Here’s Issue 9 of Menomonie News Net. If you missed Issues 1-8, you can catch up on our website. We’ll now be adding articles during the week in addition to the weekly newsletter. Check it out. Plus there’s a newly added category MORE containing Resources and more. Subscribers are up to 673. Thanks for continuing to spread the word! And because of your donations we can offer Menomonie News Net for free.

The local Citizen Journalism Workshop which has been in the works for a couple of years is starting soon…read more in this issue and consider signing up!

Editors: Layne Pitt & Becky Kneer; Tech Support: Tracy Glenz

Website: https://menomonienewsnet.org

Submit News: [email protected]

In this Issue…

• Dunn County Approaches Fulfilling Hi-Speed Internet Goal

• Library Hosts Free Events

• Community Conversations this Saturday: Act 12

• Citizen Journalism Workshop Begins Jan 28

• Public Meetings Update

• MHS DECA Does Well at UW-Stout Meet

• Menomonie Collegians - Track and Field

Dunn County Approaches Fulfilling High-Speed Internet Goal of Total Access

MENOMONIE - Residents of Dunn County enter 2025 with nearly all of the county either with access to fast broadband service or having the ability to hook up to broadband soon.

“The Dunn County Board of Supervisors has devoted a lot of resources to bring broadband everywhere in the county,” said Dan Dunbar, Assistant County Manager and Chief Information Officer. “We are now seeing the benefits of that investment.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in December that Bloomer Telephone Co. is receiving a $4.6 million grant and a $4.6 million loan to bring high-speed internet to 1,278 people, 32 businesses and 73 farms in Dunn and Chippewa counties.

Dunbar said this announcement addresses one of the few remaining areas of the county that is without access to high-speed internet. According to the latest information from the state Public Service Commission, of the 18,822 broadband serviceable locations in the county, just 368 locations were not served and had no construction work in progress.

That means less than 2 percent of the county residents had no access to high-speed internet currently.

Dunbar said the Bloomer grant, along with other projects in process, will bring the county broadband coverage even closer to 100 percent. For example, the PSC maps show areas near Colfax with no broadband access, but grants have been approved to alleviate that shortfall, he said.

There is a remaining pocket in the Hay River area without high-speed internet, Dunbar said, but a Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant has been applied for by Mosiac Technologies to address the Hay River area.

“Many of the areas the PSC thinks are unserved actually do have access,” Dunbar said. “We have worked with providers and closely reviewed each of the remaining 368 locations. 24-7 Telecom recently expanded their offerings to one unserved area, with 90 percent of the residents signing up for service.”

Dunbar added that when the Bloomer project is complete, and if Mosaic receives the BEAD grant, “We have identified only 20 locations yet to be served in the county. We are working hard with area providers to develop a plan for those last few houses.”

In June 2023, the Dunn County Broadband Task Force adopted a five-year plan to fulfill the group’s vision of giving all county residents “access to affordable broadband that is reliable, fast and future proof...”

Dunbar concluded: “We have come this far in Dunn County in providing high-speed internet access to our residents and businesses by working collaboratively with our service providers, and the support from the Board of Supervisors has been outstanding.”

Dan Dunbar is Assistant Dunn County Manager

[email protected] 715-231-6501

Library Hosts Free Events

Learn about Act 12 on Sat Jan 18; Explore Resilience Feb 11

Community Conversations: What is Act 12?

What: Community Conversations are open forums to discuss topics of interest in our community

When: Saturday, Jan 18, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Where: Library Meeting Room

Details: Act 12 (passed by the WI legislature in 2023) will be explored using the Memo for Act 12 from the Wisconsin Legislative Council which interpreted the law.

Presenters: Accepting invitations to attend and help understand Act 12 will be:

• Representative Clint Moses (Assembly District 29)

• Senator Jeff Smith (Senate District 31)

• Eric Atkinson (City Administrator, Menomonie)

Moderator: Lorene Vedder (Menomonie resident, retired physician)

Resources: Memo for Act 12 

Remaining Resilient: Overcoming Life’s Challenges

What: a 3-session online class to learn tools to not only only survive but thrive during challenging times

When: Tuesdays February 11, 18 and 25 at 6:30 - 7:30pm

Where: Zoom

Registration: No pre-registration required. On the date you wish to attend, go to the online Menomonie Public Library calendar and click on the zoom link. You do not need to attend all 3 sessions. 

