Submitted by Danny Akenson, GROWW

PIERCE COUNTY, WI – Several local leaders asked Pierce County’s ad-hoc groundwater committee to look into local ordinances to protect the county from expanding factory farms

The momentum to protect Pierce County communities from the harmful impacts of massive factory farms has become stronger after county residents and farmers urged the Pierce County Groundwater Advisory Committee to investigate local ordinances to protect the county from factory farm expansions. The public pressure comes as Ridge Breeze Dairy, a mega-dairy in the Town of Salem, is attempting to expand to 6,500 cows.

Residents and town leaders from the Towns of Isabelle, Maiden Rock, and Gilman gave the committee powerful testimony about the risks that factory farms pose to groundwater, surface water, and natural resources during an October 20, 2025, meeting. They urged the committee to hear a future presentation on town Operations Ordinances as a potential solution. The towns of Isabelle and Maiden Rock have adopted Operations Ordinances, while Gilman is one of several towns in Western Wisconsin considering adoption. The ordinance ensures local oversight of factory farms.

Judy Krohn, a member of a study group in the Town of Maiden Rock that was the first in the county to recommend adoption of an Operations Ordinance, explained the risks of factory farms polluting the private wells that many county landowners depend on. “In Pierce County, the entire county—including our township—lies atop karst bedrock, which is more easily susceptible to the intrusion and contaminants to the groundwater that fills our well, along with the wells of everyone else who lives in our town,” Krohn said. Krohn pointed the committee to a report from the Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council, which shows that 90% of nitrate contamination is due to application of manure and fertilizers.

Margaret Chesley, who chaired a study group in the Town of Isabelle, said, “With the Operations Ordinance, the town can be involved, not just in monitoring water usage and well testing of nearby wells and surface waters, but in other community concerns such as roads, fire response and financial surety. It is a reasonable, common-sense way to work with an industry that is using our town.” Isabelle’s town board unanimously passed the ordinance last month.

Phil Verges, a lifelong farmer and town board chair in Gilman, detailed the many risks to surface water posed by factory farms like the Ridge Breeze expansion near the Rush River, a world-class trout stream. One such risk is stormwater pouring off the roof of the nearly 500,000-square-foot barn that Ridge Breeze is building.

“Ridge Breeze is not required to have stormwater collection ponds after construction for the roof,” Verges said. Meanwhile, stormwater mitigation requirements are imposed on commercial and industrial sites like warehouses and even smaller operations like Kwik Trip stores.

Another risk Verges pointed to was phosphorus overloading of cropland from the 80 million gallons of manure that Ridge Breeze’s expansion permit would allow Ridge Breeze to spread. Overloading creates the risk of phosphorus “eventually being washed away into nearby waterways and causing algae blooms and other potential health risks,” Verges explained. Under existing regulations, manure application for factory farms is allowed on a field so long as the field tests below 200 parts per million phosphorus. This is roughly five times more than the optimum amount for corn production.

The presenters were followed by several members of the public who reiterated the need for the county to look seriously into concerns about factory farm expansions. Two factory farm owners downplayed the need for stronger regulations during public comment, despite the factual comments brought forward by the presenters and members of the public.

After the presentation, the Groundwater Advisory Committee agreed to hear a future presentation on the Operations Ordinance at a future meeting. The ad-hoc committee has been actively studying concerns around water quality in Pierce County for two years after being formed by the county board in late 2023. They recommended a 5-year well testing program that was approved by the county board earlier this year. Their next meeting is tentatively set for Monday, November 17, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.

GROWW is a grassroots organization based in Western Wisconsin. Together, we work toward a future where we all make ends meet, live with dignity, and have a voice in shaping the decisions that impact us. To get connected or learn more about GROWW, visit us at GRO-WW.org, on Instagram at @GrowWisconsin, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/GROWWisconsin.

Submitted by Maggie Wagner, Nolato Contour

BALDWIN, WI – Nearly 170 Baldwin-Woodville students stepped inside the world of advanced manufacturing this month as Nolato Contour hosted its annual Manufacturing Day event in celebration of Manufacturing Month.

