Local

TOWN OF MIDDLETON – Looking to add more shade-giving, carbon-sequestering trees to open areas, the Town Board last week (SEPT. 15) authorized applying for a $5,000 urban forestry state grant.

An LLC that owned a 14-acre parcel in Pheasant Branch Creek filed a quitclaim deed that now allows the City of Middleton to take ownership of the land for the Pheasant Branch Conservancy. A resolution approved Sept. 16 by the Middleton Common Council allows the city to accept the donation.

The City of Middleton will hire a search firm for an amount not to exceed $25,000 in order to find the city’s next EMS Chief, thanks to a resolution approved Sept. 16 by the Middleton Common Council.

MAZOMANIE — For years, Joan Egen quietly drafted business plans in her free time, experimenting with numbers, ideas, and what-if scenarios. On Tuesday, Sept. 2, those dreams became reality with the soft opening of her new store, Craft Affaire Collective Market, located on West Commercial Street.

Acting on staff and committee recommendations, the Middleton Common Council on Sept. 2 approved a three-year contract extension for auditing services with Baker Tilly at a cost not to exceed $234,900. 

The Middleton Common Council on Sept. 2 voted to settle a claim involving a July 21 collision with a City of Middleton skid steer.

Once a year, eagle-eyed Middleton residents can spot a bright yellow biplane flying out of Morey Airplane Company, bearing the name “Spirit of Wisconsin”. The 1943 Stearman biplane, once used to train military aviators during World War II, now lives up to its name by carrying a handful of honored Wisconsin veterans across the skies through the Dream Flights program. 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice released the name of the suspect in the Mazomanie Township homicide. The suspect, who was shot and killed by police, was Andrew Lloyd Collamore, 23. In the wake of the discovery of the victim, 70-year-old Thomas B. Muckler, in his Dunlap Hollow Road cabin, the Dane County Sheriff’s Department issued a statewide alert for the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe that the victim arrived in but was now missing.

The Middleton Common Council approved two proclamations — one about making trips without driving a motor vehicle for a week and another about September being National Library Card Sign-Up Month — as part of its Tuesday, Sept. 2 meeting agenda.

October is shaping up to be one of the busiest months of the year for Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail. The reason? Thousands of hikers are expected to lace up their boots and join the Mammoth Hike Challenge, a month-long event that celebrates both the trail’s rich history and its growing popularity.