97.5 WFHR and 105.5 WIRI. Your Wisconsin Rapids Home, or locally grown radio. Here's
your Daily News Roundup.
For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale.
With concerns over ice arrests increasing in the Midwest, the head of an immigrant rights
group is trying to focus on good information. Christine Newman-Ortice of Vosis de la
Franca is pushing the Round the Clock hotline for confirmed ice sightings.
It is 1-800-427-0213 and in nearly all of the recent ice activity which has picked up
here in Wisconsin, this has been used as a way to centralize these reports. We have been
encouraging people to not post or repose sightings on social media until they're verified
in order to avoid unnecessary fear and misinformation.
Newman-Ortice says the hotline is staffed by volunteers 24-7. Homeland Security says
their agency is simply following current laws and wants to work with local departments
on transfers of inmates.
While the entire nation seemed to be thinking about football in the Super Bowl last week,
one city had basketball on its mind. The Oshkosh area school district held a special ceremony
to honor one of its own. Tyrese Halliburton, who is excelled on the basketball court. Halliburton
has become a household name in professional basketball, most recently as an Indiana
Pacer. And last week he was inducted into the Oshkosh North High School Hall of Fame.
Halliburton is a 2018 graduate of Oshkosh North. For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale. For news
anytime, visit our website at civicmedia.us. For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale.
Governor Tony Evers visited Warsaw last week to discuss affordability issues with local leaders.
Isabella Nieto reports. They discuss their concerns about cuts to health care and local
programs stemming from federal uncertainty.
And there's around affordability. And we talked about food, food sovereignty. We talked about
child care. We talked about health care and several other areas that people are seeing needs.
Evers said they're working on legislative steps to reduce costs for Wisconsinites.
We can get the legislature to do some work before they go home to run through the
election. He said the state has funding available to make some of those steps happen,
including working towards preventing property tax increases.
We have anywhere between four and six billion hours. Not all of it is available because we have to
kind of be thoughtful about that. But we do have some that is available and hopefully some of
these ideas are we can we can solve. Evers said despite his coming departure from the
governorship, he's hoping there will be something that can be done now. He said if the state
government is in a position to help, it should. Diane Mulemans is the new Wapaka County Circuit Court
Judge for Branch 3. Governor Tony Evers announced her appointment last week to fill the vacancy
created when Judge Raymond Hubert died. Mulemans will complete a term that ends July 31, 2027.
Prior to her appointment, she served as Corporation Counsel for Wapaka Marathon and Green Lake
counties. The Wisconsin State Legislatures joint committee on finance has unanimously passed
legislation for nearly two million dollars to support homeless veterans in the state.
The funding for the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program is meant to address the closure of
such programs in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls. The new grant program would award a $25 per
DM payment per veteran housed to nonprofits and other organizations that provide housing
and support services for veterans who are struggling with homelessness in our state.
In honor of Black History Month, one University of Wisconsin is opening an exhibit
featuring Dr. Martin Luther King. The showcase at UW Clare will be open all month and according
to UWEC officials, the exhibit in the Davies Center features three sections. One honoring prominent
Black figures who spoke for the forum series over the years, one that documents historical
university program supporting equality, and one that recognizes each winner of UWEC's Martin
Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award. Landlord tenant issues were the number one consumer complaint
with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection in 2025.
The agency released its list of the top 10 consumer complaints of 2025 last week.
Number two were complaints about telemarketing, which included fishing, spoofing,
imposter scams, robo calls, harassment, and violations of the do not call registry.
Rounding out the top five were complaints about home improvements, telecommunications,
and identity theft. For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale. For news anytime, visit our website
at civicmedia.us.
For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale. The minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 an hour.
For tipped workers like restaurant servers, it's $2.33 an hour.
