Wisconsin
Sustainably Speaking: Wisconsin DNR provides an update on Little Lake Butte des Morts
WINNEBAGO CO., Wis. (WFRV)- Little Lake Butte Des Morts in Winnebago County recently received positive news in the waterways recovery from the PCB cleanup that took place in the early 2000s.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are a man-made chemical that was used often in the 20th century to make carbonless copy paper. In the late 1970s, the federal government banned the usage of PCBs due to their impact on human health and wildlife.
The cleanup of the Fox River started in 2004, beginning with Little Lake Butte Des Morts, and ended in 2020 at the mouth of the Fox River at the southern end of the Bay of Green Bay. Jim Killian was involved in the PCB cleanup and is a sediment and dredge material management coordinator with the Wisconsin DNR.
“Here in Little Lake Butte des Morts, which was the first stage of the clean up of the entire 29 miles of the Fox River PCB project, hydraulic dredges were used to remove three hundred and seventy thousand cubic yards of contaminated sediment,” says Killian. “That’s roughly the equivalent of thirty thousand dump trucks full of wet mud.”
On top of removing the PCBS from the area, Killian says 114 acres of the river bed were capped with layers of sand and gravel to prevent the PCBs from entering the water column beneath the river. With that part of the project in the rearview mirror, the Wisconsin DNR announced the lake has been placed in a monitored recovery stage.
Rae Ann Eifert is the Lake Michigan monitoring and sediment coordinator for the Wisconsin DNR and is in charge of the long-term monitoring of the lake. Eifert explains what is in the plans as part of the monitoring stage.
“Essentially that means they go out every five years to check to see the progress toward their final goals in terms of fish tissue concentrations for PCBs and then PCB concentrations in the water.”
The last water sampling took place in 2022, and the results of that round resulted in the lake being elevated to this monitoring stage. The next round will take place in 2027 and Eifert says this will be another stepping stone to the goal of a ninety percent reduction in the PCBs in the water.
“Everything is continuing to come down and it does seem like we are going to meet our goals in terms of making sure the fish are safer to eat and that environmental exposure to PCBs has really decreased in this area. “
However, humans are more at risk of being exposed to PCBs through the consumption of fish that inhabit the waterway. Eifert explains that anglers planning to consume the fish should still be on high alert.
“PCBs don’t like to be soluble, they like to be hydrophobic so they like to bind to particles,” explains Eifert. “So your primary way of being exposed to it is not through the actual water itself, it’s through your actual consumption of fish.”
Fish advisories on the amount of consumption do continue for Little Lake Butte des Morts and many lakes and rivers across the state. Eifert says the advisories vary by fish and can vary by gender and age.
The DNR reminds anglers to check for any postage signage at the boat launch of the lake or river. If there is no signage, use this application on the DNR website to find out the advisories at the waterway that you are headed out to.
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Wisconsin
Swatting call caused temporary lockdown at Rice Lake, Wisconsin health clinic
A health clinic in western Wisconsin was temporarily put into lockdown Thursday afternoon after a threatening phone call.
Just after 2 p.m., Barron County officials received a 911 call from a staff member at the Marshfield Medical Center Emergency Department in Rice Lake, stating that someone called and said two men were going to “shoot up the hospital” in about 20 minutes.
After interviewing the staff member later, it was determined that the man who called had disguised his voice and got upset before hanging up the phone, according to the Rice Lake Police Department.
Rice Lake police, the Barron County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol responded to the scene, and the medical facility was secured.
Any patients who wanted to leave the facility were allowed to do so, authorities noted.
During the lockdown, law enforcement discovered there were similar threats, known as “swatting calls,” at other places across the state on Thursday.
At about 4:18 p.m., the lockdown was lifted, and authorities cleared the scene. Rice Lake police added that no one was injured during the incident.
The police department said it will continue investigating the threat with other law enforcement agencies.
The Rice Lake health center is roughly two hours northeast of the Twin Cities, and approximately 50 miles north of Eau Claire. The center’s website says it offers both inpatient and outpatient practice, covering a wide range of services.
A spokesperson for the health system told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the clinic was closed for the rest of the day Thursday, but hospital operations have since returned to normal.
“The safety of our patients and staff at Marshfield Medical Center-Rice Lake is our top priority,” the system added.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s highest-rated players in EA Sports College Football 27
With the release of EA Sports College Football 27 right around the corner, it’s fun to look at how the video game sees the Wisconsin Badgers.
These past two seasons have been down years, no doubt, but Luke Fickell did a great job in the portal this offseason and has begun to rebuild what was once one of the most prestigious programs in the nation.
This article can’t possibly include every Badgers player in the game, but their overall rankings range from 64 to 85.
Wisconsin’s sixth-highest-ranked player is a kicker, and that should say everything you need to know about how EA Sports feels about this team.
Highest rated Wisconsin Badgers in CFP27
- 85 Overall
- HB Abu Sama III: 85 Overall
- CB Javan Robinson: 85 Overall
- 84 Overall
- QB Colton Joseph: 84 Overall
- 83 Overall
- DT Hammond Russell IV: 83 Overall
- FS Marvin Burks Jr.: 83 Overall
- 81 Overall
- 80 Overall
- HB Bryan Jackson II
- HB Darrion Dupree
- DT Junior Poyser
- WILL Mason Posa
Of the 10 highest-ranked players, three are running backs. In total, five are on defense, four are on offense, and one is on special teams.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Jordon Lawrenz on X @jordonlaw_pxp.
Wisconsin
How much will Shawn Eichorst make as Wisconsin Badgers’ athletic director?
Reaction to Shawn Eichorst as potentially the next Wisconsin AD
On the Terrace View podcast, John Steppe and Mark Stewart give initial thoughts on reported connection between Shawn Eichorst and open UW AD job.
MADISON – Shawn Eichorst will start as Wisconsin’s athletic director with a higher annual salary than his predecessor.
Eichorst will make an annual salary of $1.6 million along with built-in annual increases and incentives, a university spokesman told the Journal Sentinel.
That is above Chris McIntosh’s $1.5 million annual salary for the 2025-26 academic year. (That consisted of $1 million from the university and $500,000 from the UW Foundation.) McIntosh’s salary was set to increase by $50,000 for each year of his contract, which would have gone through June 30, 2029.
It also is well above Marcus Sedberry’s $875,000 annual salary for the nearly three months when he was interim AD. Sedberry’s salary is set to return to $334,805 “plus any intervening pay adjustments,” according to the offer letter from April.
An open records request from the Journal Sentinel for Eichorst’s contract, which will include more details about the increases and incentives, is pending.
Eichorst previously served as the deputy AD and chief operating officer at Texas for the last eight years. He also was Miami’s AD in 2011-12 and Nebraska’s AD from 2012-17. Before Miami, the Lone Rock native spent five years working with the Badgers under Barry Alvarez.
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