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The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa held a community forum Monday night after recent reports of immigration and customs enforcement activity on the reservation.
According to the Wisconsin Examiner, tribal leaders have raised alarms after reports that Native Americans were picked up or questioned by ICE during enforcement operations in the Twin Cities.
Tribal chairwoman Liz Arbuckle spoke about the stress the community is facing.
It's unnerving.
We've seen native people picked up in Minneapolis.
We've heard those stories.
We've seen those stories.
So we are unnerved.
So a little extra preparedness, thoughtfulness, kindness, it won't go amiss.
That's for sure.
Arbuckle says that tribal IDs are free for enrolled Bad River members and can be updated if needed.
Other tribes may also offer similar services.
They also highlighted statewide resources such as the Native American Rights Fund, the ACLU of Wisconsin, and Legal Action Wisconsin, which can help tribal members understand their rights and create personal safety plans.
State Representative Angela Stroud of the 73rd Assembly District spoke about ICE activity across the region.
You know, it's targeting urban areas, but it's not limited to urban areas.
Rural areas are also being affected.
And so it's not that we know they're going to come, but we need to be prepared because it's happening throughout our region, even if it's.
focused on Minnesota right now.
Transit Equity Day is held on February 4th, Tawn or the birthday of Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in 1955 sparked the over-year-long Montgomery bus boycott, a crucial moment in the civil rights movement.
Phil Swanhorst is the Eau Claire Transit Commission chairperson and a former Eau Claire bus driver and shared his thoughts on the history of Transit Equity Day in Eau Claire.
And this is the 10th year since I attended a conference in Washington, D.C.
to create February 4th.
Why February 4th?
We wanted an activist that believed in equity and transportation and who better than Rosa Parks and her birthday is February 4th.
So 10 years ago we created that and by we it was unions, it was management, it was Ireland, it was South Africa, it was European countries.
In its proclamation declaring February 4th as Transit Equity Day, the Eau Claire City Council highlighted the importance of public transit as an essential service for residents to access things like health care and employment, as well as its importance in addressing climate change.
Swan Horse also shared his thoughts on what future progress could look like for public transit in Eau Claire.
Continued applicable ADA compliance.
Believe it or not, we build our buses, our transfer center.
Our accommodations are very ADA compliant.
When we drop off at some schools, some healthcare facilities, some older churches, they are not ADA compatible.
So the future would be to have our community be ADA.
To honor Transit Equity Day, a local nonprofit, Jonah, covered all bus fares on Wednesday so residents could ride for free.
Each bus also had a rose in the front seat to honor Rosa Parks.
The roundtable at the Altoona City Hall covered a wide range of topics, most notably the state of affordable housing and the increased costs for health care and child care.
Following the discussion, Governor Evers said he'd like to use part of the state's budget surplus to increase funding for local governments and schools to prevent even more property tax increases.
Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge attended the roundtable, reiterating an increasingly common call for more shared revenue from the state.
Berge says increasing property taxes is one of the few remaining tools municipalities have to address the needs of their community, like school funding or repairing potholes.
Governor Evers again highlighted the state's budget surplus as a way to provide a bit more support for local governments.
Like many communities struggling to address funding needs with limited revenue sources, Chippewa Valley residents have seen massive property tax increases over recent years.
Much of that increases the result of school referendum proposals, forcing residents to choose between the property tax hike or potential layoffs and program cancellations by school districts.
A new deal for Murphy.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports Baseball.
The Milwaukee Brewers have signed manager Pat Murphy to a new three-year contract extension after leading the team to the playoffs the past two seasons.
The Brewers host the Cleveland Guardians tomorrow afternoon at 2-10 in their first Cactus League action.
Murphy asked what positions are open competitions.
I mean, I'd like to say everywhere, but we've got some
We've got some guys that have the right it factor, you know, that what we have to do is keep them hungry.
At the Winter Olympics, the U.S.
women's hockey team beat Canada two to one to win the gold medal.
Former Badgers Hillary Knight scored late in the third period to send the game into overtime.
We came out a little slow in the first, started to pick up momentum in the second.
The third, when you have a one goal deficit against Canada, great team.
You have to find the back of the net.
You can also run out of time against a great team.
So, fortunate that we have an amazing squad to be able to get the job done.
NBA, the Bucks back in action tonight against the Pelicans in New Orleans with sports on Mike Clemens.
Snow will continue pretty good through about mid to late morning.
Then it will end.
It'll be mostly cloudy here through the day, but we could get another couple of inches, maybe even a little more in spots here by the time it winds down.
High to day 33 tonight, mostly cloudy, down to 20 tomorrow.
partly to mostly cloudy 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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