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ONEIDA COUNTY - A Heroin summit in Wausau Friday will spotlight the issue and show the impact the drug has on Northern Wisconsin.
Heroin is described as an epidemic by Northwoods law enforcement, social service workers and drug and alcohol counselors.
CHICAGO - The Obama administration announced a new 5-year plan for the Great Lakes on Wednesday that will accelerate efforts to address toxic pollution, invasive species and farm runoff and restore plant and wildlife habitat.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy released the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative's action plan at a meeting of Great Lakes mayors in Chicago, saying it is a roadmap for federal agencies to target the ``biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem.'' Congress has appropriated $1.6 billion since 2009 for the restoration effort.
IRONWOOD - Michigan wants to be known as "The Great Trails State". Starting next fall, a trail of more than one thousand miles will connect Ironwood and Detroit.
The proposal is actually for two trails - one for biking and another for hiking.
RHINELANDER - Thousands of debit and credit card holders in the Northwoods may be waiting for replacement cards after the latest nationwide data breach.
This one targets shoppers at the Home Depot.
NORTHWOODS - You may need to think twice before firing up the wood stove this winter. Several local logging companies have record low inventories for this time of year. Loggers say the weather stopped them from getting the timber they need. Last year's winter and this past summer have been less than kind to loggers.
"We've had a wet summer so far and in forest management, we have a lot of regulations and guidelines that we operate by," explained Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association Director Henry Schienebeck. "So a lot of times when it gets too wet, you just shut your operation down."
ACROSS THE NORTHWOODS - Blink and you may miss it. The leaves across the Northwoods are rapidly changing colors, and it's not just an illusion that they are changing faster.
Forestry experts say trees are actually shedding their chlorophyll quicker this year. Chlorophyll is the reason the leaves are green in the summer. The reason for the fast change is the amount of sunshine.
MADISON - Unemployment fell in every Wisconsin city and county last month.
The state Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday that unemployment dropped in all of the 32 largest cities and in all 72 counties in August compared with July.
RHINELANDER - Doctors think about three people in the US will commit suicide within the next half hour. More than 38,000 people die by suicide every year. Mental health experts in the Northwoods want to help bring that number down with new help options.
Mental health experts say depression is a treatable condition. There are many services in the Northwoods that can help.
Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties have a Mental Health Interagency Coalition.
MADISON - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wants to ask wolf hunters and trappers to help the agency gather more information about wounds the animals have suffered.
According to DNR documents, the agency wants to ask hunters and trappers to register their kills before skinning them.
EAGLE RIVER - If you live in Eagle River, you may have seen work being done on fire hydrants this week.
That's because the city is doing a flush of the water system.
Eagle River Light & Water typically flushes the system twice a year.
They started Tuesday with the south side of town and Wednesday they worked on the north side.
During the flush, water was safe to drink at all times.
WAUKESHA - A Waukesha County judge has dismissed a lawsuit that asks that ballots for the November election be redesigned.
Circuit Judge James Kieffer said Wednesday the lawsuit brought by the campaign committee for state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, both Republicans, was not properly filed.
RHINELANDER - The Rhinelander Area Food Pantry needs as much food as they can handle. The pantry tries to keep up with the families they rely on them. Tuesday, they had help from the community while loading up on potatoes.
"It's a lot of fun and it's nice to help pick for the community. It's a good thing to do. And it's fun," said 13-year-old Brianna Ward.
PRENTICE - Only about 700 people live in Prentice.
You may not think a small community like it would need an airport.
But local businesses depend on the Prentice Airport to bring in potential customers.
FOREST, ONEIDA, VILAS - It can be difficult to get around the Northwoods without a car.
Three counties will join together to make getting around easier.
Oneida, Forest and Vilas Counties will form a transit commission.
ANTIGO - Governor Walker will need to fill a judge position in Langlade County, according to a press release from the governor's office Tuesday.
Judge Fred Kawalski will step down in late November.
Kawalski was elected to the post in 2011.
BUTTERNUT - Prosecutors suspect 27-year-old Duane Amos strangled, hit, shook, and ultimately killed a two-year-old child in Butternut.
