Stories you might have missed from around Wisconsin.
Manawa: Floods cause dam to fail and evacuations.
Wisconsin has been experiencing a lot of severe weather lately. On Friday, up to 100 homes, including a nursing home had to be evacuated after erosion caused part of the bank at the edge of the Mawana Mill Pond dam failed and sent flood waters down into the Little Wolf River. Mid-morning on Friday, Manawa got about four inches of heavy rain. SAlthought the dam was deemed to be holding, erosion on the north side was observed. Gates were opened to relieve pressure and prevent, what Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson described as “catastrophic failure”.The flooding started in rural areas then spread to people’s homes and local roadways. No injuries were reported. Full Story
Milwaukee: Man behind RNC balloon drop doing his 10th convention.
Balloon drops are de rigueur for News Years Eve events, Sports championship celebrations and Political Conventions. It might seem like an easy task to arrange, but one man has cornered the market on RNC balloon drops. Treb Heining has been responsible for the balloon drop at Republican conventions since 1988. This is the first event Heining will be doing in Milwaukee since he created a balloon display for the grand opening of the Grand Avenue Mall in 1982. Heingin told the Journal Sentinel that political conventions are the most stressful events he works on. The super bowl is number two. He has visited Fiserv Forum a number of times and says he knows the building intimately. Fifteen MPS students and their parents will help inflate more than 100,000 balloons. One local balloon company is disappointed about a California business getting the big contract. Brigette’s Bargain Balloons had hoped to get the contract after doing a 500 balloon drop for democratic Volunteers in 2020. Full Story
Cudahy: Ten year old Girl Scout receives award after saving her grandmother.
The Girl Scout motto is “Be Prepeared”. Ten year old Aspyn Osse of Cudahy exemplified that motto and the life saving skills she learned in Girl Scouts to save her grandmother’s life. Aspyn noticed her grandma was sweating, slurring her words and slumping in her seat after the two of them sat down for a snack. She immediately got ice packs to cool grandma down.When her grandma stopped responding, Aspyn called her mom who called 911, then she told her grandfather. Aspyn stayed on the phone with 911 and guided paramedics to her grandma when they arrived. She stayed with her grandma in the hospital until she was released. A news release from the Girl Scouts said “Aspyn’s quick action and calm bravery in the face of an emergency saved her grandmother from entering septic shock and organ failure while she dealt with severe dehydration and low blood pressure.” Aspyn was awarded the Girl Scouts of the USA National Lifesaving Medal of Honor during a special ceremony at Camp Silver Brook in West Bend. Full Story
Knowlton: Distillery uses cheese making by-product to create award winning spirits.
Most people love one of the by-products of cheese making, the curds, but have you ever given much thought to whey, another by-product? A small distillery located in a small town between Wausau and Stevens Point has and they have created what could be the most Wisconsin adult beverage ever. Knowlton House Distillery is using whey in its fermentation process to create award winning vodka and gin. This is the brain-child of Heather Mullins, whose husband Luke operates Mullins Cheese in Knowlton which claims to be the largest family owned cheese-producing business in Wisconsin. There’s a lot of science involved in the whey fermentation process, which I don’t understand, but Mullins assures folks that her spirits don’t taste like cheese. She told the Green Bay Press gazette that you can’t taste the whey when enjoying TenHead vodka or gin because it’s transformed in the biochemical fermentation process of distilling alcohol. I’m glad I just have to enjoy a drink and not have to know the science that got it to my glass.
