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— The number of deer killed during opening weekend was up compared to 2021 even though there were fewer hunters this year, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
In a briefing yesterday, DNR officials said 102,347 deer were registered statewide during the opening weekend, a 15 percent increase over 2021. Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl explained the snow cover across much of the state was helpful but windy and cold weather conditions posed a challenge for hunters.
“Keep in mind that in 2021, we had a relatively slow opener,” he said. “And so this isn’t so much a big jump from last year, as it is a return to more of a normal that we’ve seen over a five-year average. Bottom line, it was good to see that those registration numbers returned to normal over the weekend.”
The weekend harvest included 55,503 bucks, a 14 percent increase from the year before and 2 percent above the five-year average. Pritzl noted about 60 percent of the bucks killed during the gun deer season are harvested on opening weekend, with the other 40 percent spread over the rest of the week. The season runs through Sunday.
Meanwhile, sales for gun, bow, crossbow, sports and patron licenses to hunt deer reached 779,123, including 421,474 for gun privileges only. Deer licenses are down 2 percent from the same time last year.
Pritzl said that decline isn’t surprising and continues a trend that’s been going on for 20 years.
“And it’s not unique to Wisconsin, it’s national,” he said. “And actually in other states, their trend downward in license sales has been steeper than Wisconsin. So in one sense, we’re fortunate from that standpoint.”
State officials also reported six firearms-related injuries, including one death. An 11-year-old boy was shot in the chest when a 41-year-old man attempted to unload his firearm while it was in the backseat of a vehicle. It discharged and struck the boy, who was flown to a hospital, where he died.
See more in a DNR release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2022/dept-of-natural-resources-2022-preliminary-gun-deer-harvest-totals-and-license-sales-now-available
Watch a video of the briefing: https://wiseye.org/2022/11/22/news-conference-wi-dnr-gun-deer-season-media-briefing-2/
— UW System President Jay Rothman has directed UW-Platteville’s interim chancellor to begin plans to convert the university’s Richland campus to online learning amid declining enrollment.
The two-year campus’ enrollment is currently just 60 degree-seeking students. The last state campus that was closed down was UW-Medford Center in 1981 when it had less than 100 students.
Rothman in an email to interim Chancellor Tammy Evetovich said she would have until Jan. 15 at the latest to make a plan to transfer the campus’ in-person degree programs to either the main UW-Platteville campus or Baraboo campus and a plan to convert Richland campus education into online programs. He asked for the plan to consider offering enrichment programs, online reskilling and upskilling courses for adults and online degree completion courses.
Rothman said despite the university’s efforts to maintain enrollment, numbers had continued to decline. The amount of full-time equivalent fall enrollments at the campus has decreased over the past ten years, except for increases in 2017 and 2018, from 224 full-time equivalent enrollments in 2018 to 60 this year.
See Rothman’s letter: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/221122Rothmanletter.pdf
— UW-Madison scientists have discovered how certain geological factors influence the movement of PFAS into groundwater.
In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers led by lead author and graduate student Will Gnesda sought to understand how these harmful chemicals move through an underground region called the unsaturated zone.
This area is located between the surface and the lower water table and includes a mixture of rocks, soil and water, according to a release from the university. The researchers found that certain factors — such as organic carbon in rocks, the percentage of empty space within those rocks and the amount of gravelly sand — have a “major influence on where and how long harmful PFAS chemicals stay locked in the ground” before moving into the groundwater below.
They focused their study on this movement because many communities draw from these aquifers for their drinking water, and these synthetic chemicals have been found to be harmful to human health.
Gnesda explains that modeling the unsaturated zone is difficult “because you have air, you have grains and you have water all moving dynamically all the time.” Modeling PFAS interactions with this region has required high-level computing due to this structural complexity, the release shows.
By developing a simplified framework for modeling underground PFAS movement, Gnesda’s team aims to reduce the time and computing power required.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Prof. Christopher Zahasky of the university’s Department of Geoscience will conduct further analysis to “refine and validate” this framework.
See more details in the release: https://www.wispolitics.com/2022/uw-madison-uw-researchers-working-to-improve-and-simplify-models-for-how-pfas-flows-through-the-ground
— Attorney General Josh Kaul has announced a lawsuit against Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol for allegedly violating air pollution control permits at facilities in Columbia County.
The complaint filed in Columbia County Circuit Court details 30 violations related to emissions control, leak detection, inspection and recordkeeping and more. They were identified during inspections performed by the state Department of Natural Resources, according to a state Department of Justice release.
Meanwhile, Kaul also announced yesterday that vehicle warranty telemarketer N.C.W. C. will cease its “unwanted, prohibited” calls to consumers in Wisconsin under a settlement with the DOJ.
See the complaint against Didion Milling and Didion Ethanol: https://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/news-media/Complaint%20Didion%20Milling.pdf
See the release on the civil environmental enforcement action: https://www.wispolitics.com/2022/dept-of-justice-ag-kaul-announces-civil-environmental-enforcement-action-against-didion-milling-and-didion-ethanol
See the release on the N.C.W.C. settlement:
— This year’s harvest of corn for grain is 12 days behind last year’s pace but remains even with the five-year average, according to the latest USDA crop report.
The report shows 77 percent of corn for grain has been harvested. Meanwhile, the fall tillage is also 77 percent complete, which is three days behind last year. And 95 percent of winter wheat has emerged in time for the first widespread snowfall of the season.
See the report: https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/WI-Crop-Progress-21-11-22.pdf
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report …</b></i>
— Attorney General Josh Kaul is still confident his lawsuit seeking to make Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban unenforceable will succeed. But if it doesn’t, he said there are other possibilities.
And two of the eight startups that qualified for an upcoming New North pitch competition are developing health care-related technologies.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Wisconsin sues Didion Milling corn mill for pollution violations
# Wisconsin GOP leaders want ‘transformational’ tax cuts next session
# Businesses that used WEDC programs created $1.2 billion in new capital last year
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin dairies honored for reproduction success
– Nearly a quarter of corn for grain remains in the fields
# BANKING
– PNC Bank to cut 25 branches in February, including one in Milwaukee area
# EDUCATION
– In-person classes ending at UW-Platteville Richland campus July 1
– UW System to shift degree programs away from Richland campus by fall 2023
# ENVIRONMENT
– SCF receives grant to incentivize conservation for farms
– DNR: Wisconsin’s opening weekend deer kill up 14% from 2021
# FINANCIAL SERVICES
– Accounting firm O’Leary & Anick moves to Brookfield
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– ‘Thanksgiving Dinner Wedger’ with all the fixings flying off the shelf at Teddywedgers
– Be spontaneous with your subs at North Shore Pizza in Monona
# LEGAL
– Monfils case still haunts Green Bay 30 years after papermill worker found dead in vat
# MANAGEMENT
– Don Zietlow to retire as president and CEO of Kwik Trip at the end of 2022
# MANUFACTURING
– Johnson Controls records $45 million impairment for Asia-Pacific HQ in Shanghai
# POLITICS
– Attorney General Josh Kaul says lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s abortion ban could take time
# REAL ESTATE
– Massive proposed housing development aims to revive Oconomowoc ski hill
– Kohl’s decides not to pursue ‘transformative’ real estate deals
– Anonymous donor gives $1 million to foundation for ThriveOn King development
# TECHNOLOGY
– Justin Mortara named CEO of EnsoData
# TRANSPORTATION
– Brookfield seeks to redesign all railroad crossings after fatal train crash
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