Presenters: Gary Johnson, retired Menomonie School Social Worker & mental health therapist; Lori Smith, retired Menomonie Schools educator

Questions: Email [email protected]

Citizen Journalism Workshop Begins Jan 28

Registration Remains Open with Scholarships Available

Source: UW-Stout Continuing Education

Do you have a passion for writing and want to share our community’s stories? This Citizen Journalism Workshop is designed to equip local residents with the skills to produce compelling, well-researched journalistic content. Whether you’re writing for a local publication or your own blog, this course will guide you through the essentials of journalism, from interviewing to editing.

Over the course of six sessions from January 28 through March 4, you will gain practical experience in writing stories that reflect the people, events, and issues shaping your community. By the end of the workshop, you’ll not only have written your own news stories but also gained insights into the process of getting them published.

This workshop is perfect for community members who enjoy writing and have an interest in sharing the stories that matter most to their neighbors. No previous experience is required. Attendees will leave the workshop with the skills to write and potentially publish their own journalistic stories.

Key Learning Outcomes

• Understand the fundamental principles of journalism.

• Develop skills in interviewing, fact-checking, and editing.

• Learn how to structure a news story using the inverted pyramid.

• Gain experience working with Associated Press (AP) style.

• Explore the use of visuals and photography in journalism.

• Submit a finished story for publication consideration.

Cost of the six week workshop is $149, but scholarships (reducing the cost to $29) are available and are funded by generous donations from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation, Eye on Dunn, and Local News Group (publisher of Menomonie News Net).

Course Dates: Tuesdays, Jan. 28 - Mar. 4, 5 -7 pm (6 Sessions Total)

(First & Last Sessions On-Campus, Remainder via Zoom)

Register here. Apply for scholarship here. Complete workshop details here.

Kate Roberts Edenborg is a seasoned journalist and educator with a Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication

Questions: UW-Stout Continuing Education Office 715-232-2793

Or email [email protected]

Public Meetings Update

By Becky Kneer

Below are upcoming local public meetings. Click on the links to find location, agendas and digital links if available.

City Meetings

Jan 16 - Library Board 6pm

Jan 21 - Parking Utility 9am

Jan 21 - City Council 7pm

School District Meetings

Jan 27 - School Board 5:45pm Middle School

Dunn County Meetings 

Jan 15 - Board of Supervisors

Jan 21 - Community Resources and Tourism 4:30pm

Jan 22 - Facilities 5pm

Jan 23 - Neighbors of Dunn County 9am

Jan 23 - Committee on Administration 3pm

Jan 23 - Health & Human Services 6pm

MHS DECA Does Well at UW-Stout Meet

MENOMONIE - The Menomonie High School DECA team had 13 students place and three finish as finalists at the DECA Districts Jan. 11 at UW-Stout. The Mustangs had 55 students compete at the Saturday meet.

Menomonie’s top finishers were:

Olivia Rubenzer & Elena Xiong, first, Marketing Management Team

Aiden Anderson & Max Jaeger, first, Sports & Entertainment Marketing Team

Mason Harmon, second, Business Finance

Corban Schumacher & Max Buhr, second, Entrepreneurship Team

Abby Lake & Grace Edenborg, second, Sports & Entertainment Marketing Team

Chase Pember & Everett Paulson, second, Travel & Tourism Team

Parker Jacobs, third, Accounting Applications

Blake Behrens, third, Principles of Marketing

Breckin Richartz, finalist, Accounting Applications

John Higbie & Brody Thornton, finalist, Marketing Management Team

Menomonie Collegians

MHS Well Represented on Collegiate Track and Field Teams

by Layne Pitt

MENOMONIE – The collegiate indoor track and field season started off with a smattering of meets in December, but the season gets going in earnest in January and Menomonie High School is well represented at the collegiate level.

Josh Boyette and Alexis Anderson are members of the UW-Stout men’s and women’s track and field teams, respectively.

As a freshman at Stout last season, Boyette competed in the multi-events, the heptathlon (seven events) indoors and the decathlon (10 events) outdoors. Boyette, the 2022 Big Rivers Conference pole vault champion while in high school, placed 13th for the Blue Devils in the heptathlon at the 2024 WIAC indoor championship, and 15th in the decathlon at the WIAC outdoor championship.

Anderson, a junior this year at Stout, set the school pole vault record at Menomonie and qualified to the Wisconsin state meet during her junior season. Anderson has competed in the pole vault both her freshman and sophomore season, last season setting a personal-best with a vault of 10-feet. 2.5-inches at the Eagle Open at UW-La Crosse.

The Blue Devils will open the 2025 season with the Steve Terry Alumni Meet, Saturday, Jan. 18. The Blue Devils will be at the UW-La Crosse Pat Healy Classic, Saturday, Jan. 25, then will host the Warren Bowlus Open, Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1.

