Most Memorable Happening in the Past Year

People around the Chippewa Valley – and the nation – cheered last January when 13-year-old Jayme Closs of Barron freed herself after 88 days of captivity at the hands of Jake Patterson, who had murdered her parents and kidnapped her. (Patterson was sentenced to life in prison in May.) Locals also will long remember the record snowfall last winter, which included a whopping (and record-setting) 53.7 inches in Eau Claire in February. And in November, five members of the UW-Eau Claire football team were suspended after exchanging Snapchat messages that featured images of a Ku Klux Klan cross burning and mocked a black student organization. – Stephanie Janssen