Now some Wisconsin Democrats are proposing raising the state's minimum wage to $20 an hour
by 2030. State Senator Keldler Royes, who's also running for governor,
said in a press conference that at least a million workers can't afford basic needs like housing,
childcare, or health care. Sabrina Puchaska, who works in the service industry,
said her pay is $15.81 per hour, and it isn't enough, especially as the cost of living and
health care costs are rising. The proposed bill would increase the state minimum wage to $15 an
hour immediately. It would then increase $1.25 each year until 2030 when it would reach $20 an
hour. The measure is unlikely to advance during this legislative session. Wisconsin is joining
another multi-state lawsuit. This one is over federal changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Attorney General Josh Call joins the governor of Pennsylvania and attorneys general from 14 other
states in the suit that challenges the Trump administration's decision to remove several vaccines,
including rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, and COVID-19. State health leaders report responding to
measles cases in 2025 and 2026, including 36 in late 2025. Officials say all of those cases
involved unvaccinated people. Speaking of the highly contagious viral infection called measles,
numerous Wisconsin health organizations are encouraging vaccination after recent confirmed cases
in the state. Civic Media's Joanne Croulott reports. All individuals eligible for vaccination
should confirm their vaccination status by reviewing their records or by receiving the measles,
mumps, and rebella vaccine commonly called the MMR vaccine. Cases have been increasing across North
America recently, largely due to decrease in immunization rates in children after the disease
was considered eliminated for decades. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or
breathes and can linger for up to two hours. It is so contagious that approximately 9 and 10
unvaccinated individuals exposed to the virus can be expected to develop infection.
While most people with measles experience high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and eventually
a diffuse rash, it can lead to more serious issues like pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.
Complications are more common in younger and older individuals, as well as those with compromised
immune systems. I'm Joanne Croulott's Wisconsin companies are going to court over tariffs tied
to President Donald Trump's trade policies. Coals, Milwaukee Tool, and several manufacturers
want refunds for import taxes they say were collected illegally. The lawsuits don't give dollar
figures, but companies argue the tariffs hurt business and created uncertainty. One CEO says most
firms just want clear, consistent trade rules. The legal fight comes as new global tariffs are
again being debated in Washington. Colorado Congressman Jason Crowe visited Western Wisconsin on Wednesday
seeking to drum up support for the Democratic candidates who are challenging the incumbent
Republican Derek Van Orden in the third congressional district. Civic media's James Kelly was there.
Congressman Crowe's town hall at the Chippewa Valley Museum covered a wide range of topics,
most notably issues like ensuring veterans are taking care of properly,
protecting access to health care, and the effects of tariffs.
Asked about some differences between the ways tariffs are affecting Wisconsin residents and
residents in his home district, Congressman Crowe highlighted soybean farmers.
The soybean farmers have been hit particularly hard by tariffs.
You're talking with some of their farm groups have told me that a lot of these farms haven't
received orders in five months or more, right? And orders are just starting to trickle in.
People can't afford that. Family farms simply cannot afford that and they're going under.
For Civic media news, I'm James Kelly. Traveling is set to get a little easier in Wisconsin
as bus services scaled up. The Department of Transportation and operators like
Lamers and Greyhound announced updates to the statewide routes, including new connections
and more reliable schedules. One of the biggest changes is the addition of a new route between La
Cross and Green Bay. A couple Midwest schools rank first and second among the public universities
in the United States in Time Magazine's list of the world's top universities of 2026.
The University of Michigan is ninth overall on the list and is the number one public
university in the United States. The number two public university in the U.S. and 20th overall
worldwide is the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The magazine looked at academic strength,
economic impact, innovation and global engagement as it ranked the top 500 universities across the globe.
For Civic media news, I'm Lisa Hale. For news anytime, visit our website at civicmedia.us.
It's the Bucks and the Celtics. Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports NBA. The Bucks host the Boston
Celtics tonight. I've got the second best record in the Eastern Conference just behind Detroit.
The Bucks was an embarrassing loss yesterday in Chicago. 120 to 97. The Bullshead won a games in
January and 11 game losing streak. Doc Rivers. I don't know if there's such a thing as a basketball
got, but if there is, he was alive tonight. When you approach the game and play like that,
you don't deserve to win. If we had won the game, I'd have been upset. I'd have taken the win
because we needed, but that is not how you play basketball. College Hoops market losing at home
to the DePaul Blue Demons 62 to 51. The Golden Eagles now 10 and 19 for the year.
Women's hockey in Madison over the weekend. The Wisconsin Badgers be Bemidji State. In over time,
two to one, Leyla Edwards with the winning goal, sending the number one ranked Badgers to the WCHA
finals faceoff that begins Thursday in St. Paul with sports on Mike Clemens.
It is going to be a sunny one today with a high in the upper 30s to low 40s this afternoon.
Tonight to mostly cloudy, we're going to drop into the upper 20s to near 30 for a low. And then
tomorrow, a little off an on-light rain or snow early, then gradual clearing with a high in the
low 40s. 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.
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