Ranting & Raving

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Ranting & Raving

hottest local topics of discussion

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Best Community Advocate

Dr. Steve Kristo has been helping people have their best smiles for years by providing the highest quality orthodontic care in a fun environment. Beyond that, his philanthropic...

Best Employer

Once again, Jamf (215 Riverfront Terrace, Eau Claire) was voted the No. 1 place people want to work in the Chippewa Valley. The company paves the way for businesses and schools to...

Best Local Business Advocate

Mike Conner (executive director of PESI) feels giving back to the community is important, as demonstrated last spring when PESI gave $40,000 to the Quick Response Community Fund...

Best Networking Group or Event

Young Professionals of the Chippewa Valley’s mission is to engage and empower young professionals through community, professional, and social opportunities. 100 Women Who...

Best Project in Progress Last Year

The old Kmart on Clairemont Avenue in Eau Claire has been vacant for years, leading many of us to wonder if anything...

Best Shop Pet

Woof! Nothing makes a shop a friendly place quite like a trusty animal sidekick, and for Chippewa Vallians, Kaya at...

Best Teacher / Professor

It has been a heckuva year, and no one has handled it quite as gracefully as local teachers. Angie Kitchner (Mondovi...

Best Thing

The Chippewa Valley has a lot to brag about, and at the top of the list for the fourth consecutive poll are the Lights...

Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars Last Year

If there’s one thing folks aren’t too fond of, it’s paying taxes. But when that money goes to...

Best Volunteer Opportunity

This year’s best volunteer opportunity is a trifecta repeat of the best of 2020! Bob’s House for Dogs (E3015...

Biggest Thing We Should Make Happen Soon

If there’s one thing readers consistently choose when asked about the “Biggest Thing We Should Make Happen...

Favorite Local Nonprofit

Nothing says Wisconsin culture quite like helping others, and these three nonprofit organizations excel at doing just...

Most Bizarre Local News Story

As if 2020 wasn’t bizarre enough, a few local stories had us all scratching our heads, with the Joe Luginbill...

Most Disappointing Thing in the Past Year

Nothing disappointed Chippewa Vallians quite like local residents who don’t follow COVID precautions. With all the...

Most Memorable Happening in the Past Year

Nothing encapsulated 2020 quite like the global pandemic that shut down everything we hold dear. That’s why...

Most Overrated Thing in or About the Valley

If anyone says “Bon Iver” one more time, a significant number of Chippewa Vallians might just lose it...

Most Underrated Thing in or About the Valley

This year in particular, teachers deserve a round of applause – and then an encore. Whether they were teaching...

Things the Chippewa Valley is Bad At

We all have to suck at something, and for the Chippewa Valley, that something is affordable housing. It’s a...

Things the Chippewa Valley is Good At

This year, local farmers markets absolutely crushed it, pivoting amid a pandemic to support vendors and the public to...

Your Favorite Local Elected Official

While he’s been in the rankings a couple of times, this is the first year Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer...

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The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2022

Ranting & Raving

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