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RHINELANDER - The Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce hopes to bring more people from out of town to the Boom Lake Log Jam.
It plans on doing that by using grant money it got to advertise the event.
The chamber got a $20,000 Joint Effort Marketing, or JEM, grant from the state to promote the event.
ANTIGO - An Antigo group wants to help more people start their own gardens. United Methodist Church (of Antigo) leaders manage the Antigo Community Garden. They've been helping people start their own gardens for more than five years.
"We have many seasoned gardeners here, and we have many beginning gardeners," says Community Garden Coordinator Barb McIlquham. "Some people just get their first taste of gardening here, and it's great, because you have a lot of people doing the same thing you're doing. You can access their talent, skills, and information."
Plots are already tilled for the growing season and organizers say that there are seven plots (12' by 20') still available. Gardeners will have access to water, tools, and donated seeds.
MILWAUKEE - Authorities say all passengers and crew members were safely evacuated after a fire broke out in the engine of an Amtrak train in Milwaukee.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says the fire was detected around noon Thursday in the Chicago-to-Milwaukee passenger train.
Magliari says the fire was contained to the engine compartment of the locomotive and was quickly extinguished by the fire department. He says there were no injuries to the 51 passengers and three crew members.
MADISON - The state Department of Natural Resources says over-winter surveillance shows white-nose syndrome or the fungus that causes it is now present in eight counties. The agency announced Thursday that bats in Grant, Crawford, Richland, Door and Dane counties have tested positive for the disease. The fungus has been confirmed in Iowa, Dodge and Lafayette counties.
DNR officials say the bat population at the original point of infection in Grant County has dropped 70 percent. The agency doesn't disclose the location of threatened species.
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minneapolis police chief is asking anyone to step forward with information about a downtown demonstration over a police shooting in Madison, Wisconsin.
The group Black Lives Matter Minneapolis claims a 10-year-old boy was among those police sprayed with a chemical irritant as dozens of people marched Wednesday night.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau says the group's concerns will be investigated. Harteau also says she spoke to the boy's mother to see how he was doing.
HASTINGS, MN - National right-to-die group Final Exit Network has been convicted of assisting in the 2007 suicide of a Minnesota woman.
Jurors also found the group guilty Thursday of a lesser charge of interfering with a death scene. Sentencing was set for August.
The group was accused in the death of Doreen Dunn, a 57-year-old Apple Valley woman who lived with chronic pain for a decade.
WAUSAU - A Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy will face sexual assault charges.
Zachary Dorr, 34, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl at his Wausau home last Saturday. He was off-duty at the time.
Dorr was arrested on Tuesday and is in custody in the Marathon County Jail.
CRANDON - Crandon High School will have a new head football coach this fall.
Former Rhinelander Head Coach Jim Moore will take over the program starting this season.
He says he wants to get started as soon as he can with his new team.
MADISON - Democrat Russ Feingold will try to get his old job back.
Feingold has decided to run for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin.
He'll challenge Republican Ron Johnson, who defeated him in 2010.
THREE LAKES - Schools will close for the summer in just a few weeks. Even though class won't be in session, you can keep learning.
The FAB LAB in Three Lakes will remain open for the summer. The lab allows you to create and design unique items using 3-D printing, lasers, and other technology.
Teachers hope kids in the summer recreation program will visit the lab during the summer. It is important to continue to learn even when school isn't in session.
NEWBOLD - A retired banker from Wausau makes it a priority to give back to veterans in the area.
This week Steve Anderson gave eleven veterans an opportunity to do an activity they don't get the chance to do often.
"You know you've kind of been through the same thing you know so it's easier to bond with another vet," said Vietnam Veteran Richard Partidge.
MADISON - Tourists could be legally driving 70 mph on some Wisconsin highways this summer.
The state Assembly on Wednesday passed the speed limit increase bill. Its chief sponsor, Rep. Paul Tittl, says the Department of Transportation expects to have new speed limit signs posted in time for the summer tourist season.
DOT officials have said they plan to raise the limit to 70 mph on freeway portions of the interstate system as well as portions of U.S. Highway 51, U.S. Highway 53 and U.S. Highway 141.
CONOVER - Construction on the first part of the Conover-Phelps Trail will begin this summer. The Conover Town Board recently approved the project.
The first part of the walking and biking trail is just more than three miles. The trail will also be open to snowmobiles in the winter.
The construction will cost more than $850,000. It's fully funded by grants and donations.
RHINELANDER - Some new businesses will open in Downtown Rhinelander this summer. Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. hopes that will continue. It will host its annual open house for available properties this Saturday.
"There [are] about 19 properties that are available. That's down. In the past, we've had about 26 so that's a good sign," explained Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. Executive Director Maggie Steffen.
She hopes to see that number of vacant spaces drop even more after this Saturday.
CRANDON - Tribal members on the Forest County Potawatomi reservation recycle twice as much material as an average person in Wisconsin. The tribe's efforts made it one of just three programs in Wisconsin named a Recycling Rate Leader by the DNR.
Tony Daniels is a Collection Technician for the tribe. Most weekdays, he's on the road, collecting garbage and recycling from tribal homes.
