Wisconsin
Add Ozaukee to the list of Wisconsin counties with deer baiting and feeding bans. Now there are 59.
The finding of chronic wasting disease in a buck at a Sheboygan County shooting preserve has caused a deer baiting and feeding ban in Ozaukee County. The ban is required by state rule.
A deer baiting and feeding ban kicked in Thursday in Ozaukee County due to the recent detection of chronic wasting disease at a Sheboygan County captive deer facility, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The ban is linked to a CWD-positive 5-year-old white-tailed buck at Heavy Horn Whitetails LLC, a shooting preserve in Cascade, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Because the CWD finding was within 10 miles of the Fond du Lac, Ozaukee and Washington county borders, it affected deer baiting and feeding rules in each county.
State law requires the DNR enact a three-year baiting and feeding ban in counties where CWD has been detected and a two-year ban in adjoining counties within 10 miles of a CWD detection. If additional CWD cases are found during the lifetime of a baiting and feeding ban, the ban renews for an additional two or three years.
In this case, the CWD finding initiated a new two-year baiting and feeding ban in Ozaukee County. And it renewed existing bans in Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Washington counties. Baiting and feeding is now banned in 59 of the state’s 72 counties, according to the DNR.
More: Outdoors calendar
Prior to the change, Ozaukee County was the only county in southern Wisconsin in which deer baiting and feeding was allowed.
Baiting or feeding deer encourages the animals to congregate unnaturally around a shared food source where infected deer can spread CWD through direct contact with healthy deer or by leaving behind infectious prions in their saliva, blood, feces and urine, according to the DNR.
The state agriculture department announced the Sheboygan County CWD finding on Jan. 25.
As a result of the disease detection, Heavy Horn Whitetails LLC has been placed under quarantine and will remain so while DATCP and U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarians and staff conduct an epidemiological investigation, DATCP said in a press release. The business has 92 deer on 90 acres, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk and moose. It is caused by a infectious, malformed prion, or protein, that affects the animal’s brain.
The disease is not known to affect livestock nor has it been shown to sicken humans. However the Centers for Disease Control and Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommend humans not consume meat from an animal that tests positive for CWD.
The disease was first identified in the 1960s at a research facility in Colorado. As of this month, CWD has been detected in 32 states and five Canadian provinces in free-ranging cervids or commercial captive cervid facilities, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The first detections of CWD in Wisconsin in both wild and captive deer were announced in 2002.
In Wisconsin DATCP regulates deer farms for registration, disease testing, movement and permit requirements while the DNR manages wild deer and deer hunting in the state.
The intended goals of the baiting and feeding ban include protecting the local wild deer herd and reducing the spread of disease, according to the DNR.
Bait and feed placed on the landscape, even in limited quantities, often attracts unnatural numbers of deer, according to DNR information. Deer are often concentrated at one bait or feed site, or between several sites in close proximity, allowing for increased contact that would otherwise not occur in natural feeding environments, the agency states.
Unnatural concentrations of deer and contact rates caused by baiting and feeding increase the risk of disease infection and transmission, according to the DNR.
For additional information on CWD in Wisconsin, visit dnr.wi.gov.
Sturgeon season update
Spearers registered 264 lake sturgeon through the first seven days of the 2024 sturgeon spearing season on the Winnebago System, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Poor ice conditions have reduced participation and harvest this year. Last year at the same point in the season 1,073 sturgeon had been registered.
On opening day (Feb. 10) the DNR reported reported about 450 shanties on Lake Winnebago, down from 3,000 in 2023 and 6,000 in 2022.
None of the protective harvest caps is close to being hit and fisheries staff with the DNR expect the season to run the full 16 days.
Residents can attend the July 16 meeting in Sheboygan or submit written comments by email to NOAA.
Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary has 36 shipwrecks
Discover the history, shipwrecks and impact of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, established to protect maritime heritage in Lake Michigan. This video was created by the Wochit AI tool.
Wochit
SHEBOYGAN – Residents can attend or comment on an upcoming meeting of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council scheduled for July 16 in Sheboygan.
The gathering will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheboygan County Museum, 3110 Erie Ave., according to a community announcement. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe discussions.
The agenda includes routine council business, updates from working groups, community reports and briefings from NOAA staff on sanctuary programs, research and upcoming events.
