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 Alyssa K.
A Wisconsin sheriff is calling out a local news outlet on their ICE reporting.
Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billab says inaccurate and misleading claims
made in a Channel 9 news story undermines public trust and creates unnecessary fear in the community
about how Marathon County deputies handle immigration enforcement practices.
While Marathon County does have a 287G agreement with ICE that only applies to the jail setting.
According to a statement from Sheriff Billab, deputies have not and do not request immigration documentation
during traffic stops, investigations or any routine law enforcement interaction.
Deputies are neither authorized nor directed to conduct immigration enforcement in the field.
You may hear F-35 aircraft after dark this week.
The 115th Fighter Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard will be doing evening training flights through Thursday.
You may see or hear F-35's flying overhead until approximately 7.45 pm now through February 12.
Pilots will follow flight paths designed to minimize noise to area residents,
but you'll likely still hear them in some areas of central Wisconsin this week.
Wood County snowmobile trails are closed starting today because of deteriorating trail conditions.
Powers Bluffs ski and tube hills are open this weekend and Dan Volert of the Wood County Parks and Forestry Department says the hills are in good shape.
The multi-use trail is open for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and biking.
Napco Lake County Park multi-use and cross-country ski trails are open, but conditions are deteriorating.
Richfield 360 County Forest multi-use trails are also open, but the warmer weather is taking its toll.
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.
For Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale.
Governor Tony Evers held a press conference Tuesday morning to call lawmakers into a special session.
The governor wants the legislature to pass a constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering in future redistricting efforts.
In his state of the state address earlier this year, Evers said it's about fair elections that reflect the voters and not politics.
I know people here disagree sometimes.
Sometimes a lot.
Politics could get in the way of creating a non-partisan redistricting commission that everyone can support.
But there's one thing that we all should be able to do to agree on, which is that politics should stay out of the redistricting from start to finish.
The special session will start at noon, April 12, 2026.
Now, in the past, when Evers has called special sessions, the Republicans in charge often gabbled out of the session almost immediately.
In the state of the state, Evers indicated he would continue to call sessions until the work is finished.
In Wisconsin, constitutional amendments must be considered in two consecutive legislative sessions before being placed on the ballot for voter approval.
Immediately following the press conference, Evers began a statewide tour to promote his plan.
Do the benefits of data centers outweigh the cost?
Well, it depends upon who you ask.
According to the latest Marquette Law School poll, 45% of Republican survey think they do.
Only 24% of independence and 15% of Democrats see the benefits coming out on top.
Poll Director Charles Franklin, when presenting the poll data last week.
They are data centers.
Yep. Where do we stand?
We don't like them.
And we don't like them compared to where we were in October.
So only 29% said that the benefits outweigh the cost of data centers.
70% say the costs outweigh the benefits.
The Marquette poll was conducted between February 11th and 19th, interviewing 818 Wisconsin registered voters.
Its margin of error is plus or minus 4.3.
Don't get scammed by someone pretending to be from the DMV.
Civic media's Maddie Schaeffer has more.
This week is National Consumer Protection Week, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles is warning residents about a rise in scams.
Over the past year, DMV officials say scammers posing as the agency have sent text messages urging people to click fraudulent links or pay fake fees.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles says Wisconsin has no toll roads and will never send urgent demands for money by text.
Officials encourage residents to learn how to spot scams and to sign up for the DMV's e-notify program, which alerts customers to changes on their account, like a replacement license or address update.
More than 1 million people have already enrolled.
The agency has also added new identity verification tools to reduce fraud.
Consumers can find tips and report scams at WisconsinDMV.gov slash scams.
For Civic Media News, I'm Maddie Schaeffer.
This year, Wisconsin Supreme Court race features vastly different candidates competing for a seat on the state's highest bench.
The Dairyland Patriot is reporting that conservative Maria Lazar and liberal Chris Taylor have raised considerably less money than the 98 million dollars spent in last year's race between Susan Crawford and Brad Schimmel.
So far, only $4 million has been raised between the Lazar and Taylor campaigns through February of 2026.
Part of the reason may be that no matter who wins this election, the judicial balance will remain in the hands of the liberal majority.
A victory by Taylor would ensure a liberal majority through at least 2030.
The newly elected justice will replace conservative Rebecca Bradley, who decided not to run for another 10-year term.
Some of the major issues expected to be before the new justice include abortion rights, voting rights, education funding, labor rights, and redistricting.
Read more on the Supreme Court candidates Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor and their stances on several issues at the dairylandpatriot.com.
Wisconsin voters will get one chance to see the state Supreme Court candidates debate this year.
Judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor both accepted an invite from WISN TV in Milwaukee for a debate on March 25th at Marquette Law School.
Taylor's team said that this is the only debate that she will do.
Lazar's team said she agreed to do several others that just didn't work out.
The WISN debate will be streamed online and broadcast throughout the state.
Online sports betting in Wisconsin is a step closer to being legal.
The state assembly passed a bill last week that would allow online sports betting through Wisconsin's tribal casinos.
However, Wisconsinites would not be able to use popular platforms such as Draft Kings or FANDULE.
The measure still needs to be approved by the Senate.
It's unclear how many senators will support it.
Now Governor Tony Evers is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
Civic Media News, I'm Lisa Hale.
For news anytime, visit our website at civicmedia.us.
Senior night for the Badgers.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with sports, men's college basketball.
Wisconsin Badgers close out the regular season at the Cole Center tonight against the Maryland Terrapins.
Led by former Marquette head coach Buzz Williams, the Badgers Greg Guard.
Talked about the matchup at practice.
Buzz has done a really good job of like all his teams.
They can play exceptionally hard.
It's a group that has battled, you know, they beat Iowa just a week or so ago.
So we know if you play hard, it gives you a great chance to have success.
UW Green Bay with a win at home over a number six rank Purdue Fort Wayne 64 to 56.
The Phoenix are headed to the horizon league tournament for the first time in six years.
Doug Gottlieb.
Overall, really good team win and we look like a good basketball team.
So does it mean a ton in terms of the world of things?
But if we can play like this defensively, we can beat anybody's sleep.
NBA, the Bucsett Fizer formed tonight against the Atlanta Hawks.
Milwaukee looking to snap a three game losing streak with sports on Mike Clemens.
A little patchy fog, a little frosty this morning.
Then the sun will come out today.
It's going to be warmer too with a high in the upper 40s to low 50s this afternoon.
Tonight mostly clear.
We'll drop to around 30 for a low tomorrow.
A little light rain or freezing drizzle in the morning.
Then cloudy with showers in the low to mid 40s.
I'm your neurologist 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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