Headlines

• A 32-year-old woman wanted in connection with the killing of a 10-year-old boy in Mexico was arrested Thursday, May 21, in Barron County and is now facing a federal immigration charge in federal court. According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Alejandra Sanchez-Cuaquehua, a Mexican citizen, is charged with illegally reentering the United States after previously being removed from the country.

• A shortage of affordable housing in Barron County isn’t just an issue for employers and low- to middle-income residents who want to buy homes near where they work, members of the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council learned during their bimonthly meeting Thursday, May 21, 2026, at the county Justice Center. The shortage also affects the justice community, according to State Rep. Dave Armstrong, who also directs the county’s Economic Development Commission.

• Delays in at least three felony cases in Barron County Circuit Court underscore the shortage of public defenders to represent defendants, following hearings that took place Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at the County Justice Center. But it’s not just the lack of defense attorneys that is cause for concern. According to District Attorney Bryan Wright, the criminal justice system throughout the state of Wisconsin is being affected by a lack of both public defenders and assistant district attorneys.

• If the Wisconsin Department of Transportation goes ahead with a major reconstruction of U.S. Hwy. 8 through the village of Cameron three years from now in 2029, it will apparently be only part of an even larger road project, members of the Cameron Village Board learned at their regular monthly meeting Monday, May 11, 2026. According to Trustee David Ebner, Street Committee chair, the village has been informed that WisDOT also plans to resurface U.S. Hwy. 8 – the busiest east-west thoroughfare in Barron County – from the Cameron village limits all the way to Weyerhaeuser.

• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced Friday, May 22, the award of a Brownfield Grant to Barron County to assist with assessment of environmental contamination at a property in Rice Lake. Colloquially known as “Alcatraz,” the 1.5 soil and groundwater tests have shown a veritable basketful of pollutants present in the area. The grant will support the additional environmental assessment of the 1.53-acre property at 220 East Charles Street and approximately 200 feet of the adjacent lakebed in Rice Lake.

• Camerama is back in Cameron, and will take place from Friday through Sunday, May 29-31, 2026, in and around the village of Cameron. Sponsored by the Cameron Business Association, the three-day event includes a community run/walk for all ages, horse pull, car show and an array of family-friendly events. Most events will take place within the village limits, especially at Sportsman’s Park. However, there will be several live music events, officially connected to Camerama, at locations surrounding the village.

• A celebration and salute to farmers returns with the 51th annual Barron County Dairy Breakfast on Saturday, June 7. Serving is 6-11 a.m. at the Joel and Jodene Nelson family farm, located at 903 7 ½ Avenue, Barron. Admission to the event is a freewill offering.

Editor’s Picks

IN THE NEWS: My colleague Bob Zientara’s story about Barron County’s shortage of public defenders reminded me of this piece from PBS Wisconsin on the same topic. It’s a real issue and has been for a while, and it may take some out-of-the-box thinking to remedy the shortage.

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That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Hello readers,

Our apologies if you weren’t able to access our website this morning. We had some technical difficulties, but everything is squared away now. Thanks for reading!

Headlines

• A failed plan to use Wisconsin’s $2.4 billion surplus is drawing concern from local education leaders and politicians, who say the proposal would have delivered meaningful support for schools facing rising costs. Diane Tremblay, superintendent of the Barron Area School District, said the legislation’s increased investment in special education and general school aid would have had a direct impact on students and taxpayers in Barron. Local legislators Dave Armstrong and Romaine Quinn both characterized the proposal as being imperfect but better than nothing.

• The Barron County Board of Supervisors weighed in on the controversial topic of wake boating at its Monday, May 18, meeting. The County Board approved a resolution in support of Assembly Bill 1033, which is backed by the Wisconsin Counties Assn. AB1033 would have created statewide rules for wake boating and wake surfing, including requiring boats to stay at least 300 feet from shorelines, docks, swimmers, and other boats while following existing boating safety laws. This particular bill is likely dead, but the resolution was brought forth with the hope that similar legislation could soon pass.

• A report of a man carrying an assault rifle and an American flag, walking toward Prairie Farm School last Friday morning, May 15, 2026, started a series of events that included a lockdown at the school, the response by law enforcement officers from two counties, and the arrest of a 36-year-old suspect, according to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department. The suspect, Dustin Thomas Rudd, had yet to be formally charged.

• A 10-year-old was killed after being struck by a skid steer at a rural New Auburn residence on Saturday, May 16. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department dispatch center received a call around 10 a.m. requesting EMS for a 10-year-old who was struck by a skid steer and sustained a severe head injury. A medical helicopter was initially requested but soon cancelled as the person was pronounced dead at the scene.

• Human remains discovered earlier this month in the Blue Hills area west of Bruce have been identified as those of a missing Sheldon man. The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday, May 20, that a forensic pathologist with the Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigations confirmed the remains are those of Seth Miller, 36, of Ladysmith. Miller had been reported missing in Rusk County on July 8, 2025.

• A time-honored tradition will be renewed Monday, May 25, as dozens of veterans and hundreds of citizens gather in communities across the News-Shield circulation area to observe Memorial Day. Click here for the scheduled events in Almena, Barron, Cameron, Prairie Farm and Turtle Lake.

GIVE IT A LISTEN: This episode of Discover Wisconsin’s “The Cabin” Podcast came out in March, but it’s still worth a listen if you haven’t already. The guest is Dalton Hessel, aka “The Northern Nerd.” Mr. Hessel gives some good insights into the best spots around Hayward and shares some endearing and humorous stories from his day job as a second-grade teacher.

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That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), and Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) today, after months of bipartisan negotiations and work to reach consensus, announced they have reached agreement on a blockbuster bipartisan proposal to use a portion of the state’s readily available state surplus to invest in Wisconsin’s kids and K-12 schools, provide property tax relief statewide and help working families afford rising costs.

• A two-day search for a missing kayaker in a far southwestern Rusk County lake ended Monday afternoon with the discovery of the victim’s body. Stanley Lang, 19, New Auburn, drowned while fishing alone from a kayak in Fish Lake, in the town of Rusk, near Chetek.

