Valley Sentinel - 02-09-2023

Spring Green, Wisconsin

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Meet the candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court likely to be the decisive vote on abortion, gerrymandering

The election could have monumental ramifications in the state.

A normally sleepy election, the 2023 race for Wisconsin Supreme Court could have huge consequences in the battleground state. Experts predict tens of millions of dollars will be spent to influence it.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court currently sits with a tight, 4-3 right-wing majority. But the seat up for reelection belongs to a retiring conservative justice, so state liberals see a rare chance to flip the court.

Two right-wing and two left-wing justices are running in the Feb. 21 primary. The two candidates with the highest vote totals will move on to the general election in April. It’s possible that both right-wing judges or left-wing judges could advance, though in recent elections one from each side has made it to the general.

The primary and general elections for Wisconsin Supreme Court technically are nonpartisan, but the candidates have signaled clear partisan leanings that reflect an increasingly politicized state and country.

And the major issues of abortion and gerrymandering are likely at stake, drawing attention from national news sources — the New York Times called the 2023 race “A Colossal Off-Year Election” — and elevating the election’s historically modest profile. Out-of-state donors are already pouring tens of thousands into the race, with much more to come.

Wisconsin, which has frequently elected Democrats in statewide races while having a near-supermajority, Republicancontrolled legislature for years, is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, many experts say.

The court’s conservative majority has made several rulings allowing Republicans

to continue their gerrymander into the current decade. A left-wing majority could overturn those decisions and try to install more competitive, nonpartisan political maps in the state.

In addition, an 1849 state law making abortion illegal in all cases and enacted decades before women could vote now has become relevant after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has filed a court challenge to the 174-yearold law, a case likely to reach the state Supreme Court.

If cases applying to those issues make their way to the state’s high court, one of

these candidates likely will be the decisive vote:

Jennifer Dorow (right-wing candidate)

A judge on the Waukesha County Circuit Court, Dorow on her campaign website calls herself a “judicial conservative who will not legislate from the bench.”

“I am not constrained by political ideologies and academic thinking,” she states on the website.

She also touts her 26-year legal career — during which she worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney in private practice — and her 11 years as a judge.

She earned her law degree from Regent

University School of Law in Virginia, which prominent conservative Christian Rev. Pat Robertson established.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack, whose seat Dorow is trying to win, has endorsed her. And Dorow has support from the most law enforcement officials of any candidate in the race. Many current and former county sheriffs, the Milwaukee Police Association, and the Waukesha County Police Chiefs Association also have endorsed her. Dorow rose to statewide prominence while presiding over the 2022 trial of Darrell Brooks, whom she sentenced to life in prison for driving a car into a Waukesha Christmas parade in 2021, killing six. Dorow won positive reviews from many experts for calmly and firmly overseeing the trial in which Brooks, representing himself, repeatedly and wildly interrupted proceedings.

Her name emerged again in news reports in January about an 18-year-old UW-Milwaukee freshman who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that two of the man’s friends said the judge’s son Michael Dorow frequently sold prescription pills to the man in the weeks before his death. The deceased man’s family publicly has expressed frustration at what they consider to be the investigation’s slow pace. In a statement, the University of WisconsinMilwaukee Police told The Badger Project that the 15-month-old case is pending.

Replying to news reports linking Michael Dorow to the overdose death, Judge Dorow posted a statement to social media: “I understand that by putting my name on the ballot I invited scrutiny about myself and my actions. My children aren’t running for office and they, and every candidate’s kids, should be off limits. We need to restore a

continued on page 9

WI State Supreme Court Candidate Profiles New Literary Section: Lexington & Jefferson

WisPolitics: Richland Center reels as campus debate ensues

Clockwise, from top left, Dane County Judge Everett Mitchell, Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, and Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz.

Peter Cameron, The Badger Project

The (not so) Plain and Simple Correspondent: On the Road with Mickey & Goofy

When our children were small they were given kids' records they'd play endlessly on a cheap, low-fi yellow plastic record player, especially at bedtime. Soothing or entertaining for them, crazy-making for their parents. One Disney-produced wonder featured the antics of Mickey Mouse and Goofy, and as a result, a phrase from that LP, “This was Mickey and Goofy's greatest adventure!”, entered our family lexicon to use whenever my family set out from California on a trip. This stirring motto was not yet available to quote when I was young. Every summer my family of origin would charge off to see grandparents in Iowa, or to camp in a park, or visit comrades. In the fine old days back when, we went by automobile, six people squeezed into a sedan with luggage and food tied on top shoehorned into the trunk, and bundles underfoot. Predictably, at least once a day the young fry would get bored enough to engage in a spirited argument, Papa would threaten to thrash us, and then we'd settle down again. Well, seventy years later, give or take a few, my partner and I are midway through our winter getaway on Amtrak to visit kin and friends out West, and it has been yet another one of those unforgettable Mickey & Goofy's greatest adventures.

During the worst of Covid there was no passenger service on Amtrak and this is the first year in several that the railway has returned to a semblance of normal. We notice a few changes for the better since last time we hiked out this way: warmer blankets, more substantial pillows, newer rolling stock. The rails are still in rough shape, a long way from high-speed “bullet”

On the cover

trains such as other civilized countries have. Meantime, as we have progressed town to town, everyone we know and care about has grown undeniably older, showing signs of wear and tear, as we have, of course. It has become harder for one of us to crawl into the upper bunk of the sleeper car roomette, harder to keep our balance walking the aisles of the cars when the train is in hectic motion, harder to heave our bulging suitcases into allotted spaces, harder to dress and undress in tiny cubicles, harder to rejoice over the repetitive menu, even though the poor and dispossessed would rejoice in having the uneaten scraps I saw go into the garbage. Since freight haulers have priority over passenger service, we have endured long waits, but with newspapers and books to read, knitting, snacks, and staring out the windows at variegated winter scenery (and oceans of trash tossed over backyard fences as well as littered tent cities under bridges) to occupy our waking hours, I remind myself that we are the privileged few. We have enough disposable income to fritter away a month in escapism while multitudes are homeless, being bombed, persecuted, or facing any of the other ills many of which needlessly befall

humankind.

Happily, there was one stretch out on the plains where a zillion pheasants and about that many deer populated the landscape, other places where snow buntings, horned larks, and hawks of multiple species delighted a birdwatcher's eye. Unhappily, at the stops where one could stretch one's legs, the platforms and walkways were icy on the northern route to Seattle, and to add to the danger of falling, it was necessary to run the annoying gauntlet between tobacco addicts to reach a smokeless patch in which to breathe and exercise. Flooded fields, orchards, vineyards, and swollen rivers abounded as soon as we reached the West coast. The destruction is immense. Trees down everywhere, so that the constant sound of chainsaws sounds like nests of riled hornets. My beloved Sierra Nevada chain, where I grew up, is buried under fathoms of snow, gorgeous to behold, a skier's paradise. Also life-threatening due to avalanches, tobogganing or skiing into trees, rocks and gorges, not to mention encountering hungry large carnivores on the prowl. Bears will hibernate, but not cougars. Hey, this is living, the real article, perils that haven't changed over the centuries in these hills. For all the physical

hazards, being exposed to honest danger is perhaps preferable to being captive to electronic devices or papers where commentators tell you that catastrophes are “the news”.

In the dining car on the train, a version of Groucho Marx's radio show, “What's My Line?” plays out. We exchanged info with students returning to school from semester break, an airline pilot on holiday, the comfortably rich who reminisced about chartering yachts in the Caribbean and enumerable cruises, a blue collar worker just curious to try train travel before having a hip replacement, people en route to care for sick relatives, a professional French horn player, technology specialists of all sorts (including a video game executive), fathers traveling alone with little children. Many aboard are retirees, as you might imagine. This may be the chief delight of train travel as opposed to flying or being encapsulated in a motor vehicle. There is ample opportunity to converse with others and bond into a sort of temporary fellowship. Small kindnesses are bestowed. Now, if only the engineers who announce station stops and other important information would speak more slowly!!!

We have dribbled away our allotted weeks in California, mainly in the Sierra foothills, loving and being loved and cosseted by our near and dear. Soon Mickey & Goofy will haul their stuff aboard the train again and once more vow to travel light (she). Losing one leather mitten and one pair of prescription glasses is a start. Highlights: a library fundraiser, an Audubon Society presentation, a lively book club meeting, hearing one son preach, another practice his guitar before a gig, cooking and cleaning for busy friends, reunions with fragile people who may not be alive next year at this time. All good, as a friend of mine likes to say. All good.

Correction: An error-ridden first draft of the interview with Minerva Montooth was inadvertently printed in the last issue of Valley Sentinel. For the corrected, authorized version please consult the Sentinel’s website. Apologies all around.

Katie, who until recently lived in Plain, has been writing for fun and profit since childhood. Self-described as opinionated, she writes in the interests of a more loving, better-functioning world for all. She may be reached at katiewgreen@icloud.com.

Your Right to Know — Public still paying for fraud probe records fights

Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council

Many people in Wisconsin are under the impression that the disastrous probe into the state’s 2020 presidential election conducted by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman is over, as are its costs to taxpayers. They’re wrong.

The probe, conducted over 14 months by Gableman at the behest of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, failed to find any evidence of significant fraud. It did, however, reveal ample evidence of incompetence on the part of Gableman and his team, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), including multiple spelling errors. It also led to contempt charges against both Vos and Gableman, and to a judge’s referral of Gableman to the office that regulates attorney conduct for his disgraceful behavior during a court proceeding.

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Vos, whose name the OSC routinely rendered as “Voss,” fired Gableman last August, after relations between the two had soured to where Gableman endorsed the speaker’s GOP primary opponent. At the time, the cost of the probe and associated records battles was tallied at more than $1.1 million, all paid for with taxpayer dollars. Remarked state Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison): “I’m glad that Speaker Vos

has stopped the bleeding for these tax dollars going to a sham investigation.”

In fact, the bleeding never stopped. The amount paid by taxpayers now stands at more than $2 million, including nearly $1.5 million in legal fees, according to a report by WisPolitics.com; it could yet rise by hundreds of thousands more. That’s in part because Vos and attorneys for OSC are continuing to drag out litigation over the four records-related lawsuits brought by American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group.

One case, involving contractors’ records controlled by Vos, awaits resolution on various issues, including whether American Oversight can recover its in-house counsel fees. Vos is arguing, against logic and history, that attorneys who work for a group bringing a fight cannot recover their fees. A second case, involving records in Vos’ own files, is being briefed in the circuit court on attorneys’ fees; which Vos is contending are too high, though they are well within the norm.

