Menomonie Minute

By Chad Zutter - Sports Reporter

Monona Grove, WI - The Menomonie Mustangs fell short in a 34-31 loss to the Monona Grove Silver Eagles in the WIAA Division 2, Level 1 round. Menomonie trailed 28-7 early in the third quarter, after a 64-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Jace Thomsen, but battled back to within five, 28-23, early into the fourth quarter.

“I was extremely proud of how resilient our kids were in the second half. When it was 28-7 in the third quarter it would have been easy for our kids to quit,” commented coach Sinz. “The pride and emotion that our team showed tonight was awesome.”

Monona Grove capitalized on a Menomonie turnover in the second quarter, converting on a fourth and thirteen with a 33-yard touchdown strike from Thomsen to senior wide receiver Cal Woerth. The Silver Eagles took a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

The Mustangs last scoring drive displayed a bag of tricks that included a hook and ladder, a fumblerooski and a halfback pass, from senior running back Hayden Weir to senior quarterback Brady Johnson, that ended up in the endzone. The ensuing on-side kick was recovered by Monona Grove to secure their Level 1 victory. 

Sophomore running back DJ Butler entered the end zone twice, once on the ground and another with a reception, doubling his season touchdown total. 

Menomonie ends their season with an overall record of 5-5.  Monona Grove will travel to #2 Rice Lake Friday, November 1st at 7 pm in a Level 2 matchup. 

Scoring Summary & Box Score

1st Quarter

M - Butler 17 yd pass from Johnson (Zydowsky kick), 7:27

MG - 3 yd run Clay (kicked blocked), 0:03

2nd Quarter

MG - Woerth 33 yd pass from Thomsen (Worth to Huemmer pass), 5:13

MG - 5 yd run Habeck (Haffele kick), 1:31

3rd Quarter

MG - 64 yd run Thomsen (Haffele kick), 10:29

M - 2 yd run Butler (Thorton to Johnson pass), 6:17

4th Quarter

M - Ellison 13 yd pass from Johnson (Johnson to Ellison pass), 10:48

MG - 14 yd run Habeck (run failed), 2:26

M - Johnson 5 yd pass from Weir (Johnson to Butler pass), 1:03

Individual Stats

RUSHING (att-yds) – Menomonie: Butler (11-66), Higbie (9-33), Weir (6-18), Ellison (2-18), Hoff (1-17), Johnson (1-(-12)); Totals (30-140) / Monona Grove: Thomsen (19-125), Habeck (19-88), Habelwitz (4-28), Yinko (5-21), Woerth (2-21), Clay (1-4), Weise (1-(-3)); Totals (51-284)

PASSING (comp-att-td-int-yds) – Menomonie: Johnson (19-35-2-2-220), Weir (1-1-1-0-5); Totals (20-36-2-3-225) / Monona Grove:  Thomsen (11-17-1-0-117), Woerth (2-2-0-0-13); Totals (13-19-1-0-130)

RECEIVING (rec-yds) – Menomonie: Ellison (10-138), Thornton (2-20), Mikesell (2-13), Bystol (2-18), Butler (1-16), Weir (1-15), Johnson (1-5); Totals (20-225) / Monona Grove: Woerth (7-70), Williams (2-34), Habeck (2-13), Thomsen (1-10), Huemmer (1-3); Totals (13-130)

1ST DOWNS: Menomonie: 19 / Monona Grove: 15 

3RD DOWN CONV: Menomonie: 8-12  / Monona Grove: 6-15

4TH DOWN CONV: Menomonie: 0-1 / Monona Grove: 4-6  

TURNOVERS: Menomonie: INT - 2, FUM - 0  / Monona Grove: INT - 0, FUM - 0

PENALTIES: Menomonie: 4-40 / Monona Grove: 6-50

Game Notes:

• Last matchup: October 22, 2021, at Menomonie. Menomonie beat Menomonie Grove 33-6 in WIAA Division 2 Playoffs, Level 1

• Menomonie’s football squad had 19 seniors that suited up as a Mustang for the last time, including captains Ray Pember, Brody Thornton, John Higbie and Anthony Sakry.

• Coach Sinz’s overall coaching record is 53-55; Menomonie 26-17 (2021-current), Eau Claire Memorial 17-20 (2017-2020), Mondovi 10-18 (2014-2016) 

• Records: Menomonie 5-5 (3-4 BRC) / Monona Grove 8-2 (5-2 Badger Large)

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is alerting the public that it has received an increased number of complaints and reports concerning extortion attempts sent by email. Consumers should know how to respond if and when they are faced with an extortion attempt.

