Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids election results: Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly

Wisconsin Rapids-area voters on Tuesday elected several familiar faces to the state Senate and state Assembly.
Wisconsin Rapids-area voters on Tuesday elected several familiar faces to the state Senate and state Assembly. One race − Wisconsin’s 71st Assembly District − remained too close to call early Wednesday morning.
Here’s a closer look at those races.
Senate District 24
Patrick Testin defeated Collin McNamara for the District 24 seat in the Wisconsin State Senate. Testin has served two terms in the seat since 2017.
Testin, 36, is a Stevens Point resident who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and was a Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development Fellow in 2018.
In a press release sent at 11:46 p.m. Tuesday, Testin shared he was honored the people of the 24th district voted for Testin to continue representing them.
“Tonight’s victory is a triumph of record over rhetoric, and I’m thrilled to be able to continue getting real results for the people of central and western Wisconsin,” he said in the announcement.
Here are the unofficial election night results as provided by the Associated Press. As of 12:27 a.m. Wednesday, 85.93% of estimated votes were in:
- Patrick Testin (i): 51,750 (58.7%)
- Collin McNamara: 36,402 (41.3%)
Assembly District 71
Democrat Vinnie Miresse was leading Republican Bob Pahmeier for the District 71 seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly as of 1 a.m. Wednesday, but the race remained too close to call. Democrat Katrina Shankland served six terms in the seat since 2013 before filing for noncandidacy for the seat while she pursued candidacy for the 3rd Congressional District seat.
Here are the results as of 1 a.m. Wednesday, and we will update when they become official.
- Miresse: 18,631 (53.2%)
- Pahmeier: 16,417 (46.8%)
Assembly District 72
Scott Krug defeated Suzanne Campbell for the District 72 seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Krug has served seven terms in the seat since 2011.
Krug, 48, is a Rome resident who is a real estate agent with NextHome Partners in Wisconsin Rapids, serves as Adams County supervisor for District 18 and is a member of the Tri Lakes Management District in Rome. Krug earned an associate degree in criminal justice from Mid-State Technical College and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Here are the unofficial election night results as provided by the Associated Press. As of midnight, 77.22% of estimated votes were in:
- Scott Krug (i): 18,772 (65.3%)
- Suzanne Campbell: 9,958 (34.7%)
Assembly District 86
John Spiros defeated John Small for the District 86 seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Spiros has served six terms in the seat since 2013.
Spiros, 62, is a Marshfield resident who served six years in the U.S. Air Force before earning an associate degree in criminal justice and serving as a police officer. Spiros is currently the vice president of safety and claims at Roehl Transportation.
Here are the unofficial election night results as provided by the Associated Press. As of midnight, 87.09% of estimated votes were in:
- John Spiros (i): 23,329 (67%)
- John Small: 11,511 (33%)
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK – Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com.

Wisconsin
Wisconsin chef shares tips to ensure your apples don’t go to waste

Laurel Burleson, a Dane County chef, thinks ugly apples make the best dishes.
One of her goals as a chef and restaurant owner is to save usable produce from the waste bin.
“I know how hard (Wisconsin farmers) work every day, making these products that are delicious and nutritious and for anything to get thrown away just because it’s not aesthetically perfect is just outrageous,” said Burleson, owner of Ugly Apple Cafe.
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The latest fruit monitoring report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows many parts of the state having great harvests, although northeastern Wisconsin orchards suffered from a cool spring. But most apple orchards are busy with the fall harvest. So what do you do with that abundance of apples?
Burleson shared some recipes and her philosophy on cooking with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: What do you like to do with apples apart from just eating them?
Laurel Burleson: One that I really like to do is making apple marmalade. That is shredding apples and preserving them in sugar so that they keep their structure. It’s kind of the opposite of making applesauce.
But we also make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. That’s a good way to use a lot of apples all at once.
RF: What goes into making apple butter?
LB: Very basically you make applesauce, so just cook down your apples and blend them up. Then you take that applesauce and cook it extremely slowly, either in a slow cooker or in the oven. Cook it down until it’s dark and rich and more closely resembling a peanut butter than applesauce.
From there, you can put in whatever spices you want: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf. You just have to be careful because whatever you start with in the big batch will get super concentrated and reduced in your end product.
RF: With applesauce or apple butter, do we have to be fussy about the type of apples? Or can we mix and match?
LB: I like to mix and match, especially because the apple season starts really early. Some years you can get the first season apples in July.
They don’t hold very long and they’re very juicy, so they break down really easily, but they are very tart. I like to get some of those early season apples and make them into applesauce and freeze them and then when I have other sweeter varieties later I mix them and then reduce that all down into butter.
RF: You shared a savory recipe with us for pork chops with apple bacon cabbage. Tell us a little bit about this recipe.
LB: It’s really fun for the fall and even into the winter. You can kind of use any kind of variety of apple that’s a little bit tart and it’s OK if it breaks down and blends in because the cabbage is going to maintain its structure.
If the onions and apples melt away into a delicious sauce it’s just fine. But also, if you end up with some apple pieces, then it’s a nice little surprise like a little sweetness.
The Ugly Apple Cafe operates cafes inside the Dane County Courthouse and the City County Building in Madison and sells its products at the Monona Farmers Market.
Wisconsin
Former Wisconsin transfer scores 43-yard touchdown in Indiana’s big win over Illinois

While the Wisconsin Badgers struggle on the football field, sitting at a disappointing 2-2 through four weeks, some of the program’s former transfers continue to find success.
One of those players is tight end Riley Nowakowski, who transferred to Indiana this offseason after five years with the Badgers. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native originally walked on to the program as an unranked outside linebacker. After playing sparingly during his first few seasons with the Badgers, he flipped over to fullback in 2022, then out to tight end after Phil Longo arrived in 2023. Nowakowski totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown from 2023-24; his two years as a primary offensive contributor.
The former Badger is already making significant progress toward those totals, now just four games into his Indiana career. He has four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, plus one carry for a one-yard score. The versatile fullback/tight end delivered the highlight play of his career during Indiana’s blowout win over Illinois on Saturday, taking a 1st-down screen pass 43 yards to the house.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, has received solid contributions from Montana State transfer tight end Lance Mason. The veteran has 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns to date, leading the team in each of those respective categories.
While Mason has been one of the Badgers’ few bright spots through four weeks, it’s hard to ignore Nowakowski’s emergence as one of Indiana’s dependable offensive playmakers.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
Wisconsin
Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead

Get ready for an overall warmer stretch of weather as we head into this upcoming workweek. After some fog lifts this morning, we’ll have plenty of sunshine today with highs in the mid to upper 70s along the lake and low 80s inland.
Tonight will be dry with lows in the low 60s lakeside and upper 50s inland.
Monday through Wednesday should be very similar, with upper 70s to near 80 near the lake and low to mid 80s inland with plenty of sun.
We’ll start to bring in chances of showers or a T’storm starting Thursday right on into the weekend.
WATCH: Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
TODAY: Any fog lifting through the morning, then becoming mostly sunny.
High: 77 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: E 5-10 MPH.
TONIGHT: Mostly clear.
Low: 62.
Wind: ESE 3-8 MPH.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny.
Highs: 78 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: ESE 5-10 MPH.
TUES: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 80 lakefront… 84 inland.
WEDS: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 81 lakefront… 85 inland.
THUR: Partly cloudy with a chance of a shower
or T’storm.
High: 80.
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