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.
From the Wisconsin Rapids local newsroom, I'm Melissa K.
Hundreds lined, rip mountain drive in Warsaw over the weekend for a protest against ICE,
Isabella Nieto reports.
There was one of many protests happening in Wisconsin on Saturday and one of hundreds
nationwide.
Marathon County Democratic Party Chair Nancy Stenzel was there.
Um, I was thinking, you know, maybe a hundred people show up and there were over 500 people
that showed up as so many young people.
The protests come in the wake of federal immigration officials fatally shooting Green Bay native
Alex Pretti on January 24th.
And after five year old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained by immigration officers
in Minnesota and held at an ICE facility in Texas a few days prior.
Stenzel says Saturday's protests reflected on those events.
She said one person brought a sign that stood out.
The one that struck me the most is somebody had, it was computer generated, but it showed
a little boy in the, I call him Nazi pajamas.
It that was behind bars.
And then it showed Liam with his rabbit hat standing on the other side and they're looking
at each other.
The father and son were released following a judge's order and have been returned to
Minneapolis as of Sunday.
She says there were some counter protesters expressing support for ICE.
Across the street there was, I think, three people over there.
And then there was the two or three younger men standing in the crowd holding a Trump
and fans sign and they just stood there, you know, they didn't really heckle anybody.
You know, they were, they were respectful.
She says organizers of the event are planning another protest towards the end of the month.
Average gas prices have fallen 5.2 cents over the last week for an average of 249 on Monday.
This is 7.8 cents higher than a month ago and over 38 cents lower than this time last
year.
Officials at gas buddies say more states are likely to see increases than decreases over
the coming weeks.
They say oil prices jump to their highest level in months due to geopolitical tensions,
but the national gas price average saw little change because of a weakening US dollar and
supply concerns.
Prices are rising on much of the west coast as they begin transition to summer gasoline
and anticipate an April refinery shutdown in California.
Officials say the number of states seeing increases will likely outpace those seeing
decreases in the weeks ahead.
Tribal governments are encouraging indigenous people to obtain and carry tribal IDs with
them everywhere as ICE agents continue activities around the country.
The Wisconsin Examiner reports that several Wisconsin tribes issued statements voicing concerns
about the stops and offering advice to their members.
VicMedia's Lisa Hale reports that in January, the Stockbridge Muncie community alerted
members on Facebook that Native Americans quote, are being caught up in raids and detained
and quote, many note the irony that the indigenous first people of the land have to prove their
citizenship.
Mid-state technical college and Waka Shaq County Technical College are hosting an event
to launch a new AI data specialist associate degree program.
The program is designed to prepare students for careers in artificial intelligence and
data analytics.
The launch event will be this Friday, February 6th, from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Ametta Center
in Stevens Point.
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 Rabbids Local Newsroom, I'm Alyssa K.
For civic media news, I'm Lisa Hale.
If you notice to jump in price at your local gas station this week, you're not alone.
Melissa K. reports.
Average gas prices rose 4.8 cents over the last week, landing at an average of $254 on
Monday.
This is 10.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, and more than $0.37 lower than
this time last year.
Officials at gas buddies say seasonal trends will now begin as the West Coast starts to
transition to summer gasoline.
Gas pressures are expected to gradually push eastward in the weeks ahead, potentially
driving the national average back above the $3 per gallon mark.
Gas buddy officials say average prices could linger at that level for at least part of
the spring.
I'm Melissa K.
Wisconsin lawmakers haven't done enough to reduce tobacco usage in the state.
That's according to the American Lung Association.
Its data says tobacco use kills nearly 8,000 Wisconsinites every year, making it the leading
cause of preventable death and disease both in the state and across the country.
The American Lung Association releases a review on tobacco control each year, in which
Wisconsin typically receives mostly failing grades.
The review awards letter grades to states based on five categories.
Wisconsin received F grades in tobacco prevention and cessation funding, access to cessation
services, and flavored tobacco products, as well as a D grade for tobacco taxes.
Now the state did receive a B grade in the final category, ensuring smoke-free air.
