Around Town
VARSITY FOOTBALL: Local sports reports confirm Iola-Scandinavia defeated South Beloit 18-15 in a close, non-conference 8-man football matchup on Friday, Oct. 9. Meanwhile, the big victory brings the Thunderbirds to a 2-3 overall record this current season.
BRYCE HUETTNER: Formerly of Iola-Scandinavia, Bryce is the football coach at Hortonville High School. He is the son of Paul and Shannon. Congratulations!
PLAYOFF BRACKETS: The #4-seeded Iola-Scandinavia High School Varsity Volleyball team will face #5-seeded Manawa at the Thunderdome on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. Shiocton is the #1 seed.
IOLA FOOD PANTRY: The Iola-Scandinavia High School FCCLA, National Honor Society, and Student Council will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Iola Food Pantry on Monday, Oct. 19, from 6-8 p.m. If you’re not available at that time, please leave your donation items on your front porch or by your door for pickup.
BUSINESS UPDATES: Trout Bum Bakery in Scandinavia has been sold. The garage location for Dragonflies and Daisies is for sale. The property for JP Media is available for sale, with the business having been sold. Scandinavia’s Njord Merkantil will open Saturday, Oct. 24, in the former Adeline’s Antiques building.
LANDAN FUHS was sentenced in Waupaca County court Monday, Oct. 12, marking the final conviction among three teenagers involved in a poaching incident. The case followed a December 2025 investigation into illegal handgun shooting of deer and raccoons south of Scandinavia. (Source: FOX11)
Job Opportunities
IOLA-SCANDINAVIA SCHOOL DISTRICT is looking for a JV boys’ basketball coach. Contact Jueds.d@iola.k12.wi.us.
BART’S PIZZA PUB is hiring cooks. Must be 16 years of age and available to work evenings and weekends. Apply in person.
SCHMIDT’S CORNER is hiring bartenders, cooks, and cross-trained bartender/cook. Apply in person.
Around the County
OVERDOSE DEATH: A woman was pronounced dead July 29, in Caledonia Township after an illicit-substance overdose, authorities said. Investigators traced the drugs to Richard A. Kramer and found cocaine, prescription medications and firearms at his Winnebago County home. He faces alleged reckless homicide and cocaine delivery charges. Bond is $100,000.
FORMER CATHOLIC PRIEST: Former Madison priest Andrew Showers pleaded no contest Oct. 13 in Waupaca court to reduced charges in two cases. Showers, 38, admitted to attempted child enticement, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16, and possessing child pornography. All are felonies. Charges of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and a second pornography count were dismissed but will be considered when he is sentenced, court records show. (Source: USA Today)
NEW LONDON: The New London Parks and Recreation Committee recommended naming the city’s newly constructed archery range Swanson Archery Range. Eagle Scout Colton Swanson completed the project. The panel also recommended naming the nearby pavilion after the Lautenschlager family. (Source: Waupaca County Post)
CLINTONVILLE: Students can use a newly constructed outdoor classroom at Clintonville Elementary School after a weekend ribbon-cutting ceremony. The community funded the facility entirely through donations. School district administrators sought the structure to provide outdoor learning space and shade after mature trees were lost. (Source: Waupaca County Post)
NEW LONDON: Organizers finalized preparations for the return of downtown New London’s annual Pumpkin Palooza celebration this Saturday. The free, family-focused Halloween event is hosted by ThedaCare and facilitated by the New London Area Chamber of Commerce, featuring interactive activities coordinated by local businesses and school volunteers. (Source: Waupaca County Post)
Around the State
Here are the top overnight news stories from across Wisconsin:
WISCONSIN CLERKS can count ballots that are in a municipality’s possession by 8 p.m. on Election Day but don’t arrive at polling places until after that time because of election official errors, a Dane County judge ruled Tuesday, Oct. 13. (Source: VoteBeat)
SIX PEOPLE, including five adults and one child, died Tuesday night when a small plane crashed in a densely wooded area in Sauk County. The fixed-wing Piper PA-46 was flying from Kenosha to Menomonie when it went down around 9:30 p.m. near the town of Dellona. (Source: Channel 3000 / WISC-TV)
