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.
On the Wisconsin Rapids local newsroom, I'm Melissa K.
More than 75 people gathered for a prayer vigil at first congregational United Church of Christ in Wisconsin Rapids on Sunday night
in reaction to the federal immigration takeover in Minneapolis and the fatal killings by immigration enforcement there.
Clergy from the Grace Ministerial Group gathered to process the shooting and killing of Alex Prattion Saturday
and I've run a good earlier this month.
Reverend Michelle Nicodemus
As part of the service, Clergy members circulated throughout the congregation to pass a flame from candles to candle, Reverend Caleb McGregor.
We light the flames tonight, knowing that there are people in our country.
We don't think there are many animals, but other places as well.
We'd like to have been summed out through death, through the tearing apart of families, control, through fear.
Those gathered then tuned in to the national faith call to action and heard from Clergy all across the country and from multiple religions calling for an end to the violence until a meant others killed by ICE or well in immigration custody.
Reverend Caleb McGregor issued a local call to action asking those in attendance to contact their representatives and ask for reform or replacement of DHS and ICE and the immediate cessation of deployed ICE agents in cities and towns.
Objections have been voiced in Congress, but of course, expert testimony and unprecedented name while in protest.
Local news at the top and bottom of every hour throughout the day were on demand anytime at WFHR.com and WIRI.fm from the Wisconsin Rapids Local Newsroom.
I'm Melissa K.
He's for snowmobile registration and trail use could go up under legislation at the state Capitol.
Charlie Pittman has more.
A bill would bump the cost of registering a snowmobile by $15 to $45 and for in-state riders, the trail use sticker would jump by $20 to nearly $50.
Supporters say Wisconsin's snowmobile program is facing major funding shortfalls.
The DNR says maintenance costs are climbing, especially for bridges.
Winnebago County has roughly 186 miles of snowmobile trail.
Wisconsin has nearly 25,000 miles of it, but the state snowmobiling club says they don't have the funds to approve new miles.
According to the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs, the last increase in snowmobile fees happened a dozen years ago.
If approved by lawmakers, the fee increases would bring in about $3.8 million a year.
Democratic state lawmakers have introduced new legislation seeking to modernize collective bargaining rights for UW health employees.
Lawmakers say the bill is meant to ensure healthcare workers are able to collectively bargain for fair pay, reasonable hours, and a safe working environment so they can provide their patients with the highest quality of care possible.
The legislation would restore full collective bargaining rights under the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act for UW health employees and grant full collective bargaining representation.
In the event that no deal is in place, union employees and UW health officials would need to provide advanced notice for strikes or lockouts to ensure stability in patient care.
Statewide lawmakers are inching closer to bills to mitigate PFAS chemicals across Wisconsin communities.
Two bills at the State Capitol got a hearing on January 14th.
One would exempt fire departments, airports, and municipalities from cleaning up PFAS under Wisconsin's Bill's Law.
In under one amendment to the bill, the DNR would get more than $132 million to mitigate PFAS in wildlife and provide community cleanup grants along with a separate fund for mitigating PFAS directly at airports.
A separate bill would give grants to municipalities for PFAS testing and drinking water, landfills, and wastewater systems.
Last week, the governor said he was optimistic about bipartisan negotiations to release PFAS funding that were approved in the budget process more than two years ago.
The Wisconsin Department of Health is requesting additional funding from state lawmakers to cover upcoming changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as Food Share in Wisconsin.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into long last summer, states will need to pay a higher share of the administrative costs for SNAP programs beginning in October.
Wisconsin's share will increase from 50% to 75% prompting the call for new state funding.
DHS Secretary Kristen Johnson said the agency is requesting nearly $7 million in new state funding.
Without it, she warned the agency could see more errors in their administration of the program.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, states with higher error rates are required to pay for a larger portion of SNAP benefits.
The additional funding would go towards hiring quality control staff to ensure Wisconsin's Food Share program continues to have one of the lowest error rates in the country.
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 Melissa K.
It is going to be sunny today with a high right around five above this afternoon with the wind out of the west at five to fifteen will keep that windshield well below zero through the day.
Little light snow tonight just a dusting will drop down to around one below tomorrow sunshine with a high of seven above. 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.