Residents oppose Marathon County gravel pit permit
By Shereen Siewert TOWN OF MCMILLAN, Wis. — A group of residents in western Marathon County is expressing strong opposition to a proposed five-year conditional use permit for a gravel…
Millions of dollars’ worth of food ends up in school trash cans every day. What can we do?
By Lela Nargi/Ensia April 9, 2019 — In 2015, food policy researcher Melissa Terry was analyzing the role of nutritional education on food choices at an elementary school in Fayetteville,…
Paying for PFAS: Wisconsin grapples with cost of clean up
By Shereen Siewert, Wausau Pilot and Review Cleanup of toxic sites is expensive, and for Wisconsin, the emerging issue of a family of chemicals known as PFAS – per- and…
Residents seek answers about health risks near frac sand mines
By Emily Highnam, IowaWatch When Jim and Kathy Kachel moved into their home south of Bagley, Wisconsin, overlooking the Mississippi River in fall 2007, they couldn’t see the Pattison Sand…
Study: Great Lakes climate change could spell disaster
By Emily Zantow, Courthouse News (CN) – As the Great Lakes region warms faster than the rest of the country, a new report is warning that climate change may cause…
Fact check: Is snow on solar panels a problem for clean energy goals?
By Frank Jossi, Energy News Network Snow can temporarily slow solar panel output, but the impact tends to be small and short-lived, a developer says. On the day Minnesota Gov.…
Does toxic soil at Riverside Park need cleanup? Committee to decide Monday
By Shereen Siewert WAUSAU — The city’s parks and recreation committee on Monday will once again take up the issue of toxic soil in Wausau’s Riverside Park after reviewing the…
Citizens for a Clean Wausau wins statewide 2019 Openness Award
NEWS RELEASE — Wisconsin’s largest newspaper and a small Madison paper produced mostly by teens are among the honorees of the 2019 Openness Awards, or Opees, bestowed annually by the…
DNR investigating wastewater contamination in Wausau
By Shereen Siewert The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is investigating the Wausau’s sewer collection system at an area along the Thomas Street corridor after city officials discovered the presence…
Fate of long-promised Wausau cancer rate study still murky, decades later
By Shereen Siewert State officials say they have no records that a review of Wausau-area cancer rates and their possible link to the city’s formerly contaminated wells was ever completed,…
Wisconsin commission, and residents, mull massive proposed solar farms
By Kari Lydersen/Energy News Network The Wisconsin Public Service Commission is preparing to decide the fate of two proposed solar farms that, if built, would more than quadruple the state’s…
Grand Canyon National Park turns 100: How a place once called ‘valueless’ became grand
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Stephen Pyne, Arizona State University (THE CONVERSATION) Few sights are as instantly recognizable, and…
3 events planned to discuss the future of popular game fish in Wisconsin
Temperatures in Wisconsin lakes have been rising steadily over the past several years. This presents serious consequences for the fish population. Frank Pratt, retired DNR fisheries biologist, and the Citizens’…
Penta wastewater contamination detected in Thomas Street neighborhood
By Shereen Siewert WAUSAU — After a contentious meeting Thursday that included new revelations of wastewater contamination on the city’s west side, members of Wausau’s capital improvements and street maintenance…
Updated: Illinois Democrats ask Evers to review Foxconn impact
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Illinois congressional Democrats have asked Wisconsin’s new Democratic governor to re-evaluate the environmental impact of a sprawling plant that Foxconn Technology Group plans to build near…
Wausau forms committee on energy, sustainability and environment
By Shereen Siewert WAUSAU — A new six-member committee focusing on energy and sustainability will meet for the first time this week. The Sustainability, Energy and Environment Committee is scheduled…
Study: ‘Bug bombs’ potentially harmful to humans (and they don’t kill many bugs)
Eli Wolfe FairWarning A new study has found that bug bombs, which are used by millions of Americans to kill insects such as cockroaches, often fail to eradicate those pests…
State docs: DHS recommended west side environmental testing in 2008
By Shereen Siewert WAUSAU — Ten years before state toxicologists declared Riverside Park safe for public use, a separate Department of Health Services official recommended further testing for areas adjacent…
