Struggle against COVID-19 was biggest story of 2021; Year In Review: The first six months of 2021 – News-shield

There is again no doubt about the top story of 2021. It is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dragged on more than 2 years and is covered in these pages every week.

Optimism of a shorter pandemic was high early in the year as the first vaccines became available to health care workers and eventually to everyone age five and older.

Cases dropped dramatically after the vaccine rollout. But the onset of the COVID-19 Delta variant sent cases up again through the latter half of the year as vaccination numbers stagnated, immunity waned, and people lost patience with masking and physical distancing.

Now the Omicron variant is the greatest concern, and there is no knowing at what pace the pandemic will subside or accelerate in 2022.

But the world keeps turning. Communities brought back festivals, events and celebrations.

Businesses opened, while others changed hands or closed. Significant investments were made in local communities. In Barron, a major school referendum passed, La Salle Avenue was upgraded, the County broke ground on several new Highway Department buildings, a field of solar panels went online and the City committed to building a new municipal center and public works building.

Though crimes, each seemingly more heinous than the next, continue to shock and dishearten us, there is always good news to share too. In divisive times, the vast majority of people continue to be generous and supportive of one another. There is photographic proof of that in every issuea good thought to keep in mind as we welcome 2022.

January 6

Eligible individuals throughout Barron County were waiting for the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, including residents at Monroe Manor, first responders and medical personnel.

Meanwhile, dozens of fire vehicles formed a funeral cortege in Clayton to honor 35-year veteran Fire Chief Don Kittelson, who had lost his COVID-19 battle the previous Dec. 17.

Cumberland resident Clayton M. Lauritsen was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the Dec. 28, 2020, shooting death of Lauritz Robertson in front of a home on Mill Street in Barron.

The days of free-for-all dumping -- at the recycling dropbox containers scattered across Barron County were coming to an end, county authorities announced.

The county recycling program began phasing in changes in an attempt to crack down on people putting materials in recycling bins that are in fact not recyclable.

Waste to Energy/Recycling Plant Director Ray Zeman said the recycling industry had termed the practice wishcycling. He said grills, swimming pools, rain gutters and various other materials had been wrongly dumped in recycling containers for years.

January 13

Ladysmith-based Embrace, a nonprofit that serves survivors of domestic abuse in Barron, Rusk, Washburn and Price counties, was to share in $20,000 worth of cash grants announced Jan. 11 by Mayo Clinic Health System in Northwest Wisconsin.

The local agency got $4,000 to assist with staff development and learning opportunities around cultural responsiveness and inclusivity training, a Mayo press release said.

The grant came in the wake of a late 2020 controversy involving Embrace and Barron County officials who objected to an Embrace statement regarding violence in all its forms, including police violence.

In response, the county approved a $25,000 appropriation from its budget for Embrace

Seventh Dist. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, described his experiences during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. He was evacuated from the building before the attackers reached the Senate chamber. We need political leaders who are going to stand up to the anarchists and others who are just out to cause trouble, Tiffany said. It needs to be both Republicans and Democrats that deliver the message.

A survey of Barron Area School District families showed childcare to be a major concern. District Administrator Diane Tremblay said district leaders strongly believe that an early childhood center on ... campus would serve our families best.

January 20

Barron Area School Board members approved a dual referendum asking voters for permission to borrow $24.5 million to pay for capital improvements throughout the district, and a second $1.9 million question to build a daycare center onto Woodland Elementary School.

Distribution of COVID-19 vaccines were increasing throughout the county.

A Cameron woman was charged with offering her daughter to a suspect in a criminal sex trafficking investigation, in exchange for cash and drugs.

January 27

Barron area residents remembered seeing Henry Aaron play baseball for the minor league Eau Claire Bears in the early 1950s, following Aarons death on Jan. 22, 2021, at age 86.

Barron Bakery announced it was closing for good on Jan. 30. Owners Levi and Carissa Borstad said their growing family made the bakery work hours difficult for their schedule, and that COVID-19 had cut into volume.

In an exit interview, outgoing 75th Dist. State Rep. Romaine Quinn, R-Chetek, hinted he might run for office again.

February 3

More than two years after the old Almena Post Office was torched by arsonists, its successor opened during the last week of January 2021. The new structure was built by the village of Almena and is leased to the U.S. Postal Service.

Barron resident Caleb Peterson was accepted at the West Point Military Academy.

The effects of the COVID-19 vaccinations began to be felt with a dropping case rate in Barron County.