A third case, in which a judge ruled in American Oversight’s favor and awarded it $197,510 in attorneys’ fees, is being appealed over every aspect, including attorneys’ fees and a contempt finding against the OSC.

The group’s attorney, Jim Bopp, received permission from the court to file a 35,000word brief, more than three times the usual limit. In this case, according to WisPolitics. com, “Assembly Republicans have already spent more fighting a judge’s order that they cover legal fees for American Oversight than the $197,510 taxpayers are currently on the hook to pay.”

A fourth case, regarding preservation of OSC records, remains pending.

In all of these legal challenges, taxpayers are footing the bill for the outside counsel; if American Oversight prevails, which I think is likely, taxpayers will also have to cover the group’s legal costs.

“All of this could have been avoided if Speaker Vos and OSC had simply followed the law” by preserving and providing records of their investigation, says Heather Sawyer, executive director at American Oversight. Enough already. It’s time for Vos and the Legislature to truly turn off the spigot of tax dollars flowing into this ill-begotten cause.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Bill Lueders is the council’s president.

Katie Green

Katie Green, Columnist

Photo courtesy of Katie Green

Great Northern 2584 on display at the Havre station in Havre, Montana, along the author’s passenger rail route.

Meeting Our Needs — Part 3: Not Charity

“Meeting Our Needs” is a series that acknowledges the organizations and individuals who work to make our communities better, stronger, healthier and more inclusive. We know we face challenges and divisions among us, but we miss and underestimate the essential goodness of rural Wisconsinites when we fail to celebrate those who are lifting us up in so many ways. Let us hear your stories, contact bpestel@msn.com to be included in this series.

First, we’d like to acknowledge and celebrate the activities and achievements of the River Valley Area Community Gardens as documented in the recent letter to the editor. We are also looking forward to an exciting 2023 for them and encourage you to use the contact information in that letter to join them. Now on to…

childcare, and healthcare, giving boosts to the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and investing in mental health programs. It addresses the opioid crisis and invests in food security programs and in housing and heating assistance programs.

It invests in the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service and makes a historic investment in the National Science Foundation. It raises the pay for members of the armed forces, and it invests in state and local law enforcement.

This isn’t charity either, it is an investment in our country, in our democracy, in us. This is our government’s commitment to meeting our needs and becoming the best of who we can be. The vote in the Senate was 68-29, the 29 dissenting votes were Republican. The vote in the House was 225-201, 200 of the dissenting votes were Republican.

pass in the Senate or be signed by Pres. Biden. Let’s hope they eventually move on to other issues that would actually meet our needs.

Here in Wisconsin, Gov. Evers submits his two-year budget to the Legislature in February. The Legislature will write its own budget, and some compromise will have to be passed by July. It remains to be seen what the Legislature will define as charity and what they will see as an investment in the people of Wisconsin. The Legislature’s track record has not been impressive on that score.

According to Jason Stein, research director at the Wisconsin Policy Forum, “You’ve had a state that was pretty aggressive about not increasing spending, cautious about school funding and extremely cautious about increasing local government funding.” That is an understated and generous way of putting it.

At the moment these cuts have put the survival of the UW- Platteville/Richland campus in serious doubt with more twoand four-year campuses also at risk. Whose needs are met by these potential closures? How could the Republican dominated Wisconsin Legislature believe that an attack on education meets the needs of Wisconsin citizens?

So, here we are in 2023. According to the state Department of Administration, the Wisconsin state budget surplus is projected to be around $7 billion with an additional $1.7 billion in the rainy day fund.

“It’s not charity, it’s an investment.” Those were the words Ukrainian President Zelensky delivered to the joint meeting of Congress on Dec. 21. He was referring to the economic, humanitarian, and military aid the U.S. has given to Ukraine.

On Dec. 23 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the $1.7 trillion spending bill funding the government through Sept. 30, 2023. In the words of Heather Cox Richardson: The measure invests in education,

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Current Speaker of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy, told his members that he was a “hell no” on the bill. “This is a monstrosity”, he said, “…one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body.” We will have to see what the Republicans, who gained control of the House in the 2022 election, perceive as less monstrous and less shameful acts of the House. Could it be that they believe that this bill did not go far enough in meeting the needs of our people and our democracy? I rather doubt it. So far, they have voted to remove funding for the IRS that allows it to go after the rich with their complicated tax forms. They passed two anti-abortion bills. Some are proposing a 30% sales tax on everything we purchase. (Hmmm, wouldn’t that be kind of like 30% inflation?) It is hard to see how any of this would do anything to meet our needs. Thankfully, none of this will happen because it would never

In 2021 the Republican Legislature cut $3.4 billion out of Gov. Ever’s proposed budget including Medicaid expansion that would have added $1 billion in additional federal healthcare funding, a pilot program that would have prioritized housing vouchers for homeless children, justice system reforms which were projected to reduce recidivism, and expansion of 4K to a full day which would reduce the burden on parents who struggle to afford childcare. It is hard to imagine how those cuts served to meet our needs.

While in the process of cutting 90% of the Governor’s proposed school funding, which put the state at risk of losing federal funds, Sen. Marklein said, “You can be as dramatic as you want to be…I think the risk is manageable.” How can any risk to the education and futures of our children be deemed manageable?

Sen. Marklein is Co-Chair of the Joint Finance Committee that is largely responsible for the Legislature’s budget decisions. During his time in the Legislature, K through college education funding has experienced draconian cuts.

know you read Valley Sentinel each week.

The Legislature needs to be told that it is time to start returning some of that tax-supplied surplus back to the people and the communities that paid it in. We have needs that must be met. It is not the Legislature’s money and giving it back to us is not charity. Returning that surplus through the budget to fund local needs is an investment in us. Those funds were only temporarily put into their hands to be returned to us to meet our needs. We will find out soon if this Republican Legislature can be added to the “this is who we are” folks who invest in our communities and work to meet our needs.

Chances are, if we want changes in funding priorities, if we want some of our tax dollars returned to us, our Representatives are going to have to hear that from us in the next few months. Let them know we don’t want charity; we just want our tax dollars invested in us to meet our needs.

How many other ways to meet our needs may have escaped our notice and deserve our support? Let me know at bpestel@msn.com.

Beverly is a retired professor. She lives in a remodeled farmhouse and tends 40 acres of woodland in Richland County. When not in the woods she spends her time reading, writing and enjoying the beauty of the Driftless Area.

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EDITORIAL

Gary Ernest Grass, esq.

Editorial Policy

On certain topics in areas of great community interest, the editors of the Valley Sentinel may take positions they believe best represent and serve the interests of the community. Any opinions or positions taken by the editorial board are separate and distinct in labeling and substance from the community journalism that appears in the rest of the publication and does not affect the integrity and impartiality of our reporting.

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Beverly Pestel

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From time to time the editorial board may select letters to the editor of a particular compelling community interest where a public figure or accountable public action is the recipient of criticism and allow, in the same issue, the subject of the criticism chance for rebuttal, with expounded independent input. The format shall be point, counterpoint and expert analysis. This community discussion shall serve as a moderated dialogue that presents multiple views of important community topics.

Beverly Pestel, Columnist

Beverly Pestel

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

As a Board Certified internal medicine physician practicing for 40 years in adult primary care I witnessed the adverse health consequences of tobacco smoking time and time again, heart and lung disease, stroke, cancer and peripheral vas-

Dear Editor,

Let’s see, if a highly respected UW research professor wanted more money and

Dear Editor,

Over the next two years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will make decisions that deeply impact all of our lives. Abortion rights, voting rights and safe drinking water are on the table. No matter who we are or where we live, our lives will change and we can ensure a positive change by voting for Judge Everett Mitchell on February 21st and April 4th.

Our justices must be well-qualified to navigate judicial decisions but the path to the bench is brutal. The candidate with the best chance of winning must have the right personal experience to handle a firestorm of bigotry and fear-mongering. Judge Mitchell has known such adversity

Dear Editor,

Residents of Arena: our Fire and EMS is in critical danger!

First question is, do you know who runs the village? I have been told its not the village board. It is a hired person not from Arena.

Now that I have your attention, do any of you know what goes on at the village board meetings? Maybe you should start attending. Did you know the referendum to add a new EMT passed, then was in question due to the village board making a mistake, then

Dear Editor,

Do you care about voting rights, women's reproductive health rights, fair legislative maps, judicial recusal rules, environmental protection? Cases involving these issues and more will be coming before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the near future. And the outcome of those cases will likely depend on the next Court.

Many of the Wisconsin Supreme Court cases in the past few years that impacted the lives of Wisconsin citizens were decided by a vote of 4 to 3, often with the same four conservative Justices in the majority. Such close votes suggest a big differences in how Justices interpret laws and statutes

cular disease, to name a few. I am happy to learn that State Senator Howard Marklein is re-introducing Senate Bill 355, commonly referred to as “Tobacco 21”. This bill will match state law to federal law by changing the legal age for purchasing tobacco and nicotine products

threatened to leave and take all his grant money with him, the System would find the money to retain him. Why is this any dif-

all of his life. Confident, steady and unwavering, he has prevailed against every storm in his way.

In addition to his professional experience as a prosecutor and judge, Mitchell brings life experience that none on the Supreme Court have ever had - he is the missing member who has excelled professionally but also personally. As voters, we rarely consider the lived experiences of our judges. We expect them to believe in justice, to treat everyone who comes into their courtroom fairly, and apply the law without prejudice. Judge Mitchell is all of those things because he knows and has overcome real struggles.

As a young person, Judge Mitchell endured homelessness and poverty. He

approved by the Dept or Revenue? However at one of their meetings, the board decided it wasn’t going to use the referendum and that they would not pay their share to have a 3rd full time EMT. All minutes from both the village board and Fire board are public info.

I understand there is a lot of people questioning why we need full time EMTS, and if you actually want to know just come on down to a fire board meeting and ask. The dates are always posted in a few locations in

and evaluate the merits of arguments presented in court.

The upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election will determine if there will be a shift in the Court's ideological balance of power. Whether you believe the conservatives should retain their majority or believe the ideological balance should to shift in favor of the liberals, your vote is your voice to express your belief - but you need to vote in the both the February 21 primary as well as the April 4 general election.

On the ballot in the primary are two conservative candidates, Jennifer Dorow and Dan Kelly, and two liberal candidates, Janet Protasiewicz and Everett Mitchel. The

from 18 to 21 years old in our state. This is nonpartisan legislation supporting good health maintenance in our communities.

The vast majority of smokers began the habit well before the age of 21. Senator Marklein understands that the state and federal governments age limits must both

ferent from committing resources torebuild student enrollment at UW Platteville RC?

