Life has been full. I've spent some time regrouping, making plans, and trying to forge a path for Wis.Community for 2020. As some of you know, it has been a trying year at Cruiskeen Farm. My partner and wife Lorelei died in August. Our doggie Shadow left shortly before that. As a result, I'm learning to manage the farm here, which I've blissfully left to Lori while we have lived here. I've also taken some time out to get used to living alone. 

Producing news costs money. Newspapers around the country are struggling to find ways to fund news-gathering operations and production costs. Our production costs are fairly low, but there still is a need to pay people to do the work, to pay web hosting costs, development costs, and more. 

WisCommunity will be starting a podcast early in 2020. The podcast will cover bigger issues facing the Chippewa Valley and the state. It will feature interviews with important people in the community, and will cover a different issue every month. The podcast is titled So - That Happened. 

This is a semi-regular compendium of thoughts, observations, and events from the Chippewa Valley. 

You may have noticed that the site has been down off and on for the last couple days.  You may also have noticed this afternoon that it is a good deal faster than it used to be, or at least it appears that way at Chateau Cruiskeen. I've made some rather serious changes to the way the site is run on this server, and I'm hoping that this will fix some long-standing performance issues.

As I am sure has been clear, WisCommunity has been very slowly updated for the last few months. Those of you who know me personally have been aware that my wife has had serious health issues over the last nine months. I am sad to have to report that my darling Lorelei died on August 25th at home with me and our daughters.

As has probably been apparent, posting and maintenance at Wis.Commuity has been more than a little slow lately. It's one of the problems with having what is essentially a one-man operation (not for lack of trying to spread the work through the community). The gist of it is that if I for one reason or another cannot work every day, things suffer. 

We have made some changes to commenting policy on the site. In the past no comments could be made on the site unless you have previously created an account with us and signed in. For at least the time being, comments can be made by people without accounts, but they will be held for moderation until an editor approves them. We hope this will promote a lively discussion in the community without allowing a free-for-all of spam and other problems.

Winter continues to unleash upon us. More stories are coming on about barn collapses, accidents, and more caused by the incredible weather we have been experiencing. Today almost all of the area schools are closed due to water covering the roads, making them impassable. I am at the moment sitting out at the farm and wondering if I will be able to get into town tomorrow for the Red Cedar Watershed Conference.