Listen Live

Podcast

Videos

Daily E-lert

News

Trump visit provides boost for area conservatives

Election Day in northeast Wisconsin will get an extra dose of excitement after you cast your ballot on Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that he is planning to make remarks at a rally in Green Bay on April 2nd. He will likely win the Republican nod in the Presidential Preference Primary that takes place along with the local elections and referendum questions that also dot the ballot that day. It is Trump’s first visit to Wisconsin since he campaigned for gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, though he has made several stops to the Green Bay area since he first ran for president before his first term in office in 2016. With Wisconsin shaping up to be a battleground state once again in 2024, Kewaunee County Republican Party Chairperson Kirt Johnson believes Trump will encourage voters to start getting behind their candidates now.

According to a recent Marquette University poll, Trump and President Joe Biden are tied at 49 percent each, and only two percent said they are unsure who they will vote for this November. The rally is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, with the doors opening at 2 p.m.

 

Two newly signed laws give emergency personnel additional mental health resources

Emergency personnel will receive much-needed mental health resources thanks to two bills signed into law on Wednesday. Wisconsin Act 219 directs the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to establish a pilot program to provide virtual behavioral health crisis care services for county or municipal law enforcement agency officers to utilize while on duty. It also requires them to contract with certified county crisis agencies to provide the services. In a similar move, Wisconsin Act 220 requires the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish and implement a program for peer support teams and critical incident stress management teams for certain public safety personnel to provide emotional and moral support and coping mechanisms for personnel and volunteers affected by stress or an incident. The latter was called Assembly Bill 576 when Rep. Joel Kitchens introduced it after conversations with Door County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Pat McCarty. While most Americans might experience one critical incident in their lifetime, emergency personnel could see dozens, if not hundreds. McCarty is happy that his conversations with Kitchens turned into action in Madison.


Evers signed 27 other bills to improve community safety and reduce crime. That includes the Kitchens-introduced Kelsey Smith Act, which requires wireless providers to turn over device location information to law enforcement without a warrant if a person is in grave danger.


Extra food benefits coming this summer for families

If you are on a food assistance program and you have kids to feed, a new program through the state and the United States Department of Agriculture is lending a hand.

 

On Thursday, Wisconsin became the first state in the country to be approved for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program that will give low-income families an extra $120 per child during the summer months to feed them. Families that participate in other food assistance programs like free and reduced lunch will automatically be enrolled in the program with the benefits being added to their existing card or via a pre-loaded debit card. Families eligible for food assistance but are not participating in the programs would have to apply.

 

“Making sure our kids have enough to eat is critical for supporting their success in and out of the classroom. Unfortunately, when school is out, many families lose access to one of their most reliable sources of healthy meals,” said Governor Tony Evers.  United Way of Door County Executive Director Amy Kohnle says it is not just great news for the area’s ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population.  She hopes families bring those benefits to some of the Door County farmers’ markets this summer, where they can redeem those credits to spend with local vendors.

Benefit recipients can expect to receive those funds in June. Participation in the program will not affect those participating in other summer food programs, such as the one run by the Door County YMCA.

Ten Women in Ten Days: Charlotte Lukes

From the mushrooms growing near your feet to the birds flying over your head, it is all a part of the Door County environment naturalist Charlotte Lukes adores. In addition to helping in the creation of The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor, Lukes and her husband Roy played large roles in the protection of other Door County ecological highlights like Toft’s Point, Newport State Park, Whitefish Dunes, Mink River Estuary, and Moonlight Bay. One of Lukes’ biggest contributions may be in fungi research, identifying more than 600 species of mushrooms in her career as a naturalist. The thing she is most proud of, however, is inspiring other residents and visitors to participate in “citizen science” and getting them involved with flora and fauna located just outside their doors.

Lukes and her husband were inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 2018. The couple also received recognition from the Gathering Waters Conservancy, the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology, the Nature Conservancy, and the UWGB Center for Biodiversity. You can listen to our full interview with Lukes below.

