A proposal to shorten the Shawano Speedway was approved by one county committee Dec. 4 and forwarded to a second committee for consideration.

Members of the ag and extension committee agreed to the plan and will forward it to the public property committee for further review.

“This request has been vetted properly,” said Supervisor Joe Miller, chairman of the ag and extension committee.

The courts at the Shawano County Courthouse are a busy place — and the holidays have nothing to do with it.

Ethan Schmidt, clerk of courts, said the number of criminal felony cases in the first 11 months of 2025 has already surpassed all of 2024.

Shawano County Coroner Brian Westfahl has ordered a dozen autopsies so far this year, with most of the them conducted as far away as Fond du Lac or Madison.

Starting in 2026, he will have the opportunity to use a new site much closer — the Marathon County Forensic Science Center.

Mandi Dornfield, the UW-Extension area director for Shawano, Menominee, Oconto and Marinette counties, is leaving her post for what she called her “dream job.”

Cornfield told the Shawano County Ag and Extension Committee on Dec. 4 she was not looking for a new job when the executive director role at Youth Go presented itself.

Yami Sweeney said that if she knew how much she loved being a nail technician, she would have started a long time ago.

She also knows people’s past shapes their future, and previous decisions lead one to their current place in life.

Today, she is the owner of Painted Dock Nail Salon in Cecil, a business that held its grand opening Oct. 6.

The mobile sauna industry is a craze that has traction nationwide, but it’s one that caught the Shawano Plan Commission by surprise when it met Dec. 3.

With the possibility of building an in-home sauna only possible by those who can afford, companies nationwide are offering to rent mobile saunas at an hourly rate, and now someone in Shawano wants to bring the business locally to see if there’s a market for it.

A change in federal policy could result in a 75% reduction in an emergency management grant for Shawano County in 2025 and possibly the complete elimination of the program in 2026.

The common sight of a guy in a red suit and a sleigh was replaced Dec. 1 by red and blue flashing lights and men with badges outside Walmart as the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department filled their squad vehicles with a variety of toys to be distributed to girls and boys in need.

The Democratic Party of Shawano-Menominee Counties opened a new office at 420 E. Green Bay St., Suite 107, Dec. 3, followed by a Christmas party at the Shawano Civic Center in the evening. From left, are candidates Gillian Battino (29th state Senate) and Ben Hable (8th Congressional District), Chairwoman Jan Koch, Francesca Hong (candidate for governor) and Alexandra Tempus (writer for the Progressive Magazine and author).