Barron Public Library continued to offer a limited set of services as the pandemic continued, requiring appointments for computer use and limiting in-person access.

February 10

Prairie Farms Fun on the Flowage event on Feb. 13 was to include human sled dog races and snowshoe and ice skating races as well. Meanwhile, the state-ranked Panther girls basketball team won its first outright conference championship in 30 years.

The Barron Community Fund awarded nearly $21,000 in donations to a variety of local charities and other recipients, thanks to the generosity of area businesses and individuals who donated to the program the previous fall.

February 17

Barron City Council members approved an ordinance allowing the installation of tiny houses in the city to provide transitional housing for qualified individuals. The first tiny house was scheduled for the Foursquare Church campus. Restroom and shower facilities were to be provided by either the church or the Barron Area Community Center.

A Boyceville man was fined $9,932, had his hunting privileges revoked 12 years, lost his hunting rifle and was sentenced to 45 days in jail in connection with 2019 charges that he poached trophy bucks on a Dunn County property owned by Barron County residents.

February 24

Second-degree murder suspect Melanie Kuula was found not guilty after a five-day trial ending Feb. 19 in Barron County Circuit Court. She had been charged in connection with the stabbing death of her boyfriend on Aug. 10, 2019, at an apartment building in Almena, then spent many months in jail prior to raising bail.

Hundreds of people shook off winter blues at the annual Ridgeland Pioneer Day celebration, including a horse parade, crosscut saw contest and the traditional chicken toss off the roof of a downtown building.

March 3

Barron Public Library director Lisa Kuebli was placed on paid administrative leave. City authorities said the leave was unrelated to a recent operating while intoxicated conviction.

Chad and Karla Knutson announced they were selling Pine Crest Golf Course, Dallas, after a decade of ownership.

Ann Matheny was recognized with the Barron Chamber of Commerce annual Distinguished Service Award.

The 57th annual Poskin Lake Sportsmen Club ice fishing tournament brought hundreds of anglers to the lake.

COVID-19 cases flattened in the county as the volume of vaccinations ramped up.

March 10

Hundreds of people drove into the Barron Electric Cooperative garage for a mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic on March 5. Among those getting the poke was 94-year-old rural Cameron resident Naomi Ligocki.

Barron County released a 15-year management plan for its 16,000 acres of publicly-owned forest lands, including information on forest cropping, sustainability, wildlife preservation and related issues.

March 17

Barron High School student Nathan Kallsen sustained severe injuries in a crash on March 12 on a town road north of Cameron. A GoFundMe campaign was launched to raise $60,000 for his medical treatment.

Devere Jon Popple, rural Cameron, refused to wear a protective mask while serving jury duty in Barron County, setting up a legal tussle that lasted through years end.

Barron Electric Co-op general manager Dallas Sloan announced his retirement after a 37-year career.

Barron High School graduate, inventor and musician Christian Schauf was named to the school districts hall of fame on Monday, March 15.

March 24

Dragsmith Farms, a Barron area business that produces and distributes organic produce, submitted a plan to the Barron County Board of Adjustments that called for a new store, kitchen and camping facility.

A 40-year-old Rice Lake man faced homicide charges after colliding with an Amish buggy the previous Feb. 18 and causing fatal injuries to a 17-year-old riding in the buggy.

COVID-19 cases continued to drop as the number of vaccinated Barron County residents neared the 25 percent benchmark.

March 31

A Barron County resident who refused judicial instructions to wear a face mask while serving jury duty said he planned to appeal a $200 fine imposed by the court. Devere Jon Popple alleged his constitutional rights and liberty were at stake. Meanwhile, Judge James Babler, who imposed the fine, noted that Barron County conducted more than two dozen in-person (and masked) jury trials during the pandemic, while Dane Countys trials were all virtual.

Barron native Jon Yamada, whose professional golf experience includes working as a club pro in two states and managing PGA-level competition in Iowa, was named the new course manager at Barrons Rolling Oaks Golf Course.

April 7

Barron Area School District voters approved borrowing $24.5 million to make building improvements throughout the school district, but turned down (by a 775-685 margin) another proposal to spend $1.9 million on a daycare center at Woodland Elementary School.

County officials started a process to determine how to spend an estimated $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, a $1.9-trillion pandemic relief measure proposed by the Biden Administration.

Veteran Barron County Sheriffs Department detective Mary Dexter was named one of Americas 100 Remarkable Women, following a nomination process by Mextar, Inc., a media company with almost 200 broadcast outlets around the country, including a FOX affiliate in western Wisconsin.

