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First Winter Weather of Season Leads to Snowy Thanksgiving

Published on 11/27/2025 under News Our first winter storm of the season led to travel challenges and power outages across the Northwoods. While the snow system has mostly moved out of the area, it left behind some impressive snow totals in Northern Wisconsin. Here in Tomahawk, we received a manageable 2-4 inches of snowfall. Across northern Vilas and Iron Counties, totals in the teens were common. According to the National Weather Service, Gile in Iron County was at 33 inches and counting this morning. Nearby Hurley was at 30 inches. Before transitioning to snow, we had rain which left slick spots on roads for what is traditionally one of the busiest travel days of the Thanksgiving holiday. We did receive a few reports of vehicle slide-offs and minor collisions, along with slowed traffic. The snow, coupled with gusty winds, also led to power outages. Wisconsin Public Service crews worked throughout Wednesday and into Thursday morning restoring more than 20,000 customers. As of 9am there were approximately 1,800 outages, primarily in Vilas and Door Counties. According to an update posted Wednesday evening, WPS anticipated all power restored Thursday. This isn't the first time we've dealt with snow and power outages on Thanksgiving in recent years. Looking back in the WJJQ archives, we received a foot of snow in Tomahawk on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 2019.

Published on 11/27/2025 under News Volunteers around the Northwoods are spending a portion of their Thanksgiving holiday making sure that others in their community enjoy a holiday meal with some company. Here in Tomahawk, St. Mary's is once again organizing the Community Thanksgiving Luncheon. It's an annual tradition that allows community members to enjoy their meal with family and friends. Volunteers have spent the past few days prepping for the feast which includes turkey and all of the fixings. They are back in the kitchen early this morning for the final touches and getting the meals ready to serve. Organizers note the meal is a way to give back to the community, while also providing an opportunity for those who may otherwise spend Thanksgiving alone. They're hosting the free meal at the Corpus Christi Center from 11am to 1pm. Another crew of volunteers will spend the morning delivering prepared meals for those unable to travel. The sign-up deadline for the delivery has already passed.

Published on 11/27/2025 under News Thanksgiving marks the start of the winter holiday season and family gatherings mean plenty of food will be prepared. Health officials are reminding holiday hosts to remember food safety. No matter your menu, food safety rules remain the same and are focused on four areas of focus: clean, separate, cook, and chill. First keep everything in your kitchen clean. Wash your hands before and after handling food and frequently during preparation. In addition to your hands, keep utensils, cutting boards, knives and counter-tops clean. Separate foods to avoid cross contamination. This is especially true for proteins like eggs, meat, and poultry. A good tip is to keep separate cutting boards for food that will be cooked and food that is served raw. As for Cook, make sure that food reaches the proper internal temperature. For a turkey, the FDA recommends 165 degrees in the innermost portion of the thigh. Speaking of food temperatures, the health department highlighted the 'danger zone.' Always keep hot food hot, above 135 degrees; and keep cold food cold, below 41 degrees. Bacteria grow more easily in the temperatures between. Try to get any leftovers refrigerated within two hours. The USDA says properly-stored Thanksgiving leftovers prepared today should be good through Monday.

Published on 11/27/2025 under News A pair of first responders from the Northwoods were among thousands who recently attended the EMS World Expo. The conference is described as one of the nation's largest gatherings of emergency medical services professionals, offering extensive education, hands-on workshops, and networking focused on pre-hospital care, emergency medicine, and patient transport. Thanks to Aspirus Howard Young and the Walter Olson Medical Staff Education Fund, Brady Geiss and Jackey Postuchow were able to attend the 2025 Expo in Indianapolis. Geiss is a paramedic with the Aspirus MedEvac team based in Woodruff. He said, "I look forward to sharing what I learned at the Expo with other EMS providers throughout our region to help strengthen emergency care in rural communities." Postuchow, an EMT also volunteers with Plum Lake Ambulance Service and St. Germain Fire/Rescue and Boulder Junction Volunteer Fire Department. She says, "Volunteering in rural EMS is both rewarding and challenging." She added, "The EMS World Expo provided valuable knowledge that I can bring back to strengthen training, improve care, and inspire the next generation of EMS providers in northern Wisconsin." Lori Knitt, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Aspirus Health North Division. "We are proud of Brady and Jackey for their dedication to learning and for their commitment to improving emergency medical care for the communities we serve." She says, "The Walter Olson Fund is a wonderful example of how community generosity continues to strengthen health care across the Northwoods."-Photo provided by Aspirus

Published on 11/27/2025 under News Today is traditionally one of the busiest days in the kitchen, unfortunately it's also one of the busiest for firefighters. Before those meals are prepared local fire fighters are encouraging safety so everyone can enjoy their holiday feast. According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the number one day for home fires, three times the daily average. That's followed by Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. The three upcoming holidays have similar traditions with family gatherings around large meals. Lorraine Carli with the NFPA says, "Thanksgiving is a hectic holiday with multiple dishes cooking and baking at the same time, and along with guests, entertaining, and other distractions, it can be easy to lose sight of what's on the stove or in the oven." Carli added, "With all these factors at play, it's no surprise that we consistently see a dramatic spike in home cooking fires on Thanksgiving." They also offered up a few reminders to remember in the kitchen... Unattended cooking is the leading cause of these fires, so make sure to keep a close eye on food on the stove, oven, or grill. Take advantage of slow cookers, and smart devices to simplify meal prep.Try to limit the amount of people and pets in the kitchen to those preparing the meal.Keep flammable items like hot pads, wooden or plastic utensils and food packaging away from the burners, and pan handles should be turned towards the middle or the back of the stove.Make sure you have a working smoke detector and keep a kitchen fire extinguisher handy.

