WWH honored with Momentum West 2024 Top Development Project Award

March 3, 2025

002MON-Momentum-West-Award-2025(W) — Pictured (L to R) with the MW 2024 Top Development Project Award: Timm Sandstrom, MW Board Chair, Nia Beale, WWH Birth Center Manager, Rosa Magnus, WWH Development Manager, Eilidh Pederson, WWH CEO, Ryma Lindquist, WWH Community Relations Director, Erika Schurtz, WWH Director of Patient Services, Steve Jahn, Executive Director of MW Wisconsin. Submitted photo

Submitted by Ryma Lindquist, WWH Community Relations Director

BALDWIN, WI – Western Wisconsin Health (WWH) is honored to announce that it has been recognized with the Momentum West (MW) 2024 Top Development Project Award for its obstetrical expansion project. This prestigious recognition underscores WWH’s unwavering commitment to preserving and expanding rural obstetrical care for the communities it serves.

At a time when many rural hospitals are closing their birthing units, WWH successfully expanded its facilities by adding three new obstetrics (OB) rooms, allowing the health system to safely deliver a record-breaking 385 babies in 2024. This significant achievement reflects WWH’s dedication to ensuring high-quality maternity care remains accessible to families in Western Wisconsin.

“Our expansion project was driven by a deep commitment to our patients and their families,” said Eilidh Pederson, WWH Chief Executive Officer. “We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition from Momentum West, and we share this achievement with our exceptional healthcare team, community partners, donors, and grant funders who made it possible.”

The $7.8 million project was supported by generous contributions from community donors and grant funders, who provided over $4 million toward the expansion. Their support played a vital role in strengthening WWH’s ability to serve the growing needs of expectant mothers and families in the region.

In addition to celebrating this achievement, WWH extends its congratulations to the other outstanding organizations and individuals recognized at the Momentum West 2024 Awards:

Top Redevelopment Project: Wisconsin Farmers Union.
Top Talent Initiative: Westfields Hospital and Northwood Technical College.
Young Professional Award: Dan Lytle, CVTC.
Entrepreneur of the Year: Jeremiah Gerdin.

Momentum West is a regional economic development organization serving Barron, Clark, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pierce, Pepin, Polk, Rusk, and St. Croix Counties. By providing technical assistance and spearheading talent attraction and development initiatives, Momentum West is driving economic growth and drawing attention to West Central Wisconsin.

Strategically located near the Twin Cities, yet offering a lower cost of doing business and a pro-business environment, the MW region continues to attract businesses that benefit from a skilled workforce and a strong support system.

Western Wisconsin Health sincerely thanks Momentum West for this recognition and remains committed to redefining rural healthcare. Guided by our mission to “Build a Healthier Tomorrow, Together,” we look forward to continuing to serve our communities with innovation, accessibility, and compassionate care.

For more information about Western Wisconsin Health and its commitment to rural healthcare, please visit wwhealth.org.

Tuesday Community Supper, March 2025

Western Wisconsin News

March 2, 2025

001THU-Gethsemane-Lutheran-Church-(CW) — Contributed graphic

Submitted by Rosemary Donahoe, Tuesday Community Supper

BALDWIN, WI – Gethsemane Lutheran Church will be serving the Tuesday Community Supper from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.mm on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in the Fellowship Hall at Gethsemane. The menu is: Tater Tot Hotdish, Watergate Salad, Buns and Cupcakes.

Tuesday Community Supper is served the first Tuesday of the month at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 1350 Florence Street, Baldwin, Wisconsin, 54002. This is a free meal open to anyone in the community. Area churches, businesses and organizations take turns preparing and serving good nutritious food.

Bartz recognized by Thrivent Charitable with prestigious award for outstanding impact in community

Western Wisconsin News

March 1, 2025

002SUN-Joan's-pic-larger — Joan Bartz has been recognized by Thrivent Charitable with a prestigious award for outstanding impact in the community. Submitted photo

Submitted by Thrivent

GLENWOOD CITY, WI – Joan Bartz, Financial Advisor with Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services company that puts generosity at the heart of saving and investing, has been inducted into the Voices in Philanthropy (VIP) Hall of Honor of Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing® (Thrivent Charitable). As a public charity working in collaboration with Thrivent and its financial advisors, Thrivent Charitable offers a wide range of charitable planning options to support our clients’ desire to positively impact their communities wherever and however they choose.

Honorees are inducted into the VIP Hall of Honor when their clients’ cumulative charitable gifts to Thrivent Charitable reach or exceed $5 million. Only 54 active Thrivent financial advisors nationwide have achieved this distinction.

