A high-voltage transmission line carrying clean power from Iowa to Wisconsin overcame lengthy environmental pushback to enter service this week, some 13 years after grid operators approved the project, developers said Friday.

The Cardinal-Hickory Creek 345,000-volt transmission line, which ships clean power from Iowa to Wisconsin, came to exemplify the struggles of constructing U.S. power lines at a time of swiftly rising electricity demand. Environmental groups had sued to stop it from traversing the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Cassville, Wisconsin, north of Dubuque. 

“Following years of work, including numerous opportunities for public input, extensive regulatory and environmental review, and construction, the entire Cardinal-Hickory Creek line has been placed in service,” said Dusky Terry, president of the line’s co-owner ITC Midwest. ATC and Dairyland Power Cooperative also are partial owners of the 102-mile project.

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As of June, 160 renewable generation projects in the upper Midwestern states totaling nearly 25 gigawatts of capacity were dependent upon completion of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line, the co-owners said.

The Biden administration applauded the completion of the line and lauded it as a crucial step towards bringing clean power to the Midwest.

“It takes perseverance to build the infrastructure we need and the Cardinal Hickory Creek Project proves that we can get the job done by bringing clean, affordable power to Wisconsin and Iowa,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to President Joe Biden for international climate policy.

In May, a U.S. appeals court lifted a lower court’s order blocking a land exchange needed before developers could build the final stretch of the major clean-energy transmission line through the wildlife refuge.

Joe Wolf, a legendary figure in Wisconsin high school basketball, who led Kohler High to three Wisconsin state basketball championships, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.

The news was broken on Thursday by a post on X from Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook editor Mark Miller and later confirmed by the Milwaukee Bucks. At the time of his death, Wolf was an assistant coach with the Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks’ G-League affiliate.

Wolf had an 11 year NBA career after being selected with the 13th overall pick, by the Los Angeles Clippers, in the 1987 NBA Draft. He played with nine different NBA teams including Milwaukee during the 1996-97 season. This came after a brilliant four-year college career at the University of North Carolina.

“The Milwaukee Bucks and Wisconsin Herd are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Herd assistant coach and Kohler native Joe Wolf,” said the statement from the Bucks. “Throughout his life, Joe touched many lives and was a highly respected, adored and dedicated coach and player across the NBA. His well-regarded talent was instrumental for the Bucks and Herd over eight years with the organization, including as a player and coach.”

Before he became an All-ACC selection at North Carolina and a NBA player and coach, Wolf was a high school legend at Kohler.

In a 2005 poll by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wolf was voted the greatest high school basketball player in Wisconsin history.

“With his size and skills, he was the best I’ve seen,” Win Parkinson, who coached at Milwaukee Tech for 33 seasons, told the Journal Sentinel in 2005. “He was in the state tournament at the same time we were and I went to see him play at Sheboygan.

“He had a heck of a following and a heck of a career. I just look at him as one of the most complete players I’ve ever seen.”

WISCONSIN – Hurricane Helene made landfall on Thursday evening, Sept. 26, but the impact will be felt for weeks, if not longer.

Some areas have been under a tropical storm warning and tornado warnings because of Helene. Some Wisconsinites are already headed south to help.

Hurricanes are a bit more personal now for Michael Hoffmann.

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“You just see pictures and videos, but you don’t understand what actually happens,” Hoffman said.

The Waukesha native and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee grad is now a teacher in Ocala, Fla. The city is outside Helene’s direct path, but that’s still bracing for bands of thunderstorms.

“Right now, we just got a bunch of flashlights ready,” Hoffman said. “We have coolers ready to go for food from the fridge if we need to, if we lose power.”

Ryan Cedergren, who happens to be studying meteorology at Florida State University, said his campus is essentially shut down. The hurricane is headed right for Tallahassee Thursday night.

“We noticed earlier today, it’s like a kind of eerie calm before the storm,” he said.

Students there have either evacuated or are staying in designated shelters on-campus.

“We were in this building for Idalia, and it did pretty well,” Cedergren said. “Our only concern is Tallahassee is very hilly, so we might deal with some flooding. It doesn’t drain super well. And then, we’ll probably lose power pretty quickly.”

It helps explain why more than a dozen volunteers from the American Red Cross of Wisconsin are already headed south.

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“The volunteers that are there right now have helped to set up shelters in northern Florida,” American Red Cross of Wisconsin Regional Communications Director Jennifer Warren said. “We also have volunteers that have driven ERVs, which are emergency response vehicles, down to Florida.”

Leaving their homes behind to help Floridians make it back to theirs, too.

“They provide comfort, care,” Warren said. “They help with handing out food, water.”

The Red Cross is accepting monetary donations to help recovery efforts there.

The nonprofit also recommends blood donations as Helene put a halt to that in several southern states.

For more information, visit the Red Cross website.