 

 

Picture courtesy of Crossroads at Big Creek


Kelsey Smith Act signed into a law

A bill that came out of the meeting space of the Door County YMCA’s Youth in Government program has been signed into law. Known as the Kelsey Smith Act, Assembly Bill 960 now requires wireless providers to turn over device location information to law enforcement without a warrant. It could only occur if a customer or subscriber consents if the provider believes an emergency involves a possible death or serious bodily harm and if the location information is relevant and crucial. Over 30 states across the country have similar laws on the books. Rep. Joel Kitchens said last week that he worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to iron out certain aspects of the bill to address privacy concerns. He also applauded Door County YMCA Youth in Government member Connor Waterstreet for bringing it to his attention.


With Governor Tony Evers’ signature, Wisconsin became the 31st state to turn the Kelsey Smith Act into a law. Kitchens also celebrated Evers signing his peer support bill into law, which will help emergency personnel better deal with the trauma faced on the job. That bill came to be after Door County Sheriff Chief Deputy Pat McCarty brought the effectiveness of peer support programs to Kitchens’ attention. “The best ideas don’t come from Madison,” Kitchens said, “I’m grateful to represent people who come to me with ideas that should become law. Both bills came from local folks who want to make our great state even better. I believe these bills do just that.”

Ten Women in Ten Days: Former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Barbara Lawton

Door County resident and former Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton made history in 2002 when she became the first woman elected to that position. Serving with Governor Jim Doyle for eight years, Lawton took on many issues, including economic development, climate change, and campaign reform. 

 

She launched an economic development initiative called “Wisconsin Women = Prosperity” in 2003.  Other issues addressed by Lawton were clean energy policy, stem cell research, and affordable higher education. In 2006, The Capital Times newspaper in Madison called Lawton “the boldest and most active lieutenant governor in state history." in an editorial piece. 

 

Lawton announced running for governor in 2009 but withdrew from the race after two months due to “personal reasons.”

 

Lawton was named the President and CEO of Americans for Campaign Reform in 2014. She was co-founder of Issue One, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., whose goal is to reduce money's influence in politics.

 

Born and raised in Green Bay, Lawton attended Lawrence University and received a master’s degree in Spanish from UW-Madison.  She lives in Clay Banks along Lake Michigan with her husband, Cal, and they have two children, Joseph and Amanda, and four grandchildren. 

Detours and expected delays coming with start of Highway 42 project

Starting next week, you will need to take an alternate highway route when driving up the bayside of the Door Peninsula. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that the construction work on a 12-mile stretch of State Highway 42 just north of Sturgeon Bay to Egg Harbor will begin next Wednesday, April 3.  Governor Tony Evers signed off on the contracted project for over $6.7 million. DOT Northeast Region Communication Manager Mark Kantola describes what the road improvements will mean for driver safety after completion.

 

 

Northeast Asphalt is the prime contractor that will begin milling and resurfacing work on the lanes and roadway shoulders while adding right-turn lanes at the Monument Point Road intersection and installing new rumble strips for enhanced safety.

State Highway 42, at the mid-junction with Highway 57 in the town of Sevastopol, will be closed to through traffic and detoured onto Highway 57 north to County V, County A, and County EE.  Local traffic will be open with flagging operations for those needing to access businesses or residential properties located on the closed route on Highway 42. 

 

The highway project is expected to be completed by mid-June. A 511 Wisconsin Construction website with WIS 42 Project graphics, maps, and displays is available here. You can also watch a video of the WIS 42 Public Construction Information Meeting on the website.

 

 

New study finds coronavirus in healthy Wisconsin sport fish

A new virus has been found in five fish species in the waters throughout the state, including Door County. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison detected a coronavirus that is usually associated with birds but does not threaten human health.  Department of Pathobiological Sciences professor Tony Goldberg, says his research group identified 19 new viruses in blood samples from over 100 fish, including bluegills, brown trout, lake sturgeon, northern pike, and walleye.  The virus in the walleye instance was a coronavirus. Goldberg notes that the fish-associated coronavirus differs from the type of virus that causes COVID.  It was present in 11 of the 15 walleye sampled by the DNR, and Goldberg says the impact of the virus on the fish is unknown, but it does not pose any threat of infecting anglers. 

 

 

Goldberg says the noteworthy study was done because it is not uncommon for unknown viruses to pop up occasionally, and it is vital to set a baseline for determining the future health of fish species in the state.

The findings are part of a Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded first-time-ever study of the natural diversity of viruses of fish in Wisconsin. You can listen to the entire interview with Tony Goldberg below.

