Brian Jopek

Recent Stories

Minocqua Visitors Bureau wants to buy town property

The Minocqua town board was approached at its Oct. 20 meeting by Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau (MVB) chief executive officer Krystal Westfahl with two proposals, the first having to do with property on East Milwaukee Street the town purchased in 2024 following a vote of the electors at its April annual meeting.

Lac du Flambeau, Arbor Vitae town boards OK Lakeland Airport budget

The Lac du Flambeau and Arbor Vitae town boards at their Oct. 21 meetings approved the 2027 budget for the Lakeland Airport in Arbor Vitae. The two towns, along with Minocqua and Woodruff, own the airport and those two town boards approved the airport budget of $282,860 during meetings the day before.

Pickup truck takes a swim at LUHS

The driver of a pickup truck escaped serious injury in an Oct. 21 mishap at the entrance to Lakeland Union High School (LUHS). According to the accident report filed by the Minocqua police department, Kayla Stegall, 16, Boulder Junction, was westbound on State Highway 70 and turned south to enter the LUHS parking lot “at a speed unsafe for the turn.”

Nokomis town board sets electors meeting date for Nov. 12

The Nokomis town board, meeting in special session on Saturday, Oct. 17, officially set Thursday, Nov. 12, as the date for a special meeting of the electors at the Nokomis town hall.

Firefighters respond to brush fire on Willow Reservoir island

Firefighters from Cassian, Little Rice and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) responded late Monday afternoon to the report of smoke coming from somewhere in the Willow Reservoir near the McCord boat landing in the town of Lynne.

Minocqua town board OKs town’s share of Lakeland Airport budget

The Minocqua town board, on a 4 to 1 vote, Tuesday approved the town’s share of funding the Lakeland Airport’s 2027 budget.

Minocqua’s downtown road work to go a little longer

Motorists who go through downtown Minocqua on a regular basis will have to deal with traffic restrictions due to construction just a bit longer. The work, which originally began before Memorial Day, included paving, curb and ramp work and was to be completed by June 18.

Concerns mount in Plum Lake over impending landline discontinuation

The pending discontinuation of landline telephone service by Frontier Communications was a topic of discussion at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Plum Lake town board and by the end of that discussion, the decision was made to send a message to company representatives as well as state representatives.

Winchester approves school bus stop at town hall

The Winchester town hall and community center will be the new bus stop for Woodruff’s Lakeland Area Bus Services, which handles busing for the five Lakeland area school districts.

Lakeland Airport 2027 budget approval postponed

For years, the elected officials of the four towns that own the Lakeland Airport in Arbor Vitae – Woodruff, Lac du Flambeau, Minocqua and Arbor Vitae – have met on an annual basis, the primary purpose of the meeting to approve the airport’s budget for the next year.