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Tomahawk Student Fundraiser Sends Five Veterans on Honor Flight

Published on 11/12/2025 under News Five more local veterans will take part in a future Never Forgotten Honor Flight; and it's all thanks to students from the Tomahawk School District. As part of yesterday's Veterans Day program, the Tomahawk Elementary Student Council awarded five ceremonial Honor Flight boarding passes to veterans in attendance: Gary Hauck, Anthony powers, James Meunier, David Hetzel, and Bill Smith. All three men served during the Vietnam era. Student Council Adviser Megan Barker explained the students raised more than $2,600 through their 'Sweet Surprise for Veterans fundraiser. Jim Campbell, founder of the local chapter of the Honor Flight, was also on hand at yesterday's program. He noted that Tomahawk students have now sponsored 67 veterans on the Honor Flight which is tops among all schools within their 13 county region. Campbell said these children have provided more than a free trip, they have profoundly changed the lives of the veterans and their families. In addition to the Honor Flight, the students also contributed to Wreaths Across America to fund the placing of 47 wreaths at the Northwoods National cemetery in Harshaw over the holiday season. The ceremony also include speeches, essays, and performances from the band and choir. Bill Burcalow paid tribute to Dan Reiter, a veteran and school counselor/advisor who tragically passed away this spring. Burcalow praised Reiter's work in connecting students with local veteran groups. The district has posted the program to their YouTube Channel.

Published on 11/12/2025 under News It's report card time in the state of Wisconsin...not for students, but for the schools and school districts. The Department of Public Instruction released the annual report cards on Tuesday. A number of districts in the Northwoods earned high marks for their performance and improvements last school year with Tomahawk among those high achievers. The district earned four stars, a mark of 'exceeds expectations.' It's a score the district has maintained over the past decade. District Director of Teaching and Learning Mark Sommer walked the school board through the scores at their meeting Tuesday. Considered a snapshot in time, the scores are based on spring testing. There are four weighted categories: student achievement, closing gaps, district growth, and post secondary readiness. The numerical scores then translate into 5 grades ranging from failure to meet expectations to significantly exceeds expectations. We'll continue to explore the report cards in the coming days, including the Tomahawk elementary, middle and high school scores, as well as a look at how some of the other districts in the Northwoods scored.

Published on 11/12/2025 under News Officials in Lincoln County are hoping to increase the awareness of mental health resources after an uptick in suicides this year. According to Lincoln County Coroner Valerie Caylor, eight Lincoln County residents who have taken their lives this year with two often challenging months still to come. In November and December, Caylor noted that the changing of seasons, holiday gatherings, and family traditions along with cold weather, shortened daylight hours and lack of social interactions can lead to a dark place. In looking for patterns among their investigations, they found seven out of the eight were male, with an average age of 39. Two were teenagers, and one a military veteran. Caylor is looking to raise awareness for those who may need help. The county has a committee that meets quarterly to discuss preventable deaths in the county. One of the items they discussed at their most recent meet was providing more resources for mental health needs at the high school level. She specifically praised the current programing at the Merrill School District and is hoping to spread that success. Other resources included 988 suicide and crisis phone and text line, and North Central Health Care emergency line 800-799-0122.

Published on 11/12/2025 under News The City of Tomahawk has a spending plan in place for next year. At their meeting Tuesday, the Tomahawk City Council unanimously passed a pair of companion ordinances approving the 2026 budget along with the tax levy to support it. The first line most property owners look to is the taxes. At $1.88 million, the city's portion of the tax levy is nearly identical to the current year. As for expenses, at $5.6 million, that's down 1.9% or $110,000. The decreases largely came in debt service payments and capital outlay projects. Most other spending categories are relatively unchanged from last year. Details of the budget were hashed out over a handful of special finance committee meetings. Finance Chair Mickey Loka praised the department heads for their contributions. He acknowledged it was a 'painful process for everyone involved'. Loka also reiterated the need to identify alternative revenue sources for the City. The Council has been looking to go to referendum. They briefly discussed the timeline. No members of the public spoke during the budget hearing. Council members had no further discussion before approval. This continues the finalization of the local budget puzzle. The next piece, the Lincoln County Board expected to approve their budget at a meeting today.

Published on 11/12/2025 under News Downtown Rhinelander is hoping to revitalize a past holiday tradition. DRI announced they are bringing back the Rhinelander Tree Lighting Ceremony. It's coming up at the end of the month and they are looking for groups and organizations to get involved. Aaron Schultz, owner of Big Daddy's is coordinating of the festivities for DRI. He says, "We do not have a Christmas parade (in Rhinelander), and in the past this event has helped residents and businesses feel the holiday spirit." In addition to the tree lighting, they've already partnered with some community groups for refreshments, a visit from Santa and some other activities. Schultz invited other nonprofit groups and community organizations to get involved. He says, "We would love to have caroling and other activities that bring holiday spirit to the event." It'll take place the Saturday after Thanksgiving on November 29.