 

 

 

 

Door County YMCA Strivers dynasty continues

The gymnastics team at the Door County YMCA continues its impressive run after competing at the state tournament in Fond du Lac last week. The Strivers turned in an undefeated season and claimed the state championship by a wide 2.6-point margin.  Gymnastics Director and coach Nikki Pollman says girls peaked at the right time this season with a strong performance at the Kettle Morraine meet just before state, taking first out of 12 teams.  She recaps how the 13 girls competing could medal 42 times at state by focusing on their routines and not worrying about the competition's scores.

 

 

Pollman says she hopes to keep all the girls together and have them grow and develop to the next level.  The Strivers team consists of girls who attend area public and private schools in Sturgeon Bay, Southern Door, Algoma, Gibraltar, and Sevastopol.

 

You can listen to the entire conversation with Nikki Pollman on the Y Wednesday podcast here.

 

Food Pantry "rummaging" to help more community members

An annual event that started ten years ago as a way to build a new pantry building in Algoma is being celebrated again this week.  The Kewaunee County Food Pantry’s Spring Rummage Sale mission to help impoverished residents is planned for Thursday and Friday.  Food pantry members also volunteer their time, with all rummage sale profits going towards purchasing food and other expenses.   Kewaunee County Food Pantry President Ken Marquardt says the pantry serves up to 145 families by distributing over 12,000 pounds of food monthly.

 

 

The Kewaunee County Food Pantry Spring Rummage Sale runs from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. both days.  The pantry is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at 1528 Sunset Avenue. 

Ten Women in Ten Days: Emma Toft

Nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, you will find one of the lasting legacies of Emma Toft.  According to WomenInWisconsin.org. Toft’s father purchased more than 300 acres of land in Baileys Harbor before her birth in 1891. The land later became a summer resort run by the Toft family that highlighted simple living. It also became an object of desire of other developers who wanted to build up the area into an exclusive resort for vacationers. Toft resisted and along with her family, sold Toft’s Point to the Wisconsin Nature Conservancy in 1967. The area later expanded to its current 743-acre preserve, now recognized as a State Natural Area and a part of the larger Ridges Sanctuary-Mud Lake Wildlife Area- Toft Point National Natural Landmark. The area is now under the stewardship of UW-Green Bay, which collaborates with the Friends of Toft’s Point group to provide nature hikes, invasive plant removal, and trail maintenance. Site manager Andrew LaPlant says there is a lot to enjoy about Toft’s Point from an ecological point of view.

For Dr. Keir Wefferling, Toft’s Point has become one of his favorite places on the planet not just to visit, but to conduct his research on the variety of mosses found on the site. He works closely with the Friends of Toft’s Point, which counts some of Toft’s descendants as its members. Wefferling says those interactions have made him even more appreciative of Toft’s persistence in protecting the land for future generations.

Toft passed away in Sturgeon Bay on Valentine’s Day 1982. You can join the Friends of Toft’s Point here to help support the group’s efforts to provide docents, remove invasive species, and maintain the property’s trails and historic cabins.

 

Listen to our full interviews with LaPlant and Wefferling below:

 

Picture courtesy of Destination Door County

Egg Harbor Fire Department begins training with drones

When an emergency strikes in Egg Harbor, you can now look to the sky for help. The Egg Harbor Fire Department teamed up with Titletown Drones in Suamico to purchase a drone and for its subsequent training. Six fire department members are participating in the training that will allow them to conduct searches more quickly and efficiently. Egg Harbor Fire Chief Justin MacDonald says in the past, they would have to rely on the Door County Sheriff’s Department, the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department, or the Gibraltar Police Department if they needed a drone for help. Because of the shoreline and waterways that is present in their jurisdiction, MacDonald believes it was worth the investment.

MacDonald credits fire department members Kurt and Nicole Krauel for spearheading the efforts to bring the drone to Egg Harbor and residents and businesses donating the necessary funds to make it happen. He also added that the Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Department is also considering purchasing its own drone. 

 

Picture courtesy of Egg Harbor Fire Department and TitletownDrones

Bridge collapse stirs up conversations about county's emergency plans

As you watched the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, the Door County Emergency Management and Communications Department reviewed its protocols in case a similar event happened here. According to the USA Today, a cargo ship was leaving the Port of Baltimore at 1:30 a.m. when it struck one of the support columns. The bridge snapped and collapsed within moments of the collision. As of 9 a.m., emergency personnel were still searching for a group of construction workers who were on the bridge when the accident happened. Door County is served by three bridges: the Bayview Bridge, the Michigan Street Bridge, and the Maple/Oregon Street Bridge. Door County Emergency Management Director Jeb Saelens says when anything of this magnitude occurs, it is essential for departments like his to ask themselves, “What do we do if this was us?”

