Western Kenosha County's news source
This is not some kind of post repeating glitch. The National Weather Service has in fact issued a dense fog advisory for Kenosha County for the third straight day.
This advisory is set to be in effect until 9 a.m., Friday.
Visibility of one quarter mile or less is possible in such conditions.
Friday also will be warm with a high of 62. We should see showers and possibly a thunderstorm.
High temps in the 60s and 50s are expected to continue through Tuesday.
Construction activity is believed to be the cause of fire in an apartment building on Bayview Avenue in Twin Lakes Thursday.
From the Twin Lakes Fire Department:
At approximately 1:53 p.m. on March 5, 2026 , Twin Lakes Fire/Rescue was dispatched to the 500 block of Bayview Avenue for the report of a porch fire.
At 1 :55 PM, the incident was upgraded, and ARA departments, Town of Randall Fire Department, Town of Wheatland Fire Department, and Richmond (IL) Fire Protection District, were dispatched for a reported crawl space fire beneath an apartment building.
Upon arrival, fire crews found a three-story apartment building with an active fire in the crawl space area. Firefighters quickly accessed the area and utilized a water can to extinguish the fire, bringing the incident under control in a short amount of time.
An investigation into the cause of the fire indicates it is believed to have started as a result of construction activity in the crawl space. No injuries were reported. The homeowners were not home at the time of the fire. All fire units were cleared and back in service at 2:51 PM
At this time, no additional information will be released. Twin Lakes Fire/Rescue would like to thank the Randall Fire Department, Wheatland Fire Department, and Richmond Fire Protection District, along with the Twin Lakes Police Department, Twin Lakes Dispatch, and Kenosha County Joint Services for their assistance on this incident.
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
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At about 1:54 p.m., Twin Lakes Fire and Rescue units and Twin Lakes Police Department officers are responding to a report of a possible fire in the 500 block of Bayview in Twin Lakes
Per dispatch: Large amount of smoke from basement reported.
UPDATE 1:58 p.m. — Town of Randall Fire Department and Wheatland Vol Fire Department dispatched to respond as mutual aid.
UPDATE 2:11 p.m. — TL command calls for all responding units to continue, but on a non-emergency basis
Temperatures are going to increase a lot and stay in that neighborhood for a while, says the latest, local National Weather Service forecast.
The warm-up starts Friday, with a forecasted high of 68, an increase of 23 degrees from Thursday’s forecasted high. Friday also should be rainy, with showers likely Friday a.m. and then again overnight.
High temperatures are expected to stay in the 60s through Tuesday.
A dense fog advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for Kenosha County for the second day in a row.
The advisory is set to remain in effect until noon Thursday, later than typical for these advisories.
Visibility of less than one mile is possible during the advisory period.
“If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you,” the NWS advises.
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →Fire damage to a house on Matthew Avenue in Twin Lakes was limited to the kitchen during a Tuesday evening incident thanks to quick response by a Twin Lakes Police officer:
From the Twin Lakes Fire Department:
At approximately 1802 hours, the Twin Lakes Fire/Rescue, Town of Randall Fire Department, Richmond Illinois Fire Protection District, and Town of Wheatland Fire Department were dispatched to the 2000 block of Matthews Avenue for the report of a structure fire.
Upon arrival, fire crews were advised by law enforcement on scene that the fire originated in the kitchen area of the residence and had been extinguished prior to the fire department’s arrival using a portable fire extinguisher. Crews confirmed the fire was out and began ventilation and overhaul operations to ensure there was no extension into concealed spaces.
Two dogs were safely removed from the residence. Fire personnel assessed the structure and determined that fire damage was limited to the kitchen area, with smoke damage present throughout the two-story home.
No injuries were reported at the scene.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No further information will be released at this time.
This Facebook post from the Twin Lakes Police Department includes body cam footage of Officer Robinson extinguishing the fire:
At 1:55 p.m., Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue and Bristol Fire and Rescue units and sheriff’s deputies are responding to the 22400 block of Highway 50 in Salem Lakes for a report of a fire.
Per dispatch: Caller reporting possible brush fire.
UPDATE 2 p.m. — Location updated to 22400 block of Highway K.
UPDATE 2:04 p.m. — Fire unit on scene confirms brush fire.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory for Western Kenosha County.
The advisory is set to be in effect until 9 a.m., Wednesday.
Visibility may be one quarter of a mile or less during this period.
“If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.,” the advisory says.
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →At least three municipalities continue to pursue creating a road consortium as a deadline for action on a state grant looms, the Twin Lakes Village Board learned Monday.
Salem Lakes, Paddock Lake and Twin Lakes have been discussing creating a road consortium that would allow the three villages to bid road projects together, perhaps drawing better pricing. Creating the consortium would also allow the municipalities to apply for a state Department of Revenue Innovation Grant that would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for each municipality over five years.