• A motorist was killed, Tuesday morning, resulting in a major road closure west of Ladysmith. The Rusk County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center received a 911 call at about 4:40 a.m., May 12, about a single vehicle crash on U.S. 8 near Bell School Road. The caller told dispatchers there were power lines across the roadway. Arriving deputies found a pickup had crossed the centerline and entered the ditch. The truck then struck a driveway culvert, causing it to go airborne before it hit a power pole.

• A forester marking trees may have stumbled on human remains that are now under forensic analysis to determine their origins. The Rusk County Sheriff’s Department dispatch center received a call Friday, May 8, from a forester marking trees. The forester reported he may have discovered human bones in the woods about five miles northwest of Bruce.

• The cause of death for a woman identified as Jade Olson found dead near Lea Lake Flowage north of Ladysmith has been released. The Rusk County Sheriffs Department was made aware April 3 of an abandoned vehicle on Lea Lake Road north of Ladysmith. When deputies responded, they located the vehicle and learned the registered owner was from Stevens Point. A search of the wooded area was conducted and the registered owner of the vehicle, Jade Olson, 29, was found deceased. The manner of death was accidental, according to Rusk County Medical Examiner Annette Grotzinger.

• The burden put on County staff from increasing open records requests was the primary discussion topic at the Wednesday, May 6, meeting of the Executive Committee. The Sheriff’s Department receives the most requests, particularly ones for police dashcam and body camera footage. In responding to these requests, video must often be edited to redact certain images and information.

  “It gets to be overwhelming at times,” said patrol captain Darren Hodek. “It’s either the patrol division that’s going to suffer or the open records are going to suffer.”

Urban Rural Column

In case you missed it—check out my latest column and take the Wisconsin Jeopardy! quiz at www.urbanruralcolumn.wordpress.com.

Editor’s Picks

GIVE IT A LISTEN: Rising gas prices have spurred calls for a pause on the federal gas tax. This story from Marketplace explains what the federal gas tax is all about. The bottom line? The gas tax is unpopular, but so are bad roads, and to avoid the latter, funding has to come from somewhere.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• A driver was killed in a collision between an SUV and a commercial farm field sprayer Tuesday afternoon in the Village of Cameron. According to the Cameron Police Department, the Barron County Dispatch Center received an automated crash detection notification at approximately 3:58 p.m. on May 5, at the intersection of Hwys. 8 and SS south on the south side of the village. The crash remains under investigation. Officials have not released the name of the deceased pending notification of next of kin.

• Two people were hospitalized Saturday morning, May 2, after an apparent carbon monoxide exposure at a residence north of Rice Lake, according to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department. Emergency medical services were dispatched to the home at approximately 10:45 a.m., along with the Rice Lake Fire Department and the Barron County Sheriff’s Department. Responders located two individuals inside the residence, both suffering from symptoms consistent with poisoning.

• A major methamphetamine distribution operation was allegedly discovered Monday afternoon, May 4, 2026, when a large number of squad cars and Barron County Sheriff’s department personnel executed a search warrant at the Canoe Villa mobile home park in rural Cameron. An eight-page complaint filed Monday, May 4, 2026, in Barron County Circuit Court, identifies four defendants who were arrested in connection with the case, including Justin W. Godfrey, 51, a Canoe Villa resident, Shelby J. Hegna, 32, town of Sumner, Daniel W. Thompson, 41, rural Chetek, and Lillionna S. Wickware, 26, of Rice Lake.

• Continued complaints about misuse of Barron County’s public gun ranges has county officials considering further restrictions. Reduced open hours, higher fines, residency restrictions, more cameras, costly sound-proofing upgrades, fees and even outright closure are all on the table. Neighbors of both ranges have complained in recent years of increasing use and noise from high-caliber ammunition and Tannerite. County officials indicated that the ranges were established with the intent of being places for hunters to sight in their rifles, not to be used as shooting galleries.

• Schuman Cheese-Lake Country Dairy is celebrating a major milestone for longtime team member Justin Willcox, who has earned the distinguished title of Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker® for Parmesan and Romano, as well as the company’s success at the 2026 World Championship Cheese Contest. Overall, the Turtle Lake facility earned three prestigious medals, including a first place finish for its Cello Extra Aged Asiago, and second place finishes for its Cello Asiago and Cello Madagascar Vanilla Mascarpone.

IN THE NEWS: At a meeting this morning of the Barron County Executive Committee the primary topic of discussion was the burden of open records requests, particularly on the sheriff’s department—look for an article on that next week. For this week, check out the latest installment of Your Right To Know, where Tom Kamenick offers some perspective on How to solve high record costs and long delays.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• The Barron Area School District has begun renovations at 1443 E. Division Ave. as part of a multi-phase plan to expand childcare services and better serve local families, district officials announced. The project will transform the district’s current central office into a dedicated Early Learning Center for children ages 4 and under, addressing what Superintendent Diane Tremblay described as a growing community need for reliable, high-quality child care.

• What was that?—Residents north, south, east and west of Barron were startled by the sound of unexplained explosions Saturday afternoon, some thought to be coming from the ground. Our leading theory about the shock from the skies here is that it came from two F-35 aircraft of the 115th Fighter Wing.

• Folks who live in the Ridgeland area should expect to see single-engine crop duster type airplanes, flying at treetop level, during the months of June and July 2026, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer protection. Three areas of northern Dunn County, including a zone that straddles the Barron-Dunn county line east of Ridgeland, will be sprayed over the next three months to combat spongy moth infestation, DATCP has announced.

• A nationwide arrest warrant is out for a 23-year-old Rice Lake man who allegedly offered to provide drugs to a 12-year-old girl in exchange for sex, according to a complaint filed April 21, 2026, in Barron County Circuit Court. The defendant is identified as Josiah M. Teran.

