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Our latest edition published September 22 and is available, free on newsstands in the area.
Our fall special section will publishing our next edition. See the fall color report below.
The next edition will publish October 6.
The September 22 e-edition is available below:
We care more.
Valley Sentinel is your independent, local news source covering arts & culture, outdoors & recreation, local meetings, events in our larger Lower Wisconsin River community.
In times like these, our community needs to come together.
So, let’s build community together.
Covering Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, Spring Green and the surrounding areas in Sauk, Iowa and Richland counties.
Recent Stories (updating soon!)
An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Operation Musky 2022
Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!
This was at least the 20th year in a row that I was in what could be best described as a very fun weekend of musky fishing where several veterans and a whole bunch of guys — “The Red Brush Gang” and some other friends, a total of 32 — get together on the Eagle River chain of lakes. Back in the day most of us put in our time at Truax Field in Madison and worked on OA-37s, A-10s and F 16s. About 25 years ago some of the guys started this fun weekend and we have just as much fun socializing as we do fishing.
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An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Independent Living 101
Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!
The column that I am about to write was supposed to be written on June 15 and it is my annual hobby-farming-getting-by-with-nature-as-much-as-possible story. Instead, the good Lord decided to have my beautiful woman pass away that night and so I had my 21-year-old daughter Selina write my column so I could meet my deadline.
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Shitty Barn session preview: With phenomenal ‘Carving Canyons’ indie-folk artist Lissie brings heartbreak, rebirth to forefront
“It’s allowed to hurt; I’m allowed to burn.” Midwestern Folk artist Lissie sings gently on her recent single: “Flowers.” With a soft yet melancholy tone, Lissie allows her strong, smoky voice to carry listeners to another world almost: a world of heartbreak and rebirth.
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Local EMS directors respond to Marklein’s rural EMS bill as Evers issues a veto, expert weighs in
On March 31, Gov. Tony Evers announced that he had vetoed recently passed Senate Bill 89. The bill, introduced by Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, would have made the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians exam optional for emergency medical responders. Marklein argued the bill would improve recruitment and retention for rural emergency medical services. Local EMS directors fell on either side of the issue, with an expert in prehospital emergency medicine arguing lowering the bar is never the answer.
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Local musician Jake’O competes in national televised song contest representing Wisconsin
‘There’s music everywhere but the Driftless is definitely magical for me’
A local artist from our very own River Valley area recently returned home after representing Wisconsin on the national stage as part of NBC’s “American Song Contest”. Jake’O performed an original song on the show last month and shared his inspiration and thoughts with us on the journey.
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Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announces creation of Taliesin Institute, sparks conversations about educational legacy
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation recently announced the creation of the Taliesin Institute, a new collection of programs that seek to advance the principles of organic architecture, seen as the core of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. However, other stalwarts of Wright’s legacy debate the need for such an initiative following the Foundation’s final split in 2020 from the school of architecture previously in residence at Taliesin.
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Legal Column: Complaints filed with DA against Arena officials, open meetings law violated – analysis
On Tuesday, February 22, at 8 a.m. the Village of Arena Personnel Committee met, made a recommendation to accept the resignation of Arena’s superintendent of public works effective March 31, and started right in working on interviewing for a replacement. If nothing else, the committee moved with laudable speed to fill a hole that was not even official yet.
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Arena Public Works superintendent resigns, rush to fill position internally leads to open meetings law complaints
On Feb. 15, Village of Arena’s Public Works Superintendent Michael Schmidt submitted his resignation, with a month and a half notice. By the next week, the village was already holding a meeting to interview internal candidates. That rush to hold an interview resulted in several village officials having open meetings law complaints filed against them.
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An Outdoorsman’s Journal: Volunteers
Follow along each week on the adventures of Mark Walters, a syndicated outdoor adventure columnist who lives in Necedah, Wisconsin. He began writing his column, An Outdoorsman’s Journal, in 1989. It includes hunting, fishing, lots of canoeing and backpacking. He currently writes for around 60 newspapers on a weekly basis. He hopes you enjoy reading about his adventures!
This week’s column is going to be a bit different but is a very real type of story in the form of a very successful, annual, kids fisheree that is held by Jim and Deb Bires – owners of Bires Northside Mobile in Mauston, Wisconsin. The point of this story is to tell about volunteers and how without them, this world would be a very different place.
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