Wisconsin News and Sports
Organizers of Madison’s pride parade are not going to allow police to participate. The board of directors of the OutReach LGBT Community Center are withdrawing applications from the Madison Police Department, the UW-Madison Police Department, and Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney to march in the parade.
The action is in response to concerns among the LGBTQ community regarding police presence in the parade. Police will still be on hand for security. The parade is August 19.
WIBA
Marcus Theatres locations in Madison and Sun Prairie do not plan to show the upcoming “Slender Man” movie, according to movie listings on its website.
Earlier this week a company spokesperson confirmed that the movie would not be shown at Marcus Theatres in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
The movie is about girls driven to kill on behalf of the online ghoul and is set to open in select theaters this weekend.
Two girls from Waukesha, Anissa Weir, and Morgan Geyser, said the fictional character was behind their May 2014 attack of classmate Payton Leutner. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. A passing bicyclist found Leutner, who barely survived her wounds.
“Like many people across the United States, Marcus Theatres was deeply concerned and saddened when the Slender Man phenomenon touched Southeastern Wisconsin in such a profound way, changing the lives of many families forever,” a statement said. “After careful consideration, and out of respect for those who were impacted, we have decided not to play the upcoming Slender Man movie in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. We will show the film at select other Marcus Theatres locations.”
Slender Man is a fictional character created by a then-28-year-old Floridian named Eric Knudsen. Slender Man first appeared on an Internet forum called “Something Awful” in 2009.
WIBA
You might see them out on Wisconsin’s roadways this weekend! It’s the 34th annual Highground Veterans Memorial Park bicycle tour, and it hits highways all around the state starting Friday and running through Sunday.
Executive director Jon Weiler, says the Highground’s biggest fundraiser of the year commemorates the bike ride that Tom Miller took more than 30 years ago to start The Highground.
“In 1984 Tom Miller was trying to raise awareness of the Vietnam veteran issues, so he decided to do a bicycle tour around the State of Wisconsin, 1,244 miles, which is the number of KIAs and ‘Missing in Action’ from Wisconsin in Vietnam,” Weiler explained.
“Last year we raised just over $50,000,” Weiler said, “but the most important thing is to raise awareness of all veterans and their struggles and their sacrifices.”
Bike routes start in all four corners of the state and riders range from young teenagers to Vietnam vets in their seventies, and they all have one thing in common… arriving at The Highground on Sunday.
“They start on Friday, they stay somewhere Friday night, Saturday night, and then they roll into The Highground around Noon on Sunday afternoon,” Weiler explained.
“If people are interested in coming here to see that, we try to greet them. We stand in lines on both sides of the road, we hold flags, and we’ll greet them as they enter The Highround.”
Organizers say spectators, volunteers, and other motorists are a big part of the annual ride; helping to feed, house, and safely greet riders as they traverse the state.
If you still want to register for the event, go to https://www.thehighground.us/events/ for more information.
WSAU
The international visitor’s tent at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture has been called the United Nations of Oshkosh by some.
Thousands of people from all over the world come to the convention.
But it’s more than just a tent.
Visitors and tent volunteers say it’s its own community…And it’s a community that keeps on growing.
”It’s a whole group of people; like-minded people who just want to camp and experience aviation in Oshkosh, which is nothing else like it in the world,” said Neil Bowden organizer for the South Africa AirVenture group.
For the past 22 years, Neil has organized the AirVenture travel packages from South Africa.
But this year, he tells FOX 11 his crew of South African aviation enthusiasts arrived in Oshkosh with the largest group ever.
Last year, they set a record of 163 people…this year, 237 people are filling the 162 tents at Camp Schoeller.
The South African group is also the first there to ever have a permanent small shed on their site.
“We’re part of the whole Camp Schoeller/Oshkosh camping area, and it’s great because people – our neighbors – camp next to us, they come and mix with us, they come and talk with us, and I just feel like part of the whole scene.”
“They make connections and friendships that, outside of Oshkosh, maybe wouldn’t be possible,” AirVenture International Visitors Tent chairwoman Michel Bryson said.
“Here, there’s not politics, there’s no religion, it’s just airplanes and friendships.”
The number of visitors checked-in at the tent is already up.
The international tent has seen 200 more guests than it did this time last year.
For another international visitor, it seems nothing will stop him from attending AirVenture, not age or even cancer.
Eighty-eight-year-old Australian Dave Thomas has been making the trip to Oshkosh since the 70s.
He tells FOX 11 his passion for aviation has done more than keep him coming back each year.
“The only love in life, the only thing keeping me alive is flying airplanes, and talking about airplanes to people – these lovely people here,” Thomas said.
Over 2,000 people are representing over 70 countries, all speaking the universal language of aviation.
WTAQ
The kids are out of school, the weather’s nice and it’s a good time to take a break and go for a trip.