Urban Rural Column

My column this week is actually more of a Wisconsin trivia quiz for the readers. Here’s the intro:

I’m a bit of a trivia buff, and I’ve long had a passing interest in the “Jeopardy!” game show. I’ve never been a regular watcher. But now that it’s available for on-demand streaming on Peacock, I find myself “tuning in” more often.

My interest has been heightened lately as Jamie Ding went on a 31-game winning streak, fifth longest in show history.

Of the hundreds of questions he answered correctly, one that stuck out to me in a “Sister Cities” category had the clue “In 2001 Lublin, Wisconsin, population 118, got sisterly with Lublin in this country, population 330,000.”

“What is Poland?” The little Taylor County village got its name from Chicago land agent Marvin Durski for his birthplace in eastern Poland.

It’s not often you see a small Wisconsin town featured on Jeopardy!

But, more broadly, Wisconsin has a fair amount of representation in the question. If you search “Wisconsin” on j-archive.com, a long list pops up with clues from episodes as far back as1984. First clue ever? U.S. GEOGRAPHY $200: The leading dairy products state.

How well would you do on a Wisconsin-themed Jeopardy? Check out page A5 of this week’s issue.

GIVE IT A LISTEN: I think many of us our fascinated by historical disasters, natural and manmade. One that stands out is the Chornobyl disaster. The Take podcast just put out an episode titled, “What does Chornobyl look like 40 years later?”

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Creating electronic records with dash and body cameras is an accountability tool and a safeguard for patrol officers with the Barron County Sheriff’s Department.

  But that footage also creates a smorgasbord of public records for TV networks, podcasters and others who use the video to cash in on popular true crime shows, according to information shared Thursday, April 16, at the monthly meeting of the Barron County Board Law Enforcement & Emergency Management Committee. Forty hours were spent responding to open record requests from CBS for its “48 Hours” coverage of the Austin Herbst murder in 2017 and the story about the 2014 Daniel Raven murder that was featured last week on the Oxygen streaming platform, the committee learned.

• Barron County election officials are reporting solid voter participation following Tuesday’s Spring Election, with turnout surpassing a comparable 2024 contest. According to County Clerk Jessica Hodek, 21 percent of eligible voters—based on a population of 47,047—cast ballots, while turnout among registered voters reached 35 percent of the county’s 28,280 registered voters. Hodek noted the figures exceeded participation levels from a similar Spring Election in 2024, which also featured Presidential Preference races.

• Barron Electric Cooperative celebrated its 90th anniversary at its annual meeting on April 9, held at the cooperative’s headquarters. The theme, “Lighting the Way for 90 Years,” was reflected throughout the event, which drew nearly 300 members and guests.

• Barron city residents will have an opportunity to dispose of unwanted household items during the annual City Wide Cleanup event scheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2026. The cleanup will take place from 7 a.m. to noon at the City Street Shop, located at 755 East Taylor Avenue. The event is open to City of Barron residents only, and proof of residency will be required. Residents are asked to bring a utility bill for verification at the entrance.

• Alcohol is presumed to be involved in a pair of crashes that took place Saturday, April 18, 2026, near Cameron and in the village of Prairie Farm, according to reports from the Barron County Sheriff’s Department. The first crash took place just after 6:30 in the morning Saturday along the 1800 block of eastbound County Hwy W near the Barron County Historical Museum, west of Cameron. The second crash took place just before 9 p.m. Saturday, April 18, in the village of Prairie Farm.

Editor’s Picks

IN THE NEWS: A report from PBS Wisconsin—Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2026 race for governor of Wisconsin discuss what policies they would pursue to help address the high cost and limited supply of housing around the state.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• For the second time in a matter of weeks, a Barron County murder story has been featured in a true crime drama series. The latest is the killing of Daniel Raven in 2014, which was featured in an episode of “Snapped” on April 5 on Oxygen, a network that almost exclusively features true crime programming.

• Barron County Supervisors are scheduled to consider a resolution next month in support of tightened restrictions on so-called “wake boats,” following the April 7, 2026, meeting of the County Board’s Extension-Land Conservation Committee. Wake boating is the practice of running powerful vessels at low speeds with heavy ballast stowed in the stern, so as to create waves as high as four feet for recreational users on tubes, boards and jet skis. But the high-powered boat motors can also permanently damage vegetation on shallow lake bottoms, and the waves contribute significantly to shore erosion.

• The Barron Community Garden is preparing for its 11th season of fresh vegetables for the community and individual tables. The garden is located at the west end of the BCDSI (Barron County Development Services) at 175 North Lake Street, where a couple different styles of plots are available for gardeners to rent. An in-ground 20’ X 20’ plot is $30 for the season, and raised beds are $20.

• The communities of Cumberland and Barronett have officially been designated as a joint Ice Age Trail Community. The designation, announced April 1 by the Ice Age Trail Alliance, recognizes Cumberland–Barronett as one of three new communities joining a growing network along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail—the others are Montello and Iola-Scandinavia. The announcement comes as the Alliance ramps up outreach efforts in Barron and Rusk counties, hosting a series of free public events April 30 and May 1 in Rice Lake, Weyerhaeuser and Cumberland.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Voters across the area headed to the polls Tuesday, April 7, for the spring election, deciding judicial contests and a slate of local races. In a smattering of local competitive races, the most notable vote tally occurred in Almena, where two candidates tied for the final seat on the village board. Scott Kunkel led the field with 89 votes, followed by David Heintz with 82. Derrick Koehn and Kathy Rockow each received 65 votes, creating a tie for the remaining position, while Talon Novinski finished fifth with 25 votes. It was not immediately known Tuesday night how the tie would be resolved.

• In a property access lawsuit filed by a neighbor against the Barron VFW a jury ruled Thursday, April 2, in favor of the plaintiff on one of two counts. Robert J. Penberthy Jr., of 1115 E. Division Ave., was given a yes from the jury on his claim for a prescriptive easement, meaning part of a fence must be removed by the VFW to restore access to a driveway on Penberthy’s property that connects to the VFW’s driveway. On the question of whether or not Penberthy could claim adverse possession of part of the VFW’s property, the jury said no, with one of the 12 members dissenting. The jury deliberated for nearly three hours before giving its verdict.

