Local Features

We’re continuing our series on the historical influence of mining in the Upper Peninsula today, specifically in the Ironwood area, with the story of the Ironwood Carnegie Library. ( Listen to Part One about how neighborhoods in the Upper Peninsula got their names here. ) There are Carnegie libraries all over the country, including in Merrill and Rhinelander. While Andrew Carnegie did a lot of good for libraries though, he was a controversial figure. Larry Lapachin continues our We Live Up Here

We're spending today and tomorrow looking at some aspects of the historical influence of mining in the Upper Peninsula, specifically in the Ironwood area. Today we'll be answering a listener question. Tomorrow, we'll be remembering Andrew Carnegie and his influence in Ironwood ahead of the 100th anniversary of his death. ( Listen to Part Two about the significance of Andrew Carnegie in the Ironwood area here. ) The question we're answering today was submitted during our Curious North road trip

Professional football teams like the Green Bay Packers are training in anticipation of the 2019 football season right now. This week for A Northwoods Moment in History, Gary Entz looks back on a Green Bay Packers training camp held in 1935 in Rhinelander. Professional football training camps are in session, and many Northwoods residents are paying careful attention to how the Green Bay Packers prepare for the season. Since 1958 the Packers have trained at St. Norbert College. Before 1958 they

This story was originally broadcasted on NPR's Morning Edition. Since the 1960’s, a bright white light has appeared outside a tiny town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Some people think it’s a paranormal occurrence, but researchers have another theory. Mackenzie Martin has the story. On a clear night just outside of Paulding, Michigan, 12 cars are lining up on both sides of a dead-end road under a dark sky full of stars. They’re here to see the Paulding Light, an intensely bright white light that

Continuing his way through a few of your wildlife-related Curious North questions, the Masked Biologist talks about hand feeding birds – and other related thoughts – in this week’s Wildlife Matters. In a curious north question from a few months back, Alice asked the question “Does everyone up North feed birds from their hands?” I suspect this question is asked a little tongue-in-cheek. Obviously, Alice knows not everyone feeds birds from their hands up here. In fact, most people I know do not

With the Oneida County Fair kicking off tomorrow, we thought we’d remember a special moment at the Oneida County Fair back in 1938. Gary Entz continues our series A Northwoods Moment in History with the story, starting with the history of the National Barn Dance radio program. In the 1930s The National Barn Dance was one of the most popular programs on broadcast radio, and it was a great favorite in the Northwoods. Two stars in particular were beloved in the Northwoods, and that was the singing

Getting kids to shift their attention to the outdoors can be a challenge, even on a beautiful summer day. In this week's episode of Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist talks about his own efforts as a father to help keep children connected to nature. Recently my family took a trip to Portland Oregon, a weird and wonderful place. The boys did not enjoy the big city experience; if you ask them what their favorite parts of the trip would have been, they probably would have focused on what we now

In a region where towns are as small and scattered as the Northwoods, it can sometimes be hard to find people who share your same interests. The Rhinelander Photography Club though has been connecting local photographers since 2013. WXPR’s Hannah Reese continues our We Live Up Here series with the story. On a Saturday in mid-March, Nicolet College hosted their closing gala exhibit featuring the work of the Rhinelander Photography Club. Many members and their families attended to celebrate the

During WXPR's Curious North road trip in June, Shane B. asked us this question at our stop in Crandon: There was an X-Files episode in the 1st season that was in Townsend, WI. Was it actually filmed here? For this week's A Northwoods Moment in History, Gary Entz answers Shane's question and also tells us about a real UFO incident that occurred in the Northwoods back in 1961. During the first season of the television show the X-Files there was an episode called “Fallen Angel” that purportedly was

For this week’s Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist tackles another Curious North question, about some of Wisconsin’s largest migratory birds—swans and cranes. This is another curious north question that captured my interest, so I thought I would spend some time talking about some of our area’s less common migratory birds. Rosemary Resch asked “Do swans, sandhill cranes and whooping cranes summer anywhere in Wisconsin or are they primarily migratory?” We have two native swan breeds in