April 14

City authorities decided to delay relocating City Hall to the former Family Dollar site after encountering increased expenses to build the facility, together with a city shop building.

County justice authorities noted there was a prisoner backup at the Barron County Jail, inmates awaiting transfer to state prison facilities because of a ban imposed by the state due to COVID-19.

The pandemic had also put a damper on diversion court participation and victim-impact sessions in the Restorative Justice program, while boosting drug referrals to the Health and Human Services department.

April 21

Work began on a major reconstruction of La Salle Avenue from Seventh Street to Memorial Drive. Thorp-based Haas Sons, Inc., was the winning bidder for the $1,329,188 project.

The week ending Tuesday, April 20 resulted in no new cases of COVID-19, although one person died of virus-related causes.

April 28

A recount in the Barron Area School District referendum upheld the original results, verifying that the $24.5 million school bond proposal had passed by a margin of 740 yes votes versus 725 no.

Increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines prompted an appeal by county officials for people to get their shots to head off the effects of the pandemic.

Owners of a proposed event barn near Turtle Lake were unsuccessful in getting their property rezoned, as the County Board of Supervisors rejected a unanimous vote of the countys Zoning Committee to deny permission for the facility.

The measure was returned to the Zoning Committee, which later voted to allow the facility on five acres of property rezoned from Ag-1 to Ag-2. But the County Board ultimately denied the request. May 5

Drunk driving incidents were on the increase in Barron County, which reported 109 OWI referrals to the District Attorneys Office in calendar year 2020.

A 160,000 square-foot garage was the main feature for a $25 million Barron County Highway Department project ceremonially launched at a May 3 groundbreaking ceremony at Barron.

Four Barron County municipalities, including the towns of Clinton, Arland, and Sioux Creek, and the village of New Auburn were ordered to return nearly $580,000 to Superior Silica Sands following negotiations between the mining company and the state Department of Revenue that resulted in lower valuations for the mostly idle sand company facilities and mines.

May 12

Hillsdale native and longtime Wisconsin Public Radio broadcaster Dean Kallenbach retired after a 46-year career, including 35 years with WPR. A radio listener since he milked cows on the familys farm, Kallenbach began his career in Iowa and worked in Antigo, Rice Lake and Wausau (a television station) before joining WPRs facility in Menomonie.

May 19

Crashes on May 11 and 12 took the lives of two persons from Rice Lake (in a motorcycle accident on U.S. Hwy. 53) and a man from St Cloud, Minn., after a single-vehicle crash along U.S. Hwy. 8 just east of the Rusk County line.

May 26

Ridgeland developers Heidi and Kevin Jacobson won approval from the city Planning Commission May 25 for an eight-unit apartment complex to serve the independent living needs of elderly and disabled residents, as well as other renters.

Law enforcement and emergency responders from five counties met at the L.E. Phillips Scout Reservation near Haugen May 24 for an active shooter training exercise.

Eleven arrests were made and 18 guns and $17,000 were seized in a methamphetamine-related case described in a 47-page complaint filed May 25 by Wisconsin Attorney Generals office, according to a May 25 announcement by the Rusk County Sheriffs Department.

A hiring freeze brought on by COVID-19 meant that Barron County would continue to go without an ag educator, six months after the former educator left the job.

June 2

In spite of the fact that municipal governments in the area had been ordered to return well over half a million dollars in property taxes to Superior Silica Sands, it appeared that the county and town governments had not suffered financial losses during the roughly six years that the sand company was active.

After a one-year absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Camerama returned to the village of Cameron over the weekend of June 4-6.

Hillsdale Dairy, owned and operated by the Kraft family, hosted the annual June Dairy Breakfast June 6.

June 9

A Barron landmark became part of history when the old Farmer Store (most recently the Family Dollar Store), 508 E. La Salle Ave., was torn down to make way for a new Barron City Hall.

A Minnesota man convicted of killing his father and dumping the body in the town of Maple Grove in 2013 was sentenced in Scott County, Minn., to a prison term of seven years and nine months. The bones of Gary Herbst, 57, found in December 2017 and identified in February 2020, after years of increasingly exhaustive DNA testing, ultimately led to the conviction of Austin J. Herbst, 27, of New Prague, Minn.

Prairie Farm Lions Club welcomed hundreds of drivers and spectators to a chilly Dust Em Off and Bust Em Loose tractor pull at Ridgeland on May 30.

Original post:

Struggle against COVID-19 was biggest story of 2021; Year In Review: The first six months of 2021 - News-shield