"It makes me feel good that I'm helping the community and keeping stuff out of the landfill. We're really doing a good job on the recycling," Daniels said.
WAUSAU - A new person will lead the way for Habitat for Humanity of Wausau. One of his goals will be growing the group's home building program.
John Prey now serves as the executive director of the group. He started in mid-April. Habitat's been a part of the community for now 25 years, and board members like President Ark Rhowmine are excited for the new change.
"A lot of the opportunity will be that John will be able to approach more volunteers to help with Habitat, and all aspects of where we need volunteers," Rhowmine said.
CRANDON - Crandon High School will have a new head football coach this fall.
Former Rhinelander Head Coach Jim Moore will take over the program starting this season.
He says he wants to get started as soon as he can with his new team.
CRANDON - The athletic department may look a little different at Crandon High School.
That's because it has a new activities director.
Director of Pupil Services Larry Palubicki became the interim activities director a couple months ago.
NORTHWOODS - Did you hear the roar of high-speed jets in the skies of the Northwoods on Wednesday? The Wisconsin Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was doing training exercises with the Wisconsin Air National Guard over our part of the state.
They were practicing what are called intercept maneuvers.
RHINELANDER - Many Northwoods school districts rely on extra money from the state to keep class sizes small.
High poverty districts in the state can get SAGE funds to keep kindergarten through third grade classes small.
The School District of Rhinelander is one of those districts.
RHINELANDER - Rhinelander's City Administrator will start a new job in southern Wisconsin in July.
Blaine Oborn accepted a job as Lake Geneva's City Administrator.
Oborn has been Rhinelander's City Administrator for almost four years.
PRICE COUNTY - ATVs will most likely be allowed on all county roads in Price County.
Wednesday, Price County's Highway and Transportation Committee voted to open the entire system for ATV use.
Before ATV users can drive on all county roads, the local ATV association needs to approve the map.
PHILADELPHIA - Federal accident investigators say an Amtrak train was going over 100 mph prior to a derailment that killed seven people and injured about 200 others in Philadelphia.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a Twitter message that preliminary data showed the excessive speed, but further calibrations are being conducted.
The derailment took place as the train entered a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph. The speed limit on the track just prior to the curve is 70 mph.
MADISON - The state Assembly has passed bill to limit the types of food that food stamp users could buy, including how much of their allotment can be spent on junk food.
The Assembly passed the Republican-sponsored measure on a 60-35 vote Wednesday.
The bill would require food stamp recipients to use at least two-thirds of their monthly benefits to purchase nutritional foods such as beef, chicken and produce.
MADISON - Police in the Wisconsin capital have begun arresting protesters angry about a prosecutor's decision not to charge a white police officer for shooting an unarmed biracial man.
Officers converged on about 20 protesters who refused to leave an intersection near the Capitol building on Wednesday.
The protesters linked arms as they were detained, and some of them cried. Some onlookers shouted insults, including racial epithets, at the officers.
LUDINGTON, MI - A coal-fired passenger ferry is set to return to service on Lake Michigan after undergoing a makeover to meet terms of a deal with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Ludington Daily News (http://bit.ly/1KIj9vW ) reports the SS Badger is expected to sail Friday from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
It'll have a new ash retention system as part of a requirement to stop discharging ash into Lake Michigan.
BOULDER JUNCTION - A new triathlon will come to Boulder Junction. Saturday, May 16, 2015 marks the very first White Deer Triathlon.
The triathlon features some unusual events. Competitors will paddle three kilometers on Boulder Lake, bike 23 kilometers from Camp Manitowish, and then start a 6.5K run.
Organizers hope the adjusted format will help feature the beauty of Boulder Junction.
RHINELANDER - Businesses in downtown Rhinelander don't want to lose customers when a stretch of road gets torn up. It's part of a sewage renovation project along with a streetscape project, and local businesses want to make sure they make the most of possible upgrades.
Downtown Rhinelander Inc. (DRI) promotes the downtown area and its businesses. Workers, businesses and community members met Tuesday night to focus on how to move forward. That's as they prepare for a major utility reconstruction project that should start on Brown Street in 2016.
"You don't want to have people start setting different consumer pattern," Downtown Rheinlander Inc. President Dan Kuzlik said. "If they find that, 'well I don't want to go downtown, so I'm gonna go to this place outside of town,' and then all of a sudden that pattern sets up."
PHILLIPS - Price County might allow ATVs on more county roads.
Right now, they're allowed on some.
Some people were concerned about safety if more ATVs were on roads.
ROTHSCHILD - If the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't give Wisconsin a special exception to phosphorus rules, Wisconsin communities could pass on huge wastewater rate hikes to consumers.
The state is pushing back. It wants permission to delay those phosphorus discharge rules for up to 20 years in some cases.
The issue stems from excess phosphorus in Wisconsin natural waters. Phosphorus causes massive algae blooms in lakes and rivers, which can choke out plants and wildlife and lessen recreational opportunities. That phosphorus comes from sources like agricultural runoff, residual human waste after treatment in municipal wastewater plants, and industrial mills.
