The Broadsheet
Headlines from the Barron News-Shield August 6, 2025 edition, plus some extra, newsy recommendations from the editor.
Headlines
An apparent agreement has been reached between a company that plans to develop the Maple Grove Solar array south of Barron and the county government on an emergency response plan for the facility, following a vote taken Thursday, July 31, 2025, by the Barron County Local Emergency Planning Committee. The newly-amended agreement addresses county concerns over how the county and Miami, Fla.-based ibV Energy Partners would handle and pay for fighting fires that might be generated by storage batteries at the array. Committee members voted to send the agreement directly to the full County Board for its consideration at the next regularly-scheduled meeting Monday, Aug. 18.
The Barron and Rusk County UW-Extension offices are losing a staff member this fall as the result of the congressional budget reconciliation bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4. The federal bill eliminated all National Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program (SNAP-Ed) funding effective Sept. 30. “Extension is currently navigating the difficult process of winding down our SNAP-Ed-funded programming including a layoff notice process for more than 90 employees,” said Dr. Karl Martin, director of the UW-Madison Division of Extension.
A natural gas emergency in late June was the result of a natural gas mixture that is too rich in content at the WE Energies Rice Lake distribution plant, according to local emergency management personnel. The incident was discussed at the latest meeting of the County Board Local Emergency Planning Committee.
A suspect in the armed robbery of an elderly Barron man in December 2023, who has been in jail on $75,000 cash bond since early May 2025, is scheduled to go on trial in February 2026. Defendant Dennis M. Ritchie, 63, of Clear Lake, faces charges that could amount to as much as 77 years in prison, even longer because of enhanced penalties that could be applied because the victim was a senior citizen.
The man who was airlifted after a chainsaw accident in rural Chetek on July 25 has passed away as a result of his injuries. According to an update on a GoFundMe page for the family, “On Saturday, August 2nd, Jeff Ladd was pronounced brain dead after a brain herniation and stroke. Though heartbreaking for everyone waiting and hoping for good news, we’re choosing to focus on the good. The good he did throughout his life, and the good he’s still doing now. Dad spent his life quietly pouring into others. Through mentorships, job shadows, blood drives, learn to hunt programs, youth shooting sports, food drives, and helping to conserve wildlife—he found meaning in all of it.”
Longtime veterinarian and community leader Don Peterson was honored Monday, Aug. 4, for his decades of service to the Barron area. Peterson was inducted into the Golden Bears Reaching Their Dreams Wall of Honor during a ceremony at the annual Kiwanis Picnic at Anderson Park. He served on the Barron Area School District Board of Education, the Barron First United Methodist Church, the Barron Kiwanis Club, and as president of the Barron Area Community Center. His leadership and support helped bring to life community projects such as the new Anderson Park playground, the Barron Hockey Arena, Barron Skate Park and the Wayside Cemetery Veterans Memorial.
Editor’s Picks
IN THE NEWS: The Badger Project media organization is suing St. Croix County after it refused to release documents detailing an investigation into one of its sheriff’s deputies. The Badger Project routinely reports on wandering officers, or police and jailers forced out of one law enforcement job who are rehired at another. Previous reporting suggests that the number of wandering officers in Wisconsin rose by 50% from 2021 to 2024. Studies suggest that wandering officers are more prone to misconduct and discipline at their new jobs.