Saelens says Door County's bridge emergency plan was developed in the 2000s. A Door County bridge was struck in 2014 when a tug-barge hit the Maple/Oregon Street Bridge when it was in the down position. The collision caused damage to the bridge’s sidewalk, railing, and lighting. 

Pagel brings farm life to children's book series

Chase Pagel is proof that some of the best stories can happen right in your backyard. The first of several books Pagel wrote will be released on Monday with her daughter’s Jersey steer Rosco stealing the pages. “Rosco’s Sweet Treats” is about a little farmer named Kiley who befriends the steer and shares treats with it, even popular foods like Pop-Tarts. Pagel says she developed the idea to come out with the book series because of the growing disconnect between families and farms. Pagel, who is part of Pagel’s Family Businesses that raises more than 5,000 cows in Kewaunee, says she wanted more people to learn about farms like theirs that do not necessarily have the opportunity to drive by, let alone visit, a dairy.

Her second book, coming out later this year, will explore different agricultural businesses in Kewaunee County, whether they are big dairy farms like theirs or small pumpkin patches and vegetable farms. She says the important thing to her is highlighting the families behind them.

Pagel says she is finalizing signings, story times, and other events to highlight the books.

 

Photo courtesy of Dairy Diaries LLC

10 Women in 10 days: Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant's Ingert Johnson

Door County is known for its historic landmarks, and Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik in Sister Bay is one of them, largely thanks to the matriarch of the family, Ingert (Forsberg) Johnson.

Ingert, 90, married Al Johnson in 1959 until his passing at 84 in 2010.  Their three children, Lars, Annika, and Rolf, and several grandchildren continue the legacy of the business today.  This year, Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a rich history impacted significantly by Ingert.

According to the Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant website, Ingert Forsberg traveled to the United States from her home country, Sweden, and met Al Johnson after traveling up from Chicago after being introduced to Door County by a friend.

After honeymooning in Europe, Ingert was brought into the restaurant's operations and convinced Al to sell lingonberries and Swedish clogs at the cashier station.  The success of sales led to the opening of the first retail store next store called The Butik.  The business imported most of the products from Sweden into the store, with Al always crediting his wife for diversifying the restaurant's business and expanding its success over the years.

 

(photo courtesy of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik's Facebook account)

 

City revisits west waterfront hotel

The third time may be the charm for you to see a development along Sturgeon Bay’s west waterfront. Late last month, Cobblestone Hotels pulled the plug on its proposed project on Egg Harbor Road after it could not reach an agreement to purchase the land. They have now set their sights on a city-owned parcel on East Maple Street initially slated for a 53-unit apartment building before construction and interest costs grounded the project. The area was also slated for a hotel in 2014 before a legal battle over its placements caused the project to be shelved. The proposed Cobblestone Hotel project would have 62 rooms located on four floors. The developers are asking for approximately $1.32 million in incentives, which the city believes can be covered using funds from Tax Increment District #4 thanks to a guaranteed property value assessment of $7 million. As a part of the agreement, the city would sell the parcel to Cobblestone Hotels for $1 and would have to construct a new public parking lot. If the city approves a development agreement, shovels could come shortly after. Anna Jakubek, vice president of development for Cobblestone Hotels, wrote in an email to the city that they are ready to move on the project, saying they would order their plans, estimated to take 45-60 days. Once the group gets the necessary approvals, the new hotel could be built in 14 months. The city’s Finance/Purchasing and Building Committee will meet on Tuesday at 4 p.m. to discuss the project and its financial incentives. The committee will also talk about a price adjustment for the single-family homes in the Geneva Ridge development and sidewalk permit fees.

DNR lures visitors with early opening of Eagle Tower, park roads

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is hopeful that opening some of your favorite spots in Peninsula State Park earlier than usual will reverse an early-year attendance trend. This winter, the lack of snow and ice discouraged many usual visitors from coming to the popular state park. As a result, Park Superintendent Eric Hyde says the attendance numbers for January and February were some of the lowest they had seen in a quarter century. In mid-to-late February, the DNR opened the Eagle Tower and some area roads around the park that usually do not welcome visitors until late April to early May. Hyde says it is a great time to see the park at a typically quiet time of the year.

