Gavin Esterholm, the school board's student liaison for Phillips High School, reported updates regarding various sports, groups, and events at the high school as of December 14, 2025. Gavin interviewed students about their high school experience with these activities.
BAND
The band had their Christmas Concert in early December, featuring the 6th grade band, the 7th and 8th grade band, and the high school band. They each performed various pieces and there were extremely good comments from members of the audience following the concert. The ban also performed some Christmas songs in the commons and for the elementary school in the mornings before
school.
CHOIR
The choir members were working hard at perfecting the music since early fall and held their holiday concert earlier this month. Along with the band, choir members had their fruit sale fundraiser, which was a great success this year, practically filling the band room with fruit boxes.
FBLA
FBLA has been fundraising with their one dollar chocolate bar fundraiser, and it seems as if almost every student sells very well. Emmet Knudson said, "FBLA co-organized a food drive with the Sources of Strength. Together, they helped raise over 400 pounds of food for the Phillips Food Bank. They say thank you to everyone who helped and donated! FBLA had its members (who wished to compete) pick a competitive event. Those who were interested were registered. Some members will have the chance to present their work on February 7th at the Regional Leadership Conference in Loyal, and others may have the opportunity to take a test for their event before that date. All members are invited to this conference, and there will be more details as we get closer to it!”
HOCKEY
I was fortunate enough to make my way up to Park Falls for two of the hockey games this season, and I didn’t realize how exciting and fun hockey was to watch, with players competing on the co-op team with the Chequamegon and Butternut school districts. Players from Phillips include Senior Kalan Chuzles, Junior Audrey Hueckman, and Sophomores Nick Pesko and Finn McCardle. They are
on a three-game winning streak, putting them 3-3 on the year. Last Saturday, they played Green Bay United and won 6-0 with a notable goal by Finn McCardle, earning him the team's hard hat, which recognizes the team's pick of player of the game.
STUDENT COUNCIL
The student council planned and put on a the talent show.
MOCK TRIAL
Mock Trial has been meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays. They have been working through their direct and cross-examination questions in preparation for the first trial at the Price County Courthouse on Monday, December 29. They posted many posters around the school looking for fellow students to act as a “mock jury.”
TEEN COURT
The teen court is part of the deferred prosecution agreement, where kids who face consequences with the law at the age of 16 or younger get the decision to go to a group of their peers from the surrounding schools, including Chequamegon, Prentice, and Phillips, where the teen members question and determine the consequences of their actions. They have had a few cases this year. Last month, they had the chance to hear from Callie Podmolik, who gave a good rundown of what her role as the Juvenile Justice
Intake Worker is and what she does for the kids they don’t see as they end up her way, not at the Teen Court.
BOYS' BASKETBALL
The boys' basketball season is now in full swing, with three games thus far, playing Auburndale, Washburn, and Newman Catholic. During the first home game against Auburndale, Senior Jeffrey Heikkinen had a notable 39 points and tied the most completed 3-point shots by a Logger. Jeffrey said, "Everyone is very young, and it's a completely different team from last year, with
me being the only returning varsity starter. It will be a fun learning experience for everyone, but things will start working themselves out through the season. It's a very big change from last year.”
GIRLS' BASKETBALL
The girls' basketball team has played five games this season. Leah Harper said, “We have been adjusting well to the new coach and are improving every day. We have been enjoying doing some new team bonding experiences and are hoping to get a win soon. We think that the rest of the season will go well, and we will keep getting better.”
November Eagle Award winners from Park Falls Elementary School of the Chequamegon School District were recognized for "being safe."
Front Row Left to Right: Kieko Sohl, Thomas Wagner, Bennet Wagner, Lila Hammond, Keana Mudong, Liam Kontny, and Everleigh Tesnow
Back Row Left to Right: Ariel Sprangers, Drew Branch, Zayda Dannelley, Dawsyn Purdy, Hazel Singer, and Henry Weiler
SOAR AWARDS
November Soar Award winners from Park Falls Elementary School of the Chequamegon School District demonstrated "perseverance."
