By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Broadband survey by 3C Co-op gets 45 percent rate of response
3C Internet Co-op ANVIL

CRAWFORD COUNTY - The Rural Crawford County Internet/Broadband Survey that was mailed to 1,157 randomly selected locations concluded on April 29, 2019–45 percent of the survey group returned surveys–based on the population that received the survey, this should provide estimates accurate to +/- 3.28 percent.

“The Crawford County survey has a higher survey return rate than any other broadband survey our Center has done,” wrote David Trechter, Director of the UW-River Falls Survey Research Center.

Assistant Director Denise Parks added “this return rate is better than most surveys we do, regardless of the topic, in our 24 years of conducting surveys.”

The Research Center and 3C Co-op, however, are looking for input from a much larger number of the Crawford County residents, who didn’t get the mailed survey, about broadband service in rural parts of the county. 

On Friday, May 3, the open access survey, that any resident in 3C Co-op’s service area can complete, will be available. You can access this on the 3C Co-op Website Home Page @ www.3C.Coopby clicking on the dark green rectangular button titled ‘Open Access Internet Survey.’

“Now is the opportunity for all of us to make our voices heard!” said Harriet Behar, a 3C Board member. “Each of us should express our opinions and experiences about the internet services that we have—and that we want to have. I can’t wait to finally be able to complete this survey!”

Please only complete this online internet survey if your residence, farm, or business is in 3C Co-op’s service area.  Do not complete the survey if your location is in the service area for Vernon Communications Cooperative, Richland Grant Telephone Cooperative, or within the city limits of Prairie du Chien—all of which currently have access to broadband internet.

If you live in Prairie du Chien Township, but outside of the city limits, you are in 3C Co-op’s service area.

Also, please do not complete this open access online survey, if you already completed one in response to the mailed survey invitation.  Your responses and vote have already been counted.

All other people living in 3C Co-op’s service area, that are 18+ years old are encouraged to please complete this online survey.  

To ensure the open access survey’s data integrity, it is very important that any person completing this online survey submits it online only once!

The content of the open access survey is identical to that of the surveys that were mailed to the randomly selected group. It will be available until noon on Saturday, June 1, after which the link will be removed from the 3C Co-op website.

The data from this open access survey will be tabulated by the UW-River Falls Survey Research Center, separately from the results of the survey mailed to the randomly selected group, and incorporated into their final report.

People completing the survey can provide their name, address, and contact information if they would like more information about 3C Co-op.  

Providing this information is not required, though it would be extremely helpful for 3C Co-op to communicate with people responding and determine which are interested in signing up for internet and the other services that 3C expects to offer.  Those signing up for services would become 3C Co-op’s members and owners.

The Research Center will only share contact information with the co-op, not any other specific responses.

3C Co-op is committed to the Rural ‘Internetification’ of Crawford County, building the fiber optic infrastructure that would provide Fiber To The Home (FTTH) for all residents in its service area.  

News and updates regarding 3C’s FTTH Project will be posted on its website, with other useful info.  All potential members are encouraged to ‘Register’ on the website, which also allows access to the Blogs.

 

Email Info@3C.Coop  for information about how you can contribute to the success of this project, or call 608-735-4322 (608-735-4 3C Co-op).

It was quite an election
On April 1
Election Results_April 1, 2025 Crawford County

Politics-weary Wisconsin citizens mustered the verve to once again go to the polls in Wisconsin’s April 1 spring election. With record spending, a barrage of campaign literature in mailboxes, chaos on the federal level, and an endless stream of divisive TV advertising, voters on both sides turned out in record numbers to support the candidates of their choice.

Happy or sad, it’s likely the vast majority is just glad it’s over. While most spring elections draw much lower turnout than a presidential election, voter turnout in this year’s race was on par with last November’s contentious election in which Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris for the office of President of the United States.

Of course, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election took top billing, garnering record amounts of spending. Conservative versus liberal control of the court was on the line with the retirement of liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Contending for the 10-year term were Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The race was called for Crawford around 10 p.m. after Schimel called her to concede. The unofficial results show Crawford winning with 55% of the statewide vote to Schimel’s 45%.

Crawford County voters bucked recent electoral trends, carrying for the liberal candidate. In the county, Crawford took 51% of the vote, defeating Schimel with 49%. Crawford’s candidacy also prevailed in Vernon County with 54% of the vote, Richland County with 52% of the vote, La Crosse County with 63% of the vote, Sauk County with 57% of the vote, Iowa County with 62% of the vote, and Green County with 58% of the vote. Crawford’s victory was propelled by massive turnout and majorities in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, Eau Claire and Bayfield counties. Voters in Dane County cast 82% of their votes for Crawford, in Milwaukee County 75%, in Rock County 61%, in Eau Claire 63%, and in Bayfield 61%.

Schimel’s campaign prevailed locally in Grant, Lafayette and Monroe counties, earning 52%, 51%, and 55% of votes cast respectively.

Incumbents prevail

It was also a night for incumbent candidates to prevail in races pertaining to public education in the state. Incumbent Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her race against charter school advocate Brittany Kinser, taking 53% of the statewide vote to Kinser’s 47%.

Locally, Underly outperformed Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, winning her contest in counties that carried for Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel. Those counties include Grant and Lafayette counties, where Underly took 52% of votes cast. Kinser held on to votes cast for Schimel in Monroe County, taking 56% of votes cast.

Underly’s candidacy prevailed in Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Iowa, Sauk, and La Crosse counties. In those counties, Underly took 53%, 54%, 56%, 61%, 57%, and 61% respectively.

Mirroring the results in the statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction race, incumbent candidates Jerry Coleman and Charissa Richter prevailed against challengers Jesse Swenson and Melany Jelinek winning two three-year terms on the North Crawford School Board.

Coleman was the top vote-getter, with 660 votes, followed by Richter with 532 votes. Richter and challenger Melany Jelinek ran neck-in-neck for much of the night until results came in for the villages of Gays Mills and Bell Center, which pushed Richter over the finish line ahead. Jelinek finished with 502 votes, and Swenson with 412 votes.

Coleman took the most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, Utica, and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, and Soldiers Grove. Richter took the second most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica, and in the villages of Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. Jelinek took more votes than Richter in the town of Freeman, and in the villages of Bell Center and Mt. Sterling.

Voter ID

Voters across the state voted to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require photo identification to vote. The measure failed only in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Wisconsin had already required voters to show identification, but passage of the Republican-backed ballot question will make it harder for that requirement to be removed by the courts or the state legislature.

Statewide, the measure passed with 63% of the vote, with 37% of the voters voting against it.