A criminal complaint says Amos was looking after his girlfriend's young child in late August.
Amos brought the child to the hospital in Park Falls, saying the toddler was wheezing.
LAKE TOMAHAWK - Camp American Legion in Lake Tomahawk will have a newly refurbished cabin next year.
The 128th Air National Guard is finishing its training at the local camp by building the cabin.
128th Air National Guard is a civil engineering squad of more than 25 men and women based out of Milwaukee.
TOMAHAWK - People traveled from all over the country to take a class taught in Tomahawk.
Painting and Sketching in the Northwoods is being taught at Treehaven.
A photography class is also being offered.
MARSHFIELD - More Wisconsin residents have reported they were victims of a Green Bay Packers ticket scam through which police say a 37-year-old Marshfield man stole tens of thousands of dollars.
Lt. Darren Larson of the Marshfield Police Department's detective bureau tells the News-Herald Media (http://mnhne.ws/1pqjCqg ) that football fans from outside the department's jurisdiction are coming forward.
MARATHON COUNTY - Police want your help finding an inmate who walked away in Marathon County.
The sheriff's department tells us inmate Dylan Alexandroni had been out on work release at Draeger's Dairy Farm.
At 8:45 Monday night, the Marathon County Jail got a call from Draeger's that Alexandroni had quit working and left.
MERRILL - Late last year, a 20-year-old Merrill woman claimed she had cancer. Celina Winchell and her father asked at least 17 businesses in Lincoln and Marathon Counties to put out collection containers for donations to the family.
But Winchell never had cancer. In fact, investigators found she had nothing worse than a sinus infection.
WAUSAU - The Wausau School District wants every student in the district to have either an iPad or Chromebook.
They hope to reach that goal by 2018.
Buying the computers and training could cost the district more than $2 million.
WISCONSIN - Sales of existing homes in Wisconsin have declined.
The Wisconsin Realtors Association reports sales dropped 5.7 percent in August compared to a year earlier.
Association board chairman Steve Lane says tighter inventory of properties in the state's metro areas could have slowed sales there.
LANSING, MI - The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has kicked off a contest to name a new hiking and bicycling trail across the state.
The DNR announced Monday it is accepting name suggestions until Oct. 13 for the trail from Belle Isle Park in Detroit to Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula. People can submit suggestions online or by mailing a paper entry form.
WAUSAU - A 34-year-old man will face charges for the murder and disappearance of a 22-year-old Wausau woman. Two others could also possibly face charges for being accomplices to the crime.
The Wausau Police Department held a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the recovery of Stephanie Low's body.
EAGLE RIVER - Capturing the beauty of fall can be tricky for an amatuer photographer. When it comes to taking great fall pictures, there are many things that you can do to achieve success.
The red, yellow and orange leaves have begun to pop all across the Northwoods.
Whether you're using your iphone, or an expensive camera, you need to know your light.
One of the most important tips is what time of day to go out and shoot pictures.
RHINELANDER - Most people usually don't get to meet some of their favorite authors, but a group of people had the chance to meet two local authors Monday night.
Judith Norling Carlson and Ann Andrashie shared their experiences. Monday, they discussed their books at the Rhinelander District Library. Andrashie wrote her book called "Dog Island" because she feels connected to the animal world.
WAUSAU - The Wausau Police Department will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the recovery of the body of a 22-year-old woman that had been missing for nearly four years.
Stephanie Low went missing from her Wausau apartment in October of 2010. Wausau Police Chief Jeff Hardel says the press conference will be at 4 p.m. Monday.
MARATHON COUNTY - Police accuse a woman in Marathon County of driving drunk with kids in the car.
A Wausau trooper from Wisconsin State Patrol arrested 35 year old Jessica Poetsch from Waukesha for her 4th OWI. It happened Sunday night, around 8 in the evening. There were 2 children in the car at the time of her arrest.
PRENTICE - Quan Banh hates to see bicycles go to waste.
The Prentice High School science teacher saw too many bikes used for scrap metal in Price County.
Banh thought those bikes could be fixed up a little and sent to developing countries.