A MENOMONIE woman pleaded not guilty and not guilty by mental disease on Tuesday after allegedly stabbing her 7-year-old son in July. Police originally responded to Emily Spalding’s residence for a welfare check after neighbors reported erratic behavior. Officers later found the child running in the street. (Source: WEAU 13)
THE WISCONSIN Department of Natural Resources issued a noncompliance letter to Enbridge Energy on Tuesday over a natural gas spill in the state’s Northwoods. The state agency is threatening the Canadian energy giant with fines totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars or permit cancellation for the Line 5 reroute. (Source: Wausau Pilot and Review)
AN INVESTIGATION is underway in northern Wisconsin after an early morning fire on Monday destroyed a billion-dollar pipeline drill rig. Enbridge Energy officials confirmed Tuesday that the blaze in Ashland County was an act of vandalism, noting that corporate equipment was targeted and graffiti was discovered at the scene. (Source: Wisconsin Public Radio)
THE WISCONSIN Supreme Court traveled to Chippewa Falls on Tuesday to hear oral arguments at the Heyde Center as part of its annual outreach program. The “Justice on Wheels” initiative let local residents and students observe the state’s highest court outside its traditional Madison chambers. (Source: WQOW 18)
A WESTBY man has died after his motorcycle struck a deer in Vernon County. Sheriff’s deputies reported Tuesday that 68-year-old Steven Peterson was driving on County Road P on Saturday when the collision occurred. Peterson, who was not wearing a helmet, succumbed to his injuries Monday at a La Crosse hospital. (Source: WEAU 13)
Today in History
Here are notable moments from Today in History:
1066—THE NORMAN Conquest began when William the Conqueror’s forces defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in England. Harold was killed during the bloody, daylong conflict, which established Norman control over England and fundamentally altered the English language, culture, and monarchy.
1912—FORMER PRESIDENT Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in Milwaukee when saloonkeeper John Schrank shot him in the chest. Despite the wound, the Progressive Party presidential candidate insisted on delivering his scheduled 90-minute campaign speech before seeking medical attention at a local hospital.
1947—U.S. AIR Force Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier. Flying the experimental Bell X-1 rocket-propelled aircraft over Rogers Dry Lake in California, Yeager reached Mach 1.06, launching the modern era of supersonic aviation.
1962—THE CUBAN Missile Crisis began when a U.S. U-2 spy plane piloted by Maj. Richard Heyser photographed Soviet medium-range ballistic missile construction in Cuba. The photographic evidence prompted a tense, 13-day nuclear standoff between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
1964—CIVIL RIGHTS leader Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honored the American minister in Oslo, Norway, for his commitment to nonviolent resistance against racial segregation and discrimination in the United States.
1968—THE APOLLO 7 astronauts broadcast the first live television transmission from an American spacecraft in orbit. Capt. Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham hosted the humorous, 11-minute telecast from space, which earned them a special Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
1978—ROCK GROUP Def Leppard made its public concert debut at Westfield School in Sheffield, England. The teenage musicians performed for an audience of roughly 50 students, launching a career that would ultimately make them one of the world’s best-selling rock bands.
1989—POP SINGER Janet Jackson scored her fourth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single “Miss You Much.” The track, from her critically acclaimed album “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814,” solidified her status as a dominant force in contemporary pop music.
1994—THE CRITICALLY acclaimed independent film “Pulp Fiction,” directed by Quentin Tarantino, opened in theaters across the United States. The neo-noir crime movie, starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Samuel L. Jackson, revolutionized cinematic storytelling with its stylized violence, nonlinear narrative, and pop culture references.
2012—AUSTRIAN SKYDIVER Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power. Jumping from a helium balloon 24 miles above New Mexico in a specialized pressure suit, Baumgartner reached a top speed of 843.6 mph during his record-breaking free fall.