• A deceased person was found after the Rusk County Sheriffs Department was made aware Friday, April 3, of an abandoned vehicle on Lea Lake Road north of Ladysmith. When deputies responded, they located the vehicle and learned the registered owner was from Stevens Point. A search of the wooded area was conducted and the registered owner of the vehicle, Jade Olson, 29, was found deceased. A caller to law enforcement reported the vehicle had been there a couple of days.

IN THE NEWS: The reasons for firing of UW President Jay Rothman by the Board of Regents are unclear, and so is the UW’s future in light of the sudden move. Most of what I know of Rothman I’ve gleaned from Barron County Board committee meetings. Officials at those meetings painted Rothman as being indifferent at best about the fate of the UW’s small campuses, like UW Eau Claire-Barron County in Rice Lake. Perhaps a change in leadership bodes well for these campuses. Only time will tell.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Hello readers,

Sorry the newsletter is a day late this week. I was covering a court trial all day Wednesday. Here’s a rundown of the April 1 issue.

Headlines

• Spring Election Day is Tuesday, April 7, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Judicial races, including one for State Supreme Court, and a slate of local positions will be on the ballot. Voters will decide a 10-year term on the state’s highest court, choosing between Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar. The race fills the open seat of retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley and, while officially nonpartisan, is widely viewed through a partisan lens, with Taylor backed by Democrats and Lazar backed by Republicans.

• A stolen shipment of ground bison meat worth nearly $317,000 has resulted in a civil suit filed March 17, 2026, in Barron County Circuit Court. In an 18-page complaint, plaintiff Northstar Bison, Rice Lake, sued Sultan Trans, Inc., of Fairfield, Ohio, and its insurer, AGCS Marine Insurance, Madison. The suit alleges that more than a year ago, on March 17, 2025, North Star got an order for 40,000 pounds of ground bison. The following April 25, Sultan picked up the shipment at a cold storage facility in Eau Claire. The bison meat was supposed to be sent to an address in Linden, New Jersey. However, “while the shipment was enroute, an unknown bad actor generated a fraudulent bill of lading” that changed the shipment’s destination to an address in Elizabethtown, N.J., the suit alleged.

• Barron High School junior and Girl Scout Zoey Frandsen has announced the launch of Barron Bloom: A Community Pollinator Initiative, a project that will establish the first municipal pollinator garden in the City of Barron.

  The garden will be located at Lions River Park and will serve as a model for future pollinator‑friendly spaces throughout the region.

IN THE NEWS: Abercrombie & Fitch ex-CEO Mike Jeffries is fit for sex trafficking trial, according to medical experts in a recent court hearing. Jeffries partner, Matthew Smith, and a Rice Lake man, James Thor Jacobson will stand trial with him.

IN THE NEWS: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy funneled $1M to son-in-law’s bid for Congress in northern Wisconsin. The Badger Project has the story.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• A true crime saga born out of the discovery of a human skull in Barron County in 2017 was recently featured on an episode of the CBS show “48 Hours.” The episode “What The Neighbors Saw” focused on the murder of Gary Herbst by his son, Austin Herbst, who shot him while he slept at their home in Elko New Market, Minnesota. The bones of Gary A. Herbst, 57, were discovered after a family dog apparently found them and brought part of a human skull into a driveway in the 1300 block of 10th Avenue, south of Barron. But the identity of the remains was unknown until 2020. DNA testing by the DNA Doe Project finally made the connection.

• A Barron woman and her grandson were killed in a two-vehicle crash late Tuesday morning, March 17, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 77 in Minong, according to the Minong Police Department. Candis Flint, 78, and her grandson, Zeak Heffron, 16, also of Barron, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. Officers were dispatched at approximately 11:49 a.m. to the intersection, where they found a collision involving a 2019 Subaru Ascent and a semi-truck.

• A 38-year-old Cameron woman died Wednesday evening, March 18, following a one-vehicle crash south of Cameron, according to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department. Amy Volkert, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Authorities said the crash was reported at about 7:44 p.m. March 18 at the intersection of Hwy. SS and 21st Street.

• An upcoming public hearing has been scheduled in the electric rate case filed by Barron Light & Water, marking the next step in proceedings before the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. According to a formal notice, the commission will hold a virtual hearing at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2026. There will be no physical location for the hearing, with participation available via Zoom, telephone or livestream. Members of the public can also submit written comments through April 14. The rate case, filed by Barron Light & Water Utility, seeks an 11% increase in electric rates and represents the utility’s first municipal rate case since 2009.

• A civil action involving a rural Turtle Lake resident and three units of government is now in its 14th month and shows no signs of resolution, according to Barron County Circuit Court records. In November 2024, plaintiff Raymond T. Leisz sued the village of Turtle Lake, alleging that effluent from the village’s wastewater treatment plant had been discharged onto 60 acres of his land, which resulted in “unreasonable and off-putting stench,” erosion, pollutants and loss of property value, court documents said. The village denied any detrimental effects on the plaintiff’s property.

IN THE NEWS: The headline in this article from The Isthmus reads “The unusually quiet race for Wisconsin Supreme Court.” I have to agree with that assessment. It doesn’t feel like there’s any election coming up, but there’s a full ballot for the April 7 Spring Election. Check out next week’s News-Shield for a broader election preview, including local races.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Construction for the Maple Grove Solar project, covering more than 1,500 acres south of Barron, has been delayed following a change in project ownership. Maple Grove Solar parent company ibV Energy Partners sold the interests in the project to Exus Renewables North America earlier this year. While ibV proposed to begin construction of the solar field in 2026, that timeline has been pushed back until at least July 1, 2027, according to the latest correspondence submitted to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

• Construction on bridges carrying southbound US 53 traffic over 20th Street south of Cameron and County I near Chetek will impact the roads under the structures. Beginning Monday, March 16, 20th Street under US 53 will be closed through Friday, March 20 and Monday and Tuesday, March 23-24. County I in both directions between the US 53 interchange ramps is set to be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 and ending at 6 a.m. Saturday, March 21.

