In the News

A week doesn’t go by without dozens of photos submitted to us by readers.

But the limited space in our printed edition allows us only to publish a few of your photos each week. That's not the case on our Web site.

Each month we're taking the photos you submit to the Kenosha News Your Photos feature and we're putting them online for the world to see in a slideshow format.

You'll see scenes taken during readers' travels across the globe and scenes of Kenosha County. Sunrises and sunsets. Birds and butterflies. And lots more.

Your Photos slideshows
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
Fiery fall foliage: Fall 2007
Travel photos: Summer 2007
Summer photos: Summer 2007

Taken by storm

On Jan. 7, 2008, Kenosha County was hit with a series of tornadoes, damaging homes and property on Kenosha's north side, and taking a huge toll on the town of Wheatland.

Our reporters and photographers, along with lots of local readers, jumped into action to help document the devastation caused by the January twisters. For a look back at all of our coverage, click here.

Looking back at 2007

2007 saw everything from flooding to fairs and everything in between. For a look back at the year that was in pictures and stories, click here.

A campus visionary for 20 years.

When F. Gregory Campbell arrived on the Carthage College campus in 1987 the school was operating at a crippling deficit, its endowment fund was evaporating and student enrollment had sunk to anemic lows.

Unless things changed, the survival of the campus was in doubt.Things changed. Campbell, who is observing his 20th year as president of the private, Lutheran-church-affiliated liberal arts college, immediately placed unprecedented emphasis on student recruitment, marketing campaigns and fund-raising efforts.

For a four-minute audio interview taken from Bill Robbins’ interview with Campbell, click here.

Dental mission

Kenosha dentist Dr. Toni Roucka often volunteers her time at the Kenosha Community Health Center, but last month she was part of a team of dentists to travel to Tanzania and teach a dozen residents how to care for the teeth of more than 150,000 people in and around the refugee camps.

For Roucka, it was her seventh humanitarian mission overseas and her first trip to Africa. “In all the other trips I’ve done, I’ve gone to do the work, as opposed to going to teach,” she said.

Read Diane Giles' story about Roucka, and view a slideshow of Roucka's trip.

Goodwill Medicine

Debi Nutting,an emergency room nurse at St. Catherine's Medical Center, and Paula Matarrese, a nurse who works for a medical software company, recently returned from a goodwill trip to Peru for Global Health Ministry. For an audio slideshow of photos they took on their trip, click here.

Young newsmakers

Students at Indian Trail Academy have been perfecting their skills of producing a weekly news broadcast and a daily newscast to relay their morning announcements. We watched their videos and took some clips for readers to sample here.

Serving four generations

The fourth generation to enter the Kenosha Sheriff's Department, new hire Deputy Sheriff Michael Preston is following the badged footsteps of dad, Capt. Gary Preston, late grandpa Lt. Donald Preston and late great-grandpa Under Sheriff Jesse Preston.

Read Bill Guida's story in Tuesday's Life section, and for an audio slideshow click here.

Guitar hero

The bassist for superstar rock band Aerosmith loved Sharon Cline's custom-painted-guitar design so much he dropped by the shop where she works, plugged in his axe and played the classic introductory bass lines to "Sweet Emotion."

"That was incredible," said Cline, a Pleasant Prairie resident who spray-paints instruments for Parker Guitars in Mundelein, Ill. "Tom Hamilton came in and spent 10 minutes talking to everyone in the shop. I painted a three-tone sunburst on his guitar. He's a great bass player and a great guy. "

Cline also has custom-painted images and designs on guitars for the likes of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Merle Haggard, among many other music-biz luminaries.

Read Bill Robbins story here and view a slideshow of some of her creations here.

Burger making

Abby Greer believes that brie, the soft French cheese, just may be the secret ingredient that makes the world go round.

Greer, 9, of Kenosha, was one of 10 national finalists in “The Next Gourmet Burger Kids’ Recipe Contest” sponsored by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. A slathering of brie in her recipe caught the preliminary judges’ eyes.