“Through Bartz’s expertise and commitment, she has helped her clients to do what so many aspire to: live in abundance and bring hope to the world,” says Mandy Tuong, Thrivent Charitable president and CEO. “This work ultimately creates positive impact and inspires lasting change in our communities.”

The donations made through Thrivent Charitable, according to the wishes of Bartz’s clients, benefit a variety of local, national, and global charities. She says, “It is fun to see the heart of the giver come to life as people think about their legacy.”

These charitable gifts have granted scholarships to many young students furthering their education and helped a variety of local churches and other organizations including Casas por Cristo & Liberty School for Girls in Guatemala, Luther Point Bible Camp, KC Storm Wrestling Club, Feed My Starving Children, Baldwin Christian School, Everwood Farmstead Foundation, Cure CMD, City on a Hill, Convoy of Hope, Grace Place, Lutheran Disaster Relief and many more.

“Being inducted into the Thrivent Charitable VIP Hall of Honor is truly a career-high accomplishment,” said Joan Bartz, Financial Advisor at Thrivent. “One of the reasons I became a financial advisor, and partner with Thrivent Charitable, is because I take great pride in helping my clients put their financial plans into motion and their values into action. I’m looking forward to our continued impact together.”

To learn more about Thrivent Charitable, visit thriventcharitable.com.

Girls’ hoops team falls in regular season finale, WIAA this week

Ron Cipriano

February 28, 2025

BOYCEVILLE, WI – It wasn’t the end to the regular season the Cardinals wanted, but it didn’t change where the Cardinals were seeded and who they play this week in the WIAA Tournament.

The loss to Boyceville here last week has the Cardinals finishing the season with a 10-14 overall record, 4-10 conference mark, leaving the Cardinals in sixth place in the conference. The overall record for the Cardinals is the first time Valley has reached double-digits in wins since the 2015-16 season when the team went 12-12 overall.

Boyceville 68, Spring Valley 44 – It was a difficult ending to the season as the Cardinals just did not play a very good game all the way around in the loss to the Bulldogs.

To read this and other premium articles in their entirety, pickup the February 27, 2025 issue of the Sun-Argus newspaper. Click to subscribe for convenient delivery by mail, or call (715) 778-4990. Single issues are also available at area newsstands and our office in Spring Valley, WI.

DNR approves Ridge Breeze Dairy expansion; Community says ‘It’s not over’

Western Wisconsin News

February 28, 2025

001THU-DSC01382-Dnny-welcome(W) — This is a picture of the virtual DNR Public Hearing held in Elmwood on July 11, 2024, on the Ridge Breeze Dairy expansion proposal. Photo by Paul J. Seeling

Submitted by Danny Akenson, GROWW

PIERCE COUNTY, WI – On February 20, 2025, the Wisconsin DNR announced their decision to issue a permit for Ridge Breeze Dairy to expand. Despite the DNR’s green light, many local people and families continue to oppose the plans from the Appleton-based corporation to build the largest factory farm in Western Wisconsin. The decision prompts a 60-day timer to contest the case and raises urgency across Western Wisconsin to pass local Operations Ordinances.

The DNR’s permit decision would allow Ridge Breeze Dairy to nearly quadruple the number of cows at a Pierce County location from 1,700 to 6,500. The permit would also authorize Ridge Breeze to spread 80 million gallons of untreated waste on more than 7,000 acres in Pierce, St. Croix and Pepin counties.

“We have proven to the DNR repeatedly that Ridge Breeze is not to be trusted and that this is a bad permit,” said Danny Akenson, a community organizer with Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW). “People in Wisconsin deserve the freedom to decide what is being spread on their land, but companies like Ridge Breeze don’t even want them to know.”

Powerful local opposition is looking to contest the water pollution permit that is riddled with a myriad of problems. More than 140 local people attended an in-person hearing on the massive expansion in July 2024, with another 300 people registered virtually to listen in and testify.

Among local concerns are Ridge Beeze’s repeated false claims that more than 100 landowners have agreed to have Ridge Breeze spread manure on their property. Many landowners have no agreement in place with Ridge Breeze. Some with property listed told GROWW they’d never even heard of Ridge Breeze.

(Another CAFO in St. Croix County is the Croix Breeze Dairy it is located in Emerald, Wisconsin. It’s a dairy farm that was formerly known as Emerald Sky Dairy. The farm is owned and operated by Breeze Dairy Group, an Appleton-based company that operates five dairy CAFOs in Wisconsin.)

