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SUGAR CAMP - Wisconsin Public Service wants to make sure even its youngest customers understand how to be safe around natural gas.
WPS kicked off its natural gas safety programs in Northwoods schools this week. It will be at several different schools this year.
Presenters were in Sugar Camp on Thursday.
MADISON - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he wants to revisit mental health issues this legislative session, with a focus on improving access to care.
Vos (R-Rochester) created a task force last session to examine mental health needs in the state and has formed a new Assembly committee to work on mental health reform this session.
Vos told a Wisconsin Health News luncheon in Madison on Thursday that he wants to do more to address mental health care.
EAGLE RIVER - We don't know what caused a fire in Eagle River Thursday night.
The fire started just before 7 p.m. this evening at Miller Beer of the Northwoods. It was just off of Highway 45 in town.
Multiple fire departments responded to the scene.
RHINELANDER - You might need to start thinking about Valentine's Day soon. One business in Rhinelander has been preparing for the big day for several months. Managers at Forth Floral have been growing flowers for the holiday since fall. Even with the lead time, owners say there are still marketing challenges with the holiday.
Their income from Valentine's Day helps keep the shop staffed during the winter. Part of the money goes to supporting the greenhouse heating bill. It's their biggest overhead cost.
"It's a really tough one because it's concentrated into just a day or two, maybe three days if we can stretch it out and someone wants delivery early," explained co-owner Ruth Hempel. "It's probably the busiest day of the year."
WISCONSIN - The elk will be moved from Kentucky to the Black River State Forest in Jackson County.
Wisconsin already has the Clam Lake herd located in southern Ashland County. The DNR released this herd in 1995. Many people in Wisconsin support the project.
"I had a lot of interaction with people that are just very passionate conservationists. The whole idea of having what they see as a complete list of wildlife species in the state that were native," says Kevin Wallenfang, Wisconsin DNR Elk Specialist.
TOMAH - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is launching an investigation into reports of overmedication and retaliatory management practices at the VA Medical Center in Tomah.
Congressman Ron Kind, whose district includes Tomah, planned to meet with officials at the center Thursday.
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin's office says the Veterans Health Administration and the Office of Accountability Review is conducting the investigation.
WHITE LAKE - Many rural school districts need to pass referendums in order to stay open.
White Lake will need to turn to that option this spring.
Two referendums failed last year.
FOREST COUNTY - A 50-year-old Manitowoc County woman faces charges for allegedly selling prescription drugs in Forest County.
According to a Forest County Sheriff's Department release, undercover officers bought drugs from the Kerry Nimmer, of Two River, multiple times. Nimmer faces three felonies.
Undercover investigators purchased oxycodone, cocaine and other drugs from the woman on the Menominee and Forest County Potawatomi Reservations between December 2014 and January 2015.
EAGLE RIVER - The 52nd Amsoil World Championship Snowmobile Derby kicks off Thursday in Eagle River.
Racersfrom across Wisconsin, the country, and even the world travel to the event. For some of them, this is one of their biggest races of the year.
"Being the world championship race, the biggest race of the year, it's the one race everybody wants to win. They attract drivers from everywhere there is in the snowbelt," said race coordinator Chuck Decker.
ST. GERMAIN - Organizers hoped the Pink Carpet Gala would draw more interest in the St. Germain Radar Run's fundraising efforts, and it did.
More than 100 people attended the gala, which was held at the Whitetail Inn last Saturday.
This was the first year of the event.
MADISON - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says "it's pretty hard to make an argument" for Mitt Romney to be president in 2016.
Walker was asked Thursday about Romney's exploration of a presidential bid. Walker is also taking a serious look at running for president.
Walker says he thinks Romney would have been a good president, but "it's pretty hard to make an argument about going forward when you're arguing about people and ideas from the past."
MADISON - Wisconsin's Democratic Party losses a chairman.
Chairman Mike Tate is stepping down as chairman in June.
He's held the position for six years.
MILWAUKEE - Health workers think the latest flu strain could last another four to six weeks in Wisconsin.
The flu has contributed to the deaths of two children this season.
A 12 year old Milwaukee girl died on New Year's Day.
NORTHWOODS - The Minocqua Chain of lakes saw relatively healthy walleye reproduction for many years, but the amount of young walleye has plummeted in the last decade on the six-lake chain.
The DNR has worked to restock walleye in Tomahawk Lake, but smaller fingerlings didn't reproduce in adequate numbers to restock the lake.
"We were able to switch it to large fingerlings, six to eight inches long, stocked since September," said DNR Fisheries Biologist John Kubisiak. "It was first stocked with those fish, that size fish, in 2012. We're seeing some initial positive results of those fish showing up."
LANGLADE COUNTY - We might be in the dead of winter, but kids need to start thinking about presenting their 4-H projects at county fairs this summer.
4-H leaders in Antigo hope a special event will give kids a better idea of what kind of projects they can do.
Project Discovery Day includes demonstrations of various projects.
MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker's proposed mergers of four state agencies into two would take effect next year.
Walker's spokeswoman Laurel Patrick gave the timetable Wednesday, a day after Walker proposed that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation be merged with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.
Walker is also calling for merging the Department of Financial Institutions with the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
WAUSAU - Wausau now pays its city employees based on performance. That merit-based pay structure represents a huge shift from the seniority structure the city used for years. Yet employees at every experience level still received at least a two percent pay increase in 2014.
City council members want to know why. Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple said the city transitioned to a pay-for-performance system in July 2014. He says the pay increase addressed a similar increase in the cost of living for employees.
"It was kind of a level-setting because, you know, for some people that may be their last raise for a while, unless they exceed their goal or objectives for this job classification," Tipple said.
ELTON - People in Elton can now ship their mail with relative ease after the grand opening of their village post office last week, at Borucki's Country Store on Highway 64.
The owners said this is the first post office the tight-knit community has had in more than eight years.
"It was another option to bring people in the store," said Borucki's co-owner Kristie Hiestad. "Whether they need a gallon of milk or some gas, they could come pick up some stamps at the same time or vice versa."
RHINELANDER - A meth investigation led to the arrest of five people in Rhinelander Wednesday. At least part of the bust took place at a home on Margaret Street in Rhinelander Wednesday morning.
Law enforcement believes the people arrested were involved in the use, making and delivery of meth.
The Oneida County Sheriff's Office isn't releasing the names of suspects yet.
WISCONSIN - Wisconsin's new Wild Turkey Management Plan is almost complete.
The plan will dictate the use of stamp funds that raise money for turkey habitat maintenance.
It will also help structure the fall and spring hunting seasons.
MERRILL - Most people get tired after writing just a few Christmas cards. Nancy Wilde is not one of those people.
She wrote and sent thousands of cards to veterans this past Christmas.
"I just love it. I love my country," Nancy says. "I love my soldiers and everything."
ST. PAUL, MN - State health officials say they won't be done watching for the spread of Ebola for at least another year.
The Minnesota Department of Health is currently monitoring 47 residents who traveled from the West African countries ravaged by the deadly virus. As of Sunday, the state had cleared 216 travelers after a 21-day monitoring period. No cases have been confirmed in Minnesota.
Health officials updated state lawmakers on their Ebola prevention efforts Wednesday. The department will ask the Legislature for about $900,000 to cover Ebola-related costs through June of this year.
MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker is not taking his State of the State message around Wisconsin the day after he delivered it to the state Legislature.
Governors typically travel around the state the day after they deliver their annual State of the State address to talk about it outside of Madison.
But Walker's spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said Wednesday that Walker "is in the middle of preparing the state budget and has a full day of meetings scheduled with legislative leaders of both parties and the budget team."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Teamsters Union says it has reached an agreement with the Justice Department to end the government's 25-year anti-corruption oversight of the 1.4-million member union.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York joined the Teamsters in asking a federal judge to end the consent order that has been in place since March 1989.
Teamsters President Jim Hoffa called it "a historic day" for the union. He said the union could "finally say that corrupt elements have been driven from the Teamsters" and that government oversight could come to an end.
MADISON - Some republicans think failing public schools should reopen as charter schools.
The public will get a chance to share what they think of the idea.
The measure is up for a hearing Wednesday before the Assembly Education Committee.
MADISON - More students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison need to borrow money for school.
The percentage of undergraduates who use student loans is up.
The amount they're borrowing is also up slightly from last year.
MADISON - Reactions to Gov. Scott Walker's State of the State speech are breaking down predictably along party lines, with Democrats saying he's distracted from dealing with Wisconsin's problems and Republicans saying he's offering bold leadership.
Walker delivered a 25-minute State of the State speech to a joint meeting of the Legislature on Tuesday.
He is calling for merging state agencies, passing a school accountability bill and ensuring that Common Core academic standards are not mandatory.
PARK FALLS - Taxpayers in the Chequamegon School District will need to make school related decisions soon. District Administrator David Anderson says the district faces a projected $1 million budget deficit for the 2015-16 school year.
"If nothing changes, then it will be one million dollars in the hole approximately," Anderson said. "(The deficit) will grow to over two million dollars over a period of five years, and out of a S10 million dollar budget, that's very significant."
Anderson says 70 percent of his costs come from staff, so the looming deficit could force the district to lay off 28 of its 65 teachers to compensate for lost funding.
MARATHON COUNTY - The Wausau Police Department know where to find a man accused of sexually assaulting a child.
The police department posted a Facebook status Monday.
Police say 41-year-old Christopher Burns was wanted for 1st Degree Sexual Assault of a Child. He turned himself in today in Mississippi.
MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker is calling on the Legislature to pass a school accountability bill, but Republicans can't agree on what should be in it.
Walker said in his State of the State speech Tuesday only that he wants a bill ``ensuring objective information is available for each and every school receiving public funds in this state.''
The hard part is what that looks like.