Come on UW System it’s time to pony up!

worked his way through significant adversity to earn his masters, J.D. and eventually, a judgeship. Such experience should give a voter confidence that he is most likely to treat all who enter the courtroom fairly, no matter their credentials or background. Prior to becoming a Circuit Court Judge, Mitchell authored and implemented a program to ensure the formerly incarcerated had homes, healthcare and employment so they could become stable, productive members of society.

After his election to the bench in 2016, Mitchell led the initiative to take restraints off of children in our state’s court rooms. He is impartial and fair,interprets and applies the law accurately to the facts of the case. He also takes the

Arena: the fire dept door, Grandma Marys, and the Post Office.

My reason for all this is simple. I am a resident of Arena and know how close we are to not having a volunteer Fire and EMS. THEN WHAT? You folks need to start asking questions and showing up to meetings to hold elected officials accountable from both the village and town boards. Until that time just know there are major problems that need to be solved. I can tell you that several of the volunteers are tired of all the games and

two highest vote getters in the primary will advance to the general election. Since it is possible that the two highest vote getters could be either the two conservatives or the two liberals, you need to vote in the primary to insure that the candidate who best aligns with your values appears on the April 4 ballot. Useful information on the candidates can be found very easily:

• VOTE411.org

• ballotpedia.org

• lwvwi.org (League of Women Voters of Wisconsin)

• candidates' websites

• Janet Protasiewicz - janetforjustice.

Sen. Marklein Column — Listening Session Summary

I just completed a series of eight listening sessions in the 17th Senate District – one in each county I represent. I held the sessions in Mauston, Reedsburg, Richland Center, Lancaster, Sylvester, Darlington, Cobb and Hillsboro. I was joined by Rep. Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City), Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) and Rep. Todd Novak (Dodgeville). We heard from more than 270 people who shared a wide array of opinions, input and ideas. Each session had its own flavor. We heard a wide-range of topics that were often extremely regional. For example, in Lancaster, Darlington and Cobb, I heard a lot about the proposed wind farm and shared revenue. In Richland Center, the conversation was dominated by the UW System’s decision to step away from UW Platteville – Richland.

In Mauston and Reedsburg we mostly heard about broadband, the state surplus and ideas for the state budget. In Sylvester, we heard about a lot of different ideas including property taxes, veterans programs and rural EMS. In Hillsboro, I heard about more than a dozen different topics including trout stamps, school funding, local roads and housing.

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who attended and spoke at each session. I know it is an investment of your time and some of you overcame fears of public

speaking to share your input with us. Everything we hear at a listening session matters. Every comment, idea, criticism and question is important. It helps us, as legislators, to know what is on your mind as we consider policy and spending decisions that will impact your daily life.

While we may not always agree, I want you to know that I want to hear from you. I cannot do this job without your input and ideas. The best legislation comes from the people who are living, working, volunteering and leading in our communities. You know what is necessary to move Wisconsin forward.

Following is a brief recap of some of the topics covered at our listening sessions. If you were unable to join us, please send me an email or call my team to share your input. I want to hear from you.

Wind Farms: Attendees were opposed to wind farms and current wind turbine siting regulations. They asked for legislation to revamp wind (and solar) siting so that local residents and communities have a role in determining wind farm siting. They also asked that the Wind Siting Council be held accountable to take action. Many speakers were concerned about adverse health effects, property values and destruction of quality of life for the people who live in our communities.

UW Platteville – Richland: Attendees were opposed to the UW System’s decision to end in-person instruction at the UW Platteville – Richland campus later this year. Like me, they were blind-sided by the decision to close the campus and they want answers. More than 100 people attended the Richland Center listening session to share their concerns.

This session was followed by a community forum that I attended on January 26, 2023.

Shared Revenue: Many local municipal and county leaders shared their concerns about the broken shared revenue formula. They told us that rising and inflationary costs have created impossible obstacles for local governments without a change for shared revenue calculations. They also said that while it might sound nice to pour more money into the program – it isn’t helpful to simply add to a broken formula. We need to find a new way to share costs with local governments.

State Surplus: Attendees gave us a lot of ideas for ways to spend the state surplus. Everything from roads to schools to tax cuts. I shared my concern that while the projected surplus is around $7 billion, a lot of these funds are one-time dollars. The real, ongoing surplus is approximately $3 billion. We must be careful to prevent spending ourselves into holes.

be 21 years of age. It’s great to see our state legislators taking positive action to protect and promote good health in our state.

Robert C. Turner MD Reedsburg, Wisconsin

Bill Cary Richland Center, Wisconsin

time and effort to create a culture of fairness and dignity for everyone who enters his courtroom.

As we have done before in the great state of Wisconsin, we have the opportunity to make history and give Wisconsin its first elected Black Supreme Court Justice. While such a moment is long overdue, this election is about far more than making history, it’s about getting the best, most impartial jurist on the highest court in our state. We can do this. We must do this. On February 21st, vote Judge Everett Mitchell for the Wisconsin Supreme Court!

Amelia Royko Arena, Wisconsin

B.S. they keep hearing coming from the village. Don’t be afraid to find the contacts of the board members from all 3 entities: fire board, village board, town board).

All the minutes for all board meetings are public information and can be found on the website for both the Town and Village. We really need to start holding elected officials accountable before it's too late.

Steve Jahnke Arena, Wisconsin

com

• Everett Mitchell - judgeeverettmitchell.com

• Dan Kelly - justicedanielkelly.com

• Jennifer Dorow - judgejennifer.com

As a public service, several local libraries in southwestern Wisconsin have set up a display where you can pick up copies of materials about the Court, including a fun quiz the whole family can do together. (And while you are there, see all the wonderful resources they have.)

Claudia Looze Highland, Wisconsin

Property Taxes: Attendees shared concerns about property tax increases and school referenda. They were worried about the impact of increasing property taxes on older residents who live on fixed incomes.

Funding for Schools: Attendees asked us to send more funding to our schools. They cited increasing costs for staff and operations that are forcing districts to go to referendum.

Abortion: Attendees shared views on both sides of the issue. We heard from both prolife and pro-choice advocates.

Broadband Expansion: Attendees told us about both successful broadband expansion grant projects and the communities that still do not have service. The unserved communities continue to fight for expansion and seek assistance to bring broadband to their residents.

Again, I sincerely appreciate the time and effort of every attendee who joined us for a listening session. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their day to join us – and to listen to their neighbors. If you were unable to participate in a listening session, but have ideas or concerns, please do not hesitate to connect with me to provide input, ideas or to seek assistance. Send an email to sen.marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov or call 608-2660703. I want to hear from you.

Reflections from Lost Horizon Farm — Bringing Heifers into the Milking Barn

Each edition, retired dairy farmer Barb Garvoille brings her musings on dairy farm life from her own years of experience on Lost Horizon Farm with her late husband Vince “Mr. Farmer” Garvoille. This mooving memoir focuses on 19802000, join Barb as she rises with the herd.

A local feed mill’s radio advertisement announced to farmers that the mill's gate would always be open to them and followed that welcoming thought with: "Have an interesting day." The day a heifer was brought into the barn for the first time was always an interesting day at Lost Horizon Farm. A heifer is a female bovine that is called such until she has had her first calf. After calving, the animal became a cow or “one of the girls,” as Mr. Farmer would say.

Daily visual inspection of the cattle and the breeding wheel would help a person monitor "springing" (close to calving) animals. Springing cows or heifers would "bag up;" their udders would fill out; sometimes gradually, sometimes literally overnight, and, occasionally, after calving. We liked to have springing heifers in the barn for at least a week prior to their due date. That way the stress of acclimating to new accommodations, routines, and sounds had been ameliorated, and the animal had to face only the novel rigors of a first-time calving.

A bit of groundwork had to be done before the heifer was brought into the barn. The milking herd had to be in the barn. With a nearly full barn, there would be just one open stanchion that the new animal could be directed into. Tying a series of baler twine strings together, a rope pull was fashioned. (One end was knotted in place on the moveable side of the stanchion yoke, its length was then draped over the back of the neighboring cow. Ideally, after the heifer had walked into the stanchion and centered its head in the stanchion; the positioned person would reach over the neighboring cow, rapidly jerk on the rope pull, and thus lock the surprised heifer in place.)

A fresh coat of barn lime would be applied to the walkway. The cow trainers would be turned off, and the trainer over the open stanchion would be temporarily removed. Chains would be drawn across each walkway alley to deter access to the managers. Outside the south entrance of the barn, a tractor hitched to the manure spreader was aligned parallel to the barn. A series of cattle gates were tied in place both in front of the tractor and behind the manure spreader so that both a barrier and also a path leading to the barn door were created.

When all these preparatory moves had been done, the chosen heifer had to be located and penned separately. If a person was lucky, all the young cattle would be close to the farm buildings. If not, we would have to walk out into the pasture, drive the young stock into the barnyard, and sort out the desired heifer. Isolating a single animal could be an exhausting experience because a herd animal perceives annexation from its herd mates as most unnatural. A heifer might try to run past or over humans, collide with or jump over gates to rejoin the herd, so a person had to be careful, calm, determined, and calculatingly quick. Some heifers had mastered the textbook on evasive maneuvers and provided additional challenges. The best method, as Mr. Farmer would say, was to "think like a cow." That meant that humans had to discern beforehand a perceived route of escape and try to be there to block it. Another advantageous strategy was to "look big;" that is to hold one's arms out to the side or above one's head to look sizable. Because the sorting process was unusual and unsettling for the heifer, the last thing a person wanted to do was to lose patience and, in so doing, make the animal even more frightened and unpredictable. Once a second consult of the calf identification book had affirmed that the separated creature was the correct heifer, one person's task would be to drive the animal from the pen, along the created pathway and into the barn. The other person would follow the heifer on the other side of the barrier and become an obvious and present deterrent at possible jumping-over places, like the space created by the hitch between the tractor and the manure spreader, anywhere the heifer might visualize an avenue of escape. Both persons carried a "cow stick," a bluntended fiberglass rod that could be used to either convince the animal to move ahead or to tum her head and, thus, her direction. Used judiciously, sticks would help keep the animal focused on walking up the alley and into the barn. Once the heifer had gone into the barn, the barn doors would

