Brian Jopek

Recent Stories

Front office gains at MHLT, teachers feel shortchanged

At its May 19 meeting, the Minocqua Hazelhurst Lake Tomahawk (MHLT) school district board approved, following a closed session, a 3 percent salary increase plus longevity adjustments for its professional staff and a 3 percent raise for its support staff.

Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties adjusting human services agreement

On Jan. 1, 2025, a new agreement between Oneida, Forest and Vilas counties went into effect that established a human services department for each county. The human services departments replaced each county’s social services departments.

Boulder Junction to consider raising room tax

The Boulder Junction chamber of commerce has requested an overall increase in the town’s room tax from 5.5 percent to 8 percent. In a May 13 letter to the town board, Taylor Miner, president of the chamber’s board of directors, stated the chamber of commerce has ensured that, since the town’s room tax ordinance was first established in 1993 and its increase adopted in 2016, “our portion of the money collected from our visitors is put right back to use attracting more visitors to spend their money in our community.”

Fire destroys St. Germain home

A fire Tuesday night destroyed a home in St. Germain. According to a press release from the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, the dispatch center received a 911 call at 9:35 p.m. from a residence on Greenwood Drive which is owned by Brigette and Thomas Ryan reporting a garage fire that spread to the house which was destroyed in the blaze. There were no injuries as the occupants were able to leave the structure.

Lakeland Sanitary board decides on financing option for over $20M facility upgrade

In an effort to keep overall cost to its customers lower, the board of directors for the Lakeland Sanitary District (LSD) Tuesday opted to go with a 30 year payoff for the LSD’s facility upgrade project that is underway.

Fire destroys Presque Isle home

A Presque Isle man was injured as the result of a fire that destroyed his home on State Line Road early Tuesday evening. According to a press release from the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office, the dispatch center received a 911 call at 6:33 p.m. from a neighbor reporting a possible structure fire.

LVG preps lawsuit against BOMAG over ‘million-dollar paperweight’

It’s been nicknamed the “million dollar paperweight” and now, the executive committee of the Landfill Venture Group (LVG) has decided to do something about it. The LVG is the consortium of 13 Vilas County towns and the city of Eagle River that operated the County G Landfill in the town of Cloverland.

Federal budget cuts a concern for the Vilas County health department

During her committee chair report at Tuesday’s Vilas County board meeting, county supervisor Carolyn Ritter informed the rest of the board about a primary concern for the county’s public health office: staffing.

Towanda Lake Association files appeal with Vilas County over Lakeland Disposal CUP

The board of directors for the Towanda Lake Association in Arbor Vitae has filed an appeal of a decision by the Vilas County board’s zoning and planning committee to approve a conditional use permit (CUP) application from Chad Metzger, owner of Lakeland Disposal.

Vilas County puts highway facility back on the frontburner

The Vilas County board’s highway committee is preparing for another go at plans to replace the main building at the highway department’s Eagle River location. In early 2023, the project got as far as an extensive needs assessment study conducted by Kueny Architects in Pleasant Prairie before it was ultimately put on the shelf later that year during the county’s 2024 budget process.

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