The Broadsheet: New sheriff in town
Headlines from the Barron News-Shield July 9, 2025 edition, plus some extra, newsy recommendations from the editor.
Headlines
A veteran Wisconsin State Patrol officer has been appointed by Gov. Tony Evers as the next Barron County Sheriff. Jodi Kummet fills a vacancy created by Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald’s retirement. Kummet will complete the remainder of the unexpired term that ends January 2027. Her appointment is effective on July 28, 2025.
A church has purchased the former Wisconsin National Guard Armory in Rice Lake. World Harvest Church, which is currently located at 1 N. Main St. in downtown Rice Lake, intends to repurpose the armory as its new active church home, according to church administrator Bobby Pittman. The church has outgrown its current space, having to hold two services a week to accommodate its congregation. Now World Harvest will have 3.38 acres, a large parking lot and an 18,000-square foot building.
Energy efficiency upgrades to the UW Eau Claire-Barron County campus were discussed at the Barron County Property Committee meeting on Monday, July 7. Mario Millonzi, of Upper 90, presented information on water conservation, destratification fans, solar recommendations, LED lighting measures and HVAC retro-commissioning. Millonzi said the campus is currently spending $150,000-$200,000 on electric and water costs. He suggested that the County, which is responsible for campus maintenance, could reduce its costs by $20,000 by making some of the recommended changes, and possibly more with the addition of solar infrastructure.
Former Jennie-O Turkey Store employees have a little over 3 months left to apply for a settlement as part of a class action lawsuit against the company for wage suppression. Jennie-O Turkey Store, which is owned by parent company Hormel, will pay $3.5 million as part of a $180 million settlement of a lawsuit claiming it and nine other big poultry processing companies unlawfully conspired to suppress wages and fix competition for production and maintenance employees. The settlement means people who worked between Jan. 1, 2000, and July 20, 2021, may be eligible for back pay.
Prairie Farm will celebrate its annual Dairy Days this weekend, beginning with a Friday night Tractor Pull and running into Sunday, when the annual Grande Parade will be held. A full itinerary is listed here, along with contact information for most events.
Editor’s Picks
GIVE IT A LISTEN: I listen to Rewind: The Week In Review show/podcast from Wisconsin Eye every week in order to keep up with state politics. The most recent episode, of course, covered the passing of the state biennial budget. If you’re not up to speed, check it out.
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="dc85UQmUOl"><a href="https://wiseye.org/podcast/rewind-your-week-in-review-for-june-29-july-3/">Rewind: Your Week in Review for June 29 – July 3</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://wiseye.org/podcast/rewind-your-week-in-review-for-june-29-july-3/embed/#?secret=dc85UQmUOl" width="500" height="350" title="“Rewind: Your Week in Review for June 29 – July 3” — WisconsinEye" data-secret="dc85UQmUOl" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">/* <![CDATA[ *//*! This file is auto-generated */!function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document);/* ]]> */</script>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