be closed (sometimes quickly enough that they would nudge the heifer's rump), and the first part of the job would be done. The entrance of the new animal would cause every milk cow to stand and register her curiosity. Some cows would vocalize; others would turn their heads to look at the newcomer. The heifer would trek up and down the walkway stretching herself to sniff and nose new things. This brief exploratory time offered the heifer a chance to settle down, and it gave the person in the walkway a chance to eye the rope pull to make certain it was in the correct position. Meanwhile, the other person would walk into the manger, fill a scoop with cow feed and deliver it in front of the open stanchion. It worked best to do this just as the new heifer was about to pass by the open stanchion; the sight of the feed being poured, the sound of the grains falling onto the manger liner, and the aroma was attractive to the heifer because young stock rarely received much grain. The perfect scenario would have been: the grain would be enticing, the heifer would tum and walk into the stanchion, stick her head through the yoke of stanchion to eat, the rope pull would be yanked, and the heifer would be secured in her new place in the barn. In reality though, sometimes the heifer would be reluctant to go into a stanchion, sometimes she would put her front legs in the stanchion and refuse to bring her back legs up, sometimes the neighboring cow would be a nuisance, drop to her knees and eat the windfall of grain intended for the heifer; sometimes the heifer would walk through the stanchion and go right into the manger; sometimes the heifer would be in position and the rope pull would get caught up on something (like an unnoticed bolt head), and be rendered inoperative. Whether or not the procedure went perfectly, the instant the heifer realized she was locked in, she would try, quite forcefully, to back out of her stanchion. Mr. Farmer would either go alongside the heifer or in the manger in front of her, wrap a twine string several times around the top of the stanchion and knot it to make an additional stanchion lock. A newly stanchioned animal was understandably nervous and unpredictable, and whoever was making the additional twine stanchion lock had to be alert and proactive about protecting hands from injury. Contact between a hand and a thrashing cow’s skull or metal stanchion components was a recipe for an unforgiving traumatic injury.

If a new heifer came into the barn during the winter, as soon as she was locked in her stanchion, she would have her hair coat, heavy from being kept outdoors, clipped. The Sunbeam cow clippers would be plugged in, and the animal was confronted

with yet another new sound. Standing behind the stanchion divider and next to a neighboring milk cow, a person would lean over, speak in a calming tone, and begin to clip the new heifer. There was never predictability in heifer behavior. Some heifers would try to push their bodies (and the person) into the cow next to them, some would move backwards and forwards in their stanchion, and some would do all of the previously mentioned things and kick too! Some heifers would become very placid, almost catatonic, once they determined that being clipped felt good. Behavior varied with each individual; sometimes the heifer that went easily into a stanchion on the first try was very jumpy about being clipped.

Daily turnout was a feature at Lost Horizon Farm; however, a new heifer stayed locked in her stanchion for a couple of days until accustomed to the new environment. Within a day, the cow trainer could be replaced, and the heifer would learn to become conditioned to that. Each time someone walked in the manger, that person would depress the paddle of the new animal's drinking cup and make sure the cup was filled. This continued until someone saw that the heifer had figured out how to use the drinking cup herself. (The waterers outdoors had a ball that had to be pushed down to access water rather than a paddle that needed to be depressed.)

Each time the cows were milked on either side of the new heifer, the milker would move in a slower, more circumspect way. The loud hum of the compressor, the pulsating of the milkers, the snaps of the milker canes coming out of the pipeline, and the squawk of a slipping teat cup were some of the host of new sounds the new animal had to get used to during milking. After the heifer had demonstrated a certain level of composure, while the cows on either side of her were being milked, the milker would begin to wash her udder to acclimate her to that first step in the milking process. Scratching the top line of the animal or just speaking to her in quiet tones would help in the adjustment process too. The more comfortable the heifer felt in the barn, and the more tolerant she was of human presence and touch, the easier and safer it would be to handle her once she had calved and needed to be milked.

Barb has called Lost Horizon Farm, just north of Spring Green, her home for the past 42 years. She is fond of all creatures (including snakes). Her joy stems from being able to be outdoors every day observing and treasuring the plant and animal life on her small piece of this planet. She loved milking cows and is proud to have been a dairy farmer.

Barb Garvoille, Columnist

Barb Garvoille

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille Yellow fiberglass "cow stick" propped up against post.

Photo contributed by Barb Garvoille Photograph of a group of heifers walking in the pasture next to the red wooden hay wagon.

COmmunitycalendar

The Community Calendar is curated and designed by Julianna Williams. Events are subject to change, always check ahead for up-to-date information on any events you are interested in.

Events for February 11 - February 23

Saturday, February 11

Wednesday, February 15 cont.

43rd Annual Avoca & Rural Fire Department Celebration

7:30 AM - 2:00 PM Avoca Community Building, Avoca Avoca & Rural Fire Department on Facebook for more details Avoca EMS Food Stand wll be open all day! Door prizes starting at 8 AM until gone, Bake sale at 11 AM, Euchre tournament at 12 PM, Meat paddles starting at 12 PM until gone.

Spring Green Farmers Market 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green Spring Green Farmers Market Is a year-round outdoor market offering seasonal produce, local meats, baked goods and many other wonderful items. Held outside the Spring Green Community Public Library every Saturday morning. Preorders are recommended. Visit our Facebook or Instagram page or email SGFarmersMarket@gmail.com for a list of participating vendors and their contact into.

Anatomy of a Novel: Special Presentation for Writers and Readers 11:00 AM 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.com Learn how authors build and create memorable novels from the nuts and bolts of the first paragraph to "The End." Learn how to distinguish good writing from great writing. Enjoy a discussion related to voice and plot that ends with a writing exercise.

LIVE MUSIC: Bluegrass Jam 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green 608-5880-707, karin@springgreengeneralstore.com, SpringGreenGeneralStore.com Free event. All ages welcome! Bluegrass Jams will be held on the second Saturday of each month. While the weather permits they'll be held on our back deck. Bring your instrument and play along or come to listen; all are welcome.

Arena VFW Steak and Chicken Fry 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM 514 Willow St., Arena For more information, look up Ewing-Olson VFW Post 9336-Arena on Facebook Steaks $15, Chicken breast $8. 608-753-2225 for carry out.

Trivia Night with The Friends Of The Kraemer Library and Linda & Dan Kettner

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain Dinner at 6, Trivia at 6:30. Teams will be randomly assigned. Dinner, non-alcoholic drinks & dessert will be provided. Space is limited. Sign up by stopping by the library or call 608-546-4201.

Benefit Show with Sugar Mama & The Rent Check at Slowpoke 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green slowpokelounge.com No cover, but we do request a $5-$10 donation Help support the Musician in Residence program with live music guaranteed to beat the winter blues! Join us as Sugar Mama & The Rent Check take the stage playing some great rock and soul with a Valentine's Day theme!

LIVE MUSIC: 3 SOULS 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM Keg & Kettle Bar, 104 S Oak St, Lone Rock For info search 3 Souls on Facebook We love playing at Keg & Kettle, come and join us for some Classic Rock!

Sunday, February 12

Winter Yoga 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Radiant Spirit Yoga, S7163 County Rd. G, Hillpoint ruralremedy.com Contact Emily for pricing at embenzgmail.com This series will help you build a regular movement and mobility practice based in the yoga traditions. Regular mindful movement can reduce your susceptibility to injury, contribute to your longevity, help you find some freedom, and just feels darn good.

Monday, February 13

LIVE MUSIC: A Night of Words 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green slowpokelounge.com An open mic. Friends sharing words. Watch. Listen. Speak. Share. Maybe you have a favorite poem, or passage from a book you’d like to share. Or maybe you write your own and are ready to share it with the rest of us. Maybe you just want to tell a story. Or maybe you just want to listen. It’s all good. Let’s hang out and share words together. Poetry. Stories. Original work and old favorites. This and that. A Night of Words.

Tuesday, February 14

Winter Family Storytime 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain . kraemerlibrary.org . Fun stories, songs, and themed activities each week for children and their caregivers. Stories and songs 20-30 minutes followed by craft/activity. Children under 6 must be accompanied.

Community Potluck 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Spring Green Community Center, 117 S Washington St, Spring Green springgreen.com Bring a dish to pass! All are welcome! Ending time is an estimate only and varies.

Movies, Munchies and More: Mamma Mia 1:00 PM 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.com Every Tuesday at 1pm, come to the Library for a cup of coffee, a sweet treat, and either a movie or a presentation. A bride-to-be in Greece attempts to solve the mystery of her paternity by reading her mother’s diary. PG-13.

DIY and Crafting for Teens 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.org Learn to do a new craft each month, or just bring your own and hang out! This program is designed for middle and high school aged teens.

Wednesday, February 15

All Ages Storytime 10:30 AM 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.com Bring the whole family to the library for a morning of song, stories, movement, and fun!

WORKSHOP: Basic Skills for Garment Construction, Alterations, and Mends

4:00 PM 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.com Registration is required for this event. Check online for the form. The 3-week course will be conducted by Nancy Cullen and Marge Hottmann and will give you as much one-to-one assistance as possible. These classes will provide you with some tips and practice to learn or improve your sewing skills.

Arcadia Book Club discusses "Sam" by Allegra Goodman 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM . This is a zoom book club meeting readinutopia.com What happens to a girl’s sense of joy and belonging—to her belief in herself—as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers subtle yet powerful reflections on class, parenthood, addiction, lust, and the irrepressible power of dreams.

Winter Yoga 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Wyoming Valley School, 6306 State Road 23, Spring Green . ruralremedy.com Contact Emily for pricing at embenzgmail.com . This series will help you build a regular movement and mobility practice based in the yoga traditions. Regular mindful movement can reduce your susceptibility to injury, contribute to your longevity, help you find some freedom, and just feels darn good.

Free Line Dance Classes 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Grandma Mary's Cafe, 175 Hwy. 14 Arena All levels welcome no experience needed. Come learn the popular classics to the very latest favorites. Discover why people everywhere are addicted to line dancing!

Thursday, February 16

Storytime 10:30 AM . Lone Rock Community Library, 234 N Broadway St, Lone Rock

Join us every Thursday for storytime!

Stitch and Bitch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St. Spring Green springgreengeneralstore.com The Spring Green General Store’s Stitch and Bitch handwork group meets Thursday afternoons weekly. All are welcome. Knit Night at Nina’s 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Nina’s Department Store, 143 E. Jefferson St. Spring Green ninasdepartmentstore.com Every Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. All knitters and crocheters are welcome. Store closed after 5:30 pm.