Promises that the DNR would require Ridge Breeze to submit signed agreements with landowners have been broken. Instead, the DNR is only requiring signed affidavits from operators who rent land from landowners. These affidavits claim that landowners agree to receive manure from Ridge Breeze Dairy. However, landowners have come forward to state that they have no such agreement with Ridge Breeze despite being listed on signed affidavits.

“Massive livestock operations like these tear up roads, contaminate water, and shut down small farms across the state, but this is just a bad permit for a rogue corporation,” Akenson said. “They operated a concrete factory without county permits, ignored DNR orders and have stated they won’t comply with local ordinances. We will be taking the next 60 days to explore contesting the DNR’s deeply flawed determination.”

The impacts of corporate expansions like this one proposed at Ridge Breeze are spurring local opposition across the state. In December, community members in the Town of Maiden Rock joined others in Bayfield County and Polk County in passing their own Operations Ordinance that requires factory farms to submit plans on how they will manage hazards like manure, fire risk, road wear and tear.

Judy Krohn was a member of the Study Committee that helped develop an Operations Ordinance in her Town of Maiden Rock. She shared, “Our fact-based ordinance provides rules and regulations to address citizens’ concerns, and is applicable to any factory farm using town roads and farmlands for manure hauling and disposal. At capacity, Ridge Breeze Dairy will generate more than 80 million gallons of manure every year that will have to go somewhere. It is urgent that towns in Pierce, Pepin and St, Croix Counties develop similar ordinances to protect the water, roads, health, safety and property values of their residents.”

People across Western Wisconsin are working in groups like GROWW to pass Operations Ordinances and protect local people, water, and communities from outside corporate agribusiness.

Steinmeyer and Schmitt advance to Madison for Cardinals, wrestle today

Ron Cipriano

February 27, 2025

LADYSMITH, WI – The competition is always a little tougher at the WIAA Sectionals as wrestlers are vying for one of three spots to advance to Madison for the State Tournament. For the second straight week it’s do-or-die time on the mat every time they step foot out there.

For the Spring Valley/Elmwood wrestling team here last Saturday, two wrestlers advanced to that next level and two did not.

Junior Jack Steinmeyer wrestling at 215 and sophomore Sam Schmitt wrestling at 138 earned third place finishes and the opportunity to advance to Madison and wrestle at the Kohl Center starting today. Unfortunately, junior Doost Kaker (157) and sophomore Asher Turner (165) missed the cut and ended their season at the Sectionals.

Byron Lee Jensen

Western Wisconsin News

February 27, 2025

Byron Jensen, age 80, of Minnetonka, Minnesota passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 2, 2024, at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Byron was born on April 9, 1943, to Lester and Bernice Jensen of Wilson, Wisconsin. He was the second child of four and the only boy.

Byron graduated from Spring Valley High School in 1961 where he was active in many sports-football, basketball, and track. He was also the Senior Class President that year. After high school, Byron continued his education at UW-River Falls where he received a Bachelor’s degree in education, and later earned his Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota.

In 1965, Byron married Ann Ellefson and eventually settled in Minnetonka, Minnesota. They had two sons, Christopher and Nathan.

Byron spent most of his career teaching social studies at Hopkins West Junior High School. He was also active in the school district coaching football at junior high and high school levels. Most students remember “Mr. Jensen” by the shrine in his classroom dedicated to his beloved Green Bay Packers.

In 2001, Byron took an early retirement from teaching, but soon after began a job at Village Chevrolet in Wayzata. He would work there for almost 20 more years.

Later in life, Byron enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and attending all their events. One of his favorite things was taking his boat out on Lake Minnetonka to fish-his happy place!

Byron was preceded in death by his wife Ann, his parents, sister Rochelle Painter, and brothers-in-law John Painter and Gene Anderson.

He is survived by his sons Christopher and Nathan (Joyce); four grandchildren: Evan, Katelyn, Carter and Reed; sisters Diane (Grant) Ness and Jill Anderson; and many nieces and nephews.

James R. Widiker “Jim”

Western Wisconsin News

February 27, 2025

Age 72 of Woodville passed away unexpectedly in his home on February 15, 2025.

Jim was born on December 15, 1952, in Birchwood, WI to Robert and Lillian (Jilek) Widiker. He grew up in Birchwood and graduated from Birchwood High School.

On September 1, 1973, he and Sharon Birdsill were united in marriage.

After graduation he served as a member of the National Guard and worked for Norlake as a shift supervisor in Hudson, WI. During that time, he also worked part time for the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department. He pursued a successful long-term career in Law Enforcement. He served as an officer of the Baldwin Police Department for 26 years, with 23 of them as the Chief of Police. He was a member of law enforcement for a total of 34 years. He retired in 2014.

