Leader-Telegram

MENOMONIE - The new year will ring in a 29 percent increase in the per capita fee for garbage disposal and recycling fees for villages and towns in the Dunn County solid waste program. Full Story »

More than $500,000 in scholarships was awarded to 312 students at UW-Stout in Menomonie this year through the Stout University Foundation. Full Story »

santa breakfast: The Hallie Optimist Club's annual Breakfast With Santa is set for 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Lake Hallie Town Hall, 13143 30th Ave., Chippewa Falls. Full Story »

Staff photo by Dan Reiland Mason Milner of Eau Claire Wednesday helped dig out a friends car from the nearly foot of snow received overnight. Full Story »

Our first brush with winter this season was adoozy, with up to 13 inches reported in parts of west-central Wisconsin, dozens of vehicles in ditches and schools shut down. Full Story »

Posted: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 11:00 pm | Updated: 11:47 pm, Wed Dec 9, 2009. Three dozen submitted locations for an Eau Claire County justice center have been whittled down to eight favored by a special committee. Full Story »

DAVIS, Justin L., 26, Taylors Falls, Minn., disorderly conduct/domestic abuse Aug. 29, possession of marijuana Sept. 9, 28 days jail, $200 fine. Full Story »

I'm not exactly sure why I started baking fruitcake last year. It's an odd culinary hobby, even at Christmastime. These days, there are perhaps more fruitcake jokes than actual fruitcakes in circulation. Full Story »

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin volunteer Chrystal Mills spent time with her student, Chianti Gordon. The agency recently was honored for the average length of its mentor-student matches. Full Story »

Shane Opatz Patrick, left, and Jamie Rebman are the owners of The Pourhouse, a village of Elk Mound tavern that will open later this month. The tavern will be the first in the community in more than a century, according to historical accounts. Full Story »

CHIPPEWA FALLS - Law enforcement should consider writing more citations rather than seek criminal charges for small infractions, Chippewa County District Attorney Jon Theisen says. Full Story »

A 63-year-old Eau Claire County man died while shoveling snow Wednesday. At 12:06 p.m., a passer-by called the county communications center after seeing the man lying on the ground at his residence, 1585 S. Highway D, in the town of Ludington. Full Story »

The snow that fell on the region Tuesday and Wednesday isn't enough to open area snowmobile trails, but cross-country skiing is getting under way. Grooming of the Eau Claire County cross-country ski trails was set to begin today, said John Staszcuk of the Parks and Forest Department. Full Story »

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A fierce storm left dangerous ice, heavy snow and vicious winds in its wake as it slogged eastward Wednesday, snarling traffic and closing hundreds of schools from the Upper Midwest through New England. Full Story »

MADISON (AP) - Forget studying for finals, doing homework or getting some rest. Handed an unscheduled day off after a blizzard dropped more than a foot of snow on campus, University of Wisconsin-Madison students planned a massive snowball fight Wednesday. Full Story »

Associated Press Snow is reflected in the side view mirror of a car Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Blue Island, Ill. as the area got it's first mesaurable snowfall of the season. Local forecasts call for more snow and dropping temperatures as the week progresses. Full Story »

Posted: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 8:50 am | Updated: 8:55 am, Wed Dec 9, 2009. Full Story »

A mixture of heavy snow, strong wind and freezing rain continued to pound Wisconsin early Wednesday causing widespread power outages, hundreds of school closings and treacherous travel. Full Story »

Andi Stempniak Gabe Smith, 4, shoveled the driveway of his Southside home Tuesday afternoon. As Gabe Smith helped clear the driveway of his Cummings Avenue home Tuesday afternoon, the 4-year-old shoveled a small sample of what is expected to come by today. Full Story »

Shane Opatz UW-Eau Claire students made their way up the Garfield avenue hill Tuesday afternoon. UW-Eau Claire students made their way through the snow Tuesday afternoon on campus. Full Story »

Posted: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 11:00 pm | Updated: 11:43 pm, Tue Dec 8, 2009. An amendment to the city of Eau Claire's comprehensive plan isn't intended to prohibit a county justice center from being built across the Chippewa River from downtown. Full Story »

Ace Ethanol in Stanely is still under construction though its doors is opening to the public on Sunday. The Cornell school board on Monday night rejected a proposal to invest money from an employee retirement fund in Ace Ethanol of Stanley. Full Story »

Posted: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 11:00 pm | Updated: 11:27 pm, Tue Dec 8, 2009. A law enforcement shooting range on Fall Creek's north side could be improved and expanded for public use. Full Story »

CHIPPEWA FALLS - The Chippewa Falls Police and Fire Commission likely will be hiring outside the department to fill its vacant police chief position. Full Story »

MADISON - Federal prosecutors have dropped false log book charges against an Indiana trucker who caused a 2005 accident that killed five people on a Chippewa Falls Senior High School bus trip. Full Story »