Wisconsin
Need a Christmas tree? Here’s how to harvest one from Wisconsin’s state forests
See Milwaukee’s Christmas tree being harvested, delivered and set up
Milwaukee’s Public Works harvested a 64-ft Colorado blue spruce donated by the Yeager Family. The tree was delivered to the plaza outside of Fiserv Forum to serve as the City’s Christmas tree.
Need a Christmas tree now that Thanksgiving is over? Well, look no further than Wisconsin’s public forests.
Many state forests allow you to cut down a tree for personal use — provided you have a permit and follow a few rules.
Here’s how to avoid the naughty list at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Where are the public forests?
Trees can be cut down in the Brule River, Flambeau River, Governor Earl Peshtigo River, Governor Knowles and Northern Highland-American Legion state forests.
Brule River State Forest in Douglas County is home to a lot of balsam fir, a Christmas-tree favorite with its short needles that last long and smell great. Evergreens in this forest also include white pine and white spruce. Mound ranger station, W10325 Highway 12, (715) 284-4103.
Flambeau River State Forest, Winter: Look for white and black spruce, red and white pine, and balsam fir at this forest in Sawyer and Rusk counties just south of the CNNF. W1613 County Road W, Winter, (715) 332-5271.
Governor Earl Peshtigo River, Crivitz: Red, white and jack pines are the predominate evergreens in this forest in Marinette and Oconto counties in northeastern Wisconsin. N10008 Paust Lane, Crivitz, 715-757-3965
Governor Knowles State Forest, Grantsburg: Find jack, white and red pines in this forest along the St. Croix River in northwestern Wisconsin. 325 Highway 70, Grantsburg, (715) 463-2898.
Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest, Woodruff: Permits for this forest allow you to harvest a balsam fir, but not within sight of a public road, trail or body of water. Permits are available at the Clear Lake Visitor Station, 8282 Woodruff Road, Woodruff, (715) 356-3668; and the Crystal Lake Visitor Station, 3237 Crystal Lake Road, Boulder Junction, (715) 542-3923.
Holiday tree cutting is not offered at other DNR properties. However, some county forests allow non-commercial harvest of holiday trees, as does the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Contact the forest where you’d like to cut a holiday tree before venturing out so that you know harvesting guidelines.
How much is a permit?
Purchase a permit at the headquarters of each forest. The price may vary slightly from property to property, but the average cost is $5 per tree.
Where can I cut a tree down?
Harvesting is prohibited within 100 feet or visual distance of roads, trails and water, and there is no harvesting from campgrounds or recreation areas, according to the DNR.
Trees must be cut at ground level with a maximum height of 30 feet. Trees taken from state forests cannot be resold.
Check the spongy moth map
Check the spongy moth quarantine map maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to ensure you don’t travel with your tree out of the quarantined area. The area prohibits items from being shipped that could have the insect or its eggs.
Wisconsin
Insider: Wisconsin Man Charged With Possession Of Virtual Child Pornography
POLK COUNTY (DrydenWire) – An investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, into multiple cybertips from Google about suspected child sexual abuse materials has resulted in felony charges for a Wisconsin Man.
Cody Struemke, age 27, of Amery, WI, is facing nearly a dozen charges for possessing child pornography, including Felony Possession of Virtual Child Pornography.
The criminal complaint against him alleges that Struemke saved a photo from Facebook of juveniles known to him, and digitally edited the photo to make it appear they were nude.
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Last Update: Dec 16, 2025 9:27 am CST
Wisconsin
Wisconsin health professionals share tips to protect against respiratory illnesses
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Respiratory illness season has begun in Wisconsin, with health professionals reporting increased flu cases and higher demand for medications and vaccines.
Over-the-counter medicines are flying off the shelves at Forward Pharmacy in McFarland, according to manager Tony Peterangelo.
“We’ve had to increase like how much of some of that stuff we’ve kept on hand,” Peterangelo said. “We had to make some special orders to really bulk up on some of it too.”