The event brought together juniors and eighth graders from Baldwin-Woodville High School for an interactive day of exploration, designed to highlight the diverse career paths available within the manufacturing and healthcare industries.

Students began the morning hearing from Nate Somsen, Business Unit Manager at Nolato Contour, who shared insights into the company’s history, its role in the medical device industry, and the wide range of local opportunities in skilled trades, engineering, and production.

Following the presentation, students toured multiple departments across Nolato Contour’s facility – including Tooling, the Controlled Manufacturing Environment (CME) Room, Warehouse and Shipping, Clean Room 2 (CR2), and Engineering. During each stop, employees described their day-to-day work, discussed training and education options, and encouraged students to consider how their personal interests might align with different career paths.

Hands-on learning was a key part of the day. Students watched live production runs, handled both raw materials and finished medical components, and suited up in protective gear to experience the “gown-up” and “de-gown” process required in sterile clean room environments.

This year’s Manufacturing Day also featured collaboration from OEM, Comar, Baldwin EMS, and Western Wisconsin Health, offering students a broader view of local industries that depend on technical skill, precision, and innovation.

Before heading back to school, each student received a small swag item – a reminder of their experience and of the opportunities waiting for them right here in western Wisconsin.

Submitted by Adam Kastonek – Public Information Officer, St. Croix County

St. Croix County, WI – St. Croix County Children Services, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and several local organizations, hosted the free community awareness event, “Protecting Our Youth: Understanding Sextortion,” on October 8, 2025, at St. Croix Central High School in Hammond, WI.

The event brought together parents, caregivers, educators, and community members to learn how to recognize, prevent, and respond to sextortion, a growing online crime that targets youth through manipulation and exploitation. Attendees heard from experts and community partners about what sextortion is, how it happens, the warning signs, and how to support youth who may be affected. The evening featured presentations from Brittney Bird and John DeMay, who shared their personal experiences after losing a child to sextortion.

“Sextortion is a difficult topic to discuss, but even harder to ignore,” said Rachel Johnson, Social Worker, and Emily Anderson, Case Manager, with St. Croix County Children Services. “By coming together, learning the signs, and supporting each other, we can help protect our youth and prevent future tragedies. We extend our gratitude to everyone who attended, and to the sponsors, donors, and volunteers who made this event possible.”

A special thank you to the local organizations involved in this event: Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ). Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC). TurningPoint. NAMI St. Croix Valley. Family Therapy Associates. St. Croix Valley Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). Living Well Together. St. Croix County Behavioral Health. St. Croix County Public Health.

In addition to the above press release from Adam Kastonek. The Woodville Leader followed up to learn more about the topic of “Sextortion.” This is what Google and the AI Overview stated:

“Sextortion is a form of blackmail in which a person uses a victim’s sexually explicit images or videos to demand money, more images, or other sexual acts.

Perpetrators, also called sextortionists, threaten to share the materials with the victim’s friends, family, and public social media accounts to coerce them into compliance.

While anyone can be a target, criminals most often prey on children and young adults by first building a romantic or trusting relationship.

Common sextortion tactics
Sextortion can occur through various methods and online platforms, including social media, dating apps, and gaming sites.

Grooming and deception

• Building trust: Perpetrators create fake online personas and spend time building a rapport with the victim, often pretending to be someone their age.
• “Catfishing”: They may use fake photos and profiles to pose as someone they are not.
• Flattery and emotional manipulation: The abuser might use compliments or sob stories to make the victim feel special, valued, or sorry for them.
• Pressure to switch platforms: Criminals often push to move conversations from public social media to encrypted or private messaging apps to make tracking more difficult.

Image acquisition and coercion

• Secretly recording: Sextortionists may secretly record explicit videos during live chats, sometimes after pretending their own camera is broken.
• Hacking: They might gain unauthorized access to a victim’s accounts or devices to steal images and other sensitive information.
• Artificial intelligence: Some scammers use AI to create fake explicit images and threaten to share them.
• Financial demand: Once they have compromising material, perpetrators will demand money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency in exchange for not publishing the content.