The American Lung Association is calling on state lawmakers to raise Wisconsin's legal
age of sale for tobacco products to 21, protect the statewide smoke-free air law, and create
tax parity between cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin is co-sponsoring legislation to redirect billions of dollars,
airmarked for immigration and customs enforcement, and President Trump's one big beautiful bill,
to local law enforcement agencies.
Here's civic media's James Kelly with the story.
According to a press release, the Public Safety Act would redirect nearly $75 billion in
funding to help hire and train around 200,000 local police officers around the country.
The legislation was originally proposed by Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto from New Mexico.
Of that nearly $75 billion, $45 billion would be reallocated to the Burn JAG program to
fund support training, crime victim assistance programs, and crime prevention.
Nearly $30 billion would be reallocated to the COPS hiring program.
In the press release, Senator Baldwin says it's clear that President Donald Trump's
ICE is out of control and the influx of masked armed and untrained agents is making communities
less safe.
She says ICE doesn't need a blank check, and the funding should be used to double down
on investing in local police to ensure safety.
I'm James Kelly.
A new survey shows Wisconsin employers don't think students are prepared for the workforce.
The survey from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce finds that over half of responding
employers say Wisconsin's K-12 education system does not adequately prepare students
for the workforce.
Survey data shows 64% of employers indicated their employees struggle with reading, math,
or both.
30% of respondents say they have to resort to remedial education or tutoring for employees.
According to the survey, only 10% of Wisconsin employers write the quality of their local
school district as excellent.
The City of Green Bay is facing backlash after it's cited a nonprofit for housing the
homeless.
Civic Media's Connie Feldman has that story.
Safe Haven pet sanctuary got a citation for offering shelter to the homeless during
the recent dangerously cold weather.
In a Facebook post offering additional context and clarification, City leaders say it's
important to emphasize the city's actions are not intended to discourage compassion
or community-based efforts to help people in crisis.
The city says it received formal complaints about activities at the property, and city
inspectors are required to apply zoning, building and fire safety, and public health regulations.
As responding to the city's post, question the safety of unhoused people sleeping outside
in the extreme cold, the city said they'll be reaching out to Safe Haven to work together
for a long-term solution.
I'm Connie Feldman.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is encouraging Wisconsinites to learn about
flood risks across the state and available flood insurance options.
Isabella Nieto has more.
Because flooding has historically been the state's most common natural hazard, homeowners
prepare for the spring season and look into flood insurance.
Most national flood insurance program policies include a standard 30-day waiting period
before coverage begins.
You can contact your local zoning administrator or search their address on FEMA's Map Service
Center to learn about flood risk in your area.
Additional resources on flood insurance and flood risk mitigation are available on the
Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance's flood insurance and disasters web pages.
I'm Isabella Nieto.
According to the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impact 2021 Assessment Report,
the past decade has been the wettest on record.
For civic media news, I'm Lisa Hale.
For news anytime, civicmedia.us.
The Badgers in Illinois tonight, I am my Clemens with Sports, Men's College Basketball.
The Wisconsin Badgers in Champaign to take on the Fighting Alive at Assembly Hall, now called
State Farm Center, the Badgers coming off that loss at Indiana on Saturday.
Illinois has dropped from 5th to 8th ranked in the nation after losing to Michigan State.
NBA, the bucks losing last night in Orlando, 118 to 99 to the Magic, those two teams face
off again 6 p.m. tomorrow night in Florida.
Baseball Brewer's manager Matt Arnold met with reporters about acquiring two left-handed
pictures, but trading away third baseman Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox in the deal.
You know, we really like the defense on our infield, but you also started looking at
the future here with guys like Hazoo Smoday and Cooper Pratt and Luke Adams, and we feel
like we have the ingredients now to weather the loss of somebody like Caleb Durbin who obviously
meant a lot to our franchise, but we feel really good about the infield depth.
That's the Brewer's general manager, Matt Arnold, with Sports on Mike Clemens.
It is going to be mostly cloudy today with a high in the upper 20s to near 30 this afternoon.
Tonight, mostly cloudy, we're going to drop down into the mid-teens for an overnight
low tomorrow, mostly sunny, with a high once again upper 20s to low 30s.
I'm meteorologist Sean Cable.