Upland Hills physician Benjamin Hecht said the respiratory illness season typically begins after Thanksgiving.
“As of right now, we are just starting in the last week or two to see some Influenza A. Last year was a pretty tough flu year for us, influenza in Wisconsin. It’s still to be seen how severe of a year this is going to be in 2025-26,” he said.
Respiratory viruses are hard to avoid according to the Upland Hills physician.
“You can wear masks and wash your hands a ton, but you’re going to get exposed to these viruses at some point,” Dr. Hecht said.
RSV poses concern for young children
Dr. Hecht said another concern this season is RSV, particularly for young children with developing immune systems.
“The kids that get this, especially the really young kids, that don’t have a mature immune system, they can get pretty sick from RSV. That’s a particularly scary one. If you’re in a position where you qualify to get that vaccination or perhaps your kids do, please consider that,” Dr. Hecht said.
Forward Pharmacy is meeting demand for vaccines, which Peterangelo said can help protect against viruses.
“All of that stuff reduces the need to scramble on the back end to get antibiotics and cough suppressants. It doesn’t completely reduce your risk, but it reduces it enough that your likelihood of getting that is down,” Peterangelo said.
The pharmacy has given out dozens of flu and covid shots in a day.
“I would say maybe in the 60 to 80 range,” Peterangelo said.
Dr. Hecht said influenza B will come later in the season. He recommends people with severe respiratory symptoms like breathing troubles to see a doctor.
“The big thing is just living a healthy lifestyle, staying well hydrated, getting good sleep, doing what you can with physical activity and exercise to make sure your immune system is in tip top shape,” Dr. Hecht said.
According to new CDC data, doctor visits for flu-like symptoms rose to more than 3% in the last two weeks. The majority of flu cases are caused by a mutated strain that causes more severe illness, particularly among older adults.
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Wisconsin
Former Trump aides appear in Wisconsin court over 2020 election fraud charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two attorneys and an aide who all worked on President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in Wisconsin on felony forgery charges related to a fake elector scheme.
The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.
The Wisconsin case was filed a year ago but has been tied up as the Trump aides have fought, unsuccessfully so far, to have the charges dismissed.
The hearing on Monday comes a week after Trump attorney Jim Troupis, one of the three who were charged, tried unsuccessfully to get the judge to step down in the case and have it moved to another county. Troupis, who the other two defendants joined in his motion, alleged that the judge did not write a previous order issued in August declining to dismiss the case. Instead, he accused the father of the judge’s law clerk, a retired judge, of actually writing the opinion.
Troupis, who served one year as a judge in the same county where he was charged, also alleged that all of the judges in Dane County are biased against him and he can’t get a fair trial.
Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland said he and a staff attorney alone wrote the order. Hyland also said Troupis presented no evidence to back up his claims of bias and refused to step down or delay the hearing.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the allegations.
The same judge will determine at Monday’s hearing whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with the charges against the three.
The former Trump aides face 11 felony charges each related to their roles in the 2020 fake elector scheme. In addition to Troupis, the other defendants are Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised Trump’s campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, headed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, brought the felony forgery charges in 2024, alleging that the three defrauded the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020.
Prosecutors contend the three lied to the Republicans about how the certificate they signed would be used as part of a plan to submit paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence, falsely claiming that Trump had won the battleground state that year.
The complaint said a majority of the 10 Republicans told investigators that they were needed to sign the elector certificate indicating Trump had won only to preserve his legal options if a court changed the outcome of the election in Wisconsin.
A majority of the electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling, the complaint said. Also, a majority said they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.
Federal prosecutors who investigated Trump’s conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot said the fake electors scheme originated in Wisconsin.
The Trump associates have argued that no crime took place. But the judge in August rejected their arguments in allowing the case to proceed to Monday’s preliminary hearing.
Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 but fought to have the defeat overturned. He won the state in both 2016 and 2024.
The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them seeking damages.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the attorneys who are charged formerly worked on Trump’s campaign, but are still practicing attorneys.
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