Saturday, February 18

Trader's 2023 Winter Kids Fisheree 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Traders Bar & Grill, 6147 US Highway 14, Spring Green

Join us for Trader's Annual Winter Fisheree! Required Registration. 15 & Under. Fishing poles available upon registration, if needed. Limited Adult Assistance (8 & Under Only). Three poles allowed per child. Kids must be independent enough to hold pole in hand. Shanties are allowed, but cannot be set up prior to event. Shanty doors must remain open if adults are in shanty. Adults allowed to fish, 1PM-4PM ONLY. Cash Prizes Per Fish Categories. Located in Bar. 50/50 Raffles & Wildlife 4Ever Silent Auction.

Spring Green Farmers Market 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM S230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green Spring Green Farmers Market Is a year-round outdoor market offering seasonal produce, local meats, baked goods and many other wonderful items. Held outside the Spring Green Community Public Library every Saturday morning. Preorders are recommended. Visit our Facebook or Instagram page or email SGFarmersMarket@gmail.com for a list of participating vendors and their contact into.

Mindfulness: Discussion and Practice (Zoom Only) 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM . Virtual Event springgreen.com Our meetings will include discussions and short mindfulness exercises/practices. We will explore sitting, standing, lying down and moving mindfulness experiences. Find the zoom link online.

LIVE MUSIC: Acoustic River 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green General Store,137 S. Albany St., Spring Green, springgreengeneralstore.com Acoustic River is a group of musicians, Ned Hodgson, STS and Mike Anstett. We do acoustic versions of songs from the 60’s to the present! And original songs! We blend finger style with rhythm and lead work on both six and twelve string Acoustic guitars.

Impact Fitness: Valentine’s Parents Night Out 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Impact Fitness, 550 Sunrise Drive, Spring Green impactspringgreen.com Have a date night or just stay at home and leave your kids with us! Popcorn and a movie, martial arts and games! Ages 5 and up. $20 / child.

LIVE MUSIC: The Driftless Revelers 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green slowpokelounge.com Tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.

Sunday, February 19

Winter Yoga 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Radiant Spirit Yoga, S7163 County Rd. G, Hillpoint ruralremedy.com Contact Emily for pricing at embenzgmail.com This series will help you build a regular movement and mobility practice based in the yoga traditions. Regular mindful movement can reduce your susceptibility to injury, contribute to your longevity, help you find some freedom, and just feels darn good.

LIVE MUSIC: Acoustic Jam 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St., Spring Green . 608-5880-707, karin@springgreengeneralstore.com, SpringGreenGeneralStore.com Free event All ages welcome! Acoustic Jams will be held on the third Saturday of each month. While the weather permits they'll be held on our back deck. Bring your instrument and play along or come to listen; all are welcome.

Cajun Cookin’ 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM . Red Barn Catering, 525 E. Madison Street, Spring Green savortherivervalley.org Spice things up with a taste of Louisiana just in time for Mardi Gras! Learn the secrets of authentic Chicken & Andouille Gumbo served over perfectly fluffy rice. And while we're at it, let's make cast-iron skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter! Class participants will enjoy eating our delicious meal, have new recipes to take home, along with some dark roux & a jar of RedBarn Catering's renowned Cajun Seasoning! $50 per person. Minimum class size is 5; maximum is 25. Online registration required.

LIVE MUSIC: Slowpoke Songwriters Round 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Slowpoke Lounge, 137 W Jefferson St., Spring Green slowpokelounge.com No cover, but tips for artists are always welcome Featuring Featuring Jules Iolyn and Kris Sheehan. Tim Eddy curates this series of singer/songwriters from the Driftless Area, the second Sunday of every month. Support local artists by joining us for a night of original music with several songwriters, all on the stage together, sharing their music round robin style.

Events for February 20 - February 23

Monday, February 20

Winter Words: Agamemnon 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Touchstone Theatre, APT, 5950 Golf Course Rd, Spring Green americanplayers.org Tickets are $20. If you need assistance with your order, email the APT Box Office at boxoffice@americanplayers.org. Winter Words provides room to explore stories that are new to us, with laser-focus on the language. Uncle Vanya By Anton Chekhov. Chekhov's revered story of tradition and transformation, filtered through the heart and mind of Nate Burger.

Arena Historians: Dick Cates — “Voices From the Heart of the Land” 1:30 PM Grandma Mary's Cafe, 175 Hwy. 14 Arena For more information, look up Arena Historians on Facebook Free to the public. Join us as we welcome local farmer and author Dick Cates as our guest speaker. Cates will reminisce and share the stories of the many farm families featured in his book "Voices From the Heart of the Land."

Tuesday, February 21

Winter Family Storytime 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM . Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain kraemerlibrary.org Fun stories, songs, and themed activities each week for children and their caregivers. Stories and songs 20-30 minutes followed by craft/activity. Children under 6 must be accompanied.

Wednesday, February 22

All Ages Storytime 10:30 AM 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green springgreenlibrary.com Bring the whole family to the library for a morning of song, stories, movement, and fun!

Winter Yoga 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Wyoming Valley School, 6306 State Road 23, Spring Green ruralremedy.com Contact Emily for pricing at embenzgmail.com This series will help you build a regular movement and mobility practice based in the yoga traditions. Regular mindful movement can reduce your susceptibility to injury, contribute to your longevity, help you find some freedom, and just feels darn good.

Free Line Dance Classes 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Grandma Mary's Cafe, 175 Hwy. 14

Arena All levels welcome no experience needed. Come learn the popular classics to the very latest favorites. Discover why people everywhere are addicted to line dancing!

Thursday, February 23

Storytime 10:30 AM Lone Rock Community Library, 234 N Broadway St, Lone Rock

Join us every Thursday for storytime!

Stitch and Bitch 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Spring Green General Store, 137 S. Albany St. Spring Green springgreengeneralstore.com The Spring Green General Store’s Stitch and Bitch handwork group meets Thursday afternoons weekly. All are welcome.

Knit Night at Nina’s 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Nina’s Department Store, 143 E. Jefferson St. Spring Green ninasdepartmentstore.com Every Thursday from 6 to 8 pm. All knitters and crocheters are welcome. Store closed after 5:30 pm.

Family Movie Night 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM Plain Kraemer Library and Community Center, 910 Main St, Plain kraemerlibrary.org Children and their families can sit back and enjoy a free family-friendly movie and pizza dinner at the library. We we will be showing the movie Peter Pan Return to Neverland! Sign up at the front desk or call 608-546-4201.

River Valley Area Community Gardens offers free Junior Gardener Program

River Valley Area Community Gardens recently announced its Junior Gardener Program, which offers free 10 x 10 ft. garden plots to students in grades 5 through 12 in the River Valley School District. The program is designed to encourage students to learn about gardening and develop their green thumbs while growing vegetables or ornamental plants for their families or local food pantries. Students may also use their plots for 4-H projects, scouting projects, or county fair entries.

Participants in the program must be committed to caring for their plot and plants for the duration of the growing season. While the recommended age is 10 and above, exceptions may be made if the family is gardening with the Gardens. Mentors are available to ensure that students have a successful garden and learn gardening techniques.

Free water, fertilizer, mulch, and tools such as trowels, shovels, and rakes will be available to participants. They may also purchase their own seeds and seedlings or access free ones donated to the gardens.

Applications for the Junior Gardener Program are available online at www.rvacg.org/juniors. html or can be requested via email at info@rvacg. org or by phone at 608-588-6040. The deadline for application submission is May 31, 2023.

River Valley Area Community Gardens is located at 900 N. Westmor in Spring Green, behind Rings Classic Auto Body.

Applications being accepted for 4PeteSake funding

Applications are being accepted until March 10 for 4PeteSake Spring 2023 Funding. The application can be found online at www.4petesake.com or can be picked up at Arcadia Books.

Completed forms can be mailed to 4PeteSake at PO Box 577, Spring Green, WI 53588 or returned to

WHAT’S HANGINg ?

ongoing art exhibitions

River Valley High School art exhibit at the Spring Green Community Library

Open in February Spring Green Community Library, 230 E Monroe St, Spring Green

Monday-Thursday: 10 AM - 7 PM Friday: 10 AM - 5 PM Saturday: 9 AM - 1 PM Spring Green Community Library, 230 E. Monroe St., Spring Green The show consists of artworks by high school students in grades 9-12 from a number of different visual arts courses. “Students in these visual arts courses come with a variety of knowledge and talent,” says their instructor, Kasey Maxwell. “My goal is to help them build fundamental skills while providing a safe space to investigate new subjects. Students are encouraged to explore several different mediums while finding personal influence and making connections between art and their everyday lives.”

CIVICS & SERVICES CALENDAR

This calendar is a place listing (for free) the typical meeting dates for area governmental bodies, and Please email us with these meetings, or use the form on our Community Calendar page — let's build community together: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

February 13:

RVACG Board Meeting 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM rvacg.org River Valley Area Community

Gardens Agenda to be published around Feb 1. Farewell reception for Board

Members Wid and Amy from 6 to 7 pm

February 14:

MEETING: Village of Lone Rock Board Meeting 7:00 PM villageoflonerock.com

Village Office, 314 E Forest St, Lone Rock See full agenda online

February 15:

MEETING: Village of Spring Green: Plan Commission & JEZC Meeting 7:00 PM

Virtual event vi.springgreen.wi.gov

Facilities Study Group - Advisory Task Force 6:00 PM River Valley School Baord Event. Held in the High School Cafeteria.

Facilities Study Group - Core Planning Committee 7:30 PM River Valley School Baord Event. Held in the High School Cafeteria.

February 21:

2023 Spring Primary 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM myvote.wi.gov

February 22:

MEETING: Village of Spring Green Board Meeting 7:00 PM Virtual event vi.springgreen.wi.gov

February 28:

Village of Arena: Plan Commission Public Hearing 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Village Hall, 345 West Street, Arena villageofarena.net

The Community Calendar is curated and designed by Julianna Williams. Events are subject to change, always check ahead for up-to-date information on any events you are interested in.

In Other News/Briefs

Todd Miller at Arcadia Books. In order to apply, you must live within the boundaries of the River Valley School District and find yourself in health-related circumstances, through no fault of your own, for which assistance is needed.

WisDOT: Review and comment on state’s long-range rail plan Wisconsin residents have until February 26, 2023,

to review and comment on the draft Wisconsin Rail Plan 2050, which sets the state's long-term vision for freight and passenger rail travel. The plan is part of a comprehensive review of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's long-range plans and will replace the Wisconsin Rail Plan 2030 when completed later this year. The plan includes policies for a range of rail systems and issues, such as railroad crossings, freight rail, long distance passenger rail, intercity rail, and commuter rail. Wisconsin residents can

review the plan and make comments online at www.wisdotplans.gov/plan/wrp2050.

