COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT SNAGS 70 ACRES IN CHIP FALLS
The City of Chippewa Falls recently closed a $1.4 million deal for a major commercial development that could include retail shops, restaurants, a hotel, and a grocery store. City Planner Jayson C. Smith said a Milwaukee developer purchased 70 city acres for the project, named Chippewa Crossing LLC, located at Highway 29 and Seymour Cray Boulevard. The developer also planned to purchase 240 acres of state-owned land nearby, but Smith said it has yet to be approved. – TK

CINEMA TAX BREAKS SNAGGED $9 MILLION FOR WISCONSIN
Those of us with a deep, abiding love for all things Wisconsin knew it was only a matter of time before Hollywood started knocking. And so they did in 2008, thanks to our rolling hills, affable characters, and hefty tax incentives now offered by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. More than $9.2 million and 850 jobs were generated last year due to eight feature films, a handful of TV shows, and scads of television commercials shot in our proverbial backyard. Johnnie Depp and Christian Bale spent part of their summer in eastern Wisconsin shooting the film Public Enemies, a solid confirmation we’re much, much more glamorous than Minnesota. Which we already knew anyway. – HV

LOCAL YOUTHS WIN ANNUAL CONCERTO COMPETITION
Who’s totally badass in the “strong symphonic tradition” sort of way?  Cole Hanson, Olivia Langby, Wesley Peterson, Victoria Shoemaker, and Charis Wong – the five finalists of the Second Annual Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony Concerto Competition held in December. These crazy kids beat out more than 60 competitors to reign as the undisputed Chippewa Valley champions of Bach, Mozart, and other composers you pretend to appreciate. The top three finalists, Hanson, Wong, and Peterson, walked away with cash prizes and the unerring certainty that their lives will be much more successful and personally fulfilling than yours. – HV

FUTURE OF CREATIVITY IN STATE EDUCATION TO BE DECIDED
The Wisconsin Task Force on Arts and Creativity in Education will announce its plan of action for the year ahead at a creativity summit Jan. 9 in Madison. The group, headed by Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton and State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster, hopes to align the state’s K-12 education system with the future’s global economic needs, namely to increase the state talent pool of the innovative and creative. The event’s keynote speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, is an expert on exactly that – creativity in education and business. His book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, provided the context necessary for Lawton and Burmaster to shape the task force itself. – TK