The Broadsheet: Three apply for sheriff
Headlines from the Barron News-Shield June 4, 2025 edition, plus some extra, newsy recommendations from the editor.
Hello readers,
Everyone wants to know: Who else is applying to be sheriff? I hoped to have that answer in this issue. I submitted an open records request to the governor’s office, but have not yet received a reply.
Through sources, I actually know who two of the three candidates are, but I couldn’t confirm it with that person directly, so only one of the three names is published, sheriff’s department captain Darren Hodek. I ran into recently retired sheriff Chris Fitzgerald today and even he didn’t know the identity of the third applicant.
What we do know is that interviews are being conducted this week. So stay tuned.
Headlines
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin visited Rice Lake Head Start on Wednesday, May 28, to highlight the impact of potential federal funding cuts to the program. Head Start focuses on establishing an educational foundation for disadvantaged children and helping them gain the social skills needed to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. It teaches early math and reading skills and provides dental, mental and nutritional health services to children and their parents at the prenatal stage through birth.
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has been granted an extension to respond to Barron County’s legal challenge of its approval of the Maple Grove Solar project earlier this year, according to Barron County Circuit Court records. Court records indicate that the PSC’s 60-day extension expires Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
After more than four years of planning, grant-writing, and frequent starts and stops along the way, a project has begun to redevelop 70 units of affordable housing in six Barron County communities, according to officials with the Barron County Housing Authority. The work involves nine buildings, including duplexes, two-story multifamily, and eight-unit slab-on-grade dwellings, according to Bob Kazmierski, executive director. Most are more than 50 years old and have not been remodeled since they were built.
Barron’s Music in the Park’s first entertainment of the year on June 11 will be a familiar name, Chris Kroeze. The entertainment will begin at 6 p.m. at Anderson Park. Food will be served at 5:30 by the Barron VFW and Barron Fire Department. The menu includes burgers, Louie’s brats, chips, beans, water, soda and beer. In Case of inclement weather, listen to 96.3 WJMC.
A high-speed pursuit through Barron and Rusk counties ended Tuesday, June 2, when a suspect's vehicle became stuck in a muddy field, leading to the driver’s arrest by law enforcement. According to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department, the incident began shortly after deputies attempted a traffic stop on County Road M near U.S. Highway 8 for registration and traffic violations.
An out-of-court settlement has been reached in a nearly six-month-old forfeiture case involving the village of Dallas and a Dunn County resident, according to Barron County Circuit Court records. A court trial had been set for Thursday, May 29, 2025, in a case that involved the issuance of 41 separate citations for alleged violation of the village’s ordinance regarding the placement of trailer homes. However, the court dismissed the case on May 14, after attorneys for both the village and trailer owner Michael Lee Stuart, of Downing, indicated that the parties had reached an agreement to settle the case out of court.
Editor’s Picks
GIVE IT A LISTEN: Why you see a penny on the ground, do you pick it up? Not worth the effort? Well, it’s not worth the effort to make them anymore either, according to the Trump Administration. This episode of the The Journal podcast tells the history of the penny, about how it is becoming obsolete, and also about how there may be some unintended consequences of taking them out of circulation.
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