Our recent Virtual Environmental Film Festival screening was very successful. About 30 people signed up to watch the film (and our link was used by another group showing that couldn't work out getting set up - I was glad to help). We had a panel discussion after the movie showing, and had 12 people (some of whom came and went) after the showing.

I know we're all feeling a little on-edge. On a personal note I have been running as fast as I can for the past week and still feel incredibly behind. There are so many things to do, and life refuses to slow down. And as things stand now I am more and more just hunkering down in the house and trying to do everything from here. I have the disturbing feeling that the smattering of life video from meetings yesterday will be the last outside reporting gig for a while.

MADISON, WI -In light of COVID-19, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are closely following guidelines from the

Episode 1 of our podcast, So - That Happened is now live. We're still working through a few technical issues, particularly since some of this podcast was recorded in noisy places. 

In this episode we explore citizen activists in the Chippewa Valley who are making a difference through their actions. I went on a bus trip to Madison with the Wisconsin Conservation Voters as they lobbied with their state Senators to pass legislation to protect water in Wisconsin.  I also spoke to Chris Hambuch-Boyle about her efforts to support our public schools for Public Schools Week along with the Wisconsin Public Education Network.

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.