• A recent spike in the number of Barron County jail inmates was a topic for discussion when the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council met for the first time this year on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at the county Justice Center. Council members represent municipal and county law enforcement officers, jail personnel, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, health and human service officials, and others who deal directly or indirectly with the criminal justice system. It was formed in March 2012. The total jail populations for January and February were 97 and 102, respectively. Of that number, the Barron County inmate count was 95 for both months.

• An 83-year-old man was sentenced to 40 years in prison March 6 in connection to multiple sexual assaults of young children, some of which allegedly occurred in Barron County. Robert Karstensen was sentenced March 6, 2026, in Eau Claire County to 40 years of initial confinement followed by 20 years of extended supervision, along with lifetime sex offender monitoring. The sentence follows his guilty plea to five felony counts tied to the sexual abuse of multiple children.

• At its Tuesday, March 17 meeting, the Barron County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to refinance $5.5 million in loans for upgrades at the Waste to Energy & Recycling Center improvements. In 2023, the County borrowed $4 million at $5.25% interest from the State Trust Fund Loan for a new acid gas removal system. In 2024, another $1.5 million at 6% interest was borrowed for a new shredder and material handler for the plant. By refinancing, the County will save between $160,000 and $170,000 in interest, according to ​​Sean Lentz, senior municipal advisor for the Roseville, Minn.-based financial consulting firm of Ehlers, Inc., LLC.

• Cameron native and UW-La Crosse sophomore Tanner Gerber won the 165-pound NCAA Division III national wrestling title while competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Div. III Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Gerber claimed his title Saturday, March 14, with a 4-0 victory over Andrew Supers of Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio).

Urban Rural Column

In case you missed my column about Ski For Light a couple weeks back, you can check it out at https://wordpress.com/home/urbanruralcolumn.wordpress.com.

Editor’s Picks

GIVE IT A LISTEN: After going offline a few months ago due to a lack of funding, Wisconsin Eye is back, including my its Rewind podcast, which I listen to every week. The comeback was made possible by short-term legislative funding and ongoing fundraising, so it’s operating again for now—but its long-term future still depends on stable funding.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• City of Barron officials are considering a wheel tax in order to gain more revenue for street and bridge repairs. The idea was discussed by the City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, March 10. “It’s exactly what it sounds like,” said City Administrator Liz Jacobson. “It is a tax—a fee on residents who have their vehicle titled in Barron.”

• Barron County had just over 700 traffic crashes in 2025 – 156 of them involving injuries, according to information shared Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at a meeting of the Barron County Traffic Safety Commission. Both those numbers were up compared to the year before, according to Trace Frost, law enforcement liaison for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s bureau of transportation safety.

• Chetek resident Indiana “Indy” Thompson has announced he is running for the Wisconsin State Assembly seat representing Wisconsin’s 67th Assembly District in the upcoming midterm election. Thompson said he decided to run because he believes the district needs new leadership in the state legislature. “I am campaigning because I feel like we need change in our state legislature to help the people of District 67 thrive,” Thompson said in announcing his candidacy. “I’m excited to begin this journey and talk with constituents about the issues that affect them.”

• The Barron News-Shield received four awards in the annual Wisconsin Newspaper Assn. Better Newspaper Contest. The award winners were recognized at a ceremony in Madison on Thursday, March 5. Competing in Division D (circulation of 2,250 – 4,499), News-Shield staff received honors in the Breaking News Reporting, Best Headlines, Localized State or National Story, and Editorial Award categories.

• Four years ago, Barron residents Donna and Jerry Skoczek happened to stop for breakfast at Lona’s Cafe in Haugen when they ended up participating in the restaurant’s first weekly “senior breakfast.” “We’ve been coming here ever since,” Donna Skoczek said Thursday, March 6, 2026, on the fourth anniversary of a program that is cosponsored by Lona’s and the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Barron County (ADRC). Organized and coordinated with the help of County Board Supervisor Patti Anderson, who represents Haugen and the town of Bear Lake (Dist. 17), the weekly program runs every Thursday, and provides breakfasts for all seniors at a suggested donation of $8 per meal, with the county covering the remaining cost.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• It was the morning of Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, and Cameron area residents Greg Symbal and Chip Bell, the co-owners of the Buck n’ Beams Campground, Bar and Grill, were relaxing over breakfast at their hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

  That’s when they started seeing huge, oily, columns of black smoke begin to rise from nearby neighborhoods. It was the start of Operation Jalisco, an attack by the Mexican government on a multibillion-dollar drug cartel run by Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes -- otherwise known as “El Mencho.” What was supposed to be the final day of a midwinter vacation was actually the start of a three-day wait for Symbal and Bell, who managed to find a flight back to the States on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

• At the Barron County Dispatch Center Tuesday morning, March 3, 2026, a “test text message” showed up on dispatcher Paul Brooten’s screen, in the county dispatch center on the south end of the building. Within seconds of receiving the call, Brooten was able to respond with a message that the caller had, indeed, reached a human being who was there to help. And he followed it up with another terse sentence: “Unlock the door.” Following a planning, funding and installation process that dates back four years to 2022, Text to 911 was made possible by $14,000 from Barron County taxpayers, a sum that was used to leverage a $56,000 state grant that helped pay to upgrade the system.

• Two people have been arrested, including the victim’s wife, as the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department has launched a death investigation. The sheriff’s department took a report Monday, March 2, that Terry DuSell, 56, of Ladysmith, was possibly missing because family hadn’t had contact with him, according to Sheriff Phil Grassmann.

• A Tennessee man who met a Holcombe teen girl online and then traveled to Wisconsin to abduct her from her home more than three years ago was sentenced to 37.5 years total in the Wisconsin State Prison System at a sentencing hearing, Monday, in Chippewa County Circuit Court.

• Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow selected staff members to be trained under the Warrant Service Officer Program, according to a press release issued March 2. Bygd said the decision was made based on legal advice from the attorney representing the county’s liability insurance carrier, Wisconsin County Mutual. Under the agreement, Dunn County deputies are authorized only to serve federal immigration detainers on individuals who are already in custody at the Dunn County Jail on local criminal charges.

Urban Rural Column

My latest column is about learning to be a cross country skiing guide for sight impaired athletes with the Ski For Light organization. Every winter SFL holds a weeklong gathering for guides and visually impaired people and mobility impaired people. This year’s was in Granby, Colorado. Here’s an excerpt:

Ski For Light is built on a simple but powerful idea: that blindness should never be a barrier to gliding across snow with confidence. Last month, I had the chance to take part in that mission firsthand.

Ski for Light (SFL) is an all-volunteer organization that pairs visually impaired cross-country skiers with trained sighted guides, giving participants the opportunity to ski safely and confidently.

The effort was born in 1964 in the birthplace of skiing, Norway, with the Ridderrennet. In 1975, Norwegians brought the effort to the U.S. SFL has existed as a standalone organization in the U.S. ever since, with a major partner being the Sons of Norway fraternal organization.

It was my wife Anna’s idea to volunteer for Ski For Light. Every year SFL has a booth at the American Birkebeiner expo in Hayward, and she has stopped there to chat with them many times over the years. As we were planning a vacation for 2026, she suggested SFL, and I basically said, “Sure, why not?”

Wanting to avoid the uncertainty of air travel, we decided to drive to Colorado. We split it into three days, sightseeing along the way—Sioux Falls, Corn Palace, Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff, Cheyenne and more.

Eventually we arrived at Snow Mountain Ranch at YMCA of the Rockies in Granby, Colorado, just in time for dinner Saturday night. The next morning we got a crash course in guide training for first- and second-year guides. I was fortunate to be mentored by a guy named Chuck from Bend, Oregon, who was well-versed in guiding.

On its surface, guiding a visually-impaired skier is relatively straightforward. It’s all simple voice commands—there’s no tethering together or anything like that. Once a skier is in the set tracks, the skiing comes naturally. The voice commands become important in transition times—turns, changing tracks, passing another skier, going downhill, etc.

As Chuck and I practiced guiding, taking turns playing the visually-impaired person (VIP) by simply closing our eyes. As we wrapped up, Chuck suggested I try guiding our trainer, Sue, a genuine VIP, back to the ski trailhead.

It started out fine for the first few minutes. Then all of a sudden, Sue was headed off the trail. In a panic, I shouted “Left! Left! Left!” She corrected her path, and we made it back to the trailhead OK.

My mistake earlier was my choice of words in giving direction. Chuck and I had been practicing with the clock method—9:00 is left, 3:00 is right, with slighter degrees of turning in between. Well, that method was harder for Sue—a simple left or right was better. It made me realize how important it was for guides and skiers to build rapport and communication thoroughly before and during ski sessions.

Earlier that morning, we were told we’d all be having a “blind date” that night after dinner. In other words, we’d be meeting the visually-impaired person (VIP) who we would be guiding throughout the week.

Read the full column on page A6 of this week’s issue.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Since the late 1970s, a building on the east edge of Barron has been the scene of at least one (and often two) weekly livestock auctions, as farmers from throughout the area brought their animals to sell. After today -- Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 -- that will no longer be the case. In a recent post on its website, Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association announced that the Barron market would hold its final auction Feb. 25.

• The Barron Chamber of Commerce held its rescheduled annual business meeting and year in review Thursday, Feb. 19, at a noon dinner at Rollings Oaks Supper Club. The meeting was conducted by Chamber President Ann Matheny.

  About 30 Chamber members were present to see Johnson, Agen, Kupferschmidt & Associates, LLC presented with the Business & Community Citizen Award and Billie Church presented with the Chamber’s Distinguished Service Award.

• The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office says it has identified a suspect in a string of incidents along State Highway 25 north and south of Menomonie in which vehicles were struck by thrown objects. Authorities report that over the past several months, they have received numerous complaints from drivers who said their vehicles were hit by a water bottle or another unknown object while traveling on Highway 25. The objects caused damage to several vehicles, according to the sheriff’s office. Anyone who experienced a similar incident that has not yet been reported is asked to contact the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office at 712-232-1348.

IN THE NEWS: The list people running for the Northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional Seat continues to grow. But how many of them can actually call themselves bona fide northerners? That may be up for debate. WPR reports that half of them have recently voted in other districts.

Headlines

• A pair of deaths, apparently caused by exposure, have taken place in Barron County during the first two weeks of February 2026, according to 911 calls made to the Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center. Neither of the male victims was identified, nor was the cause of death indicated, other than the extremely cold weather conditions.

• The Barron County Board of Supervisors voted Monday, Feb. 16 to raise the county clerk of court and county sheriff salaries several thousand dollars over the next four years. In the case of the sheriff, the rationale behind the increase was to make the sheriff the highest paid member of the sheriff’s department. After former Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald resigned last year, Chief Deputy Jason Hagen declined to seek the position, at least in part, because it meant he would be taking a pay cut.

• The saga of Alcatraz, a fanciful name given to a shorefront property in Rice Lake that was seized for back taxes by Barron County nearly three years ago, is about to add another chapter, according to information shared at a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at Barron. The 1.5-acre Alcatraz site, at 220 E. Charles St., is surrounded on three sides by Johnson Truck Bodies. A grant has been obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to conduct a “visioning study” on how Alcatraz might be used after contaminants found in the ground and beneath the lakebed have been removed.

• The Burger King in Rice Lake is among more than 100 locations across the state cited in what officials are calling the largest child labor and wage violation case in modern Wisconsin history. Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced today that Cave Enterprises Operations LLC, which operates 105 Burger King franchises in Wisconsin, has been hit with a determination of more than 1,656 violations affecting more than 600 minor employees.