The messages in question falsely claim that the sender has obtained private and potentially damaging video recordings, or other personal information about the target. The scammers often include some accurate information about the individual being targeted to make their claims more believable, such as the person’s home address and a Google Maps photo of their residence. The tone of the messages may imply the scammer has been watching them closely, and for a long time.

The scammer will often claim the target has visited unsafe websites and explain that this is how they first obtained access to the individual’s cellular phone or computer. The scammer may also claim they can remotely access the target’s webcams and phone cameras to watch and record video of them at any time. Finally, the scammer threatens to share this private and embarrassing information with the target’s colleagues, family, and friends unless their demands are met.

The scammers typically request payment through cryptocurrency, which can be difficult to trace by banks or government agencies and can be impossible to recover after it is sent. Consumers can expect these emails to communicate a sense of urgency, and they will likely be asked to pay up quickly or risk having the private information released very soon.

If a consumer receives a message similar to this description, they should follow these steps:

• Do not panic. It is unlikely the scammer truly has compromising video of them.

• Ignore the message. Do not call any phone number listed in the messages, click on any links, or open any attachments.

• Never send money. In addition to cryptocurrency, scammers commonly ask for payment to be made through gift cards, cash, or a wire transfer.

• Change your password if the scammer references having it. If a password is reused for multiple accounts, change it on all of them. New, unique passwords should be used for separate accounts to prevent the scammer from fraudulently accessing multiple accounts with a single password.

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Report extortion attempts to DATCP, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov, the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov, and if the message was sent to a work account, to the employer’s technology department.

For more information and consumer protection resources or to file a complaint, visit DATCP’s Consumer Protection webpage at ConsumerProtection.wi.gov or contact the Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 422-7128 or [email protected].

Media release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.

Stepping Stones of Dunn County will not be providing Turkeys or Hams to food-insecure community members during the holidays as it has in recent years.  

2024 has been a difficult year for the non-profit organization, which provides direct food assistance to more than 10% of Dunn County residents. It has struggled to cover the increased costs of its Food Pantry and Emergency Shelter programs, while receiving significantly less funding from government and corporate foundation grants than in previous years.

“We have used more than half of our operating reserves this year,” said Padraig Gallagher, Executive Director of Stepping Stones. “We are working to stabilize our financial situation so that our core programs can continue for years to come, but it has been a challenging year.”  

As a result, Stepping Stones has made the difficult decision not to distribute turkeys or hams for holiday meals.  The organization had been able to provide these holiday main courses in the past through a combination of credits with local grocers and donations from individuals, churches, and businesses. This year, they cannot afford to get these items. Any store credits and monetary donations need to be used to purchase basic items for its pantry and other programs.  

Stepping Stones still needs support from individuals and organizations that have donated turkeys and hams for distribution to the community in the past. It’s just a different type of support needed. Staple food and financial donations are vital to the households they serve, especially during the last months of the year.

“If you, or your church or business wanted to donate turkeys or provide funding for us to purchase turkeys this year,” Gallagher said “Please keep the support coming. We will use the funding to keep food abundant in our pantry. Instead of turkeys and hams, please consider donations of peanut butter, tuna, pasta and other staples to keep food on the tables of thousands of individuals and families being served in Dunn County.”

Media release from Stepping Stones.

Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin funds industry research project led by professors

Story by Heidi Jeter, Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

Photos by Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

Menomonie, Wis. — How much water does it take to grow 100 pounds of kidney beans? Most people wouldn’t think to ask such as question — but if you are a family business competing on a global scale, the answer matters. 

“This information will allow kidney bean growers in Wisconsin to better target their irrigation practices to reduce strain on the state’s freshwater resources as well as boost yields and prices for Wisconsin farmers,” says Charles Wachsmuth, vice president of Chippewa Valley Bean.

Wisconsin-based Chippewa Valley Bean is the largest processor and exporter of kidney beans in the world. The company prides itself on innovation, and it has created a unique partnership with faculty at University of Wisconsin-Stout to gain cutting-edge research and development.

“I recently went to a global conference in Italy, and nobody is doing the research we are doing around crops and water and packaging sustainability,” Wachsmuth says.

That innovative research directly involves undergraduate students, thanks to funding from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. Through the Crop Per Drop project, students trained by Professor Keith Wojciechowski, are developing and testing mathematical models to help kidney bean farmers use water more efficiently.

The project exemplifies how companies can partner with university faculty and students to create a win-win situation. Students get hands-on experience, and the company gets staffing resources and innovative research.

