The earth’s climate is changing. Since the 1880s, the global average surface temperature has increased by approximately two degrees Fahrenheit. Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2001.

Wisconsin is seeing a direct impact of that, according to the Wisconsin Climate Change Task Force Report.

Nearly a third of the of the Northwoods population falls into the 65 and older category that will soon be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ascension Wisconsin, Aspirus, and Marshfield Clinic will all be helping vaccinate this group.

Ascension will be contacting current patients that qualify to set up appointments. It’s asking people not to call hospitals and clinics at this time.

Both Marshfield Clinic and Aspirus have phone lines and an online system to set up appointments.

The World Bank has offices in more than 130 places and staff from more than 170 countries.

Starting more than a decade ago, one of those staff members worked from a wood-paneled office overlooking a small lake outside Mercer.

He was among the first telecommuters in Iron County, Wisconsin, a part of the first wave of work-at-home employees whose number has now spiked in the area.

Gary Theisen had lived for years in Washington, DC, working at the headquarters of the World Bank and traveling internationally.

People living on Carlin Lake near Presque Isle believe their battle is finally over.

For six years, they’ve been fighting to block a proposed drinking water extraction and bottling operation near the lake.

But a land purchase seems to have closed all efforts to take and sell water from the area.

“We know that the property has been sold and, for the first time, to a private owner who intends to use that beautiful lakefront property for his private purposes,” said Carmen Farwell of the Carlin Lake committee.

Cornelius Harrington, a native of Hurley, grew up in the Northwoods and maintained a lifelong dedication to the land he loved.  Before his career could take off, his forestry skills made him invaluable to the U.S. Army in World War I.  Before getting there, however, Harrington survived a harrowing shipwreck.  

Small businesses can officially begin applying for loans through the new version of the Paycheck Protection Program.

Yesterday, banks like Nicolet National Bank and JPMorgan Chase could begin submitting borrowers’ applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

When the federal government passed its second COVID-inspired stimulus package in December, it included a new round of the Paycheck Protection Program.

Between April and August last year, that program distributed more than $500 billion in forgivable loans to millions of businesses across the country.