Last October, the end of the school year seemed a long way off for Rhinelander mother Leanne Vigue Miranda.

Last week, Diane Dodge closed her doors for the last time as the owner of Diane’s Frame Shoppe in downtown Rhinelander.

Blades of helicopters slice incessantly through the western Wisconsin sky.

Full hides of brown and black leather are draped over a cart and wheeled by a worker from place to place in the maze-like Weinbrenner Shoe Company factory in Merrill.

Hans Breitenmoser Jr.’s mother and father came to northern Wisconsin as Swiss immigrants, searching for the American Dream.

Visitors to the shop floor at AirPro Fan in Rhinelander are greeted by a wall of sound and activity.

Walk into any restaurant in downtown Minocqua or Eagle River, and chances are it’s understaffed.

A florist cuts lush, green stems to the proper bouquet length in a well-lit work area.

On Tuesday, Joe Rivas walked up the creaky, wooden ramp to the hayloft of a decades-old, white-painted barn near Phillips.

Laura Boll, her husband, and their two young children thought the Northwoods would provide them a brief refuge.