Front Row Left to Right: Paisley Purvis, Baylee Malach, Jaxon Fincham, and Amir Akis
Middle Row Left to Right: Iris Spurrier, Reed Damrow, Faith Velarde, Namine Stewart, and Adeline Klepac
Back Row Left to Right: Daxon Singer, Marcie Hilgart, Isaac Kjetland, Blake Schmidt, and Breylyn Zielke (The article continues after the ad; keep reading.)
Park Village offers affordable, active living in a park-like setting for those 55+ and disabled persons in Park Falls. Rent is based on 30% Adjusted Gross Income. Small pets under 30 pounds are welcome. Contact Park Village at 715-762-4747.
POP TAB WINNERS
November pop tab winners of Park Falls Elementary School of the Chequamegon School District are in Ms. Weinberger's second grade class. They collected 33.88 pounds to support the Ronald McDonald House in Marshfield, Wisconsin. There were 100 pounds of tabs collected by the entire school.
Front Row Left to Right: Josh Hilgart, Mackenzie Miesbauer, Aleigha Naegele, Adalyn Schneider, Jayla Hilgart, Brooks Nelson, and Hendrix Scott
Back Row Left to Right: Brookes Eichman, Ms. Amy Weinberger, Rowan Gerwing, Emery Volk, Layla Rauschenbach, Myah Cole, Faith Velarde, Henry Weiler, Carson Bay, and Atea Silbanuz
The property of 235 North Lake Avenue has been some type of gas/service station for many years. Many locals remember it being owned by Steve Augustine and known as Augie's Shell. In July of 1988, George and Steven Thaler purchased the property, and the younger generations came to know it as Express Mart. It remained in the Thaler family until a few years ago when it closed. Plans to upgrade the gas station were discussed by the business owner and city at meetings in 2021, but those plans were abandoned. In August 2024, Next Stage Designs 2 LLC, (Lynda Ludwig), purchased the property for $220,000.
According to the "Friends of Price County United Limited," the property is expected to be leveled. The tentative schedule is that the canopy that was over the gas pumps will come down on Friday, December 26, 2025. The building will be demolished on Monday, December 29, 2025.
Some residents are wondering about the gas tanks and if there is contamination, which My Price County will be asking Lynda Ludwig, along with other questions posed by the community. As a partial answer, this gas station was mentioned in the "Phillips Lionite Property, Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment" that was completed on November 9, 2023 before Price County United Limited (PCUL) purchased the "Lionite" property on April 1, 2024 for two million dollars. In the report, "Lionite" is referred to as the "subject property."
The document states, "Finding 7: An environmental records search was performed identifying sites within their respective ASTM E 1527-13 search radii of the Property that may represent RECs, HRECs, or de minimis conditions. Three historical/current gasoline stations were located adjacent to and west of the Subject Property. The first gasoline station formerly operated at 235 N. Lake Avenue and BRRTS Case No. 03-51-097044 was opened in 1996 when petroleum contamination was discovered onsite, including free product. Remedial activities occurred starting in 2000, and the case was closed in 2012 with residual soil and groundwater contamination onsite, offsite and in the rights of way. Detections in monitoring wells installed near the Subject Property boundary were below health-based standards as of 2011."
In reference to this gas station, the document continues, "Opinion 7: The former gasoline stations at 235 N. Lake Avenue and 125 S. Lake Avenue have been investigated and/or remediated and contamination appeared limited to the sites and adjoining rights-of-way. Therefore, historical releases of petroleum products at these two gasoline stations are not a REC, CREC, or HREC for the Subject Property."
Updated 12-27-25: The canopy and building got demolished on Friday, December 26, 2025. According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, five gasoline tanks are considered "closed/removed," including two unleaded, two diesel, and one leaded. This was done by the previous owners, the Thalers.
Three Price County supervisors have filed for non-candidacy as of December 23, 2025.
Incumbents from Districts 4 (Towns of Hill and Ogema), 8 (Towns of Harmony and Elk - Ward 1), and 13 (City of Phillips - Ward 1, Town of Worcester - Ward 2, and Town of Elk - Ward 2) will not be seeking re-election on the board of supervisors. Those individuals include Jeffrey Hallstrand, Alan Barkstrom, and Brian Ernst.