Greer made her burger, “French Connection,” for a panel of judges in Colorado. And then she made the burger for our photographer. View the step-by-step slideshow here, and read the story in Wednesday's Life section

Costume creations

These days, there’s a good Halloween get-up for the more mature crowd behind every pop culture story or major motion picture.
   According to one Associated Press poll, Hillary Rodham Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were the popular political costumes this year. (And both can be scary in their own way.) On the other end of the spectrum, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were named the most popular celebrity couple costume for Halloween 2007.
   While neither of these couples or political candidates showed up Saturday at the Brat Stop’s annual Halloween costume contest, our photographer found a multitude of over-the-top costumes that were nothing less than spooktacular.  Click here for a slideshow of photos we got from the event.

Don’t worry, some Kenosha News readers also submitted their pictures of trick-or-treaters (young and old) dressed in the more simple costumes that some of us are more familiar with. Some residents even decked their pets out in some holiday gear. All of their photos have been put together for a separate slideshow available here.

Carseat safety

We all know it is important to make sure youngsters are safely secured in a carseat. But do you know how to do it correctly. One area woman took the time to show us how, step-by-step. For the online demonstration, click here.

For the complete story from reporter Jessica Hansen, click here.

Halloween decorations

Kenosha is full of Halloween decorations at dozens of area homes, and we found a handful of them thanks to Kenosha News readers. For a printable, interactive map that previews some of the spooktacular houses, click here.

For a look at all of our fall coverage, ranging from fall color, and pumpkin-picking to haunted houses, click here.

See the fall colors

Unknown to most people in Kenosha, the arboretum on the Kemper Center grounds displays more than 70 different species of trees, including a state grand champion horse Chestnut, and some of the trees are believed to be more than 150 years old. Click here for our interactive page and learn about some of the trees at Kemper.

Spooky sights and sounds

  
    The Kenosha News Ghostbusters (Mark Hornickel, Brian Sharkey, Liz Snyder and Raechel Turner) took along photographer Brian Passino and an audio recorder to capture the best sights and sounds of all things that go bump in the night. And what a combination of things we captured for our online audience wanting to watch and listen to the team as they try to make it through four area haunted attractions without running scared, injuring themselves or laughing hysterically.

    For the slideshow with audio, click here.

Up, up and away

Some four decades after he left the Air Force, Wayne Greisen is finally a pilot – even if his planes fit in the trunk of his car. Greisen talks to the Kenosha News about what happens when you lose sight of a remote-controlled plane, or fly it so far away that you can't tell whether it's coming or going, or get your pitch confused with your yaw.

(Hint: It involves the cold, hard ground.)

To see more photos of Greisen flying his remote controlled airplanes and listen to audio of him discussing his hobby with Kenosha News reporter Chris Barncard, click here.

Grave rubbers

   For some people, cemeteries are depressing, sometimes spooky places. For others like Diana Bird, they’re a place help people explore their family’s past. And one of the techniques the Walworth County Geneological Society librarian helps cemetery-goers is by showing them the art of tombstone rubbings.
   Find out how to make the epitaphs and inscriptions on weather gravestones come to life through our audio and visual presentation here. During the video, Bird instructs visitors how to do their own tombstones rubbings and offers some helpful tips.

What is that thing?

  It took eons to make the fossils, but it only took about an hour to reconstruct the giant.
   Kenosha’s Dinosaur Discovery Museum, 5608 10th Ave., is set to reopen at noon Tuesday (Oct. 9) with new dinosaurs, and the Kenosha News was on hand to document the assembly of the suchomimus, one of the featured dinosaurs. Click here to see at a slideshow chronicling the process.
   The museum is typically open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more, call (262) 653-4140.

Relay for Life

Walkers who have survived cancer or are dedicated to raising money for research to fight the disease walked the track at Bullen Middle School on Aug. 3, and into the next morning. Click here for the story, extra photos and some other cool stuff. A special slide show with audio, including a song from local resident Lauren Kessler, can be seen by clicking here.

Contact the Connections Desk of the Kenosha News

at (262) 656-6282 or e-mail connections@kenoshanews.com.

5800 Seventh Ave., Kenosha, WI 53140