Bulletin

WHAT HAPPENED

• Judge D. Todd Ehlers excused himself from hearing the case against C. Frank Shaw in Door County Circuit Court on April 20 because Ehlers is a member of the Jacksonport Historical Society. Shaw – a resident of Jacksonport and Bloomington, Ill. – made his initial appearance on April 20 for a Department of Natural Resources citation issued to him “for the removal of a rudder from a shipwreck from the lakebed of Lake Michigan.” Shaw is fighting the $452 citation because he did not personally remove the rudder from the lakebed. Shaw was instructed by Ehlers to consult with the Door County District’s Attorney office to proceed. Read the original story of the rudder found on the beach in Jacksonport online (ppulse.com/Articles-Headlines-c-2015-04-16-120987.114136-Rudderly-Ridiculous.html).

• The Door County Board of Supervisors voted to rescind its exercise of option to purchase the former Cherryland School at 3913 Cherry Road, Town of Sevastopol. It had been the home of Door County Child Care Services until December 2014, when it closed its doors. In January the board voted to exercise its option on the property for $38,000, but it has since learned that the owners of the child care service added a parcel of land to the property, which raised the option to $69,520.

• A fourth case of H5 avian influenza was identified in an 87,000 bird turkey flock in Chippewa county, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. While lethal to domestic poultry, the strain of virus detected is not known to have caused disease in humans and is not expected to pose a risk to public health or the food supply. The property was immediately quarantined and neighboring properties with poultry were notified about the situation. Remaining birds will be slaughtered and will not enter the food supply. The H5 avian influenza virus was first detected in Wisconsin at a commercial chicken flock in Jefferson County on April 13, which led to the slaughter of more than 180,000 egg-laying chickens. Since then two additional flocks were detected in Barron and Juneau counties bringing the total of birds to more than 310,000 in Wisconsin. 

• Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) Secretary Ben Brancel and staff from DATCP’s Wisconsin International Agribusiness Center are in China this week leading a delegation of more than 30 Wisconsin agricultural professionals on a trade mission to Wisconsin’s sister state, Heilongjiang Province, China. “This trade mission provides a unique opportunity for us that no other state has had,” Brancel said. “We will not only introduce Wisconsin dairy products at the Expo, but we also will have a chance to share Wisconsin’s best dairy practices in a special forum. Our three-pronged approach will also include meetings with government leaders to discuss important trade issues.” China is an important trade partner for Wisconsin agriculture. The country ranked third in 2014 for agricultural exports from Wisconsin. Products in demand include hides and skins, whey, lactose, lumber, ginseng and bovine semen. Total Wisconsin agricultural exports to China were valued at $278 million in 2014.

• Current e-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. Findings from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey show that current e-cigarette use (use on at least one day in the past 30 days) among high school students increased from 4.5 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent in 2014, rising from approximately 660,000 to two million students. Among middle school students, current e-cigarette use more than tripled from 1.1 percent in 2013 to 3.9 percent in 2014 – an increase from approximately 120,000 to 450,000 students. This is the first time since the survey started collecting data on e-cigarettes in 2011 that current e-cigarette use has surpassed current use of every other tobacco product overall, including conventional cigarettes.

COMING UP

• Do you want to be a part of one of the great races in the Midwest? Sign up to lend a hand at this year’s Door County Half Marathon in Peninsula State Park. Organizers are looking for volunteers to help during the week to help set up for the race, and also on race day as Door County welcomes more than 2,400 runners to Peninsula State Park. “We’re fortunate to have a volunteer corps that earns praise from our runners every year,” said Race Director Brian Fitzgerald. “We couldn’t put this race together without them.” Volunteers are needed at packet pickup at the Ephraim Village Hall Friday night, on the course, and at the runner’s concourse at Nicolet Bay. To join the fun, email Volunteer Coordinator Joni Witalison at [email protected].