We reached out to all three men to find out their reasons. Thus far, Brian Ernst replied as follows, "I’m in the process of moving to a different district, from #13 to #8. As Mr. Barkstrom is not running, I have submitted paperwork to be on the ballot for his district #8."
Anyone interested in seeking any county supervisor position (or other positions being elected in the spring) must file nomination papers by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
If a primary is necessary, it will be held on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
The election will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
View the video of PACC's 2025 Christmas Parade in Phillips by clicking this link. View photos of decorated homes below. Merry Christmas!
(The article continues after the ad.) Davette Lynne Hrabak, CPA, located at 164 South Lake Avenue in Phillips, specializes in tax return preparation, business start-up services, consulting, bookkeeping, payroll, and all your accounting needs. Call 715-339-6638 or visit Davette's website. Follow her Facebook page.
Deer Creek Angus, LLC has a large selection of Black Angus burgers, steaks, roasts, and other beef products sold by individual packages and in quarters, halves, and whole. Contact Deer Creek Angus, LLC at 715-550-6156, find products & pricing on their website, and follow their Facebook page.
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has created a lawsuit against United Pride Dairy LLC, a dairy farm in Phillips.
The EEOC asserts that United Pride Dairy "violated federal law when it subjected three employees of Mexican origin to disparate treatment in the terms and conditions of employment and also subjected a female employee to sexual harassment."
According to EEOC, United Pride allegedly "promised three Mexican nationals professional and/or management positions when they were hired and submitted the same information to the U.S. Embassy for their TN Visa applications, but when the three Mexican nationals arrived on the farm, the dairy denied the promised positions and instead gave them laborer positions and assigned more arduous tasks and shifts to Mexican workers. When a Mexican worker complained, a manager at United Pride Dairy justified the disparate work assignment based on a negative stereotype of American workers, saying 'Americans are lazy.'"
The complaint also alleges that a "female Mexican employee’s direct supervisor subjected her to sexual harassment when he frequently shared demeaning pornographic images with her and repeatedly made sexually offensive comments to her."
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said, “Workplace actions based on unlawful stereotypes about any group of workers — including assumptions that foreign workers are somehow ‘better’ than Americans — are a serious violation of federal law. The law is clear: employers cannot abuse the visa process to import foreign labor under false pretenses. The EEOC is committed to vigorous enforcement of our laws so all workers in this country are treated fairly and lawfully.”
The EEOC's Chicago District Office is responsible for processing these charges.
Nicole Marklein is the attorney representing United Pride Dairy LLC. She asserts that the farm was working in full cooperation with the investigation and feels no evidence was revealed to support these claims. She told My Price County, "We are disappointed and concerned to learn that the EEOC has filed this lawsuit despite my client’s full cooperation with an investigation that has revealed no evidence of unlawful discrimination or harassment. To preserve the integrity of the judicial system and prevent inappropriate communications to potential jurors, applicable rules of professional conduct prohibit attorneys from making certain public statements regarding pending litigation. Therefore, I am even more alarmed by the press release issued by the EEOC regarding this pending lawsuit, particularly because the release makes allegations against my client that are simply false. Due to my professional obligations and respect for the integrity of the civil justice system, I am unable to provide details regarding this lawsuit. However, my client denies that it discriminated against or otherwise mistreated any of its employees—regardless of their race, gender, nationality, or any other protected basis. While my client and I wish the EEOC would use its resources to investigate and remediate true instances of employment discrimination, we have no choice but to vigorously defend this baseless lawsuit."
A 911 call was received by the Taylor County Sheriff's Office on Friday, December 5, 2025, at approximately 4:17 p.m. The caller reported a missing person near the 7600 block of Perkinstown Avenue in the Township of Hammel. She said that her husband had been ice fishing earlier in the afternoon on Washington Flowage, which is located near their property. When he did not return, she was concerned he may have fallen through the ice.
Taylor County deputies, along with Medford fire personnel, Taylor County Emergency Management, and Taylor County EMS personnel, arrived at Washington Flowage where they saw a single sled trail leading out to an open area on the ice. The sled was seen in the open area of water.
