Improvements have been gradually coming to the once-desolate 200 block of North Main Street in Shawano, but one of the last remaining eyesores at 205 N. Main St. could be disappearing.
Cameron Wagner apparently left quite an impact on the people he knew.
The 13-year-old took his life March 19, but he was on the mind of many people at this year’s Oconto County Youth Fair, held Aug. 27-30 in Gillett, and the Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas football team’s home opener Aug. 27 at Lena High School, where he would have been a freshman this school year.
One minute, Josie Holtz was handing out ribbons to animal show exhibitors at the Oconto County Youth Fair.
The next minute, she was brushing Floppy, one of her two entrants in the fair’s swine show.
Exhibiting a pair of pigs and promoting the fair as the event’s Fairest of the Fair for 2026 added up to a busy few days for Holtz at the annual event, which wraps up its four-day run Aug. 30 in Gillett.
The Shawano Plan Commission began its review Aug. 26 of a number of actions that will need to be completed before Shawano County begins constructing its new government building to replace its current courthouse, which is over 70 years old.
Shawano Area Matthew 25 has named Kayla Bessette as its new executive director.
Bessette will begin her new role Sept. 8. She brings more than 12 years of professional experience in leadership, operations, relationship management, process improvement and problem-solving to the position. While much of her career has bee in the utility industry, she has also been active in local nonprofit and community organizations.
The big ribbon cutting for all of the renovations done over the summer at Shawano Community High School originally scheduled for Sept. 1 has been pushed back to Sept. 26.
The ribbon cutting is now scheduled for 10 a.m. at the school, followed by self-guided tours beginning at 10:30 a.m. The event will be on the same day as the Hawks homecoming game against Fox Valley Lutheran, which starts at 1 p.m..
The Wisconsin Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Aug. 25 ordered an audit of the Wisconsin Community Action Program (WISCAP) and its affiliated agencies, including Newcap, a northeast Wisconsin-based WISCAP association that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year after its chief executive officer was placed on administrative leave amid significant financial mismanagement concerns.