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Sports Headlines

Hatchet Girls Basketball Team Wins Season Opener

Published on 11/21/2025 under Sports Tomahawk's girls' basketball squad opened up their season with an impressive second-half performance in Butternut Thursday night, defeating the Midgets, 56-42. After leading by just two at the half, the Hatchets switched to a zone defense to cause turnovers and turn into easy transition points. Freya Alberg finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks. Sophomore Anita Ziert finished with 18 points in her first start of the season. The Hatchets start their season off with a win for a second consecutive season. Tomahawk will begin Great Northern Conference play December 2nd at home against Medford.

Published on 11/10/2025 under Sports Tomahawk's football squad's dream season would end in the WIAA Division 5 Sectional Championship against three-time defending state champion Stratford at Hatchet Field Friday night, 29-0. The Hatchet defense stepped up in the first half and forced three turnovers, including intercepting Tiger quarterback Brady Berg twice. However, Tomahawk would fail to score off of those three turnovers and mustered just over 100 yards of offense. Jett Reilly would lead the Hatchets in rushing, running for 31 yards on eight carries. Tomahawk was also held under 100 yards for the first time this season. The Hatchets finish the 2025 season with a 10-2 record, the most wins in school history. Tomahawk also graduates 11 seniors. They are Wally Horabik, Jason Watkins, Rex Reilly, Jonah Dickens, Nathan Reimer, Logan Norman, Kenny Turner, Ethan Gibeault, Kaiden Kapellusch, Nathan Norman, and Michael Samundsen. The Hatchets also finished with their first playoff win since 2015 and their first trip to the Sectional Championship since 2007.

Published on 11/03/2025 under Sports In the WIAA Division 5 Football Playoffs, #1 Seed Tomahawk would advance to the Sectional Championship for the first time since 2007, defeating #5 Seed Spencer/Columbus Catholic Halloween Night at Hatchet Field, 34-12. The Hatchets jumped out to a 21-0 Halftime lead thanks to a stout defense and two time-consuming touchdown drives. After Spencer/Columbus Catholic cut it to nine heading into the fourth, Tomahawk forced two of the Rockets' three turnovers on the night. Jonah Dickens would come up with a key interception that would pave the way for touchdown runs by Tiegan Sarazin and Max Larson. Sarazin would rush for 100 yards and two touchdowns. The Hatchets also got a touchdown run from Rex Reilly and a 19-yard scoring pass from Jett Reilly to Jonah Dickens. The win gives Tomahawk its first double-digit winning season in school history, moving to 10-1 on the season. The Hatchets will play for their first state semifinal berth since 1990 in the Sectional Championship next week against three-time defending state champion Stratford. Tune in for the Fehrman Orthodontics Kickoff Cabin at 6:10 and the opening kick at 7:00 next Friday. Alex Koch and Jon Long will be in the broadcast booth.

Published on 10/24/2025 under Sports On Friday night, the Tomahawk Hatchet Football Team won their ninth game of the season, with a 41-14 Level One WIAA Playoff victory over Omro. Tomahawk dominated the line of scrimmage all night, as they rushed for 290 yards and had over 35 minutes of possession offensively. On the other side of the ball, Tomahawk held Omro to just 39 yards rushing. Rex Reilly had three rushing touchdowns, and carried the ball 13 times for 59 yards. Jonah Dickens also had three touchdowns, two touchdown catches, both from Jett Reilly, one from 43 yards out the other from ten. Dickens also added a nine yard touchdown run. Jett Reilly, along with those two touchdown passes and 72 yards through the air, had 76 yards on the ground. Tomahawk is now 9-1 on the season and will host Spencer/Columbus Catholic on Friday night at Hatchet Field. Spencer/Columbus defeated New Holstein 31-12. The #1 seed Hatchets and #5 seed Spencer/Columbus will play at Hatchet Field on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Northwoods 92-5 will have the Fehrman Orthodontics Kickoff Cabin at 6:10 pm, and the opening kickoff at 7:00 pm. In other scores from Level One action: In D-5: Stratford beat Richland Center 41-9 In D-4: Mosinee defeated Turner 41-7 In D-3: Merrill defeated Lakeland 38-12, Rhinelander lost to Edgewood 35-7, Wausau East lost to Mount Horeb/Barneveld, and Medford lost to Grafton 49-14

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