Twin Lakes village administrator Laura Jager said Monday that the three municipalities participated in a call with a Department of Revenue representative recently in which the consortium structure was discussed. It seemed like the structure would result in grant money for all participating municipalities, she said.
One remaining obstacle is the creation of an intergovernmental agreement governing the consortium relationship. Jager said the Salem Lakes village attorney is driving that process. An agreement would have to be approved before the grant application could be submitted by the March 31 deadline.
At about 6:05 p.m., Twin Lakes Fire Department, Town of Randall Fire Department, Wheatland Vol Fire Department units and Twin Lakes Police are responding to a report of a possible fire in the 2000 block of Matthew in Twin Lakes.
Per dispatch: Caller reported seeing fire.
UPDATE 6:10 p.m. — Police officer on scene reports fire appears to be out, but there is thick black smoke.
UPDATE — No people inside. Dogs inside were rescued.
A meeting on battery storage projects in Wheatland will be held Wednesday starting at 7 p.m. at Wheatland Center School.
Opponents of placing a battery storage project in Wheatland sought the meeting in order to discuss the issue outside of the regular Town Board meeting format.
The agenda posted for the meeting says there will be open discussion regarding such a proposal in Wheatland and possible action by the Wheatland Town Board “regarding batter storage matters.”
In January, three of four land use requests related to a proposed battery energy storage system project in Wheatland received unfavorable recommendations from the town Plan Commission. The company behind the proposal, Robin Energy Storage, then withdrew the project from further consideration before the Town Board could formally weigh-in.
Robin was proposing a battery energy storage system facility located on approximately 12 acres within an approximately 19-acre tract of land east of 392nd Avenue and north of Highway 50 in Wheatland. The site is especially apt, Robin representatives said, because it is adjacent to an existing electrical substation.
Robin had proposed to pay the town about $8 million over 20 years under a joint development agreement if the project won town approval and moved forward to completion.
Local opponents are concerned Robin will seek some other avenue to place the facility in Wheatland. They cite concerns about fire hazards and environmental harm related to possible accidents at such facilities.
The Salem Lakes Village Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday, starting at 6 p.m. at Village Hall.
This meeting also will be livestreamed and available for later viewing here.
Agenda items are:
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →
The Twin Lakes Village Board is scheduled to hold a committee of the whole meeting Monday, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall.
Committee of the whole meetings are for discussion only. No formal action is taken at committee of the whole meetings. One exeption to this at Twin Lakes Village Board committee of the whole meetings is approval of the minutes of the previous committee of the whole meeting.
Agenda items include:
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →Nearly 900 students graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at winter commencement, held Dec. 13, 2025, at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center.
The following students with local connections earned degrees from the UW-Whitewater at winter commencement:
Students crossed the stage to receive their degrees at the ceremony, held at Kachel Fieldhouse in the Williams Center.
The 888-member graduating class included nine international students, 69 military veterans and 154 nontraditional students, defined as undergraduate students who are 25 years of age or older. In addition, 77 self-identified students with disabilities received degrees.
A total of 61 students participated in the university’s Hired Before Graduation campaign, which celebrates students who landed a job, earned a job promotion, were accepted to graduate school, or started their own business before commencement.
From Wheatland Center School:
Congratulations to the talented young authors and artists at Wheatland Center School who recently
participated in the Southern Lakes Anthology writing project. The theme of this year’s anthology project
was “The Journey”. Student work was judged on clarity and message, creativity and originality, technical
skill and presentation, and overall quality. Each of the thirty-seven participating districts submitted a total
of twenty-four pieces to be judged. Wheatland had fourteen of the twenty-four pieces chosen for publication.
A special congratulations to the following students that had their work selected for publication in the 2025-26 Southern Lakes Anthology – “The Journey.”4th grade — Celia Czaplicki for her illustrated writing titled “Best Friends Forever”; Deidra Koons for her illustrated writing titled “The Seasons of Change”; Grant VanDommelen for his poetry titled “Shooting Star”
5th grade — Aria Snarski for her poetry titled “Nocturnal Navigation”
6th grade — Jonah Dumelle for his artwork titled “Voyage to the Unknown”; Izabella Ragusca for her poetry titled “My Constant Light”
7th grade — Avalynn Elfering for her poetry titled “Locating the Light”; Kaydence Novak & Addison McCann for their illustrated writing titled “After I Landed”; Charley Popp for her artwork titled “Same Beauty, Different Ways”; Elli Schmaling for her poetry titled “Winter’s Welcome”; Sawyer VanDommelen for his poetry titled “The Foundation”
8th grade – Wren Hawkins for her illustrated writing titled “Written for the World”; Charlie McCarville-Robinson for her artwork titled “Navigating the Deep”; Kerstee Powers for her poetry titled “Confident, Beautiful Me”
In addition to having their piece published, students will be recognized for this accomplishment and receive a copy of the publication at a reception in Whitewater this coming May. Eighth grader Wren Hawkins will receive special recognition this year by having the opportunity to read her poem at the reception. Great job to all students in grades fourth through eighth that participated in this project! Go Warhawks!
