Why is it so hard for citizens to oppose
CAFOs aka Factory Farms

Midwest News interviewed Edie Ehlert, president of Crawford Stewardship Project (CSP) about their long history of protecting Crawford County's water and the Driftless area's ecosystems.  Her insights and wholistic approach brings a fresh outlook to the problem.  See video

Be nice to a farmer today, they've had a tough year

By Dave Collins -
We all have challenges, but what farmers have had to deal with this year is over the top.  Rains in the spring caused flooding damaging some of their stored grains, and kept them out of their fields when they should have been planting.  Rains continued through the summer with Wisconsin recording its wettest year on record through July.
   As fall approached we had more rain and a couple of early snow storms, which meant manure couldn’t be spread in the fields.  Late harvesting means crops will need to be dried, causing a rush on LP, which most likely will drive up prices.
   If all this wasn't enough, add in uncertainty in the market due to tariffs, so the farmer doesn’t know if or when he might be able to sell his crops or at what price.
   As I said earlier, be nice to a farmer today, they've had a tough year.

Gays Mills man killed in car crash

On Sunday, November 3, 2019 at approximately 3:40 A.M., the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call of a one vehicle traffic crash on STH 171 near Old 61 Rd, in the township of Clayton. The caller stated that the driver of the vehicle was possibly ejected.
   Steve A Collins, age 48, of Gays Mills, WI was operating a 2013 Jeep Wrangler eastbound on STH 171. The vehicle went off the right side of the roadway before striking a fire number. The vehicle reentered the roadway before going off a short, steep embankment and back into the eastbound lane. The vehicle began sliding in the roadway, slid across the highway causing the passenger tires to dig into the shoulder of the roadway causing the vehicle to overturn. Mr. Collins was ejected from the vehicle as a result of the rollover.
   First Responders arrived on scene, rendered aid and transported Collins to Vernon Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
   Assisting on scene was North Crawford Rescue, Soldiers Grove Fire Department, Tri State Ambulance and Milo’s Towing.

Man entangled in manure line
pulled into 12” road tube

On Wednesday (10-30-19) at 11:16am Richland Co Dispatch received a call of a man stuck in a culvert on Cty Hwy G just north of Cty E in Sylvan Township. 
   The caller stated a worker for a local farm was assisting with pulling a large manure line through a road culvert tube.  The line was being pulled by a tractor and the man was making sure the line went through the tube without getting caught. 
   The man suddenly became entangled in the line and was pulled into the tube. Due to the angle he was pulled in, he became stuck and was not able to be freed by workers on scene. 
   Richland County Sheriff’s Deputies and Viola EMS responded, as did the Richland Center Fire Department with a rescue truck and a technical rescue trailer.  The Richland Co Highway Dept was requested to respond to the scene with an excavator, and Richland Center City Utilities responded to the scene with other specialized equipment. 
   Once on scene, emergency workers found a 43 year old man from Plain, stuck in a 12 inch road tube up to his waist.  After a short amount of time, the man was extricated from the tube.  He suffered severe injury to his legs and was immediately transported by Viola EMS to Vernon Memorial Hospital.  He was later transferred by Med-Flight helicopter to UW Hospital in Madison.  His condition is not known at this time.