To request the plan in another form, please contact:

WisDOT

Bureau of Planning and Economic Development 4822 Madison Yards Way PO Box 7913 Madison, WI 53705 dotwirailplan2050@dot.wi.gov or 608-266-3581

Recently, we announced the soft launch of a semi-regular to regular literary section we've been inspired by other literary compilations to call Lexington & Jefferson

As the pivotal intersection of our community, we envision this as a place that celebrates the cross-section of our greater community.

We envision it as a place of curated and submitted prose, poetry and more that showcase the talents of our community.

Introducing Lexington & Jefferson

Each edition we receive submissions of artwork, poetry, prose and other musings that we have trouble placing in the paper on their own and often have to simply hold or regrettably turn down.

We hope this becomes a welcome place for them. This space will grow and change, as all things do, and we may eventually work with talented organizations, authors, experts and artists to curate this section - perhaps we'll compile and publish an

Lexington & Jefferson

Musings from the End of the Rainbow

Take a journey with me to the end of the Rainbow.

I grew up at the end of Rainbow Road, a beautiful and magical place in a River Valley, just outside of a town called Spring Green. Following are stories and reflections of a simpler time.....

Daddy’s Tree

“Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump”

annual literary journal, who knows.

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LITERARY SECTION

Those words I often remember my dad speaking during his lifetime. I believe the first time he closed his eyes and took a leap of faith was at eighth grade graduation when he saw a pretty little girl in ruffles walk across the stage.

The story we were always told, is that he leaned over and whispered in his best friend's ear, “I'm going to marry that girl someday”. Although he had never spoken to her and didn't even know her name, that girl, years later, would become the mother to his eleven children. They settled on the farm his family had worked for generations and began to build their life together.

Life, for a farmer, is hard and it proved difficult to make ends meet. Dad was forced to take a job at Oscar Mayers to provide for us. He would drive an hour into Madison, leaving at one in the morning, get home after a long shift, change, and go do the chores. There were cows to milk, animals to feed and crops to harvest, it was never ending.

There would be nights mom would hold dinner until 9 or 10:00 PM because dad was still in the fields. We all waited, as a family, we all ate together.

Dad would rise after just a handful of hours of sleep and start the grueling cycle all over again.

An opportunity presented itself to buy the local Drive-in. Mom and Dad, having never operated a restaurant, simply “Closed their eyes, and jumped”. Denied a loan, dad stood up, and firmly told the loan officer “I'm going to buy that place with or without your help”. He was actually able to convince the seller to take a $500 down payment and a handshake!

Most of the kids, by this time, had moved away. There was just one brother, running the farm, my sister, who was set to graduate and myself, a junior in high school.

Mom's life became the Drive-in. Dad still made the long trip into Madison and continued farming. Eventually, he retired. That's when he began going into the restaurant, in the early morning hours, well before opening.

He loved the peace and quiet of the morning hours. He would clean machines and do minor setup, always keeping a hot pot of coffee on and a box of donuts nearby just in case an early traveler would stop in. All he would ask in return was their company and some quiet conversation.

Numerous times, over the years mom would come home to find strangers in the house because if he heard someone couldn't find a motel room for the night dad would offer up one of the long since empty bedrooms.

Dad missed farming, so he planted a beautiful flower garden along the highway by the restaurant. Settling into his semi-retirement, sharing coffee with weary travelers and creating beauty for drivers to enjoy.

Over time the restaurant proved too much for mom and dad, as their bodies slowed with age, that's when it was my turn and I “Closed my eyes and jumped”, returning to run the place.

Dad, however, continued to tend to the flowers. One day, a few years after I'd taken over, he called me out and pointed to a little sprig of a tree that had dared to try to grow in his garden.

It was struggling to get through the flowers.

Its determined nature had touched a spot in my dad's heart and he declared that once it got sturdy he would dig it up and give it a home on the farm.

“This little tree just needs a chance to grow strong,” he said to me.

Daily, he would lovingly weed around it. He placed a small stake next to it so the heavy spring winds would not topple it during its young fragile state.

The little tree took hold growing to 4 foot tall, a few limbs sprouting from its trunk. It seemed to be stretching out its arms and breathing in life, preparing for its journey to its new home.

Unfortunately, my father fell ill, his weakened body, bedridden at home, with that pretty little girl he'd known instantly he'd married so many years before tending to his increasing needs.

The little tree he’d protected grew to 5, 6, even 7 feet, its branches stretching far and wide. Sadly though, never making it to its home on the farm.

It's been 20 years since my father passed and that tree has grown to 150 feet, towering above the drive-in, reaching far into the sky.

Over the years, time and time again, people have said to me, “You should cut that tree down; it's blocking your sign” “You’re losing business” or “Get rid of that tree!”. No one has or ever will convince me to cut that tree. That's my dad's tree, he meant for that tree to survive. It is strong and powerful, regal and majestic, just like my father was. It waves hello to travelers as they drive past, just as my dad once did. He loved it, he tended it, he nurtured it, he protected it, just as he did me.

Now, when I stand at the window of the Drive-in, I see that tree, watching over me, just like my father used to, and I know, that's dad, still with me, whispering in my ear, “Don't be afraid, Lanita, take a chance”. That's dad telling me: Close your eyes. Go ahead……

Just go ahead, Close your eyes and jump. I'll catch you.

— Mary Lanita Schulz

In Other News/ Arts & Culture Briefs

APT is accepting proposals for Art in the Woods - a series of art installations displayed throughout the APT property

Artists are invited to submit proposals for the Art in the Woods exhibit at American Players Theatre, a series of art installations to be displayed on the theater's 110 acres of woods and prairie.

Proposals must be submitted by March 31, and should include a concept fitting one of three themes: "What is a Classic," "Art is Nature is Art," or "Our Common Humanity."

The installations should be able to withstand Midwest summer weather and be safe for public audiences.

The budget for artist stipends is approximately $15,000 and will be divided among 6-10 pieces.

The exhibit will be open from July 23 to October 8, 2023, with viewing hours during the theater's box office hours.

Proposals should be submitted as a PDF to Hannah Jo Anderson, Marketing Associate, at handerson@americanplayers.org. Learn more by visiting americanplayers.org/events/art.

River Valley ARTS sets annual meeting, reminds community that grants are available

River Valley ARTS recently announced they are holding their Annual Meeting on Monday, February 20 at 6:30 pm at the Spring Green Community Center. The meeting is open to all members and the general public.

In addition, River Valley ARTS wants to remind the community that the deadline for Creative Community and Artistic Development Grant applications is February 27. The grants, which can be up to $2,500, are available for community groups, organizations, schools, professional artists, amateur artists, and students in the River Valley. The aim of the Creative Community Grant is to promote innovative arts programming, while the Artistic Development Grant aims to support individual artistic projects and development.

Proposed projects could include public exhibits, performances, publications, and educational activities in various disciplines such as dance, theater, music, folk arts, literary arts, visual arts, video, and film. Recipients will be chosen by a panel of community members, and those who don't have access to other funding sources will be given priority.

Application forms are available on the River Valley ARTS website, and recipients will be announced in late March. Applications are available at www.RiverValleyARTS.org. Questions? Message on social media or email contact@rivervalleyarts.org.

Elections

Meet the candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court likely to be the decisive vote on abortion, gerrymandering

continued from page 1

sense of decency in our elections.”

At a candidate forum last month, Dorow said she would “unequivocally” support the other conservative candidate, Daniel Kelly, in the general election if he advances instead of her.

She has raised more than $360,000, according to filings with the state. She has received $20,000 donations, the maximum allowed by law, from Remi Harris of Mequon and Juan Perez of Milwaukee. Dorow has received $15,000 from Richard Kessler of Okauchee, Wisconsin.

And she has received $10,000 donations from Donald Zietlow, owner and former CEO of Kwik Trip; Ronald, Steven and Glenda Buholzer of Monroe, Martin Gallun of Oconomowoc, Jan Fedler of Dodgeville, Robert Fettig of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Michael Shannon of Denver, Colorado.

Daniel Kelly (right-wing candidate)

Kelly is a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who then-Gov. Scott Walker appointed in 2016. Kelly lost his reelection bid to current Supreme Court Justice Jill Karofsky in 2020.

He calls himself a “constitutional conservative.”

Like Dorow, Kelly also earned his law degree from Regent University School of Law.

He touts himself on his campaign website as an “experienced and trustworthy judicial conservative who will apply the law as it is written, rather than legislate from the bench. His opponents are judicial activists who seek to impose their own political agenda on our state.”

After leaving the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Kelly became a senior fellow at the right-wing nonprofit organization the Institute for Reforming Government, which states that it aims to “remove the onerous barriers and red tape separating the individual from an efficient and

functioning government.”

Current Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Shelley Grogan and 19 active and retired sheriffs from several counties, including Waukesha and Washington, have endorsed Kelly. Two anti-abortion organizations, Wisconsin Right to Lifeand Pro-Life Wisconsin, also have endorsed him.

Kelly repeatedly has said he will not endorse Dorow if she advances to the general election. The candidate maintains that he is wary that his endorsement of Dorow would yield a result similar to Kelly’s endorsement of Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, who, Kelly states, has become insufficiently conservative since being elected to the high state court in 2019.

Hagedorn occasionally has sided with the leftwing block of the court, stating that he follows the law, rather than politics, when making judicial rulings.

Kelly has reported raising more than $300,000, according to filings with the state. Kelly has received $20,000 donations, the maximum allowed by state law, from both Dick and Liz Uihlein, the billionaire right-wing donors and founders of the shipping supply company ULINE, and from Stephen Kieffer of Princeton, Wisconsin.

Everett Mitchell (left-wing candidate)

A judge on the Dane County Circuit Court overseeing the juvenile division, Mitchell has worked with colleagues to incorporate trauma-informed practices in the courtroom. Those practices include removing handcuffs on youth during hearings, according to his campaign website.

The judge’s website also states that he has worked with the Madison Metropolitan School District to create an Office of Youth Engagement that connects youth in the criminal justice system to educational programming.

He earned his law degree from the

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800 Compassion Way Dodgeville, WI 53533

University of Wisconsin Law School, where he also is an adjunct professor and has taught courses “Race, Racism and the Law” and “Foundational Principles of the Juvenile Justice System.”

Former Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, and many more judges and elected officials have endorsed Mitchell.

In 2010, Mitchell’s wife made accusations of sexual assault against him in a custody battle over their 5-year-old daughter.

Mitchell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the accusations were false and noted he was not charged criminally. The Dane County family court judge overseeing the custody dispute sided with him, awarding him primary custody of the child, according to court records. The child’s mother was granted only “limited supervised visitation.”

