Category: Headlines

Wisconsin State Legislature For refusing once again to bring Wisconsin’s drunk driving penalties anywhere close to the severity of the rest of the nation’s laws.

Al Johnson and Earl Willems Al Johnson’s restaurant celebrated 60 years of serving pancakes and providing good jobs, and the bowling lanes Earl Willems installed at the Sister Bay Bowl 50 years ago gave residents another winter with something to do in Sister Bay.

“How does a kid from the south side of Milwaukee wind up managing a park in Northern Wisconsin?” Peninsula State Park Superintendent Thomas Blackwood laughed.

Moonlight reflected from fresh fallen snow as Four ferries danced in the wind at their island moorings, Steel fenders grinding on heavy Rubber cushions, groaning against the pier’s face.

It’s always rewarding and informative to look back at the year that was in this issue, but it’s also time to get a jump on the issues and debates that will enliven, and frustrate, in the year ahead.

1,467 The combined enrollment of Sevastopol, Gibraltar, Southern Door and Sturgeon Bay high schools in 2000 1,269 The combined enrollment of the four high schools in 2009, a drop of 198 students 202 The current high school enrollment of Gibraltar, the smallest in the county 27,961 The Door County population in 2000 27,771 The estimated Door County population as of 2008, a drop of 0.

If you thought the only places to find pouting, walk-outs and shouting in 2009 were the school playground or a health care forum, you didn’t make it to any of the marina discussions in Egg Harbor or Gills Rock.

When 2009 began the nation was reeling from an economic collapse that had everyone focused on Wall Street. But on the isolated shores of Door County, business owners and their employees wondered how the collapse would trickle down to peninsula cash registers.

Candidates for next November’s elections are already lining up. Here’s an early look at major candidates. For a complete list of all candidates declared in all 2010 races visit http://elections.

Egg Harbor’s effort to rebuild its public beach to manage storm water runoff and mitigate E. coli contamination has hit a snag. A design error has left a large portion of storm water still running down the bluff and into the bay without running through one of the new biofilters.

Deeper notches are being cut into the belts of Door County’s performing arts venues as their directors prepare for another financially uncertain 2010 season.

Andrew Phillips is a senior at Gibraltar High School and serves as News Editor and Chief Photographer of The Viking Voice, the Gibraltar student newspaper.

In November the University of Wisconsin Cross Country team finished 7th in the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN, completing another stellar season that began on the trails of Peninsula State Park in August.

The Door County League of Women Voters sponsored a public forum at Sturgeon Bay High School on Nov. 18 to address urgent issues related to alcohol and other drug abuse.

The Egg Harbor Village Board terminated its agreement with Peninsula Shores Condominium Association that allowed nine boat moorings to the south of the public marina at a special meeting Monday morning, Nov. 30.

In honor of those that came before us, the Thanksgiving holiday asks that we stop and remember where we have been and those that helped us get here. I moved to northern Ellison Bay in September of 1995, arriving just in time for fall.

Wisconsin offers several programs to assist people in times of financial distress. Here are just a few programs and the local contact for assistance. You can also find out if you’re eligible for a variety of government assistance programs at www.

Job losses, reduced hours and benefits, and other effects of the recession have created unprecedented demand for the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP), also known as Wisconsin Home Energy Plus.

Unemployment in Door County is at the highest level in over 20 years, and Melissa Emery of the Door County Job Center wants people to know that there are programs to help Door County residents get through tough financial times.

Preliminary room tax returns for September showed a 3.2 percent increase in comparable municipalities from the same month in 2008. Occupancy rates for September showed a dramatic jump from 40.