Hyde says the park will also be quieter this fall but for different reasons. Some of the park’s campgrounds, specifically near North Nicoley Bay and Weckler’s Point, will be closed earlier this year so crews can renovate bathroom facilities and replace some of the water pipes that have been around since the 1960s.

Bullying leads to larger mental health problems down the road

A recent incident at Gibraltar Secondary School serves as another reminder of the impact bullying could have on your children at school.

 

Last week, 17-year-old Aidan Rice said in a Door County courtroom that a former student led to him bringing a gun to Gibraltar for multiple days. In his criminal complaint, Rice said he was scared of a former student, a person who allegedly pounded on a bathroom door while he was at Wal-Mart a week prior. School Resource Officer Heather Bemmann stated that the unidentified student had not been on campus since last November. Rice added in the complaint that he knew it was illegal to bring the gun, but he had it to protect himself in case the former student showed up.

 

According to the National  Bullying Prevention Center that shows that one out of every five students report being bullied, and 41 percent of students who reported being bullied at school fear that it will occur again. Cami Peggar from the United Way of Door County’s STRIDE program says bullying can have a long-lasting effect on an individual, even outside of a school setting.


Adding to the stress of bullying is that it does not have to be done in person anymore. The National Bullying Prevention Center says the percentage of individuals who have experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lives has doubled since 2007, from 18 percent to 37 percent in 2019.

 

Powerball, Mega Millions poised for big jackpots

Do not be shocked if you see people holding lottery tickets for two games this week. The winning numbers for the Powerball and Mega Millions games were not drawn over the weekend, setting the stage for one of the largest combined jackpots in history. The Powerball jackpot stands at $800 million, the sixth largest in the game’s history. The Mega Millions jackpot is currently at $1.1 billion, which is currently the fifth largest in the game’s history. Between the two games, there have only been six jackpots that have eclipsed $1 billion and all of them have occurred in the last 10 years. The games are played on different days, with the Powerball drawing taking place on Monday and Mega Millions occurring on Tuesday. You would have to strike gold twice to get close to the biggest jackpot of all time, which was an over $2 billion Powerball jackpot won in November 2022.

 

Ten Women in Ten Days:  Belgian Heritage Center's Barb Chisholm

The Belgian settlement in Door County has many stories from the past, but the person who presents a reenactment of her ancestors' experience and survival during the Great Fire of 1871 may be the most fascinating. Barb Englebert Chisholm of Sturgeon Bay brings her great-grandmother's story to life by portraying her at the Belgian Heritage Center every October when it commemorates the historic fire that decimated Williamsville in southern Door County.  


Chisholm, who grew up in Misere near Brussels, is a fifth-generation Belgian-American who graduated from Southern Door High School in 1964. She graduated from nursing school in Oshkosh and worked 47 years as a registered nurse at Door County Memorial Hospital (now called Door County Medical Center) before her retirement.


A volunteer at the Belgian Heritage Center in Namur, Chisholm has recreated how the Great Fire impacted the Belgian community through the eyes of her great-grandmother, Emmerance Gaspard Englebert.


Chisholm dresses in character while sharing how her ancestors survived the fiery inferno of the Peshtigo Fire by climbing down a well. She wanted to make history more interesting with the portrayal and pay homage to her family's ancestry.


 


Chisholm often reflects on how the families who survived the fire handled the devastating experience, especially after the blaze in rebuilding the Belgian community.  

 
Staying active in retirement, Chisholm also volunteers with the hospital auxiliary while living in Sturgeon Bay with her husband, Mike. They have three sons and three grandchildren who live in Northeastern Wisconsin.

 

You can listen to our full interview with Chisholm below.       (photos contributed)

 

 

Jackson returns to Algoma as City Treasurer

A familiar face will return to Algoma to handle the city’s finances.  After a search of nearly six months for a city treasurer, Jamie Jackson has been hired by the City of Algoma.  Jackson served as the city clerk for four years before leaving in 2022 for a position with the City of Two Rivers and, most recently, with the Luxemburg-Casco School District.  Algoma City Administrator Matt Murphy says everyone at City Hall is happy to see Jackson back.