Brooklyn Hoff competes for UW-Stevens Point. Hoff was one of the Pointers’ top cross country runners last fall, finishing 43rd overall at the WIAC meet where she marked a career-best time of 23:09.2 and 45th overall at the regional meet with her second best time (23:20.5). Hoff was the 3200m Big Rivers Conference champion in 2023 and was a member of the BRC 4×800-relay in 2024. The Pointers will open their track and field season with the UW-Stevens Point Alumni Meet, Saturday, Jan. 18. The Pointers will get the competitive season underway Saturday, Jan. 25 at a triangular at UW-Platteville.

Madeline Palmer competes for Winona State University. Palmer is coming off a cross country season that saw her compete at the NCAA Divison II Women’s Cross Country Championship and, individually, she finished 37th overall of the NSIC Championship. A junior this season, Palmer has competed in the mile run, 3000m and the 5000m indoors, and the 1500m, the 5000m and the 10,000m during the outdoor season. During the 2024 NSIC outdoor championship, Palmer placed ninth, just three weeks after running a career-best time of 37-minutes, 0.27-seconds.

The NCAA Division II Warriors opened their season Dec. 7 at Chuck Peterson Open at Minnesota State, Mankato and will return to Mankato to compete in the Bearson/Gathje Classic  Friday, Jan. 17.

Madison Lehman competes for UW-Eau Claire. Lehman competed with the Blugold cross country team in the fall, competing in five meets, setting a personal-best time of 24:34.2 at the Luther College Saga Cup, Nov. 8. At Menomonie, Lehman was a member of the 2024 Big Rivers Conference champion 4×800-meter relay team, along with Brooklyn Hoff.  The 4×800 relay team also qualified to the state meet. The Blugolds open their 2025 season Saturday, Jan. 18 when they host UW-River Falls in a dual meet, as well as simultaneously host their alumni meet.

Gaby Skorczewski competes for Lawrence University in Appleton. Skorczewski is in her second track and field season at Lawrence and last season ran in the 400- and 800-meter runs and as a member of several relay teams. Skorczewski is also a member of the Vikings’ cross country team, a program that captured the Midwest Conference title last fall. The Vikings got their indoor track and field season underway on a limited basis Jan. 10 at North Central College. The Vikings return to action Saturday, Jan. 18 at an invitational at UW-Oshkosh.

David Brown is a sophomore at NCAA Division II Anderson University in Anderson, S. C., and competes in the multi-events. Last season, Brown, who homeschooled but ran track and field at Menomonie High School, had a pair of fifth place finishes at the indoor and outdoor South Atlantic Conference championship meets. At the indoor meet in February, 2024, Brown tallied a collegiate-best 3792 point in the heptathlon and and at the outdoor meet in May, 2024, notched a collegiate-best 5074 points in the decathlon. Anderson kicked off the 2024-25 indoor season Dec. 7, 2024, when they split their squads to compete in three different meets. Brown competed in the 60-meter and the pole vault at the Visit Winston-Salem Kick-off. The Trojans return to action, Jan. 24-25, at the Orange and Purple Classic at Clemson University.

Ryan Dingwall and Kody Kazmarek compete for UW-River Falls. Dingwall has opened his collegiate career, competing at the Falcons’ first meet of the season at St. Scholastica, Dec. 14, placing 10th in the weight throw, an event not competed at the high school level, and 11th in the shot put.  While at Menomonie, Dingwall placed seventh in the shot put at the 2024 Big Rivers Conference meet and Kazmarek placed 11th. The Falcons return to action Saturday, Jan. 18 in a dual meet at UW-Eau Claire. The Falcons will compete in Menomonie when they are scheduled to compete at UW-Stout’s 35th annual Warren Bowlus Open, Saturday, Feb. 1.

Bella Jacobsen competes at the University of Wisconsin.  Jacobsen is listed as a red-shirt sophomore on the Badgers’ roster. A distance runner, Jacobsen competed in the 2023 and 2024 indoor and the 2024 outdoor seasons. Jacobsen red-shirted during the 2023 outdoor season. In high school, Jacobsen was a two-time conference champion in the 3200 (2021, 2022) and the 1600m (2022).

To see the complete story, go to the Menomonie News Net website

Layne Pitt is the retired UW-Stout sports information director and also worked more than a decade at The Dunn County News.

Menomonie Collegians is a regular feature of Menomonie News Net. The column is not limited to student-athletes, but may be a former MHS student in a play, forensics, music or any type of collegiate competition. If you know of a Menomonie Collegian, please email [email protected].

The column Menomonie Collegians by Layne Pitt is licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Menomonie Mustangs Athletics and Activities | UW-Stout Blue Devil Athletics 

For a Calendar of Events in the Menomonie Area, visit Kathy Weber’s Menomonie Minute.

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