NORTHWOODS - Deer hunters in the Northwoods thought they hit the jackpot when they got extra antlerless deer tags.
But now the DNR wants those tags back.
350 extra permits were mistakenly given out to two deer management units.
Those units are 35 and 36.
That's typically in Vilas and northern Oneida counties.
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress caught the mistake.
The DNR's big game ecologist says it's possible an extra 100 deer could get shot this season.
"People caught it early and were able to make the necessary adjustments, but there were still more tags issued than actually approved." said DNR Wildlife Biologist, Jeremy Holtz.
The hunters aren't required to turn the extra tags in.
But the DNR is asking to get them back.
It's up to hunters to turn them in.
"The first step is to communicate the mistake and see if they can correct it between the hunter and the customer service staff." Holtz said.
The DNR say's they've gotten most of the tags back.
Attorney general candidates differ on enforcing and defending Wisc. laws
Submitted: 03/07/2014
RHINELANDER - Wisconsin’s attorney general enforces and defends laws made by the state, but one of Wisconsin’s candidates for the position believes his opponents will only pick and choose.
Right now Republican Candidate Brad Schimel, Waukesha County district attorney, faces three Democrats, Rep. Jon Richards, Susan Happ and Ismael Ozanne. Richards represents a portion of Milwaukee in the State Assymbly. Happ is the Jefferson County District Attorney. Ozanne is the Dane County District Attorney.
Schimel says some of his opponents, especially Richard will only enforce laws they agree with.
"That's problematic and I believe that's not what the attorney general should be doing, that's a crusade, that's a policy maker," Schimel said. "If Rep. Richards wants to do that then he should stay in the legislature."
Richards has been in the Legislature since 1998.
Newswatch 12 asked him Friday if he would pick and choose laws to enforce.
He said he’d look at the constitution to determine how he would enforce laws in Wisconsin.
"I can grantee you there are plenty of laws that I voted against that I will end up enforcing and making sure that we implement," Richards said, "And there are some laws that I think clearly violate the U-S constitution or the state constitution and we'll be taking a hard look at those."
Democratic candidates Susan Happ and Ismael Ozanne were not available before running this story.
Richards was touring the Northwoods Friday talking to media and district attorneys in the area.
The Democratic primary is set for August 12th. Election day is Nov. 4, 2014.
VILAS COUNTY - More people today use maps on their phones when traveling, but some people still like those paper maps.
The Vilas County GIS just made 15 maps of the area. They give people the option to download and print them at home. A map of Boulder Junction even won an award at the 27th annual Wisconsin land Information Association conference in Middleton.
“There was a lot of interest in creating a portable, easy to use map atlas that responders, town crew, delivery entities, could take out in the field with them and find any address point any road name any water body,” says Rebecca Nordine, Vilas County GIS Specialist. “Something that they could bring out along out in the field with them.”
The atlases will give people an easier way of looking up addresses across Vilas County.
“We do offer up online mapping and that's great but if you get into an area where there's no cell phone or no internet service you'll need something a map or paper map to fall back on,” says Nordine.
Each atlas will be updated at the beginning of the year.
To download a copy of the atlases for FREE you can visit: http://vcgis.co.vilas.wi.us/vcom/.
TOMAHAWK - A few days of warm temperatures can make winter feel like it was long ago.
The warm break isn't long enough to stop pipes from freezing.
That's why many Northwoods cities want people to continue running their water.
Tomahawk and Rhinelander still want people to run a pencil stream of water 24/7.
That's to prevent pipes from freezing.
"Air temperature has nothing to do with the ground temperature. Typically we have five to six feet of frost on a bad winter," said Tomahawk Public Works director, Mike Tolvstad.
Students celebrate International Day in the Northwoods
Submitted: 03/07/2014
WOODRUFF - The Olympics might be over, but the Paralympics are underway in Sochi. Teachers at one local school are using the Olympic spirit to teach students about other countries.
Students at North Country Montessori celebrated International Day Friday morning. The students learn about different countries throughout the school year.
"The children at Montessori do a huge unit on geography and world culture, and we used today as a way to express the information that we found and things that we've learned," says North Country Montessori director Candice Henderson.
This year's theme was the Sochi Olympics.
Each student dressed up as a different country and sang songs in Russian.
This was the school's 30th annual International Day celebration. It ended with a potluck meal featuring ethnic food from different countries.
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