Regional News Briefs: Ice conditions becoming dangerous on Lake Superior

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DULUTH/SUPERIOR - The U.S. Coast Guard says ice conditions are rapidly getting worse on Lake Superior, the Duluth-Superior Harbor, and their connecting rivers.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Robert Pump says the ice is getting dangerously unstable – and south winds and warmer temperatures next week will probably cause the ice to drift and break apart. Coast Guard cutters will start their March ice-breaking operations on Monday in the Duluth-Superior region. And that will make shipping channels even less safe to play on. While parts of Wisconsin had heavy snows in the past three weeks, it has been getting warmer. Some areas in the Badger State are above freezing today – and even in the far north, it was 34 in Ashland as of 11 o’clock. Rain is in the forecast for a number of areas this weekend, turning some of the new snow cover we’ve had into slush. Some of the snow totals from this week’s two-day storm were higher than what was first reported. Alma had just over 11 inches. Parts of west central Wisconsin still have snow covers of up to 17 inches.

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A former Wausau area woman reportedly thought about leaving the husband who’s now charged with killing her in Saint Paul. According to search warrant affidavits, the mother of Kira Steger Trevino told police that her daughter’s husband was quote, “very controlling” – and he tried to monitor her activities by prying into her bank and personal accounts. 39-year-old Jeffrey Trevino is charged with second-degree murder in Kira’s death, even though her body has still not been found two weeks after she was first reported missing. The affidavits said police sized a black-hooded sweatshirt and white tennis shoes from the Trevino’s home in Saint Paul. Police said a person who was driving her car was wearing similar clothes just before she was reported missing. Prosecutors said there’s evidence that the Trevinos had a bloody fight in their bedroom soon before she disappeared. Jeffrey Trevino is still in jail under a million-dollar bond.

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U.S. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has agreed to be the keynote speaker at the Minnesota Republican Party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner this year. Wisconsin politicians are taking high profile roles in politics in that neighboring state. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin will headline that party’s Humphrey-Mondale fundraising dinner in April. The Lincoln-Reagan dinner will be held in the same month.

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