7/29/2026

VILAS COUNTY - UW-Madison's Trout Lake Station on the South side of the lake in Vilas County is inviting the public to a free open house this Friday, the 31st, from 1 to 5 p.m. Visitors can enjoy hands-on science activities, boat rides, Babcock ice cream, and learn about lake research. Exhibits will cover invasive plants, fishing technology, water quality and more. The event celebrates more than 100 years of research to help protect and better understand Wisconsin’s lakes. For more information, go to limnology.wisc.edu and search trout lake.

7/29/2026

MINOCQUA — Liberal activist and brewery owner Kirk Bangstad is vowing to fight "tooth and nail" after receiving a letter from the state revoking Minocqua Brewing Co.'s permit.  In a social media post, Bangstad said he received a letter from Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue stating they plan to revoke his permit to operate as a brewer in Wisconsin on August 4.  Minocqua Brewing Co. has until Aug. 4 to appeal and can operate during the appeal process. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue confirmed that it revoked Bangstad’s brewing permit for his taprooms in Minocqua and Madison.

7/29/2026

WISCONSIN - All five Democratic candidates for Wisconsin governor participated in their first and only debate last night hosted by WISN 12 News in Milwaukee. The hour-long forum covered school funding, data centers, tax cuts and other issues ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.  All five candidates said they would not sign a state budget that defunded police and said they would sign legislation requiring all police and sheriff departments in Wisconsin to have body cameras.  All candidates agreed there should be more guardrails in place for data centers coming to Wisconsin.  State Rep. Francesca Hong was the only candidate in the race to have called for a moratorium on AI data centers.  State Sen. Kelda Roys called for the use of executive power against existing data center projects.  Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany released a statement in response to the debate calling Hong the likely Democratic nominee. As of yesterday, nearly 108,000 ballots had already been returned by mail ahead of the Aug. 11 election.