets. I am my Clemens with sports NBA. The Bucks take on the Denver Nuggets
tonight at Pfizer Form. Milwaukee's lost four their last five games, including Wednesday at home
against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bobby Portis on what he saw on the tape of that game.
College Hoops, another win for Wisconsin. The Badgers beat Penn State 98-71 last night in Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin is now won five in a row. They'll host the USC Trojans on Sunday.
NFL, the Packers search for a new defensive coordinator continues.
Matt LaFlor interviewed former Packers defensive back Al Harris. Harris has been a secondary coach
for the Chiefs, the Cowboys and currently for the Chicago Bears with sports on my Clemens.
It is bitterly cold out through this morning and it's not going to warm up much today, mostly sunny
with a high of 10 to 12 below zero this afternoon. Tonight, partly cloudy, we're going to drop two
between 25 and 30 below for a low tomorrow, mostly sunny with a high of three below. I mean,
you're all just shot 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.
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