Stories you might have missed form around Wisconsin.
Pacific: Rural broadband project can serve up to 450 homes.
The internet has become as much of a necessity as electricity and heat for some folks. Rural areas have struggled at times to provide service for their residents. Now a rural area just southeast of Portage has increased broadband internet access after the completion of a new fiber optic project. reporting in the State Journal says that Spectrum, a nationwide telecommunications services provider, celebrated the completion of a broadband fiber optic internet line through the town of Pacific last week. The new line can serve up to 450 homes and small businesses and is part of Spectrum’s nationwide $9 billion rural broadband project. Residents and town officials began to realize the negative impact of a lack of high-speed internet in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, said town Chair Steven Pate. He said that students and people who worked remotely had trouble with slow internet speeds. The town of Pacific fiber optic broadband project was funded through Spectrum and American Rescue Plan Act funds from the town. Full Story
Baraboo: Taxi service in jeopardy.
If you need a ride in a lot of places you can call an Uber or Lyft. Unfortunately those services aren’t available everywhere. Citizens in Baraboo have relied on the city taxi service for years, but it appears that service is coming to an end. The city’s taxicab service looks likely to be the first notable casualty of the city’s tight budget after voters rejected a referendum earlier this month. The service, contracted by the city through Abby Vans Inc. of Neillsville, will probably be discontinued after Dec. 31, when the contract between the city and provider expires, city officials said. “I’m worried about all my customers,” Tony Dahler, a Baraboo taxicab driver and city resident told the State Journal. “There’s no other service big enough to handle the wheelchairs that we handle.” Voters overwhelmingly rejected the city referendum, which would have added $2 million in annual operating funds on a continuing basis. The city would have to subsidize roughly $107,000 for continued taxicab services in 2025 based on bids it received from potential providers. Full Story
Juneau: Robotic litter boxes mean big business.
How would you like to have a robot do some of the chores around your house that you really hate, like changing your cat’s litter box. A company in Juneau is here for you. Whisker has created a robotic, self-cleaning litter box that can be managed from a smart phone fits right into the impassioned, heart-felt spending habits of modern cat owners. Whisker began producing their $500 litter boxes in Juneau in 2008 . Juneau mayor Dan Wegener told the Journal Times that he was skeptical at first wondering who would spend more than $500 on a globe-shaped, self-cleaning robotic litter box for a cat? I don’t think the community ever anticipated this” said Wegener, “It’s been nothing but a positive for the city of Juneau. I see a lot of people retiring here. This will be the last place they ever work.” Over the last 16 years Whisker, has spent more than $14 million in improvements, expansions and additions for what is now more than 200,000-square-feet of manufacturing, warehouse and office space with a workforce here of more than 430 people. Full Story
