The biggest moments on PCJ’s front pages

In 2022, the world began to open up again. After a two-year pandemic, families and friends gathered again at community festivals. Sports stadiums and gyms were filled to the gills with supportive fans. Children attended school in-person and plays and concerts abounded.

As a journalist, I get to see it and experience it all. That’s one of the best parts of this job. One minute I’m covering a court proceeding and the next I’m interviewing a young woman about her newly acquired herd of Ojibwe ponies. I’ve attended hours of board meetings and read court complaints I never thought possible, all with the goal of making sure the community is provided with facts and truth.

This year has been a busy one for us at The Journal, to say the least. We continue to grow our readership and add new staff members. We are also looking forward to a new website in the near future, so stay tuned. I continue to wish there were at least three of me so I could cover every single thing in the county. Our success is because of you, the readers and advertisers, who support local journalism and recognize its value. We thank you wholeheartedly for the continued support.

Our goal for 2023 remains much the same as last year: To continue to grow as your hometown, local newspaper and to tell the stories in the communities we know and love, good and bad. We are the documenters of your history. We wish our readers a prosperous, healthy, peaceful and joyful New Year 2023!

~Sarah

January

Jan. 5, 2022

“We’re heartbroken, we’re overwhelmed.” That is the message delivered to the Pierce County Board by Western Wisconsin Health CEO Alison Page and Pierce County Public Health Officer AZ Snyder at the Dec. 28 county board briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

An old tradition is being brought back in the community of Spring Valley. For many years, the village had an outdoor ice rink, but for a few years the tradition died off. After a conversation sparked in a Facebook group, the community came together to bring the tradition back.

A survey conducted of Ellsworth Community School District households shows strong confidence in the district direction, its teaching and its administration.

Spring Valley Middle School eighth grader Emma Buck was a finalist in the U.S. Courts Second Annual Bill of Rights Day event, hosted by the United States Court of Appeals and district courts in the seventh and eighth circuits.

Jan. 12, 2022

The popular Hudson restaurant Paddy’s Pub and Boxty House has opened a second location in downtown River Falls. The new restaurant is taking the place of what was formerly Mainstreeters Bar and Grill, located at 212 S. Main St. Paddy’s officially opened on Dec 15.

As the Village of Ellsworth begins work to update its Comprehensive Plan, residents are being asked to fill out a brief survey and participate in the process. Christopher Holtkamp, an assistant professor of conservation and environmental planning at UW-River Falls, and his team are assisting the village with updating its Comprehensive Plan, which is required by state law to be done every 10 years.

Two school board races (Spring Valley and Elmwood) and River Falls City Council Alderperson-at- Large will have a primary election on Feb. 15.

The Prescott School Board at its Dec. 15 meeting agreed to begin work on revising and clarifying its policies surrounding engagement and staff communication, and public comment during regular board meetings.

Jan. 19, 2022

Buoyed by survey results that show 68 percent of district residents would support it, the Ellsworth School Board last week voted unanimously to go to a referendum vote April 5 to seek permission to levy an additional $1.3 million annually to meet operating expenses.

Pierce County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Rohl sentenced former Ellsworth man David Allan Bakken, 41, to two years in prison Dec. 14 after a slew of domestic violence arrests spanning at least eight cases.

Starting Monday, Jan. 24, Prescott School District students will be released two hours early on Mondays in order to provide teachers with what they say is much-needed collaboration and preparation time.

Ellsworth Community School District Foundation is hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Show fundraiser. The show is called “Till Death Do Us Part” and the money made from the ticket sales goes directly to the foundation.

Prescott Mayor Dave Hovel has decided not to run for re-election April 5. After serving as mayor for eight years and as a council member for four years prior, he has decided it is time to take a break.

Jan. 26, 2022

At the Ellsworth Community Development Authority meeting Wednesday, Jan. 19, committee members revealed an aquaponics business may be looking to purchase the former Shopko building in Crossing Meadows Business Park.

A Maiden Rock man told police and bystanders that instead of attempting to put out a fire that started in his home from a space heater, he piled blankets and paint on it in order to keep it going.

The Fairy Wonderland Park project in Prescott will see major progress in 2022. An idea started by local families, with persistence, is starting to come together and will see the first phase of the playground installation soon.

About 75 people gathered at Veterans Park in downtown River Falls Friday, Jan. 21 for a Fair Courts End Gerrymandering Rally. The frigid temperatures didn’t subdue the group’s goal, which was to let the Wisconsin Supreme Court know that Wisconsinites are watching and expect them to act in a nonpartisan manner when drawing new voting district maps.

About 75 people gathered Friday, Jan. 21 in Veterans Park in River Falls, holding signs calling for an end to gerrymandering district maps, fair elections and a non-partisan map drawing process. Photo by Sarah Nigbor