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →A meeting with the Wheatland Town Board sought by opponents of a battery energy storage system project may happen.
Board members Monday seemed open to the idea of having the meeting, suggested by one of the leaders of the opposition, Jenny Morehouse.
Morehouse said she would like to have a meeting outside of a regular Town Board meeting so that certain constraints such as time limits on citizen comments and when audience members can speak would not apply. She said the public would like to know what the board thinks on the subject and what they are doing about it.
While saying he was open to such a meeting, town Chairman Jeff Butler also said any such meeting attended by all Town Board members would have to be noticed as a public meeting.
In January, three of four land use requests related to a proposed battery energy storage system project in Wheatland received unfavorable recommendations from the town Plan Commission. The company behind the proposal, Robin Energy Storage, then withdrew the project from further consideration before the Town Board could formally weigh-in.
Robin was proposing a battery energy storage system facility located on approximately 12 acres within an approximately 19-acre tract of land east of 392nd Avenue and north of Highway 50 in Wheatland. The site is especially apt, Robin representatives said, because it is adjacent to an existing electrical substation.
Local opponents are concerned Robin will seek some other avenue to place the facility in Wheatland. Morehouse said she would like to see the town develop a local ordinance governing such projects that was stricter than a county ordinance already on the books.
“We need to have some ordinances that are going to protect our space,” Morehouse said at Monday’s meeting.
Butler said he was open to exploring an ordinance and the town will get its attorney — who was not at Monday’s meeting — working on it.
Robin had proposed to pay the town about $8 million over 20 years under a joint development agreement if the project won town approval and moved forward to completion.
Residents have been attending town meetings at much higher than typical numbers recently to voice opposition to this or similar developments. Speakers express concerns about fire and environmental hazards.
Western Kenosha County should see a big swing in temperatures over the next two days says the latest, local National Weather Service forecast.
Friday’s high temperature is expected to reach 60. Breezy conditions could take a little off the impact of that warm temp, but still, nice!
It won’t last. By Friday evening temperatures are expected to drop and only reach a high of 32 on Saturday. To add insult to injury, snow is expected Saturday as well — up to an inch of accumulation. Snow is most likely to start falling around noon and continue into the early evening.
Temperatures may recover to over 40 by Tuesday and continue through next Thursday.
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →The Kenosha County Fair Association Quilts of Honor group is looking for veterans to honor at the 2026 Kenosha County Fair.
Here is a statement from the group with more information:
The Mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. A Quilt of Valor is a quality, handmade quilt that is machine or hand quilted. The quilts say, “Thank you for your service and sacrifice in serving our nation.”
As a Kenosha County Fair Association, we thought it would be great to start this tradition at our county fair. In 2025 our fair theme – “Let the Good Time GROW”, our community came together for our 1st Quilts of Valor ceremony, we had 14 quilters volunteer their time and talent to make 16 quilts and honor 6 veterans. We were overwhelmed with the talented quilters in our community. Our goal in Kenosha County to GROW year after year with the support of the Kenosha County Fair Association, our dedicated quilters and long armers, our community and our veterans.
We are looking for veterans that we can honor in 2026. If you know a veteran with an honorable or general discharge status – we would love to honor them with a quilt. For further information please contact Doreen Daniels – Sew to Honor of Kenosha County at sewforhonorkenosha@gmail.com (Note: This email address corrected from an earlier version of this story — DH).
At about 2:31 p.m., Town of Randall Fire Department, Wheatland Vol Fire Department and Twin Lakes Rescue are responding to an alarm in the 34300 block of Bassett Road in Bassett.
Per dispatch: This is a fire alarm.
The Sharing Center has received a $10,000 donation from Pieper Electric/Ideal Mechanical.
“Pieper Electric, Inc. and Ideal Mechanical are committed to giving back to our communities by volunteering our time and talents, as well as through monetary donations,” said a letter from Pieper Electric officials that accompanied the donation. “Therefore, we commend your efforts and the efforts of the individuals within your organization that give of themselves daily and hope you will accept this donation in support of those initiatives.”
The Sharing Center in Trevor is Western Kenosha County’s multi service crisis resource.
This post sponsored by Westosha Floral.
The following deaths of local residents and those with local connections are being reported by funeral homes today. Click on name to see obituary/service information:
Continue reading →At about 7:05 p.m., Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue units are responding for an investigation in the 28700 block of Highway AH in Salem Lakes.
Per dispatch: Caller reporting a burning smell in area with no flames seen.
UPDATE 7:24 p.m. — Fire located, It is under control, but SL command requests grass rig respond.
West of the I’s garage sales page has been updated.
Be sure to check it out each week before you begin your bargain hunting.
If you’d like your sale added to the list, please drop us a line at darren@westofthei.com. Include your address, days, hours etc. We’ll even add a map to your info.
News from Kenosha Lens