Given they have specialized equipment and expertise in open water searches, Marathon County Sheriff's Office Dive Team, Wings of Hope and Bruce’s Legacy were contacted to aid in the search effort.
The man was found in the water, deceased, and was recovered. He was identified as Randall K. Runge of Medford. He was 69 years old. There is no indication of foul play.
The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office extended their condolences to the family of Randall. "We would also like to extend our gratitude towards the non-profit organizations, Wings of Hope and Bruce’s Legacy, along with the other emergency personnel that assisted," the sheriff's office added.
WI DNR ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY 2025 DEER HARVEST TOTALS
The regular gun deer season was held from November 22 through November 30, 2025.
According to the Wisconsin DNR, "Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly decreased compared to 2024. As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, November 30, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron, and sports licenses) reached 790,044, down 0.12% from the same time last year. Of those, 550,611 were for gun privileges only (which include gun, conservation patron, and sports licenses).
"Preliminary figures show hunters registered 182,084 deer during the 2025-gun deer season, including 86,068 antlered and 96,016 antlerless deer. Compared to 2024, the gun season harvest total is down 0.8% statewide, with the antlered harvest down 2.6% and the antlerless harvest up 0.9%.
"Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 294,757 deer. This harvest is 1.1% ahead of the same time last year."
Price County is part of the Northern Forest Zone. However, rather than the deer harvest totals being reported by county as was done in previous years, some counties, including Price, are now part of DMUs, which are Deer Management Units. Portions of Price County are in six units, including DMU-112, DMU-113, DMU-115, DMU-116, DMU-117, and DMU-119. Portions of other counties are included in those DMUs and they are as follows:
DMU-112: Portions of Price, Rusk, and Sawyer Counties
DMU-113: Portions of Ashland, Bayfield, Price, and Sawyer Counties
DMU-115: Portions of Price, Rusk, Sawyer, and Taylor Counties
DMU-116: Portions of Lincoln, Oneida, Price, and Vilas Counties
DMU-117: Portions of Ashland, Iron, Oneida, Price, and Vilas Counties
DMU-119: Portions of Langlade, Lincoln, Price, Oneida, and Taylor Counties
Marquette County led the Central Farmland Zone and the entire state, registering 7.9 deer per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with 6.5 deer registered per square mile. DMU 201 (primarily in Eau Claire County) led the Central Forest Zone with 3.8 deer per square mile. DMU 108 (portions of Burnett, Polk, and Washburn Counties) led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.7 deer registered per square mile.
The DNR reported two hunting incidents. On the first day of hunting, a 57-year-old man was walking to a field to go hunting. He received a gunshot wound in his buttock. His injury was treated at a hospital. The investigation is pending. Also on the first day, in the evening hours, a 24-year-old man in Fond du Lac County was found as a victim of a self-inflicted, but unintentional, gunshot to his chest. He was found hours later by family members on private property. According to the WI DNR, "Preliminary investigation reflects the victim was in a tree, gun deer hunting from a saddle stand, when the unintentional discharge of their firearm occurred. Investigation pending." Comparatively, during the 2024-gun deer season, one firearm-involved hunting incident occurred resulting in an injury. (Keep reading; the article continues after the ad.)
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The DNR added, "For the past 10 nine-day gun deer seasons (2016-2025), the incident trend reflects an average of five hunting incidents per year. In addition, Wisconsin has had six fatality-free seasons, and all 10 years reflect single digit incidents."
The DNR stressed that hunters should follow the four rules of firearm safety, known as TAB-K:
T - Treat every firearm as if it is loaded.
A - Always point the muzzle in a safe direction.
B - Be certain of your target, what’s before it and what’s beyond it.
K - Keep your finger outside your trigger guard until you are safe to shoot.
Learn more about safe hunting in Wisconsin and register to take a hunter education course on the DNR’s Hunting Safety webpage.
DNR VIOLATION HOTLINE: Anyone with information regarding natural resource violations may confidentially report by calling or texting 1-800-TIP-WDNR or 1-800-847-9367. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained staff relay the information to conservation wardens. You can also file a report online.
