News 08.11.16
11 August 2016 News
A traffic accident involving a semi caused Interstate 41 in Winnebago County to be shut down. The accident happened around 2:40 am Wednesday on Southbound I-41 at State Highway 114 in the Town of Neenah. Police say the semi truck spilled about 75 gallons of fuel, causing the roadway to be shut down for nearly five hours. No injuries were reported. The driver was cited for inattentive driving.
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The Oshkosh-Neenah area is ranked in the top 100 metro and micro areas in the country for first responders to live and work. Over 900 U.S. areas were evaluated in GoodCall’s 2016 survey, with the Oshkosh-Neenah Metro ranking 99th. The survey took into account first responder salaries, job availability, housing cost, lifestyle and crime rates. A news release from GoodCall.com says the Oshkosh-Neenah area was highlighted due to high salaries, better job availability and home prices along with a below average crime rate. GoodCall.com is a college and careers website that provides information for individuals to help him or her make decisions for the future. First responders include police officers, firefighters and EMT’s
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An appeals court has stayed a federal judge’s ruling which carved out an exception to a Wisconsin law that requires all voters to show photo IDs at the polls, but added the district court’s decision is likely to be reversed on appeal. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman issued a preliminary injunction last month allowing people who haven’t been able to obtain IDs to vote in the Nov. 8 general election if they sign an affidavit stating why they couldn’t get identification. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty asked for the injunction in June. In staying Adelman’s ruling, the appeals court in Chicago concluded, “both that the district court’s decision is likely to be reversed on appeal and that disruption of the state’s electoral system in the interim will cause irreparable injury.”
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Eight Wisconsin counties and the Bad River Band have qualified for federal assistance to recover from July flood damage. Gov. Scott Walker earlier requested the aid to help the counties and the Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe with costs for removing debris and repairing infrastructure. Price County did not sustain enough damage to qualify for the federal assistance. The counties named in the declaration are Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Iron, Sawyer and Washburn, along with the Bad River Band. A number of storms hit the area beginning July 11. Up to 12 inches of rain in some areas caused flash flooding and washed out roads and bridges. Preliminary assessments show the storms caused more than $25 million in damage to public infrastructure.
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A new poll finds most Wisconsin voters are against the approach Gov. Scott Walker wants to take to deal with a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall for road projects. The Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows that 43 percent of registered voters would support a gas tax or registration fee increase to pay for roads. Walker has said that’s off the table. Only 33 percent say they would cut all or some spending for road projects to avoid a tax or fee increase. And just 12 percent say they would support borrowing money to plug the gap. Walker hasn’t said how he will deal with the shortfall, but ruling out a revenue increase means projects will either be cut or delayed or money will have to be borrowed.
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