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The research team is accepting any den reports but is specifically looking for dens in bear management zones C, E, and F, which covers central and southern Wisconsin.
Bear cubs are typically born in late January and early February, and this time of year is often when people discover dens because they can hear cubs squeaking, grunting, or humming while nursing inside.
The Black Bear Litter and Diet Survey will generate new estimates of black bear reproductive rates within each of the state's bear management zones and the estimates will
improve the accuracy of the population models in each zone.
The project was started in 2021 and is now going into its fifth year.
The purpose of the project is to place GPS callers on sows, or female bears, and track them over the years.
The data will let researchers understand litter frequency and cub survival rates.
DNR research scientist Aaron Morrison says public assistance is essential to increasing their sample size.
Morrison adds that if someone reports a den that includes a sow, they are invited to come out to the survey.
We're very appreciative of the public and their involvement in this project.
It wouldn't be a success without them.
And so we like to be able to invite them out on those surveys as a way to...
to kind of show them a part of the research that they're involved in.
According to organization data, tobacco use kills nearly 8,000 Wisconsinites each year, making it the leading cause of preventable death and disease both in the state and across the country.
High school students in Wisconsin also use tobacco at a higher rate than the national average.
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.
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 East
cigarettes.
The law of the month reminds drivers that headlights improve visibility and safety.
The State Department of Transportation Division of State Patrol encourages drivers to check that headlights are on and working properly during periods of darkness and limited visibility.
During this time of year, winter weather conditions and longer hours of darkness make it especially important to remember the correct use of headlights.
State law requires drivers use headlights during hours of darkness and all other times when there isn't enough light to clearly see a person or vehicle 500 feet away and in adverse weather conditions like fog, rain or snow that limit visibility.
Drivers should also be sure to check twice for road users on bikes and motorcycles.
Wausau's city calendar has a new home.
The city announced Monday that they will now list all public notices of meetings of the city council, committees, boards, and commissions on the city meeting calendar on Civic Plus.
The calendar that previously held meeting notices is transitioning to a community notice calendar called the Community Calendar.
City Clerk Caitlin Bernardi said in a statement, we are excited to provide another way to communicate with residents on what is going on in their city.
You can find both a link to the Civic Plus City meeting calendar and the community calendar on the city's community calendar webpage.
Gas prices continue to drop across Wisconsin.
According to GasBuddy, the state average is down 5.2 cents from last week, averaging $2.49 a gallon.
Patrick Dahan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said while oil prices jumped to their highest level in months amid geopolitical tensions, a weakening U.S.
dollar and supply concerns, the national average price of gasoline saw little change compared to a week ago.
He added, we're likely to see more increases than decreases in the coming weeks.
There will be a new vendor at the River Life concession stand.
The Wasaw Parks and Recreation Committee selected Sawmill Adventure Park to operate the stand, and they plan to turn the stand back into an ice cream shop and rename the building.
The park's primary location is in Rothschild, and taking on the concession stand will offer more shifts for employees.
Local nonprofits will also be able to register at the concession stand for a support code that would generate a 5% donation every quarter or month to the charity.
The Wausau City Council still needs to approve the vendor, and if approved, Sawmill Adventure Park would need to have the concession stand operational by May.
I'm Isabella Nieto for WXCO News.
Another Bucks game tonight.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with SportsNBA.
The Bucks back at it again tonight in Milwaukee as they host the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Bucks able to snap a five game losing streak with a 131 to 115 win over the Chicago Bulls at Five Serve Forum.
Kyle Kuzma with 31 points asked if it's been tough sledding the past couple of weeks.
Yeah, it hasn't been easy for us, but you know, New Orleans is coming in.
We got to do the same thing.
Play fast and play together.
NFL, the Pro Bowl games were last night.
Packers
Micah Parsons in attendance in a scooter.
I talked to Evan Williams about how much they miss Parsons after his knee injury.
It definitely is difficult when you have, you know, you're all pro guy, you're just your disrupter.
My guy that's been a leader for you all year.
It definitely hurts to, you know, have a guy like that go down.
But we all understood what the type of defense we were the year before we got Micah, and we played some pretty good ball that whole year.
That's
Packer safety.
Evan Williams from Super Bowl 60 here in San Francisco with sports.
I'm Mike Clemens.
Mostly sunny today, our high right around 22 this afternoon.
Tonight mostly cloudy, a little bit of light snow, won't be much accumulation, but could make things a little slick out there.
Low tonight of eight above tomorrow, mostly cloudy, a little light snow in the morning, with a high of 32.
I'm meteorologist Shawn Cable.
That's your was on news roundup from WXCO.
Find more news anytime at wxco.fm.
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