Local Features

We've all heard of the Rhinelander Shorty, but how much do you really know about the origins of the Rhinelander Brewing Company? Gary Entz has the story for this week's A Northwoods Moment in History . The Rhinelander Brewing Company with its signature “Shorty” bottle was once one of America’s leading brewers of beer. But that was in the days when almost all beer was regional. When a few of the largest breweries started to go national, the Rhinelander brand fell behind and ultimately disappeared

Few Wisconsin natives rise to national fame and gain recognition for over a hundred years. The Masked Biologist shares the story of one such resident, a bald eagle, in this week’s Wildlife Matters . Writing is rewarding for me for a lot of reasons, including continually expanding my own knowledge base. Recently, one of my articles was about wolverines, and I read that the remains of a taxidermy mount of a supposed Wisconsin origin wolverine were destroyed in one of the fires in the Wisconsin

Musician Kelly Jackson lives in Madison right now, but she's originally from Lac du Flambeau. As part of WXPR's We Live Up Here series, Beth Tornes talked to Jackson about her musical influences and how she uses music as medicine. For Lac du Flambeau musician Kelly Jackson , music is medicine, and has the power to heal. Music has always been part of her life, ever since she was a child and grew up listening to country music. “My father and my uncles all played guitar and sang, so I think my

In this week's A Northwoods Moment in History , Gary Entz tell us how the city of Rhinelander got its name. The name Rhinelander is tourism manager’s dream. It is a name that evokes images of the German Rhineland, of crisp Riesling wine, and of boisterous beer halls filled with joyous polka music. Of course, as anyone versed in local history will tell you, the town of Rhinelander was not named for the German Rhineland. Rather, it was named for Frederick W. Rhinelander, who was president of the

In this month's installment of Field Notes , Susan Knight discusses the importance of seedbanks - in the past and in the future - for the survival of our food crops in an uncertain future. One of my work projects is learning and writing about wild rice, and I got to thinking about preserving wild rice seed into the future. This led me back to an old Field Notes story about Soviet genetics. In this earlier Field Notes, I told the story of Lysenko, a Soviet pseudo-scientist who rejected the

Some birds you might take for granted, others might make you take more notice when you see them. The Masked Biologist reports a shrike sighting in this week’s Wildlife Matters . I saw a shrike a couple of weeks ago. I was driving from somewhere to somewhere else, alone, and I was slowing down for some kind of lane closure and I saw a shrike sitting on a sign. Big deal, right? To those of you listening that aren’t birders, you might not be familiar with shrikes. They are in an interesting

When was the last time you intentionally took a break during the day? Fika Bakery & Coffee in Three Lakes gets its name from the traditional Swedish coffee break known as fika and the woman behind it thinks you should take more of them. Mackenzie Martin continues our We Live Up Here series this week with the story. Coffee breaks are and have always been an important part of life in many countries. In the U.S., we often use coffee as a stimulant to get us going in the morning or to refuel us

This week on A Northwoods Moment in History , Gary Entz tells us about the tragedy of Annie Scheffner. The early history of the Northwoods is filled with tales of bawdy houses and colorful stories of visits that are often told with a wink and a nod. Because this sort of business was illegal and masked in shame and public condemnation few records were kept of who visited and who worked in these places, and most of the women in these houses lived in anonymity and are among history’s forgotten

Snowshoe hare hunting may not be the most popular sport, but it can result in some fun, friendship, and food as the Masked Biologist tells us in this week’s Wildlife Matters . My older brother came to the Northwoods for a grouse hunt immediately prior to the end of this year’s shortened season. He wasn’t in my area, he was staying at a cabin with a group of guys and spending the weekend doing what guys do at a cabin for a weekend. He later reported that, while the grouse hunting was poor, the

This week on A Northwoods Moment in History , Gary Entz tells us about cattle drives that used to take place in the Northwoods. Cattle drives are a colorful part of American history, and when reminded about the famous cattle drives of the 19th century most of us tend to think about the Chisholm Trail that led from west Texas through Indian Territory and up to railheads in places like Abilene and Dodge City, Kansas. Sometimes famous Hollywood westerns like “Red River” or “Lonesome Dove” come to