Grade 11: Cooper Fifield, Conner Fox, Deverick Hartmann, Madison Holm, Chase Mabie, Emily Mason, Mason Podeweltz, Gavin Polansky, Korbin Thums
Grade 12: Michael Bant, Ashlyn Englund, Jaxson Franz, Kayla Gillett, Clint Hale, Rhys Harris, Justin Hoffman, Evan Lord, Grady May, Nicholas Nikkila, Taylor Slattery, Zach Starkey (Keep reading; this article continues after the ad.)
Pine Village in Prentice offers affordable, active living in a wooded setting for those 50+ and disabled persons. Rent is based on 30% Adjusted Gross Income. Small pets under 30 pounds are welcome. Contact Pine Village at 715-428-2300.
Perfect Attendance
4K: Arya Enders, Coleson Gedde
Kindergarten: Phoenix Farr, Oliver Nelson, Nicole Weiler
1st Grade: Case Gedde, Forrest Walcisak
2nd Grade: None
3rd Grade: Scarlet Conner, Asher Gruber, Zoe Johnson
Image from Facebook/The Voice of Worcester 2.0 video
At the November 18, 2025 Town of Worcester meeting, the issue of rumble strips on Little Chicago Road was addressed. It was initially brought up at the prior town meeting. (See related article.)
Chairman Jim Michler said, "Do we really want to put rumble strips in there? If we do, we would need to communicate with all the people who live within listening distance of it, because we did hear testimony at the last meeting from somebody who says they are noisy. So, Russ, do you have any thoughts on that, because I'm kind of inclined to say we do not need rumble strips, so if you feel the same way, we can just vote that down and say we're not going to do it." Jim later added that Supervisor Jeremy Pesko had mentioned he talked with someone who said rumble strips can be heard from quite a distance.
Supervisor Russ Long stated it's a safety concern and there is a lot of traffic on that road. He said they do make a lot of noise on the highway, but he didn't feel there would be such a noise factor on Little Chicago Road given the speed is less on Little Chicago Road coming to a stop sign. Russ said that the corner is a big accident corner and asked how many accidents that occur there come from Little Chicago Road.
Jim said this intersection did not have enough accidents for the state to do anything, and the town would have to bear the cost of adding rumble strips. "It's just not a dangerous enough intersection," he said.
Russ asked for the cost of rumble strips. Jim said, "Well, the real cost is people, who his house rumbles every time somebody drives there. The dollar value, don't know, but it can't be that awful bad."
Russ said, "We can always put them in. Once the road's complete, we can always put in rumble strips." Russ again mentioned he was considering the safety factor. Ultimately, though, Russ made a motion to not put rumble strips on Little Chicago Road at the Hwy. 13 intersection. Chairman Jim Michler seconded it, and the motion was carried.
During public comment, Ann Patros asked if a roundabout could be implemented at Little Chicago Road. Jim said it's not on the state list as being too dangerous, so he did not feel it would qualify. Ann asked what the standard was from the state, and Jim said it has to do with the number of fatal accidents; they list all of them in the state, and they take the top number of intersections to focus on.
Anthony Sleck said, "I know in the meeting when we first discussed it, you had your deputy standing here so nobody could bring up any comments other than rumble strips. Why was that the only thing you put on the agenda instead of getting input from people that were here. That's why all them people were here. You made sure they didn't get an opportunity to talk about anything but rumble strips." There was no further discussion.
Another larger topic of the meeting was about open records. Brian Kerner asked why his open records requests, from over a year ago, have not been fulfilled. He stated that his name was placed on the town's website about requesting records and wanted to know why he hasn't seen the records. Jim responded, "Because your request was to inspect the records, that required a meeting here to do it, because you had a long list of requests." Jim said a written record of requests is kept, and phone contact does not qualify as a written record, so the town does not call. Jim said Brian did not give contact information but was sent three Certified letters, and he refused all three of them, but Brian interjected that he never received those. Jim continued, "Because you refused delivery on three Certified letters, we canceled those requests." Jim was told, "You just broke the law" and "It sounds like you need another lawsuit," and Jim replied, "Go right ahead. That's your choice."
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