Local News

The Crawford County Community Fund is now accepting grant applications for its annual grant cycle. The application deadline is Thursday, Oct. 1. Applications must be completed online and submitted online no later than midnight on that day. Mailed, emailed or faxed copies of applications and incomplete or late applications will not be accepted or considered.

The grant review committee of the Crawford County Community Fund Advisory Board is chaired by Tarasa Lown. In making the grant application announcement, Lown noted, “For the 2015-2016 year there is up to $5,500 available for grants for charitable economic development projects within our Crawford County community. We know that there are many great ideas-in-waiting that can increase economic vitality and improve the quality of life in our region; we are prepared to review those ideas and make awards.”

Grant County deputies are looking for a man who impersonated a police officer and pulled over a woman on U.S. 151 Thursday night.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Department said the woman drove past a dark-colored SUV on 151 south of Platteville around 11:55 p.m. When the woman passed the SUV, it pulled out behind her and activated a red and blue dash light, the sheriff’s office said.

When the woman pulled over, a man in his 40s wearing a black T-shirt approached her vehicle with a flashlight. The man asked the woman if she knew why she was stopped, then asked her to leave the car to see an equipment violation, the sheriff’s office said.

The woman asked the man for ID, and when he didn’t show any, she said she was going to call 911. The SUV then drove off to the north, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff Nate Dreckman said several area law enforcement agencies use unmarked vehicles, with “multiple sources of emergency lights and a siren.”

On May 21, Boscobel Police met with a 15 year-old female who had recently given birth. The female told police that a rural Prairie du Chien man was the father of her child.

After conducting an interview with the female, the case was referred to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department since the alleged sexual assault was said to have occurred in their county. An investigator with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department was able to locate Jacob McCluskey, 19, of rural Prairie du Chien, and conduct an interview with him.

McCluskey admitted to having sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old female on two separate occasions in the city of Boscobel. After the investigation was concluded, the case was then referred to the Grant County District Attorney’s office.

McCluskey was charged with second degree sexual assault of a child in Grant County.

For more than two years, since planning for the new Medical Center began, the old Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital building has been listed for sale with little interest generated. Hospital leadership also sought input and ideas regarding reuse, and contacted several organizations to promote their consideration of utilizing the building.