 

 

Jackson will take over the treasurer position on April 1st, succeeding  Amber Shallow, who left the treasurer post last October.  

ADRC to host discussion groups for aging plans

If you did not weigh in on the county’s aging plan via survey, you can do it in person beginning next month. The Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Door County will host a series of discussion groups at its meal sites in Baileys Harbor, Brussels, Washington Island, Liberty Grove, and Sturgeon Bay. By hosting a survey earlier this month and the discussion groups, the hope is they can educate the community about the county’s aging plan and identify areas for improvement. The last time the ADRC conducted this survey in 2021, it identified several goals to institute, such as expanding programming at its meal sites, expanding its Meals on Wheels program, addressing the caregiver and advocate shortages, and promoting education opportunities for fall protection. ADRC Director Jenny Fitzgerald says the feedback they receive during the process is important.

The state requires the counties’ ADRCs to complete a strategic plan that serves as a platform to create, improve, and expand services in the communities they serve. You can find the full schedule of discussion groups listed below.

 

The meetings will take place at the following locations and times below, each of the locations are wheelchair accessible for those who need additional accommodations.

 

Baileys Harbor Meal Site - 2392 County Rd F, Baileys Harbor

Friday, April 5th at 12:30 p.m.

 

Brussels Meal Site – 1366 Junction Rd, Brussels

Thursday, April 11th at 12:00p.m.

 

Washington Island Meal Site - 910 Main Rd, Washington Island

Friday, April 12th at 11:00a.m.     

 

Liberty Grove Meal Site - 11161 Old Stage Rd, Sister Bay

Monday, April 15th at 12:30p.m.

 

Sturgeon Bay Meal Site - 916 N. 14th Ave, Sturgeon Bay

Tuesday, April 30th at 12:30p.m.

Easter Vigil marks fresh start for new Catholics

While Christians around the world mark Easter as the beginning of a new life for Jesus after being crucified, the night before means something more for many Catholics. The Easter Vigil mass is held during the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. The occasion is often marked with candles lighting the sanctuary. While other Christian denominations may celebrate the Easter Vigil, Catholics use it to welcome new members into the church. The yearlong process for adults begins with a series of classes. It concludes during the mass with the individuals celebrating their baptism, their first communion and their confirmation all in one night. Father Dan Schuster of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Luxemburg and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Casco will host one of its first conversions during the Easter Vigil for the first time in a number of years this Saturday. He says it is always special to see individuals immerse themselves in their faith.

Area Christians will celebrate the Triduum of Easter beginning with Maundy or Holy Thursday, followed by Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.

EGGStravaganza highlights Crossroads Easter week activities

EGGStravaganza will again take place at Crossroads at Big Creek on Saturday, March 30th at 2:00. Understand that this is NOT an Easter Egg Hunt, but rather a special session of our weekly Family Science Saturday program. Generations of families have discovered that learning about the science of eggs is enjoyable, educational and memorable.

 

The program begins in the auditorium with several remarkable videos showing how, over a period of 21 days, a single-cell chicken embryo develops into a fluffy yellow chick inside a thin shell.  

 

Following the videos,  families will move into the science lab to dissect unfertilized eggs.

 

Then, the real fun begins. To demonstrate the phenomenal structural strength of an eggshell, participants will roll, squeeze, and toss eggs…. and even drop raw eggs out of the second-story window of the Collins Learning Center. Finally, the whole group goes outside unless the weather is extraordinarily unpleasant, and each young person gets one egg with which to experiment. (This has the potential to be messy.)

We have learned over the years  that participants get the idea that all eggs are similar….that they are all “ovoid,” which comes from the Latin word for egg and means “egg-shaped.” But eggs, even those of our native Door County birds, come in various shapes.

 

Many eggs are tapered—almost pointy at one end, but our owls lay round eggs, and cavity nesters like woodpeckers and chickadees and birds with cup nests lay eggs that are roundish or oval.

 

I had been taught that egg  shape was determined by "the roll factor." Spherical eggs could easily roll off a cliff. But eggs with pointy ends would roll in tight circles, making them perfect for cliff-nesting birds or, in our case, ground-nesting killdeer. In contrast, the eggs of cavity nesters or birds with cup-shaped nests are not going to roll anywhere, so they can be round or oval.

