Is it officially fall in Wisconsin? 🍂
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I'm Sophie Carson, a general assignment reporter. I'll be writing the Daily Briefing on Mondays and Tuesdays. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
It'll be in the mid-70s and partly cloudy today.
And welcome to fall. Summer's over, school's in session and Labor Day's passed. Here's what you need to know as you head into the new season in Wisconsin.
Autumn activities
When do you think fall begins? Sept. 1, the day after Labor Day, or the date of the autumnal equinox, Sept. 22?
No matter your stance, Wisconsin's got a range of options for you.
Apple picking: Check out this list of pick-your-own orchards around Milwaukee. Some also offer corn and sunflower mazes, hay rides, beer gardens and bakeries.
Hunting: The early Canada goose, early teal and mourning dove seasons opened last week. Later in the month, bow deer, ruffed grouse and wild turkey, columnist Paul Smith writes.
One of the changes for 2022: "Waterfowlers may now hunt in the open waters of the Great Lakes, Green Bay and Big Green Lake as long as they are a minimum distance of 500 feet from shore."
Weekend trip: You might consider the idyllic Driftless Region for a mini-vacation this fall. It's got hiking, kayaking and, of course, apples. Gays Mills, where travel writer Chelsey Lewis visited, is the Apple Capital of Wisconsin.
Kid-friendly fun: Here's a list of things to do in fall with kids from reporter Amy Schwabe. There's something for every family in there.
One neat option: Outdoor historical museum Old World Wisconsin is offering free admission for kids on weekends in September.
Oktoberfest: What's fall in Milwaukee without Oktoberfest? Check out this list of more than 20 celebrations in the area scheduled for the next two months.
Biden hits Laborfest
President Joe Biden came to Laborfest Monday to praise unions and rail against MAGA Republicans as he kicked off the crucial leg of the fall midterms.
The speech's key passages:
"Not every Republican is a MAGA Republican, not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology," Biden said, a followup to his speech five days ago in Philadelphia and referring to the acronym for Trump's campaign slogan Make America Great Again.
That same speech was attacked by Republicans for condemning backers of former President Donald Trump.
"But the extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence hate and division. But together we can and we must choose a different path."
Here are five takeaways from the event, including Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes marching in the labor parade but deciding to skip an onstage appearance with Biden.
And after two years of postponements, Laborfest was back and union workers were delighted.
Logging on the lakeshore
A retired forester and a writer are fighting to protect trees near Wisconsin's lakeshores from state timber harvests.
Biologists say shoreline trees provide critical protections to lake water quality and ecosystems, filtering out pollutants and providing food, shade and habitats to wildlife.
The two friends say the DNR violated its own environmental standards by logging too close to the shoreline in 15 lakes they surveyed in 2021, while the DNR denies any violations.
The dispute includes a series of audits that may culminate this year with another review: an investigation by the group that accredits the DNR’s auditing firm.
Read the full story from Wisconsin Watch.
Don't miss this
Wisconsin's recent dragonfly swarms are the largest seen in years.
Two faith-based groups are teaming up to host a pop-up food pantry on the city's north side.
You'll want to bookmark this page: Travel Wisconsin's Fall Color Report, with an interactive map and estimated peak color times. Read more about expectations for leaves this year.
Everyone's talking about
I've started seeing some rumblings about "Craigtember" from my colleagues who cover the Brewers.
JR Radcliffe, our sports trending reporter, enlightened me: September has been manager Craig Counsell's month to shine. In 2018 and 2019, the team's winning record in September helped boost runs at the playoffs.
Talk of the month can be paired with a vulture-like stance. Did you catch Brent Suter's funny interview about it?
What do you think about this Craig-themed month in baseball? Are great things coming to the Brewers? Or is it time to concentrate on the Packers and Badgers? Direct your tweets to Brewers guru @JRRadcliffe on Twitter. He'll also be writing this newsletter on Fridays.
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Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Daily Briefing: Fall activities, Biden's visit, lakeshore logging
