The Broadsheet: Solar? In Maple Grove?
Headlines from the Barron News-Shield December 6, 2023 edition, plus some extra, newsy recommendations from the editor.
Hello readers,
I’m a member of the Barron Kiwanis Club. Meetings are every Wednesday at noon, with lunch at Rolling Oaks and a program of some kind. I get a lot of story ideas from these programs, including last week when representatives of ibV Energy Partners spoke to our group.
It was the first I’d heard of an expansive solar project planned in the Town of Maple Grove. The 260-megwatt project on 1,500 acres is poised to change the local landscape literally and figuratively. Read more in this week’s top story.
Headlines
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has struck once again in Barron County.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection reported Friday, Dec. 1, that HPAI had impacted a commercial operation of 114,886 poultry in Barron County. All birds at the affected site will be euthanized and not enter the food supply. That brings the total number of poultry affected in Wisconsin this fall to 238,427.
Barron County’s battle against substance abuse could be helped by its share of the so-called “National Opioid Settlement,” a still-unspent cash fund that is now approaching the $300,000 mark, including principal and interest. The topic came up during the Nov. 27, 2023, meeting of the County Board’s Health & Human Services Committee. According to DHHS financial records, $284,624.93 went to Barron County in the initial settlement.
In the span of two days, three structures were heavily damaged by fires in the Mikana and Brill area last week. A home and two large barns were damaged, one of which contained well over 100 animals who perished in the fire.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald recently announced several changes in leadership positions on his staff. Chief Deputy Jason Hagen, of Barron, who had been appointed to a captain’s position in July 2022, will take a position vacated by the retirement of Chief Deputy Jason Leu. Captain Darren Hodek, of Chetek, was promoted to the position from his former role as sergeant. Hagen and Hodek will take over their new duties as of Jan. 1, 2024.
Urban Rural Column
Once again I must apologize for the many weeks between columns. It has been a busy fall. But I actually found some time to write this one while sitting in the shack at the Kiwanis Christmas tree stand during a lull between customers. Here’s an excerpt:
The other day I had to show a teenager how to use our washing machine.
She’s a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic. Of course, I don’t think her nationality had anything to do with her trouble learning the machine.
The foreign concept was in fact the age of the machine.
How would anyone from Gen Z know that to start the machine you have to pull up on the timer dial, not an app?
While our old Whirlpool is maybe a little rough on clothes and certainly not as efficient as today’s models, I am in no hurry to get a new washing machine.
I recently saw a story in the Wall Street Journal headlined “Why ‘efficient’ washers take forever to run.”
Because these machines are so “efficient” with water, wash cycles take longer and don’t clean clothes as well.
Many people have come to regret buying these new-fangled washers. Some have even resorted to “hacking” the machines by topping them off with several pitchers of water in order to get cleaner clothes.
Read the full column on page A6 of this week’s issue.
Editor’s Picks
GIVE IT A LISTEN: You might recall that my last Urban Rural Column was about my experience freelancing for the BBC. The project has caused some fallout for Abercrombie & Fitch, former CEO Mike Jeffries and his associates. You can hear more about that in recently-released episode 8 of the podcast “World of Secrets.”
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