Everett and his ex-wife both told the newspaper they have moved on from the bitter dispute.

Mitchell has reported raising more than $70,000, according to recent filings with the state. His largest single donors include the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which gave $7,500, and Gloria Page of Los Angeles, California, who has given $5,000.

Janet Protasiewicz (left-wing candidate)

A family division judge on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Protasiewicz calls herself “a community leader, a veteran prosecutor, and a lifelong advocate for victims of crime,” on her campaign website.

She earned her law degree from Marquette University, where she later taught as an adjunct professor from 2013-2016, according to Kevin Conway, a spokesman for the university.

Protasiewicz served for more than 25 years as an assistant district attorney prosecuting criminal cases.

She has endorsements from two current Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices,

Rebecca Dallet and Ann Walsh Bradley; Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Neubauer, and several Democratic state and city elected officials.

Candidates running for Wisconsin Supreme Court have generally refrained from taking specific policy positions, though those lines have blurred as the court has become more political. In running for the seat, Protasiewicz has stepped right over them. She called the political maps in Wisconsin “rigged” and said in a video advertisement, “I believe in a woman’s freedom to make her own decision on abortion.” She often hedges those remarks by noting that she cannot say how she would rule on a particular case.

Protasiewicz is aggressively fundraising and reported receiving more than $900,000 in 2022. Both right-wing candidates didn’t even announce their campaigns until the end of 2022.

Protasiewicz’s campaign has received the maximum $20,000 allowed by state law from Robert and Justine Haselow of Edina, Minnesota; Alida Messinger of Afton, Minnesota; Lee and Luis Lainer of Los Angeles and Susan Lubar of Madison, Wisconsin.

Protasiewicz has received $10,000 donations from Joanne Witty of Bedford Hills, New York; Tracy Solomon of San Rafael, California; Mary Ann Howkins of New York City and Marilynn Duker of Pikesville, Maryland.

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Chris Hardie's 'Back Home' column

Agriculture censuses tell story

Chris Hardie, Columnist

I have completed my quinquennial agricultural legal reporting duties with a week to spare.

My 2022 Census of Agriculture – with a deadline of Feb. 6 – is in the books, a mandatory reporting requirement for farmers conducted every five years through the United States Department of Agriculture. The census has been conducted since 1840.

Enter two major changes that dramatically altered the farming landscape – tractors and electricity. In 1920 there were about 9,000 tractors in Wisconsin. By 1950 there were more than 127,000. That same year the number of horses on farms had dropped to 93,422 and there were 2,257 mules. In 25 years 500,000 horses were replaced by 118,000 tractors.

In 1930, 46,565 farms reported having electricity. Thanks to strong rural electrification efforts – our farm was put on the grid in the late 1940s – that number increased to 156,392 in 1950. With electricity came milking machines and bulk coolers.

The combination of tractor power and electrical power meant farms got larger and were able to support more animals. It meant the disappearance of many small, family farms but allowed existing farms to become much more productive with less manual labor.

The 2017 census showed Wisconsin had 64,793 farms with an average size of 221 acres.

The 2022 census required a response from farm operations of all sizes which produced and sold – or normally would have sold – $1,000 or more of agriculture products in 2022.

many households shared in the net farm income of this operation.

What’s farm income?

The results of the 2022 Census will not be released until 2024, but a review of prior censuses tells a story about the changes in farming over the past 100 years.

When my great-grandfather Raymond Hardie filled out the 1925 census, Wisconsin had 193,155 farms with an average size of 113.1 acres. That year there were 604,270 horses and colts on Wisconsin farms as well as 6,396 mules. There were more than 3 million cattle and 1.9 million dairy cows.

There were 3.5 million cattle and 1.28 million dairy cows. The number of dairy cows has actually declined by 600,000 since 1925, but the average production per cow – according to the USDA – was 6,000 pounds in 1930 to more than 22,000 pounds in 2015.

The 1.95 million dairy cows in 1925 would have produced 11.4 billion pounds of milk, compared to the 28.2 billion pounds produced by the 1.28 million cows in 2017.

“Normally would have” is what got me. My timing was a tad off, as I gave our laying chickens to a local Amish farmer in 2021. Had I anticipated that eggs would become as valuable as gold, I may have held on to a few hens.

Questions include how many acres I own, how many I rent, what percentages are in crops and in pasture, descriptions and numbers of animals, sales and amount of time spent farming.

I was thrown for a loop when asked how

WisPolitics — Fate of old UW two-year colleges debated as Richland Center reels

By WisPolitics.com

When the University of Wisconsin's twoyear colleges were absorbed by regional UW schools in bigger communities, critics worried about the state of higher education in small-town Wisconsin.

Some of those worries seem to be playing out in the western Wisconsin community of Richland Center, which is pushing back against the UW System's decision to end in-person instruction at UW-Platteville Richland. Some are arguing the two-year campus was undermined.

The Richland Center campus’ enrollment was at just 51 full-time equivalent students this fall. UW System President Jay Rothman directed UW-Platteville’s interim chancellor to begin planning the switch to online instruction in November. The system currently has a 75-year lease on the campus building through 2042 with a total cost of $75.

But Richland County Board Vice-Chair Shaun Murphy-Lopez told WisPolitics. com it has been “a struggle” to have direct communication with UW System decisionmakers, encouraging conversation with UW-Platteville employees rather than directly with the UW System.

“I think they’ve wanted to put UWPlatteville staff between us,” he said in a story seen by subscribers on Jan. 27.

He said although he doesn’t speak for the entire board, he cites a dismissiveness of their concerns that he thinks UWPlatteville Richland students felt when they met with Rothman in December to plead their case.

But he said lines of communication are starting to open up. The local community on the evening of Jan. 26 held an informational session and town hall on the decision with UW System Vice President for University Relations Jeff Buhrandt as Rothman’s representative as well as Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc. Gov. Tony Evers was also invited, but was not in attendance.

Kurtz at the meeting said there is a

misconception in the community that he and Marklein have been absent on the issue. He said the lawmakers tried to get answers about the Richland Center campus’ viability ahead of the decision to end in-person instruction. He also said although he and Marklein are both on the Joint Finance Committee, that doesn’t mean they can convince their colleagues to fund the campus to keep it up and running.

“I’m being brutally honest with you that I could probably persuade a few. But I know it would be a fruitless effort because we would lose,” Kurtz said. Meanwhile, Marklein, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, said he was “as shocked as anybody” by Rothman’s decision.

“To have this campus survive in any meaningful way, it’s going to take some action on the Board of Regents and system,” Marklein said.

Buhrandt said the meeting marked “the beginning of the process” for the UW System.

“We’re going to start having conversations with county leadership about what this process looks like and what our presence in this community continues to be,” Buhrandt said.

The meeting came after the local community submitted a petition with nearly 1,500 signatures calling for the discussion. The petition argues the regionalization of the former UWColleges in 2018 “slowly dismantled” the Richland campus through a lack of financial support, reducing faculty and staff, and eliminating positions for the dean and international coordinators, among other things.

The Richland County Board also unanimously passed a resolution with a number of requests, including:

For the UW System to bring back a fulltime recruiter to the campus; $4 million for the 2023-2024 academic year to maintain the campus; and For the county to work with the UW System to establish

a minimum level of student enrollment to keep the campus running and establish annual targets to return to that level of enrollment.

The resolution also states that UWPlatteville did not “faithfully” carry out recruitment efforts for the Richland campus.

The number of full-time equivalent fall enrollments at the campus has decreased since 2012, when the campus had 567 students, except for an increase of two students in 2017 and 19 students in 2018. The campus had 224 full-time equivalent enrollments in 2018 compared to 51 this year.

UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch told WisPolitics.com the UW System will continue to follow the process Rothman outlined in a letter sent to Richland County Board Chair Marty Brewer. Rothman in the Jan. 17 letter said the decision to convert the UW-Platteville Richland campus was “difficult,” but said he saw no other alternative considering declining enrollment.

“UW-Platteville is planning an ongoing online presence focused on reskilling and upskilling adult learners and degree completion,” Pitsch said. “We are engaging Richland County on use of the campus facilities as noted in the plan.”

Pitsch also told WisPolitics.com that UWPlatteville had engaged in recruitment efforts for the campus, including campus visits, college fairs and “flyers, billboards, posters, etc.”

The UW System has released a draft plan for the transition, which allows UWPlatteville Richland students to continue their education at the university’s main campus, the Baraboo Sauk County campus, or online at the Richland Center campus tuition rate for up to 40 credits once the campus ends in-person instruction in July. The plan also seeks to engage in discussions with the Richland County Board and local leaders about the transition.

Darlo Wentz, who retired last March

I also paused for a moment when asked: “Is this person retired from farming or ranching?”

It was a yes or no question, but there should be an option for “he should be if he had any common sense.”

There was also no option to explain the purpose of Steve the goat, who is not really a meat goat or a dairy goat, but simply exists for amusement purposes. But he got counted, along with his companion Peter, our lone Scottish Highland cow and two donkeys.

Their value – immeasurable.

as executive secretary of the Richland County Campus Foundation, said he believes the UW-Platteville Richland campus lost some of its power when it became a branch campus of UWPlatteville in 2018. The foundation helps raise funds for campus needs that aren’t met by the state or county budget.

“We struggled to some degree at that point,” Wentz said.

Wentz noted the campus shared a dean with UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County and UW-Whitewater Rock County. He said that meant the dean was only on campus maybe once or twice a week due to the additional responsibilities.

“That was not good. I felt we just didn’t have the decision or the ability to do what we wanted to do,” Wentz said.

Wentz said the Richland campus was given a shared recruiter with UWPlatteville and Baraboo Sauk County instead of its own recruiter. He said when the Richland County Campus Foundation offered to cover the costs of a recruiter for the Richland Campus, UW-Platteville declined the offer.

“I still feel very strongly we just didn’t have support out of Platteville for looking like we would have a good future,” Wentz said.

Kurtz at the Jan. 26 informational session and town hall said Wentz told him UW-Platteville declined the offer. When Kurtz reached out to then-Chancellor Dennis Shields to ask about it, he said Shields “kind of blew me off.” For more, go to www.wispolitics.com.

The Capitol Report is written by the editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

Chris Hardie

Photo by Chris Hardie Chris Hardie's livestock were included in the 2022 Census of the Agriculture.

The Sauk County Gardener

Vegetables You Can Grow Right Now

Jeannie Manis, Wisconsin Certified Master Gardener

“We may think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.”