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Sports Headlines

Hatchet Football Seasons Ends With Sectional Championship Loss

Published on 11/10/2025 under Sports Tomahawk's football squad's dream season would end in the WIAA Division 5 Sectional Championship against three-time defending state champion Stratford at Hatchet Field Friday night, 29-0. The Hatchet defense stepped up in the first half and forced three turnovers, including intercepting Tiger quarterback Brady Berg twice. However, Tomahawk would fail to score off of those three turnovers and mustered just over 100 yards of offense. Jett Reilly would lead the Hatchets in rushing, running for 31 yards on eight carries. Tomahawk was also held under 100 yards for the first time this season. The Hatchets finish the 2025 season with a 10-2 record, the most wins in school history. Tomahawk also graduates 11 seniors. They are Wally Horabik, Jason Watkins, Rex Reilly, Jonah Dickens, Nathan Reimer, Logan Norman, Kenny Turner, Ethan Gibeault, Kaiden Kapellusch, Nathan Norman, and Michael Samundsen. The Hatchets also finished with their first playoff win since 2015 and their first trip to the Sectional Championship since 2007.

Published on 11/03/2025 under Sports In the WIAA Division 5 Football Playoffs, #1 Seed Tomahawk would advance to the Sectional Championship for the first time since 2007, defeating #5 Seed Spencer/Columbus Catholic Halloween Night at Hatchet Field, 34-12. The Hatchets jumped out to a 21-0 Halftime lead thanks to a stout defense and two time-consuming touchdown drives. After Spencer/Columbus Catholic cut it to nine heading into the fourth, Tomahawk forced two of the Rockets' three turnovers on the night. Jonah Dickens would come up with a key interception that would pave the way for touchdown runs by Tiegan Sarazin and Max Larson. Sarazin would rush for 100 yards and two touchdowns. The Hatchets also got a touchdown run from Rex Reilly and a 19-yard scoring pass from Jett Reilly to Jonah Dickens. The win gives Tomahawk its first double-digit winning season in school history, moving to 10-1 on the season. The Hatchets will play for their first state semifinal berth since 1990 in the Sectional Championship next week against three-time defending state champion Stratford. Tune in for the Fehrman Orthodontics Kickoff Cabin at 6:10 and the opening kick at 7:00 next Friday. Alex Koch and Jon Long will be in the broadcast booth.

Published on 10/24/2025 under Sports On Friday night, the Tomahawk Hatchet Football Team won their ninth game of the season, with a 41-14 Level One WIAA Playoff victory over Omro. Tomahawk dominated the line of scrimmage all night, as they rushed for 290 yards and had over 35 minutes of possession offensively. On the other side of the ball, Tomahawk held Omro to just 39 yards rushing. Rex Reilly had three rushing touchdowns, and carried the ball 13 times for 59 yards. Jonah Dickens also had three touchdowns, two touchdown catches, both from Jett Reilly, one from 43 yards out the other from ten. Dickens also added a nine yard touchdown run. Jett Reilly, along with those two touchdown passes and 72 yards through the air, had 76 yards on the ground. Tomahawk is now 9-1 on the season and will host Spencer/Columbus Catholic on Friday night at Hatchet Field. Spencer/Columbus defeated New Holstein 31-12. The #1 seed Hatchets and #5 seed Spencer/Columbus will play at Hatchet Field on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Northwoods 92-5 will have the Fehrman Orthodontics Kickoff Cabin at 6:10 pm, and the opening kickoff at 7:00 pm. In other scores from Level One action: In D-5: Stratford beat Richland Center 41-9 In D-4: Mosinee defeated Turner 41-7 In D-3: Merrill defeated Lakeland 38-12, Rhinelander lost to Edgewood 35-7, Wausau East lost to Mount Horeb/Barneveld, and Medford lost to Grafton 49-14

Published on 10/24/2025 under Sports The Tomahawk Hatchet boys and girls cross country teams competed in the Division Two WIAA Sectional Meet at the MARC in Merrill on Friday. The Hatchet girls will have an individual qualifier at the WIAA State Meet next Saturday at the Ridges Golf Course in Wisconsin Rapids, as Freshman Charlee Lund in fifth place overall and will competed at state. The Hatchet girls finished in fourth place overall, Abbie Rosenmeir was 18th, Lydia Shaney finished 20th, Faith Derleth was 35th, and Elise Gibeault was 38th. Wittenberg-Birnamwood finished first and Shawano was second. On the boys side, Tomahawk was fifth. Lakeland ran away with the boys race scoring 45 points and Shawano qualifies for state with their second place finish. Caiden Reichelt let Tomahawk and finished just one place out of qualifying. Reichelt was 10th overall, Connor Zorn was 37th, Jordyn Carew was 39th, Dawson Jones 42nd and Ryan Montag was 48th. The WIAA Division Two Girls State Race will be at 2:25 pm next Saturday and will feature Hatchet freshman Charlee Lund.

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