LAKE TOMAHAWK - The DNR board approved a measure Wednesday that will eliminate in-person deer registration in 2015.
The department says it will save them money and be more efficient.
But that decision could mean less business for area registration sites.
The BP gas station in Lake Tomahawk registers about 500 deer a year.
It's the only registration location between Rhinelander and Minocqua.
The station's owners say most people who register deer also buy other things like pizza, beer and snacks.
The store depends on deer registration to get through the lull between the summer and snowmobile season.
"500 customers means a lot to us....It's going to hurt our businesses. We live in such a small community. Then it will be hard to survive," said BP Lake Tomahawk owner Meena Arora.
We called seven businesses that register deer in our area.
All but one said eliminating in-person deer registration will hurt business.
We also asked our Facebook Friends what they thought.
Brenda Yaekel posted, "I do not think they should take away from the local places that support hunting. Business is slow enough."
But hunter Gregory Dodge wrote, "I like the idea. I'm a long way from a registration station, over an hour round trip just to register a deer which takes under 5 minutes to do. They have been doing this out west for a long time with no issues."
You can call in deer registration or register deer online under the new system.
CONOVER - Vilas County could see more ATVs on the road.
Complaints about the popular sport decreased within the last year as safety precautions increased.
"It's just a good way to get together and have a good time with a lot of comradery," said President of the Landover ATV/UTV Club Roger Flaherty.
Flaherty started the Landover ATV club in 2001 with him and his grandson as the first members.
Now the club has over 300 members.
His grandson is the trail boss and is responsible for making sure riders stay safe, by putting up road and route signs. Keeping riders safe was an important part of the clubs growth.
"Well it makes me feel really good it's an accomplishment.
I was told many times it would never happen and I heard "no" so [many times] I didn't think there was any alternative word," said Flaherty.
THREE LAKES - The DNR hopes it won't find more Northwoods deer with chronic wasting disease.
Last year, a deer on a game farm near Three Lakes tested positive for the deadly disease. Although it hopes that incident is isolated, the DNR wants more data on the health of the Northwoods deer herd.
The agency is urging hunters near Three Lakes to give their deer heads to the DNR for CWD testing.
MANITOWOC - The U.S. Coast Guard says the body of a missing sailor may have been found on a beach in Manitowoc County.
The body was found Tuesday near private property near the town of Clover, south of Manitowoc. A medical examiner is at the beach, which is blocked off.
The Boulder Junction Town Board voted two to one Tuesday night to move forward with a town plaza plan. The plan will now go to a design phase.
The board estimated the cost of the design phase to be between $30,000 to $50,000, but it was dropped to about $25,000 at the meeting.
Town Chairman Dennis Reuss and Town Supervisor Dennis Duke voted in favor, with Town Supervisor Denny McGann voting against the plan.
A little more than $1 million may not seem like a lot of money to a city like Madison or Milwaukee. But for a town of fewer than one thousand people, it's a lot. The Boulder Junction Town Board could vote Tuesday whether or not to move onto the next phase of a $1.26 million town plaza project.
Dennis Duke has a vision of what Boulder Junction could look like in a few years.
"This one has a much more artistic flair, this has a more engineering flair if you will," said Duke while looking at potential design plans.
RHINELANDER - Firefighters never know exactly what to expect from a house fire, but they do know the safety of people and animals come first.
On Monday, local firefighters rescued Emmy, a house cat, from her home in Sugar Camp.
"We actually have a pet rescue kit, it's an oxygen mask that we can put over their snout, their nose and mouth, and we can apply oxygen to them that way," said Pine Lake firefighter Blake Jensen.
The rescue kit worked, and Emmy regained her energy and gave her rescuers hope.
Play Video