— Jenny Uglow

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some fresh vegetables from the garden. Now I know it’s pretty tough to grow the most wonderful of vegetables – the amazing tomato – indoors in the winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow other fresh herbs and vegetables. I currently have herbs that I brought in last fall hanging out in my sunny, southfacing windows, but there are some vegetables I’m planning to grow as well. Besides herbs, most people only consider planting lettuce and microgreens indoors. You can also grow arugula, radishes, bok choy, garlic greens, kale, mustard greens, scallions, spinach,

Winter-Sowing

“Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle.”

— Barbara Winkler

My husband and I recently attended the PBS Gardening and Landscaping Expo. It’s one of my favorite winter events as I get the opportunity to learn new things presented by gardening experts and it helps get me excited about the upcoming season. We were only able to attend one day and there were so many different seminars we wanted to attend, that we had to split up a couple times during the day. One seminar I was unable to attend was on winter sowing. I’ve done winter sowing before but I was hoping to pick up a pointer or two. Luckily, winter sowing isn’t difficult, it’s a great way to get a lot of plants for the price of a seed packet and it’s a great way to scratch that gardening itch all gardeners seem to get this time of

beets, Swiss chard, and even carrots. Read the back of the seed packets to help select plants that mature quickly and stay compact for best results. If you want to grow some of these delicious vegetables, here’s some things to keep in mind. Most of these vegetables will need at least 12 hours of light. A south-facing window may provide enough natural light, but if you don’t have those conditions, plan to use grow lights. Choose the right container for your vegetables. The container needs to be big enough to support it when the plant is grown, hold soil without spilling, have adequate drainage, and never contained anything toxic. Lettuce, arugula, and microgreens can grow in a fairly shallow bowl – around 4 inches deep. However, the others that I mentioned would be better served by being planted in a container at least 6 inches deep. If you have a spare window box, that

year. I like winter sowing because it gives me a chance to start some of those seeds that need stratification (process of mimicking winter conditions) or scarification (weakening of the seed coat) to germinate. Many of these are seeds I could have also planted last fall. However, the time I was done with all my other fall gardening tasks, I was done with gardening for the season. This year, I’m looking to get some more coneflowers (Echinacea) growing and ready to transplant into some other areas of my gardens. Some other perennials that can be started using the winter sowing method include black-eyed or brown-eyed Susan, foxglove, blanket flower, blazing star, butterfly weed, milkweed, speedwell, tickseed, bee balm, and delphinium. January and February are a great time to start these seeds. Hardy annuals and cool-weather crops can also be started using this method in March. Some hardy annuals include Mexican sunflower, cosmos, Canterbury bells, cornflower,

might be deep enough for them. You can even recycle other various plastic containers – just make sure they meet the requirements mentioned earlier. Use an all-purpose soilless indoor potting mix that contains peat moss (or coconut coir), vermiculite and perlite. This will provide aeration and drainage while holding moisture. Many mixes are enriched with nutrients to help plants grow as well. If you like, you can also make your soilless potting mix. Visit extension.psu.edu/homemade-pottingmedia for a “recipe” for making soilless potting mix. Plan to fertilize your plants as they don’t have a way to get nutrients other than what you give them. Using a potting mix with slow-release fertilizer will help delay the need to fertilize, but eventually those containers will need fertilizer too. Read and follow the instructions for proper fertilizer use – more is not better.

Once you have all your supplies, find the

larkspur, China aster, calendula, sweet peas, snapdragon, and lupine. Coolweather crops that do well are lettuce, bok choy, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Winter sowing involves creating little greenhouses where the seeds can be planted and go through the necessary process of stratification or scarification for germination. Ideal greenhouses are plastic gallon or half-gallon milk jugs. Cut the jug almost in half, leaving a hinge so the top remains attached to the bottom. Remove the cap, cut air and moisture vent holes on the top, and drain holes in the bottom. Fill with about 4” of potting soil. Plant the seeds, following the directions on the packet as to the recommended depth and then water. Label the container and tape it shut with duct or packing tape. Place the container outside in a sunny location where it is protected from the wind and animals but still is exposed to the elements. Then let the container get snowed and rained on until it starts to warm up outside. Once it starts to get warmer, check on

An update on sports coverage

You may have noticed that there has been no River Valley Blackhawks sports coverage this winter season.

Our student athletes are great. Our coaches are great. Our parents and community supporters are great. So what gives?

While we appreciate the engagement, stats, pictures and write ups we get from coaches (and we urge them to continue) — covering, compiling and laying out the multitude of sports that happen, as a bi-weekly, is…hard.

That’s not to say we’re not up for the task. We’re proud to have put together great sports stories, opinion pieces and coverage in prior seasons. However, it’s never been on the scale and consistency we’d like. With our limited manpower and resources, we

right location to set up your plant station. Set up your grow lights if necessary and keep them about 2 inches above so the plants don’t get leggy. Many of the vegetables I listed like cooler temps, so a cool basement is ideal. They also need soil temps between 65 and 75 degrees to germinate so you may need to add a heat mat. Until your seeds sprout, keep the soil moist. Once they’ve sprouted, water your plants at their base once the soil feels dry. Use a fan to provide air circulation to remove excess moisture and help reduce the chance of damping off. It also helps the stems become stronger. Fertilize as needed. Finally, harvest often. With just a little effort, you can enjoy some fresh vegetables while you wait for spring to arrive.

If you have any gardening questions, visit the Sauk County Master Gardeners Association facebook page at www.facebook.com/ SaukCountyMasterGardenerAssociation

your containers to see if the seeds have germinated. Add more holes to provide additional air circulation and water if needed. As it gets warmer, you can leave the container open to prevent it from getting too hot inside the jug. Once the danger of frost has passed, you can leave off the container’s lid. Finally, transplant your seedlings to their location in the garden. To learn more about winter sowing, visit extension.psu.edu/startingseeds-in-winter.

Want to learn even more? Consider attending “Let’s Get Green & Growing!” sponsored by the Columbia County Master Gardener Association on Saturday, March 25, 2023. I’ve attended several times and it is always a great event. Visit columbia. extension.wisc.edu/files/2023/01/2023Brochure.pdf to see what sessions are available and to register. If you have any gardening questions, visit the Sauk County Master Gardeners Association facebook page at www.facebook.com/ SaukCountyMasterGardenerAssociation

truly believe that if we’re going to do it, then we want to do it right. We want to find the best balance of print and interactive, online sports coverage (both scholastic and community/club/intramural) that the community deserves.

To do that, we most likely will need a sports editor and an additional paginator to coordinate and compile what is involved. So we wanted to send out some feelers to see if there is a savvy, passionate community member or members that live and breathe sports that want to be empowered to take this on and make it their own. We understand it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we wanted to make sure our readers knew where we were and what we’re thinking too.

Stay tuned and let us know if you’re interested: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

Jeannie Manis, Wisconsin Certified Master Gardener

An Outdoorsman’s Journal

Mark Walters, Columnist

Tomah/A Good Time Had by All

Hello friends,

This week’s column is all about what can happen when good people pull together and try to do good things. I have mentioned that Kids and Mentors Outdoors (KAMO) www.kamokids.org which is dedicated to helping get kids outside, is on a pretty good roll and if you would please keep reading you will find out what I mean.

Friday, January 20th High 19°, Low 9°

One of the 7 chapters of KAMO is out of New Lisbon and it is called The Meadow Valley Chapter of KAMO. I make as many of their meetings as I can and we recently had a couple of new guys join our group that had recently retired. I just met Charley Rydmark who had a long military career that ended as a Maintenance Superintendent in the Air Control Squadron at Volk Field.

Charley is an avid outdoorsman and is very into elk and mule deer hunting in Montana. He purchased a 16-foot enclosed trailer and completely rigged it up for living in and can haul his UTV in it as well. So, this week’s outing for Meadow Valley was on Lake Tomah and they invited the Coulee Chapter of KAMO “LaCrosse” and The New Lisbon High School Fishing Team to join us.

We would be ice fishing, eating good food, and each kid was given an ice fishing rod and reel as well as some jigs.

Charley, myself, and another of my new buddies who is Randy Rowell of the Sparta area felt compelled to arrive a day early and pre-fish, sleep in Charley’s Mansion, and have fun. We are hoping Randy joins the KAMO gang as he is lots of fun, he also ownsvery nice snowmobile.

At dark we hit The Mansion and had a meal of bear steaks, and a tater-sausage casserole.

Saturday, January 21st High 29°, Low 15°

Today was a great day for anyone of the probably 50 of us that hit the ice. We put Charley’s cabin tent up about first light and also rigged up his woodstove. My mission for the day would be to cover a large area with tip ups and try to teach some kids how to run tip ups.

Before long, our world was full of kids and adults, some knew exactly what they were doing, some had no clue. We had all of the bases covered and The New Lisbon Fishing Club members who are managed by Julie Mecikalski, and sponsored by KAMO were a machine and it was very cool to watch. These guys and girls had ice shacks, electronics, and a great attitude.

I have a pretty fair eye for picking out kids that want to do outdoor experiences but could use some help. So at first, I chose 14-year-old Allison Maulsby who is a freshmen at New Lisbon. Our goal was to teach her how to run a tip up and catch a fish with it. She had 4 try’s with flags up of which some were dropped minnows but in the end she caught her first gator on the ice and was a very happy girl.

For me this day was a celebration victory as the readers of this column are what started KAMO. I watched this group of people having a great day, as grown-ups teamed up with kids that in most cases they had never met, and taught them how to use a jig pole and electronics.

My final thrill for the day came when Gail Traut and her 8-year-old son Lucas, arrived later in the event. Gail is an elementary school teacher at Summit Environmental Elementary in French Island at LaCrosse and seemed like a very cool person. Randy Rowell took both Gail and Lucas under his wing and began helping them with jig fishing. I taught Lucas how a tip up works and made a solid goal of helping him catch his first northern pike on a tip up. Well low and behold a flag went up and Lucas did an excellent job of icing his first gator and just like Allison, Lucas had an ear-to-ear smile.

That my friends was a good weekend in the outdoors!

Sunset

P.S. Want to join a chapter, get a kid involved, start a chapter, or help out in any way, check out the website.

Follow along the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!

Want to read more?

Check out previous weeks’ columns at www.outdoorsmansjournal.com

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Photo contributed by Mark Walters 14-year-old Allison Maulsby a freshmen at New Lisbon High School with her first northern pike.

Photo contributed by Mark Walters Lucas and Gail Traut, both of LaCrosse are all smiles after Lucas caught his first northern pike on a tip up.

Photo contributed by Mark Walters Some of the members of The New Lisbon High School Fishing Club enjoying themselves on Lake Tomah.