Wisconsin tourism secretary Stephanie Klett says if you can’t find a place to go this summer, you’re not trying hard enough. “We have millions of acres of county, state and national forest. We’re the waterfall capital of the Midwest. We have thousands, and I mean literally thousands of summer events.”
The Northwoods is a great destination for summer travel, and she’s even got a suggestion for you. “Boulder Junction is great, because they have over 200 miles of trails, and they have over 200 lakes within a 20 mile radius of Boulder Junction, and really some of the clearest, cleanest lakes you’ll ever discover,” says Klett.
If all else fails, she says, find something to do close to home. “And a lot of things that people will come all over the country for, when you’re from that town or city, you might not go! Because it’s just something you’re used to.”
Klett says you can find suggestions, lists of events and more online at the state tourism website at www.travelwisconsin.com
Hot temperatures and sunny days are great to get out on Wisconsin beaches, but it’s also a recipe for toxic lake scum.
That scum is ‘cyanobacteria’ commonly called blue-green algae. Gina LaLiberte with the DNR says the name ‘blue-green’ can be misleading, and that you should be careful with any brackish water. “People hear the word blue in blue-green algae, and they think it’s going to be blue. But active growing blue-green algae are most often green when they’re forming blooms in Wisconsin lakes.”
The algae forms any time there’s high temperatures, plenty of sunlight, and little wind. In Wisconsin blooms typically peak from July to September.
Swimming through them can cause rashes, gastrointestinal ailments and respiratory irritation. If you think you’ve been sickened, contact your doctor to get tested.
A mainstay Wisconsin tradition is likely starting near you somewhere soon as county fairs get underway this summer.
Many of the fairs around Wisconsin have been operating for over 150 years and state ag secretary Sheila Harsdorf says the county fair is a great time to go and connect as a family. “Go to the fair for fun, getting to know your friends and neighbors, eating great food, and learning more about agriculture.”
She adds that they make a great chance to connect with your friends and neighbors, because they’re probably helping to run the event. “It’s important to acknowledge and recognize the hundreds of volunteers that go into making a fair, whether it’s the local county fair or the state fair, a success.”
Kids looking for something to do this summer should also consider entering a project for their fair. “There’s literally projects for everyone, from computers to rocketry. Even non farm kids can connect with a farmer and have a management project and show an animal.”
The State Fair is set to open next month from August 2nd to the 12th.
You can find out more about that and your local fair online at www.wifairs.com
The D N R is looking for volunteers to help them clean up parks and natural areas this summer.
It’s part of a year-long program to help remove invasive species from the areas and help keep them clean for residents to enjoy.
Volunteer coordinator Jared Urban says cleaning up your local natural area is a not just a great way to help your environment, it’s also good for you. “Well it’s a great way to get out and get some exercise and get to see why Wisconsin is special.”
Much of the work that volunteers do in the summer is removing invasive plants from the natural areas. “Making sure there’s a place for the native flowers and plants to grow, and in response you get a lot of native wildlife that feeds off the native plants,” says Urban.
Work is coordinated and updated online and you can sign up for mailing lists for your area to learn when you can take part in cleanup opportunities.
“You sign up for that email list, and then you’ll get an email whenever there’s a volunteer event in those counties.”
You can find that page online at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/naturalareas/volunteer.html.
Stevens Point is turning to high tech methods as it wages a war against foreign invaders: Canada geese.
The worst problem with the geese is near the city’s band shell, according to city parks director Tom Schrader.
“People put their towels down and blankets and chairs, or they want to sit on the grass and sit and listen to the music, and the grass happens to be full of fecal matter.”
UW-Stevens Point researchers will be deploying new deterrents including noise disruption devices and pyrotechnics.
Schrader says the city hopes it’s more effective than their current methods. “Coyote cutouts and green laser pointers, the owl hoots up in the trees and the streamers. They were fairly successful, but the coyote cutouts had to be moved every day, so it’s kind of time consuming.”
People have been feeding the geese over the years, which only attracts them to places they’re not wanted.
“The more you feed them, they just keep coming back, and once the young get used to that area, as they get to be adults they come back to the same area.”
If the new methods aren’t effective, the city will turn to its backup plan and have local hunters and volunteers continue to use the current methods until the geese take the hint and move elsewhere.
As flood waters recede in northwest Wisconsin, state workers are out in force assessing damage and planning rebuilding efforts.
Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas and Iron Counties all remain in a state of emergency while damage assessments take place.
Wisconsin Emergency Management spokesman Andrew Beckett says many of the affected areas are very rural, meaning it’s going to take time for assessments to happen. “We have a lot of areas where there are roads that aren’t traveled frequently. So it may take time for somebody to even realize there was damage done to that route.”
That doesn’t mean summer vacations need to go on hold. People should still plan to come north, Beckett says, but just make sure you can get where you want to go.
“They should make sure that the route is safe and go. But it does take time to make sure that all areas are safe again.”
Many roads are closed due to flooding, washout and damage. If you come across a blocked road, please follow the detour.
You can check http://511wi.gov for updated road information.
