Tagged: Wisconsin

The Bark River is my backyard, childhood river. And yet, in a lifetime of travel, I'd never explored it.

I knew it carved the land from the Ice Age to settlement times, from the Black Hawk War of 1832 (in which young Abraham Lincoln appears) to the era of grist mills. But the Bark also flows past impressive Indian mounds. It nurtured poets, naturalists and farmers.

When former Marquette University professor Milton Bates published his Bark River Chronicles through the Wisconsin State Historical Society, I jumped at the chance to learn about the river with him.

Within two months, two Wisconsin suburbs have been rocked by mass shootings.

What we know so far about yesterday's shooting in Brookfield, Wis., is that a 45-year-old man allegedly walked into Azana Salon & Spa and opened fire, killing three women and injuring four.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the alleged shooter, Radcliffe F. Haughton, was found dead inside the spa. He apparently committed suicide.