 

Clearly, egg shape adaptations have survival advantages, so I never questioned this explanation. But Mary Caswell Stoddard, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, did question it.

 

She pulled together a team of researchers from both sides of the Atlantic who, using photographs stored in an online database at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, measured 49,175 bird eggs collected all over the world for the past one hundred years.  The researchers looked at two features: asymmetry, or how pointy the eggs are, and ellipticity, or how much the eggs deviate from a perfect sphere.”

 

They then, using a special computer program, ran their data through a whole raft of variables (many of which I would not have thought of), searching for correlations, and they found one! One they didn’t anticipate.

 

"We discovered that flight may influence egg shape," according to Stoddard.

 

She explained, “To maintain sleek and streamlined bodies for flight, birds appear to lay eggs that are more asymmetric or elliptical. With these egg shapes, birds can maximize egg volume without increasing the egg’s width – this is an advantage in narrow oviducts.”

 

In other words, slender birds that fly well produce long, tapered eggs.

 

The eggs we examine during  EGGStravaganza will be ovoid, and if conditions allow,  visitors might be able to visit the chunky-bodied hens that lay egg-shaped eggs.

 

Speaking of eggs, a student from Sawyer School already has found salamander eggs in Big Creek, and this is the time of year northern pike and suckers usually swim up the creek to spawn.

 

Due to our extremely dry winter, Big Creek is very shallow and we do not know when or even if fish will come into the preserve.  BUT…follow Crossroads on Facebook or watch our website. We will post progress and offer pop-up programs when conditions are promising.

 

 

Wednesday, March 27 

10:00 Crossroads Book Club

This month the selected book is  “The Genius of Birds” by Jennifer Ackerman. Whether you’ve read the book yet or not, we would love for you to join us as we explore the stories, ideas, and concepts shared within the pages of these awesome book! Meet at the Collins Learning Center, Crossroads, 2041 Michigan, Sturgeon Bay

 

Saturday, March 30

 

8:30 Habitat Healers Kickoff Breakfast

Habitat Healers has been an ongoing volunteer effort at Crossroads for years. This year we invite you to join us for a hearty breakfast (cherry stuffed French toast courtesy of our volunteers) as we discuss the plans, changes, and details for Habitat Healers in the 2024 season. Whether or not you’ve been a Habitat Healer in the past, we invite you to join us this season! Visit our website Crossroads at Big Creek for details and to RSVP

 

 

 

Family Program: EGGStravaganza

During this event, a Crossroads tradition,  learners of all ages will view videos and  participate in  a number of (potentially messy) demonstrations and activities, ranging from egg dissections to a raw egg toss. Yes, we will be dropping eggs out the lab windows and an outdoor component, so dress for the weather.  Free and open to the learners of all ages. Meet at the Collins Learning Center, 2041 Michigan, Sturgeon Bay.

Rise and brine for area roads

Do not be shocked if you see the unmistakable white lines of brine on area roads again ahead of the work week. According to the National Weather Service, snow is expected to hit the area again after 1 p.m. on Sunday and continue through Monday morning before it gives way to rain. One snow removal tool used more among municipalities is a salt brine mixture used to pre-treat the roads before a potential storm. The hope is that pre-treating the roads will delay the slippery conditions that complement a snowstorm for motorists coming through the area. It can also stretch out salt supplies and keep the treatment on the roads instead of being kicked off onto the shoulder or other places. Salt brine also has its critics because of its ability to coat cars after it is freshly sprayed, and in some communities, it is being used more often than may be needed. Door County Highway Commissioner Thad Ash says they stick to a formula for applying salt brine to area roads and pick the spots where they use it.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, they can cover 209 miles when they spread $1,000 of road salt as a brine compared to 80 miles without mixing it.  Wisconsin used 387,000 tons of road salt during the 2021-2022 winter season, compared to 325,000 tons in 2020-2021 and 425,000 tons in 2019-2021.

Search Our Site

CANCELLATIONS

Current Weather

STURGEON BAY WEATHER

Poll

Has the increase in gas prices in the past three months impacted your travel plans?
Add a Comment
(Fields are Optional)

Your email address is never published.

Obituaries

Click Here for more Obituaries

Obituary posting fee is $25

Sports Poll

Newsletter

Sign up for our Daily Electronic Newspaper!

Plus, Get the latest updates for Local Sports, Obituaries and more delivered to your inbox!