Public can provide comments during meeting
A public comment period is planned for about 7:50 p.m., giving attendees a chance to share feedback directly with council members.
Those unable to attend may submit written comments by email to jean.prevo@noaa.gov, according to the announcement.
Council shares updates on sanctuary programs
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will provide updates tied to the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, including research initiatives and community engagement efforts.
More information about the council and its activities is available online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov.
This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
Wisconsin
A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead
A Wisconsin family lost their ten-month-old daughter after she swallowed a water bead. They blame Target and the water bead manufacturer for her death.
This week, Taylor and Tyler Bethard filed a lawsuit against Target in Hennepin County, claiming that the company failed to warn them and other customers about the dangers of a water beads product that used to be sold exclusively at Target.
Water beads are marketed as toys that come with sensory kits or craft sets, but data shows the products are prone to injuring young children. The polymer material is extremely absorbent, allowing water beads – which are often colorful – to expand around 100 times their original size when they interact with water or liquid. This presents a hazard for kids; the United States Product Safety Commission states that between 2017 and 2022, there were 6,300 water bead-related ingestion injuries that required treatment from emergency departments across the country.
In 2023, a 10-month-old girl died. Her name is Esther “Jo” Bethard. According to court filings, Taylor Bethard found her daughter unresponsive in her crib on the morning of July 7, 2023, after she had suffered symptoms of a stomach illness overnight. Medical examiners told the family that her death was caused by swallowing a single water bead.
The Bethards had purchased a Chuckle and Roar water bead set in the spring of 2022 for Esther Jo’s older siblings, never intending for the infant to interact with the water beads.
Target and the Chuckle and Roar manufacturer, Buffalo Games LLC, mutually agreed to pull the product from the shelves in November of 2022. Court records show an email exchange between Buffalo Games and a product safety employee at Target where the manufacturer noted that while their water beads had met safety standards at the time, they wanted to “avoid any future unintended misuse of the product.”
That conversation was prompted after Buffalo Games was informed that an infant required surgery after ingesting a water bead from the Ultimate Water Beads kit. Target agreed to end sales, indicating that this would be classified as a “safety removal.”
The Bethard’s lawsuit alleges that Target clearly knew how dangerous these water beads could be, but failed to warn them or other customers. Target stopped selling the product about eight months before Esther Jo died. Daniel Mann, a personal injury attorney representing the Bethards in this case, said that Esther Jo would still be alive if Target had acted.
“With all this information Target didn’t do anything to reach out to the family or other consumers to let them know about this problem,” Mann said, “I think 10/10 people would say Target had a responsibility to do more than what they did, which was nothing.”
A spokesperson for Target said that they would not comment on ongoing litigation, but the company had already responded to an identical complaint filed by the Bethards in the State of New York. In 2025, the Bethards sued both Target and Buffalo Games in Erie County, N.Y., because that was where the manufacturer was based. In response to the lawsuit there, court filings show that Target denied the allegations that they knew of an extraordinary danger posed by the water beads and failed to notify customers.
The complaint was dismissed against Target in New York, Mann explained, due to jurisdiction. This lead to them refiling in Hennepin County this week.
In a statement to WCCO on the new legal action, a Target spokesperson said “We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragedy, and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the product at the time the incident occurred.”
Taylor Bethard, Esther Jo’s mother, has lead the charge to ban water beads entirely. Her efforts lead to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commision recalling the more than 52,000 Chuckle and Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits that were in circulation. The recall took effect in September of 2023. Target, Walmart and Amazon announced that they would stop marketing water beads to children.
Bethard is also working with Wisconsin U.S. State Senator Tammy Baldwin to establish federal legislation to permanently outlaw all water beads. This past spring, the CPSC established new legal guidelines that restrict the size of water beads to try to ensure high safety standards.
(WLUK) — Wisconsin State Patrol troopers are teaming up with truckers to better spot dangerous driving behaviors.
The annual Trooper in a Truck initiative kicks off next week in Wisconsin.
Troopers will ride along with with semitruck and bus drivers to use the higher vantage point to spot dangerous driving behaviors, especially near commercial motor vehicles.
Troopers will be looking for risky driving behaviors, including distracted driving, speeding, following too closely and seatbelt violations. When an officer identifies a violation from the truck or bus, they will radio to patrol cars in the area for appropriate enforcement action.
Drivers can expect to see Trooper in a Truck enforcement in the following areas:
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