Today a big travel day throughout the State

Talk about it

Hundreds-of-thousands of Wisconsinites will hit the road for their Thanksgiving turkey. The Triple-“A” says 874,000 Badger State residents will travel to see family-and-friends – about the same number as a year ago.

Around 64,000 of those people will fly, and another 784-thousand will hit the highways starting today. The state D-O-T says drivers will not face major road construction, thanks to a longer-and-drier road-building season this year. Officials say there are no longer any detours from major highways – but some projects still have lane restrictions, and drivers are urged to be careful. The heaviest traffic is expected tonight and on Sunday – when both deer hunters and holiday travelers will head home.

Triple-“A” said the average statewide gas price was $3.40-a-gallon this morning for regular unleaded. That’s about a penny higher than yesterday, and a dime more expensive than last Thanksgiving.

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At least some Walmart stores in Metro Milwaukee are expected to be the targets of employee protests, either on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Marc Goumbri of the United Food-and-Commercial Workers union tells the Journal Sentinel that several Walmarts will have protests in southeast Wisconsin – but he wouldn’t say which ones. The world’s largest retailer plans to begin its Black Friday sales at eight on Thanksgiving night. A worker rights’ group called “Our Walmart” says it shows a disregard for employees and their families on the holiday. The protests began in California last Wednesday. In response, Walmart has accused the union of engaging in unfair labor practices – and it has asked the National Labor Relations Board for an injunction to halt the protests. Among other things, the company says the United Food group is trying to push its will on stores that don’t hire members of the union. Protest leaders say up to a-thousand Walmarts could have picketers on Black Friday. The company’s Kory Lundberg says it will not have any impact on the stores’ plans for the holiday period.

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Thanksgiving is normally a busy time for food pantries. And for the first time, a pantry in Eau Claire is seeing a large number of working poor families. Sherry Hebert of the Trinity Lutheran Church pantry tells WEAU TV that its clients used to be unemployed for the most part. But they’ve since been joined by lots of part-time workers who don’t make enough in wages to make ends meet. And a growing number of clients are coming in from communities that surround Eau Claire. Hebert says families leave their names and addresses when they register – but they do not have to list their incomes. Most of the food is supplied by the “Feed My People” food bank, which serves hunger relief groups in 14 northwest Wisconsin communities.

Tags: news, wisconsin, travel