How to prevent sextortion

• Protect personal information. Set your social media accounts to private and be selective about what you share online. Hackers can piece together personal details from public posts.
• Be wary of strangers. Do not accept friend requests or messages from people you do not know in real life. Remember that people online are not always who they claim to be.
• Be cautious with online connections. If a new online connection tries to rush the relationship or makes excuses for not meeting face-to-face or using a camera, be suspicious.
• Do not share intimate content. Understand that once you send an image or video, you lose control of it forever.
• Cover your webcam. When not in use, assume your webcam could be remotely activated and cover it with tape or a sticker.” (End of Google info.)

A full recording of the ‘Sextortion’ awareness event is available on the St. Croix Central School District’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/live/ewwxm7Zz_M0. Parental discretion is advised due to the sensitive nature of the presentation. The views shared in this recording are those of the individual presenters.

Find Help and Learn More
If you or someone is experiencing sextortion, contact local law enforcement immediately. Here are additional sextortion prevention and metal health resources:

• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC): Learn more about sextortion prevention and online safety at missingkids.org/theissues/sextortion.

• Take It Down: If you or someone you know is a victim of exploitative content online, this resource can help remove images and videos. Visit takeitdown.ncmec.org.
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: You are not alone. If you need someone to talk to call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

Submitted by Kim Dupre, St. Croix CURES

HUDSON, WI – “Don’t be Iowa,” exclaimed Dr. Chris Jones, retired water research engineer, University of Iowa. Jones was one of seven experts, including Sonja Trom Eayrs, Dr. Steve Oberle and Tim Stieber, that spoke October 4, 2025, at the St. Croix River Watershed Clean Food & Water Forum before a crowd of 120 attendees at the RCU Discovery Center at Camp St. Croix in Hudson, WI. Talks centered on the impact of industrial agriculture on ground and surface water quality in Western Wisconsin and what citizens, farmers, and even children can do in response.

The day started with the “WHY are we here.” This is Stillwater project, an afterschool program for Stillwater Middle School students, demonstrated how they utilized Minecraft to map the MN/WI St. Croix River Watershed. The potential industrial CAFO in Polk County was overlayed with current contaminated wells to visualize the impact on the entire watershed. We heard about their creation of robots for future water quality monitoring. They are our future and everything else today is about them.

Dr. Jones relayed information documenting the water quality trouble Iowa is experiencing due to 8,000 industrial hog operations and as a result, Iowa has earned national status as the #2 state for instances of CANCER and the only state with increasing cancer rates.

Sony Trom Eayrs shared how Big Agribusiness has taken over our rural areas for their own profits and decimated those communities. She documented the consolidation of our food systems that has led to the degradation of our water, land, and air, especially in rural spaces. The story of her family’s stand against corporate malfeasance gives hope on how ordinary citizens can “fight back.”

Dr. Steve Oberle and St. Croix’s County Conservationist, Tim Stieber, shared information on the unique karst landscape and how that affects our groundwater (NOTE: All 100,000 citizens in St. Croix County drink groundwater). Tim showcased how in the headwaters of the Kinnikinnick River (between Hammond and Baldwin) nearly 40% of homes currently have contaminated drinking water and his models revealed how wider adaptation of best management practices (cover crops, no till, streambank stabilization, etc.) could reverse the nitrate contamination due to 84% of the land being used for agriculture in that area. Dr. Oberle shared that any nitrate reading in drinking water over 2 ppm is cause for public health concerns for everyone (not just pregnant women and small children). High nitrate readings are an environmental indicator that other contaminants could also be in your drinking water.

We ended the day learning how and why getting our food from local producers, markets and food co-ops can build community and food resiliency. Some strategies for protecting our water and property values with township or county level operating ordinances currently used in Polk and Pierce Counties was shared by citizens involved in that process.

A performance of a joyful play from the Pop-Up Players, led by local educator Liz Malanaphy, ended the day reminding all, again, our work to protect our earth’s resources is done for future generations.

A recording of the presentations is available on YouTube at River Channel at youtube.com/@accesstv15.

Thank you to our sponsors; St. Croix Valley Foundation, Wisconsin Farmers Union, City of Hudson, Emerald Clean Water for All, and This is Stillwater.