Jim’s priority was always his family. You could find him with his son working around his shop at home or tinkering with his farm equipment. He and Sharon spent many days each week with their daughter and her family. His grandbabies were pure joy and happiness to him. There wasn’t anything Papa wouldn’t do for them. Jim also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and working on his cattle farm.

Jim will be dearly missed by his wife of 51 years Sharon; two children Alicia (Andy) Hannawell and Andrew Widiker; two grandchildren Lola James Hannawell and Quinton John Hannawell; also survived by four brothers; and two sisters.

Preceded in death by his parents.

Per the family’s request the services will be private.

A public Memorial Gathering will be held in the summer.

Memorials are preferred to the American Heart Association or Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial (WLEM.com).

Arrangements entrusted to O’Connell Funeral Home, Baldwin.

Ronnie G. Hoyt

Western Wisconsin News

February 27, 2025

Ronnie G. Hoyt, age 78 of Menomonie, WI passed away February 24, 2025 at Neighbors of Dunn County in Menomonie, WI.

Olson Funeral Home in Menomonie, WI is serving the family.

To share a memory, please visit obituaries at olsonfuneral.com.

Flood Safety Awareness Week declared by Gov. Tony Evers

Western Wisconsin News

February 27, 2025

001THU-DSC07248-Kinnickinnic-River-(the-Kinni)-overflows-its-banks-south-of-Baldwin,-Wisconsin-after-torrents-of-rain-overnight-on-6-28-&-29,-2020.-Photo-by-Paul-J.-Seeling(W) — Kinnickinnic River (the Kinni) overflows its banks flooding south of Baldwin, Wisconsin on 6-28 & 29, 2020. Photo by Paul J. Seeling

Submitted by ReadyWisconsin

MADISON, WI – Flooding is one of the most common and devastating natural disasters with the potential to affect people, families and communities across Wisconsin. ReadyWisconsin is urging everyone to take steps to understand the risks flooding can bring. To encourage everyone in the state to be prepared, Gov. Tony Evers has declared Feb. 24 -28, 2025, as Flood Safety Awareness Week in Wisconsin.

“Flooding can happen without warning, whether it’s caused by heavy rain or snowmelt,” said Greg Engle, Wisconsin Emergency Management administrator. “As extreme weather events become more frequent and unpredictable, it is important for Wisconsinites to be aware of flooding risks and take steps to protect themselves and their property.”

Home and property owners can assess the potential for flooding on their property if they live in a flood plain, near a body of water, or have a basement. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a Flood Map Service Center to find official flood maps and access other tools to understand flood risk.

While some areas are more susceptible to flooding, every part of the state has a potential risk. In fact, roughly 25% of all national flood insurance claims come from properties outside designated flood plains, according to the National Flood Insurance Program.

While you can’t always stop waters from rising, the following tips can reduce the devastating effects of flooding:

Stay informed. Be aware of weather forecast information, whether it’s heavy rain or a warmup that causes snowmelt. Have more than one way to receive weather warnings. Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts on your cell phones to be alerted of imminent threats in your area.
Protect your family. Create an emergency plan so you and your loved ones know what to do and where to go in case there is a flood. Practice the plan and make sure everyone knows what to do when a flood warning is issued. Make a list of emergency numbers and important contacts.
Consider flood insurance. Most homeowner, rental, and business insurance policies generally do not cover flooding. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Most flood coverage requires 30 days to take effect. Find more information about flood insurance options at gov.
Keep water out of and away from your house. Clean gutters regularly, direct downspouts away from your foundation, repair cracks in your foundation, improve grading so water flows away from your house, and cover window wells.
Move valuables out of the basement. Elevate or flood-proof your washer, dryer, water heater, and HVAC systems. Relocate electrical outlets to three feet above the floor.

Follow these tips during and after a flood:

Never drive or walk through flooded areas. Turn around, don’t drown! It takes 12 inches of water to carry away a small car. Be especially careful while driving at night. It is important to also not walk through floodwater. Just six inches of fast-moving water can sweep adults off their feet. Floodwater may also be contaminated by sewage or chemicals and can hide downed power lines or debris that may cause injuries.
Take steps to protect your health:
- If your home floods, follow cleaning and disinfection guidelines to avoid mold growth.
- If the power goes out for more than four hours, throw out refrigerated food or any food that came into contact with floodwater.
- If your drinking water well is flooded, disinfect the well and test the water to make sure it’s safe before drinking it.
- If you use a generator, keep it outside at least 20 feet from your home to avoid illness or death from carbon monoxide, which can occur in enclosed spaces.