• It’s time to celebrate the promise of spring by celebrating the 44th annual Ridgeland Pioneer Day Saturday, Feb. 21. There is no doubt that Main Street Ridgeland will be packed with a swaying mass of celebrants eager for the events top draw, the Chicken Fly, which will challenge both young and old for chance to take home a chicken as a pet or an entrée for the pot. The Chicken Fly will get underway at noon.

• The Barron Chamber of Commerce has scheduled its annual Winter Fest celebration away from potential bad weather to the comfortable confines of the Barron Public Library and Senior Center on Friday, Feb. 27, from 5-7 p.m. Enjoy a fun evening out with family and friends with free activities that includes bingo, crafts, games, hot cocoa and cookies.

• Some music enters our lives long before we know its story. The Red Cedar Spring concert series celebrates classical music that listeners may know by heart without realizing its origins. Concerts are set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Chetek Lutheran Church in Chetek, and 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Rice Lake.

IN THE NEWS: In case you were watching the Olympics and not Gov. Tony Evers State of the State address on Wednesday—you’re probably in the majority there—here is a recap from WPR.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Hello readers,

I got back from vacation just in time to report on an issue that has certainly been on the minds of many in the community. Is ICE in Barron County?

For weeks there have been rumors. Then last week, there was mention of ICE in the City of Barron police logs. That prompted us to contact Sheriff Jodi Kummet. She confirmed that ICE officers had been in Barron County. Today, a post on the Barron County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page offered more details: “ For purposes of clarity, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officials were in Barron County for a couple hours on Sunday. They were here looking for two individuals in particular. One was determined to have moved out of the area. The other was not located. For the security of enforcement operations, the names of the individuals cannot be released.”

Unfortunately, the sheriff did not give me that specific information yesterday, otherwise I would have included it in our print story. An updated version in on our website and is this week’s top story.

As for whether or not ICE’s presence in the Barron County was brief or will become more pronounced, only time will tell.

Headlines

• At its next meeting Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2026, the Barron County Board of Supervisors will consider a motion to establish pay rates for two elected officials whose terms will be filled in elections later this year – Sheriff and Clerk of Court. If the board approves the vote of its Executive Committee, which was taken last Wednesday, Feb. 4, it will also make the sheriff the highest-paid member of the department. It was that disparity in salary that was behind a decision by the Chief Deputy Jason Hagen not to seek job vacated last year by former Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald.

• The Barron Community Fund’s Board of Directors met recently to allocate and disburse $25,000 raised during the BCF’s 2025 Fall Fund Drive. The generosity of Barron businesses and individuals is very much appreciated. The following local nonprofit organizations received community fund monies this year.

• When Almena resident Ethan Eriksen skis at the Trollhaugen resort in Dresser these days, he’s happy to see other visitors wearing the ski pants he developed -- and now sells online. Business teacher Ky Baumgard said that it was Eriksen’s passion for problem solving that prompted him to invite Ethan to enter his business, Shredrz Attire, in a Wisconsin Junior Achievement’s statewide Young Entrepreneur Competition. Eriksen is one of four statewide finalists. On Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, at a live event in Milwaukee, he and the other finalists will pitch their businesses to a panel of JA judges, an event that will be followed by a “Viewer’s Choice” competition that will let friends, family, classmates and business followers cast their votes.

Editor’s Picks

WORTH WATCHING: I will probably write a column next week about my trip to Colorado. The primary reason I was out there was to learn how to be a cross country skiing guide for vision-impaired skiers through an organization called Ski For Light. This video shows what Ski For Light is all about.

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That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Hello readers,

I am taking some time off right now. So you’ll have to catch up on the news the old-fashioned way by reading the paper for the next couple weeks. Here’s a link to the E-Edition page. Thanks!

—Ryan Urban

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Headlines

• Barron County Sheriff Jodi Kummet has announced she will seek reelection to the office of sheriff in the Nov. 3, 2026, election. Kummet was appointed sheriff by Gov. Tony Evers in July of 2025, succeeding Chris Fitzgerald, who resigned before finishing the current term. Kummet has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, including a long career with the Wisconsin State Patrol, where she attained the rank of senior master trooper.

• Two local transitional housing shelters are among 59 organizations receiving $2 million in grants from Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Foundation. The Salvation Army of Barron County is receiving $50,000 to help start a emergency housing project. The grant monies will be used to pour concrete slabs. Also receiving a $50,000 grant is Benjamin’s House in Rice Lake. It is being used for a boiler room upgrade, including new pumps, piping, water heater, radiator repair, controls and inspection.

• The city of Barron is seeking permission from Barron County Circuit Court to enter and clean up a property it alleges is dilapidated and dangerous.

  In a 13-page complaint filed Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, the city identified the property as one belonging to defendant Richard J. Workman and his wife, located at 45 S. Fourth St., Barron. The complaint said that the owners were ordered to demolish the property last June after the City Council determined that the building was “in such condition that it was at risk of collapse (and that) either the entire building or part of it could fall into (an adjoining) alley.”

• The village of Cameron and the owner of a property at 1103 W. Main Street are involved in a civil court action that has lasted well over six months and is now in its second year of litigation, according to Barron County Circuit Court records.

  Court filings indicate that the legal activity dates back to May 12, 2025, when the village issued an order to property owner Bruce Petersen to have the property taken down.

Editor’s Picks

GIVE IT A LISTEN: Sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night, I turn on a boring podcast to help me get back to sleep. During one such recent night, I went for this episode of On The Media. The lead story is on the Federal Reserve. Instant ZZZs, right? I was wrong and ended up listening to the whole thing. Sleepy or not, check it out.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

Hello readers,

This year marks the 150th year of publishing for the Barron News-Shield. We plan to do a series of articles through the year about the history of the newspaper. Back in 1876 it was the Barron County Shield. So this week we start with the namesake of Barron—Henry Danforth Barron. He was a jurist, legislator, regent, but before all of that he was a newspaperman. I hope you enjoy this first installment in our history.

Headlines

• On Monday morning, Nov. 24, 2025, a woman named Amanda was a guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Barron County Board’s Health and Human Services Committee. Her topic: what addiction had done to her life -- drugs, alcohol, and, most specifically, methamphetamine. Read her story and see what perspectives are offered by local officials as the fight against substance abuse continues.