Elderly Muscoda woman with dementia
found deceased

Update - The Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. reports that the body of a missing Orion Township woman has been located.
   Gail Stone, age 79 of rural Muscoda, has been the subject of a missing persons search since early Friday afternoon.  The incident began Friday when a vehicle registered to Stone was located in a wooded area off Harry’s Lane in Orion Township.  The caretaker of the property located the vehicle and notified authorities.  After identifying the owner of the vehicle, a deputy traveled to the owners address but didn’t locate anyone there.  More efforts to locate the owner were not successful.
   On Saturday afternoon, the Sheriff’s Dept was notified that the owner of the vehicle suffered from Alzheimer’s and had not been seen since Tuesday afternoon.  Sheriff’s Deputies initiated a search of the area but the search was suspended due to darkness.       This morning (Sunday) a larger scale search was organized involving Sheriff’s Deputies, members of several local fire departments including Muscoda, Lone Rock, Richland Center and Blue River, Richland County Emergency Management and a member of the Wisconsin Drone Coalition.  Additional help was provided by the property owners and caretaker.  Within 45 minutes of starting the search, Gail Stone was located in a ravine in the southern part of the property.  A Richland County Coroner pronounced her dead at the scene.
   In all approximately 35 people were involved in the search. Richland County Sheriff James J. Bindl wishes to thank all the emergency responders who participated in the search and also thanks the land owners & neighbors for the assistance they provided.
Update - Gail Stone has been located and this alert is now canceled.
Muscoda, WI - October 27, 2019 - Gail Stone 79 of Muscoda was last seen in the afternoon hours of Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019.  Her vehicle was located on Harry Lane in Muscoda with no sign of Gail.  Gail has dementia and there is concern for her safety as she had not been seen or heard from since Tuesday.
   Gail is female, white, 5’0”, 145 lbs. blue eyes, hair color: blonde.  It you have any information on Gail’s whereabouts please contact Sgt. Kevin Melby of the Richland Co. Sheriff’s Department at 608-647-2106.

Man shot in head pulling out of driveway

Update - Suspect in custody is Lee Kennedy.

Lee Kennedy

Victim is Jason Melvin. Melvin remains in critical condition.  Woman in the truck with Melvin is Jennifer Glass.  Kennedy is currently/ initially  charged with Attempted first Degree Intentional Homicide, Endangering Safety by Intoxicated use of a firearm and Felon in Possession of a firearm.
On October 25, 2019 at approx. 1:20 a.m. the Crawford County Dispatch received a 911 call from a female who stated that she was in a vehicle in a driveway and the male driver of the vehicle had been shot in the head as they were going out of the driveway.  The female caller said that the back window of the truck was blown out from the bullet and she had no idea where she was.  Dispatch was able to locate the caller by cell phone coordinates which showed she was on Martin lane in Eastman Township. 
   The woman stated that she and the male victim had given a man that they had met at a local tavern, a ride to a cabin where he was staying because he was out celebrating his birthday and was too intoxicated to drive.  The woman said that when they arrived at the cabin, they went into an RV type camper parked beside the cabin and continued to celebrate the man’s birthday.   The female caller said that they were there for about 45 minutes and when they were driving away someone shot into the truck through the back window striking the male driver in the back of the head.
   The male victim a 47-year-old from Monticello WI was taken to Crossing Rivers Hospital and Med Flighted to UW Hospital, where he is in critical condition.  The 40-year-old female passenger from Soldiers Grove was not injured.   A 47-year-old man from Rosco Ill was taken into custody by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Dept. with the assistance of the La Crosse County Tactical Team and their BearCat.  The man has been detained for questioning with possible charges to follow. 
   The Wisconsin State crime lab and Wisconsin State Patrol have been called to assist with processing and diagraming the scene. 
   Assisting at the scene were the Eastman First responders and Fire Dept, Tri State Ems, and the Prairie du Chien Police Dept. 
   The shooting remains under investigation.         

MWN

Tuesday, November 12, 2019 

Letters to the Editor
Crawford County’s Future
by Kevin Colson, Wauzeka, WI

Older top stories we’re following -
Grant County Officer involved in death investigation
Storm damagte to McGregor IA
McDaniel/Kline murder case
 

Video Archives
Tip - (Click on the HD icon in the lower right corner to toggle it to SD for uninterrupted playback if you are having trouble with starting and stopping.  Either way, you may watch in full screen).

Videos - Floods 2018
Video - Crawford County Fair 2018
Video - Tour of McGregor Storm Damage 2017
Video - McGregor storm damage Press Conf.
Video - Orion, WI - Small village - interesting history
Video - Crawford Co. Em Management holds drill
Video - Car in River - Recovery - Interview
Video- Tour of Crawford Co. flooding
Video - The 1888 murders and lynching in Vernon Co.
Video - Boscobel’s new bike/walking trail is taking shape
Video - Battle lost - Haydn Street RR crossing CLOSED
Video - PdC road project explained
Video - Two girls killed in house fire
Video- A Driftless Christmas
Video - Strange Happenings in the Driftless area

Past Video Archives

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