Ryan Urban

1 week ago | chetekalert.com | Ryan Urban

A significant equipment upgrade at the Barron County Waste To Energy facility is going over budget on account of a contractor leaving the project abruptly, according to county officials. The project in question is the installation of a new acid gas removal system at the plant. The equipment is essential to controlling emissions from the plant’s incinerator, and with the upgrade the plant could achieve greater capacity. “We learned he was going to pull out two-thirds way through the project—Aug.

1 week ago | news-shield.com | Ryan Urban

At a special meeting of the Rice Lake Planning Commission on June 5 the commission approved a plan by Menards to construct seven storage unit buildings. The 245 storage units will be located east of the Menards store on 6.8 acres on the southeast corner of the intersection of South Access Road (Hwy. O) and Wisconsin Avenue. Pat Wewel, a real estate and legal representative for Menards, said that Menards has owned the property since 2014. “We purchased the property primarily for stormwater purposes.

1 week ago | news-shield.com | Ryan Urban

The Barron County Board officially appointed Barron County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Jason Hagen as interim sheriff at its regular meeting on Monday, June 17. Hagen has been heading the department since June 1, following the retirement of Chris Fitzgerald. As of press time on Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers had not yet named Fitzgerald’s successor, nor had the governor’s office responded to the News-Shield’s records request of the names of the three applicants for the job.

1 week ago | news-shield.com | Ryan Urban

Barron superintendent Diane Tremblay will remain with the school district. Tremblay was one of three finalists for the superintendent job in Hayward, but that district hired a different candidate for the position. In an email to the News-Shield on Wednesday, June 11, Tremblay stated, “I will be continuing as Superintendent of our Barron Area School District and I couldn’t be happier about that decision. Now let’s rally the community around our Golden Bear Baseball Team in Appleton.

1 week ago | news-shield.com | Ryan Urban

By Ryan UrbanA “Hands Off Medicaid” town hall event was held Monday, June 9, in Rice Lake to raise awareness about the effects of proposed federal budget cuts. Federal legislators are debating the 2025 “Big Beautiful” spending bill, which includes $750 billion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over 10 years.