• A man has been charged with draining an estimated $157,000 from his mother’s bank accounts while acting as her representative through power of attorney, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Barron County Circuit Court. Defendant Grant J. Doorn, 44, a resident of the city of Rice Lake, was freed on bond following an initial appearance Jan. 7, pending a preliminary hearing on Jan. 27. The 18-page complaint details an investigation that began more than three months ago, when Rice Lake police were approached by a social worker with the Barron County Department of Health and Human Services.

• Law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant Tuesday, Jan. 13 near Conrath as part of the long-running investigation into the 2015 disappearance of Tammy Jovaag, according to a joint statement from the Rusk County and Chippewa County sheriff’s offices. Authorities said no evidence or human remains were located during the search of property in the Town of Willard. The investigation remains active.

• Sunshine and a couple days of temperatures above freezing early this week were just what the doctor ordered for Barron County’s roads after a rough stretch of winter weather. Frequent snows around New Years, including on weekends and holidays when crews would normally be off, followed by periods of freezing rain gave neither plow truck operators or drivers a break for the past two weeks or more.

Urban Rural Column

In case you missed my columns in the previous two weeks, they are posted at my blog:

https://urbanruralcolumn.wordpress.com/

IN THE NEWS: Does Congressman Tony Wied know something we don’t? The wealthy businessman elected to Congress in 2024, recently took action to protect against a stock market downturn by purchasing between $1 million and $5 million in U.S. Treasury bills, a safer move compared to his usual stock-trading habits. The Badger Project has the story.

GIVE IT A LISTEN: Want to go somewhere warm this winter? Many who do fly with appropriately named Sun Country Airlines, which has many flights to and from MSP. Another budget airline, Allegiant, is proposing to buy and merge with Sun Country. Marketplace recently had an interesting story on what this could mean for the airlines and its passengers.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban

• Barron Light & Water will conduct a precautionary chlorination of the city’s water supply beginning Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, according to a notice issued by the utility. The process will continue through Wednesday, Jan. 14.

  During the chlorination period, chlorine will be added at each well house to disinfect the water system, including water mains and towers throughout the city. The measure is intended to prevent contamination and maintain water quality.

• A civil suit that has been active for well over four years is set to go to a four-day jury trial May 19 though 22, 2026, involving two major Barron County businesses and a Minnesota firm that sells and installs flooring, according to Barron County Circuit Court records. In total, four businesses have been involved in the litigation since the first documents were filed in August 2021. At stake is a cash settlement that could reach well into six figures. The central point of contention is a tile floor that was installed when Don Johnson Motors built a new auto dealership in Cumberland in 2021.

• A Sawyer County woman was found dead last Tuesday, the victim of a stabbing attack in her home between Radisson and Couderay. Sawyer County Sheriff’s deputies responded at 2:16 p.m., Dec. 30, to a home at 11364W Wis. 27/70, in the town of Radisson, for a report of a dead female. Arriving deputies found Lynette D. Coaty, 61, of Radisson, in the home, the victim of apparent stab wounds.

  During the initial investigation, deputies identified a possible suspect in the alleged homicide. The suspect’s vehicle was stopped by deputies near the village of Radisson. The driver, Yevhen Kravchenko, 37, also from Radisson, was arrested in connection with the homicide.

• And check out the 2025 Year in Review for July through December.

Urban Rural Column

Sorry for the length of this column. But how could the report of an 80-mile slog on a bike from Park Falls to Rice Lake not be long? Here’s an excerpt:

This past Saturday I rolled my fat tire bike up to the starting line of the Tuscobia Winter Ultra, running from Butternut Lake near Park Falls to Rice Lake.

I started Saturday, finished Sunday.

It was an 80-mile slog that ended at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Rice Lake at around 3:40 a.m. (17 hours, 40 minutes). If I had known it would take that long, I might have quit.

Why did I put myself through that? For one thing, I completely lost track of time. It was dark and my phone was off—in case I needed it to make that bail out call.

But that moment never came. As hard as it was, I just never felt like quitting.

The sign-up for the Tuscobia Ultra is in late summer every year. First, participants register for the race, and a few weeks later you find out if you’re selected or not. The number of entrants is limited—mostly so the organizers can keep track of anyone crazy enough to bike, walk or ski from Park Falls to Rice Lake—many actually do double the distance, Rice Lake to Park Falls and back. Not me though—I like to keep the fun to suffering ratio more balanced.

I was selected, but waited until the last minute to pay my $150 entry fee. I didn’t feel like I was in the best shape, and I wasn’t feeling confident that I would have time to get fit. I guess my sense of adventure, pride or some combination of the two prevailed.

My prediction was correct—I got busy with everything else and trained little, especially in November and December. My diet stayed the same—not the worst, but not the best either.

As the race drew nearer, I told myself I would give it a shot, try to enjoy it and see what happens—if the conditions are good, I can probably finish.

Conditions are a huge variable for Tuscobia. That first year, in variable snow conditions, when I was in really good shape, I finished in 12 hours, 44 minutes. In 2023, and in just OK shape, I did the snowless ride in 9 hours.

This year, plenty of snow. But how firm would it be?

At first, it seemed firm enough. We 80-mile bikers loaded our bikes on semi that morning and boarded a bus to Butternut Lodge. The first five or so miles were on roads until we hit the Tuscobia Trail.

Yes, we had good pedaling at first—no complaints here. The scenery in that remote stretch was wonderful, every pine tree iced like a gingerbread house.

But after crossing Highway 70 at Draper, the snow totally changed. I don’t know if it was because it was a more open area, more snowmobile traffic or what, but the snow was mush. I fell almost immediately when I hit it—the first of many snow angels made that day.

Read the full column on page A6 of this week’s issue.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Thanks for reading. If you need to catch up on local news or are looking for more Editor’s Picks, check out the archives at newsshield.substack.com.

—Ryan Urban