The first round of Freshwater Collaborative funding, in 2022, allowed Wojciechowski to hire three students to work on mathematical models that help farmers optimize water use for growing kidney beans.

With the most recent round of funding, the collaborative team installed five weather stations in farm fields. The stations collected real-time data that measured sunlight, soil moisture, wind speed and direction, and rain.

Wojciechowski says the project gives students majoring in computer science or applied math skills beyond using and developing software.

“There’s huge benefit to seeing how software you build will be used in the field,” he says. “They get to see all the ways the software needs to be stable and viable — and how software works differently in an office than in real time out in the field.”

Lindsey Redepenning, of Elk River, Minn., an applied mathematics and computer science major, helped install the weather stations last summer and now she’s analyzing the data that was collected. The goal is to enhance the mathematical models to allow farmers to see how various scenarios will affect yield. This will help them adjust their agricultural practices in response to real situations.

Redepenning says she gained a wide range of skills that will help her in her future career. One of the most important was learning how to communicate mathematical concepts to people without a math background. She also learned hands-on skills like how to rewire a circuit board, modify a weather station, restart a wi-fi hotspot and recharge batteries.

“Some days were spent out in a field setting up weather stations and others were spent behind a computer screen writing code,” she says. “No two days were alike, and this kept the work interesting and exciting.”

The weather stations and models could be expanded in the future for use with other crops or to look at other factors that affect crops, such as disease and weeds.

The Crops Per Drop project has also opened the door to other industry-academic partnerships. Chippewa Valley Bean has connected Wojciechowski to other companies who may have similar R&D needs. When Chippewa Valley Bean wanted to use more sustainable bags to hold its beans, Wojciechowski introduced them to UW-Stout faculty who could work on packaging ideas.

“We are greatly appreciative of the strong university system in Wisconsin and the access it gives us to new and cutting-edge research that we wouldn’t be able to self-fund,” Wachsmuth says. “If we want to keep agribusiness in Wisconsin strong, we must show continued support for our specialty crop growers and processors.”

UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes. Learn more via the FOCUS2030 strategic plan.

From the Monday's Meal Facebook page.

A special meeting of the SDMA School Board will be held on Monday, October 28, 2024, at 5:45pm. This meeting will be held at the Administrative Service Center. The agenda can be found below.

The live stream can be found here. Eye on Dunn also provides a live stream on Facebook and its website.

All supplemental documents can be found here. (Click on the meeting at the top middle of the page, then click view the agenda. Any agenda item with a paper icon indicates additional documents/information.)

Meet artist Sherry Hagen.

Planet Swoc: A peaceful co-existence of life living together. The two-legged beings live in harmony with the living rocks. They work together to create a sculpture of life in many colors and shapes. The rocks can change forms to meet the needs of the beings. These beings go on many adventures and come back to share stories with the rocks. They all live together in creative harmony.

From the Facebook event page.

HALLOWEEN EDITION: BRING YOUR LITTLE ONE DRESSED IN THEIR COSTUME!

Bring your little one out of the house and let them experience all our gym has to offer! Ages walking and up, $5 per child.

From the Facebook event page.

Food for Fines starts one week from today!

What is Food for Fines?

From November 1st to January 1st, you can receive $2 off your parking fines for each non-perishable food item you bring to us.

- Donations must be made at the Menomonie Police Department during regular business hours.

- Public Safety Violations do not qualify for this program. (Double Parking, Parking in a Fire Lane, Blocking Traffic, etc.)

- All donations benefit Stepping Stones of Dunn County.

From the Menomonie Police Department Facebook page.

We are excited to host authors and musicians Debra Raye King and Thomas Wayne King for a fascinating evening of readings from their newest books, and for new songs from their unique, original studio albums of the Northland.

Debra Raye King is best known for her book “Gravedigger’s Daughter – Growing up Rural.” Thomas Wayne King has published numerous diverse books, and will read works from his newest Northland anthology of forests and farm “BOOTS BLOOMS BARKS & BAAAS!”

Debbi and Tom are writing more real-life Wisconsin stories from their years as shepherds, collaborating on “Love in the Time of Sheep.” Their primitive Sunny Cove Farm in northern Douglas County overlooks beautiful Lake Superior and Duluth-Superior harbors. Daily, their flock of tenacious Icelandic wool sheep offer many tales of joys and sorrows over 15 years so far, with more fun and experiences to come.

Tom and Debbi encourage us to “Create all you can, while you can! Every day is a gift and an adventure!”

From the Facebook event page.