A loss to Xavier in a sectional final kept the Wittenberg-Birnamwood girls basketball team from making its first trip to state in program history last season.

This season turned out to be Mosinee’s turn, as it handed the Chargers a 58-53 loss March 5 in a WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal at D.C. Everest High School in Weston.

Thursday, March 5

Shawano 50, Rhinelander 47

Shawano advanced to the WIAA Division 2 sectional final with a 50-47 semifinal win over Rhinelander in Antigo.

The game came down to the final seconds, but the No. 1 seed Hawks won out over the No. 3 Hodags.

Thursday, March 5

Bay Area 5, Cap City 1

The Bay Area Ice Bears advanced to the state girls hockey championship game with a 5-1 win over the Cap City Cougars.

The girls will try to earn back-to-back titles when they face the St. Croix Valley Fusion at 3 p.m. March 7.

Mary Ellen (M.E.) Eslien (née Merline) passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family Feb. 28, 2026. She was 82.

Ronald Joseph Curran, 89, passed away peacefully March 3, 2026, in Oconto Falls.

Ron was born Dec. 18, 1936, in Green Bay to Hubert and Dorothy (Van Haren) Curran. The family moved to Oconto Falls, and Ron grew up there, graduating from Oconto Falls High School in 1954. He attended UW-Oshkosh.

With faith in the Resurrection of our Lord, we offer our prayers for Rev. Leonard “Len” M. Evers, who died Feb. 23, 2026, at the age of 83.

For the second consecutive year, the Shawano County Fair had record attendance, according to the Shawano Area Agricultural Society, which oversees the fairgrounds.

Attendance at the 2025 fair was 74,091, an increase of 4.5% from the 2024 attendance record of 70,751.

Four former Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department deputies took their own lives over a six-year period, according to a recent investigation done by The Badger Project, an independent Wisconsin news nonprofit organization.

In all four cases, trauma — whether it was on the job or off — was a factor that caused mental health issues, according to the investigation.

Shawano-Menominee Counties Circuit Court judges William Kussel Jr. and Katherine Sloma could eventually have some company on the bench.

On Feb. 19, Wisconsin Assembly representatives passed Assembly Bill 514, known as the Justice for All Act. Among the issues it seeks to address is a third circuit court judgeship for Shawano and Menominee counties.