1410 WIZM

They're meeting today for the first time.
Whether the La Crosse city council chicken rules committee will actually do anything when it meets is yet to be determined. Council member Marilyn Wigdahl's on the committee. She doesn't see making much immediate movement on refining rules for keeping chickens in backyards.   Today's meeting, she says, won't be for much more than electing officers.  
Wigdahl has already very vocally stated her opposition to keeping chickens in town. Besides, she says, council members have much more important things to work on.

Scott Hassett's been an attorney for a long time. He's never heard of a district attorney acting with as much a lack of professionalism as Calumet county DA Ken Kratz, the guy who was apparently sending racy text messages to a crime victim. But Hassett, running for state attorney general, also says the dearth of professionalism extends up the ladder to current attorney general JB Van Hollen because he knew what Kratz had been up to for almost a year and didn't do anything about it.  Since the first sexting accusation, other women have come forward with more allegations that Kratz was trying to hook up via text message with them, too.   Governor Doyle has begun the process to remove Kratz from office. 

$20 million seem like a lot of money to you? That's how much La Crosse's auditor recently told city council members exists in the city's reserve fund balance. Some of that money's already dedicated for other purposes. But $19 million is available for use. In emergencies, typically. But, according to one city council finance committee member we've talked to, mayor Matt Harter plans to use $900 thousand of that reserve fund to pay for regular budget items this year, apparently in an effort to keep tax increases to a minimum. The city council agreed to a similar raid of the reserve fund during budget back-and-forth last year.

The mayor of Arcadia has declared a stae of emergency throughout his city. No traffic other than emergency vehicles is being allowed into the city. Some are being evacuated from low-lying areas. Arcadia schools are closed because of flooding. There are reports cars are floating in the parking lot of Ashley Furniture.