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Blizzard conditions cripple area
CScanlan Snow1
A car that slid into the ditch Sunday night is drifted into its location Monday morning.
Elyssa Vondra
Updated: Jan 30, 2014, 3:56 PM
Published: Jan 30, 2014, 4:01 PM

HAZEL GREEN—Blizzard conditions throughout the area on Sunday night through Monday morning left 131 vehicles stranded in Grant County as snowdrifts covered the roadways, making them impassable.

As vehicles were unable to make it through the drifting snow and white-out conditions on Sunday evening, local fire departments were called to rescue people from vehicles stuck in the snow. Many of those responding were using their personal 4-wheel-drive vehicles to rescue people.

Hazel Green Fire Chief John Berning said his fire department alone collected 58 people from the roads around the Hazel Green area and took them to the fire station to wait out the storm.

“We’re pretty fortunate we have a nice fire station,” Berning said. “We were able to use the blankets and other items from the mass casualties trailer we have in the station.”

Berning said the department’s first rescue situation took place just after 5 p.m. on Sunday. They were still getting calls for help at 2 a.m. on Monday.

“We used the fire department’s Bobcat and Gator to plow a path to rescue people,” Berning said. “If the vehicle was really stuck, we tried to move it off the roadway. We were only taking people to the fire station, not to any other location.”

Berning said the fire auxiliary provided food and snacks for those staying at the fire station Sunday night.

“There were a lot of local donations,” Berning said. “Everybody pulled together. It was appreciated.”

Monday morning the Grant County Sheriff’s Department requested license plate numbers from all of the vehicles people were rescued from. The fire department also had to be accountable for everyone who stayed at the fire station. On Monday, each stranded vehicle was towed to the Dollar General parking lot in Cuba City where the owner could pick it up.

“In Hazel Green the roads weren’t bad, but in the country it was dangerous,” Berning said. “There was one accident that was pretty bad. The person was rear-ended, got out of the vehicle and then was struck by another vehicle.”

Berning said in white-out situations and after dark, people should stay in their vehicles if in an accident or stuck in the snow to prevent injuries and help responding agencies make a safe rescue.

At one point Sunday night, all the main highways heading into Platteville were closed, along with Hwy. 151 from Platteville to Dubuque, and Hwys. 80/81 south of Platteville, after Grant and Lafayette county highway trucks were pulled off county highways. Hwy. 61 from Potosi to Lancaster was also closed.

“The guys who went out in that storm, hats off to them,” Berning said.

Benton, Cuba City and Southwestern schools were closed Monday and Tuesday because of the extreme weather conditions. Classes at UW–Platteville were canceled Monday, and Southwest Wisconsin Technical College classes were canceled Monday night.

Tuesday morning’s low of 17 below zero missed the record low for Jan. 28.

Unlike the first polar vortex visit on Jan. 6-7, a significant warm-up isn’t in the forecast. What is in the forecast is more snow — 1 to 2 inches for Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Steve Prestegard of the Platteville Journal contributed to this article.
It was quite an election
On April 1
Election Results_April 1, 2025 Crawford County
GILLIAN POMPLUN
Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout
Published: Apr 2, 2025, 5:05 PM

Politics-weary Wisconsin citizens mustered the verve to once again go to the polls in Wisconsin’s April 1 spring election. With record spending, a barrage of campaign literature in mailboxes, chaos on the federal level, and an endless stream of divisive TV advertising, voters on both sides turned out in record numbers to support the candidates of their choice.

Happy or sad, it’s likely the vast majority is just glad it’s over. While most spring elections draw much lower turnout than a presidential election, voter turnout in this year’s race was on par with last November’s contentious election in which Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris for the office of President of the United States.

Of course, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election took top billing, garnering record amounts of spending. Conservative versus liberal control of the court was on the line with the retirement of liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Contending for the 10-year term were Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The race was called for Crawford around 10 p.m. after Schimel called her to concede. The unofficial results show Crawford winning with 55% of the statewide vote to Schimel’s 45%.

Crawford County voters bucked recent electoral trends, carrying for the liberal candidate. In the county, Crawford took 51% of the vote, defeating Schimel with 49%. Crawford’s candidacy also prevailed in Vernon County with 54% of the vote, Richland County with 52% of the vote, La Crosse County with 63% of the vote, Sauk County with 57% of the vote, Iowa County with 62% of the vote, and Green County with 58% of the vote. Crawford’s victory was propelled by massive turnout and majorities in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, Eau Claire and Bayfield counties. Voters in Dane County cast 82% of their votes for Crawford, in Milwaukee County 75%, in Rock County 61%, in Eau Claire 63%, and in Bayfield 61%.

Schimel’s campaign prevailed locally in Grant, Lafayette and Monroe counties, earning 52%, 51%, and 55% of votes cast respectively.

Incumbents prevail

It was also a night for incumbent candidates to prevail in races pertaining to public education in the state. Incumbent Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her race against charter school advocate Brittany Kinser, taking 53% of the statewide vote to Kinser’s 47%.

Locally, Underly outperformed Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, winning her contest in counties that carried for Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel. Those counties include Grant and Lafayette counties, where Underly took 52% of votes cast. Kinser held on to votes cast for Schimel in Monroe County, taking 56% of votes cast.

Underly’s candidacy prevailed in Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Iowa, Sauk, and La Crosse counties. In those counties, Underly took 53%, 54%, 56%, 61%, 57%, and 61% respectively.

Mirroring the results in the statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction race, incumbent candidates Jerry Coleman and Charissa Richter prevailed against challengers Jesse Swenson and Melany Jelinek winning two three-year terms on the North Crawford School Board.

Coleman was the top vote-getter, with 660 votes, followed by Richter with 532 votes. Richter and challenger Melany Jelinek ran neck-in-neck for much of the night until results came in for the villages of Gays Mills and Bell Center, which pushed Richter over the finish line ahead. Jelinek finished with 502 votes, and Swenson with 412 votes.

Coleman took the most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, Utica, and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, and Soldiers Grove. Richter took the second most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica, and in the villages of Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. Jelinek took more votes than Richter in the town of Freeman, and in the villages of Bell Center and Mt. Sterling.

Voter ID

Voters across the state voted to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require photo identification to vote. The measure failed only in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Wisconsin had already required voters to show identification, but passage of the Republican-backed ballot question will make it harder for that requirement to be removed by the courts or the state legislature.

Statewide, the measure passed with 63% of the vote, with 37% of the voters voting against it.