Wisconsin
In Wisconsin’s Northwoods, snowmaking is helping winter fun continue as planned
While Wisconsin’s Northwoods struggled to find winter last year, one area made its own. At Mt. Telemark Village in Cable, winter didn’t stop.
“It was difficult in the Northwoods,” said Ben Popp. “But you know, we were fortunate enough last year, because of our snowmaking and some of this infrastructure, we were able to host all of our events.”
That ability to make winter happen is exactly why the American Birkebeiner Foundation invested in Telemark after the 2017 Birkie was canceled for a lack of snow.
“People would have thought you’re crazy. Northern Wisconsin, you’re going to make snow? But at the end of the day, the events are so important to our local economy and our mission that we decided to make the investment in snow making,” said Popp.
Now, the village is home to trails for skiing, snowshoeing, biking, and an ever-growing lineup of winter events that draw thousands to Cable and Hayward. It’s all powered by an $11 million community-backed project.
“It took 2,500 individual donors that came together to really support the idea of creating outdoor recreation here in northern Wisconsin,” Popp added.
But convincing winter to cooperate is still a strategic operation.
“We need a lot of snow in a lot of different places this year to ensure that we have snow that will last all through March this year. So it’s a lot of pre-planning to determine where should we be putting guns? Where should we making these big piles?” said Kristy Maki.
Telemark’s snow guns fired up last week in time for early season skiing, and the annual Turkey Birkie.
Once January arrives, the calendar doesn’t slow down. Fat bikes camps, classic ski races and women’s clinics all depend on reliable snow.
“Even if we can’t hold races because of the natural snow level, we know that we can put something on here,” said Maki.
Reliability that is crucial not just for athletes but for the economy that surrounds the trails.
“It brings people from the Twin Cities, Wausau, Eau Claire, Chicago,” said Popp. “It really is the centerpiece of our economy.”
As cooler temperatures begin to take hold in the Northwoods, they’ll continue making snow at Mt. Telemark Village, while holding out hope for a nice blanket of the real stuff.
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
-
Pittsburg, PA1 minute agoGame #22: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
-
Augusta, GA7 minutes agoWhat is the cheapest city in Georgia to live with a roomate?
-
Washington, D.C13 minutes ago12th Honor Flight Tallahassee returns home from successful trip to Washington D.C.
-
Cleveland, OH19 minutes agoSupercross: Results From Cleveland, OH
-
Austin, TX25 minutes agoHow Texas’ road, bridge conditions compare to other states
-
Alabama31 minutes agoAlabama edge to pattern his game after 2-time Super Bowl Champ
-
Alaska37 minutes agoAlaska Senate committee advances draft capital budget, boosting funds for school maintenance
-
Arizona43 minutes agoPerson accused of making terroristic threats to medical facility in northern Arizona