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Matt Achenbach, 36, stands with his cows just outside Eastman. He’s concerned about the dwindling number of family-operated farms in the area. “It costs too much money to go out and buy an operation,” Achenbach said. “Your debt load is going to be so big it’s ridiculous. You almost have to inherit it. And that’s where family farms are becoming extinct, becoming corporations, everything’s just getting bigger. I’d like to see a small farm, one family operation not have to hire anyone, be able to work by itself.” Achenbach said he’ll be voting for Trump. Photo by Caroline Kubzansky.
By CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN For Illinois Press Association
It was a rich sample of blue-collar Wisconsin: farmers markets and the farms stocking them, parks, ice cream shops, gas stations, and, when COVID-19 protocols were followed, local party offices.
From Aug. 13 to 29, Caroline Kubzansky (left) left no hay bale unturned as she navigated the virus and country roads to gauge and report the political temperature in the far reaches of the swing Badger State that flipped blue in the 2020 presidential election.
The 21-year-old University of Chicago fourth-year student and managing editor of the school’s newspaper, The Maroon, insisted one thing go on the record after she recounted the surreal experience during a phone interview Dec. 15.
“I want to underline three times that I would not have done it if I didn’t think I could keep 6 feet away, outside, and do it safely,” she said.
As part of her internship with WisPolitics, she scoured Kenosha County before driving to Winnebago County (now a Covid-19 hotbed southwest of Green Bay), where she covered a Trump rally in an airport hangar. Next she covered ultra-rural white Crawford and Adams counties near Madison, before making the 7-hour journey through mostly deep-red country to Sawyer County, a traditional bellwether in the Northwoods.
“It was very lonely,” Kubzansky said. “It wasn’t, ‘Reporter settles in with the community.’ It was ‘Reporter draws a 6-foot bubble.’ I got groceries once.”
She did some door-to-door canvassing, “attempted” meeting sources at local bars, “although that’s sort of cliched,” she said, and felt her skin crawl at some places where COVID-19 protocols were not being followed.
Kubzansky was grateful to the university’s Institute of Politics for footing the AirBNB bills so she could feel safe in single-person lodging.
But she still thought critically about the trip before hitting the road.
“I seriously considered the implications and the example it set for me to be traveling under these circumstances,” she said. “I’m someone who very strongly subscribes to social distancing. So I took a gallon of hand sanitizer and stood on a lot of sidewalks 6 feet away from people.”
A mannequin models a mask at the Adams Flea Market. Photo by Caroline Kubzansky.
Kubzansky spent 3 days in Kenosha County canvassing sidewalks and searching country homes and farms for locals she could talk to safely.
“Fortunately it was summer, so a lot of people were outside in their yards,” she said. “I’d just approach them and ask if they’d be willing to talk to me about politics and bills that affect them.”
Two days after she left the county, a police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back, and the national media swarmed the City of Kenosha.
“People were really eager to turn it into a political football,” Kubzansky said, with an edge in her voice. “It made me sad that so much of it was about how Kenosha would vote. I met a lot of people in the couple of days leading up to that, and I could guess how they were responding to the unrest there. Having gotten to know a lot of people pretty closely, I was really sad to see this happening, knowing they were really freaked out.”
Her report on the state of the county includes a half-dozen sources from various walks of life and political leanings, from the chairs of the county’s parties to a former columnist, a former Democratic
Senate candidate, and a writer and customer language analyst up in arms over “the left … condoning violence as an expression of emotion.”
“She knows the difference between parachuting in for a story, and having spent a little bit more time there,” said Melissa Navas (left), the IOP’s career development director and a mentor to Kubzansky. “In political journalism, you’ll have people fly in and go to a local diner. At her heart, she cares about communities. She knows she needs to immerse herself in a place and not make assertions.”
That’s the job, Kubzansky said. She said she read some national pubs “just as sanity checks,” but mostly stuck to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and, of course, WisPolitics.
“This is what the local media exists to do,” she said.
As polling in Kenosha County began to tilt toward Donald Trump, Kubzansky reached out to another mentor to further assuage her anxiety.
The previous summer, she’d interned for The Iowa Project, where she met David Yepsen, a veteran political reporter and a fixture in Iowa public TV.
“He provided a long-lens view on the whole thing. He’s known the Iowa political scene since 1976,” Kubzanky said. “He’s a lovely dude who’s invested in seeing younger folks come up in journalism.”
It’s immediately evident in a conversation with Kubzansky that she’s hard-wired for journalism. Over the past 2 years, she’s regularly surprised Navas in her first-floor office on campus.
“She’ll just pop into my office with this intensity,” Navas said. “I can tell in her eyes that she wants to talk about a story, or journalism ethics, or anything that isn’t sitting right with her.”
Kubzansky has been involved with The Maroon “since [she] stepped foot on campus as a freshman,” and since being voted in as managing editor days before the pandemic hit, has stepped up and become a mentor herself.
“She’s got this incredible mind for structure and organization, but also for encouragement,” Navas said.
Navas swelled with pride when The Maroon published a story on the campus shutting down the day before the announcement was made. The coverage during the pandemic in general was top-shelf.
But the relentless coverage also exposed the ironic weakness Kubzansky shares with most dogged journalists.
“Sometimes, I have to remind her to just take a deep breath,” Navas said. “I don’t want her to burn out on it early. She is hard-wired to be a journalist. She has this curiosity that will serve her well, and has served her well so far.”
Kubzansky did the interviews for this piece from her parents’ house in Washington, D.C. She said she chose to attend the University of Chicago, “because I’m a big nerd.”
“I got to Chicago and took one look at what I saw,” she said. “I saw a lot of other people who put a lot of stock into books.”
Because the university doesn’t have a J-school, she’s majoring in English and philosophy.
The novels she’s read over the years lend to morals and “say something about the best way to live,” she said. Before arriving in Chicago, she mostly read long-form journalism in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the like.
Being assigned to the development beat - “which I kidded and called the gentrification beat,” she said - and covering emotionally charged topics like the proposed extension of the Green Line on Chicago’s South Side, her focus has become hyper-local.
Kubzansky is enamored with the public square-focused City Bureau, and she calls working for Block Club, which covers all aspects of the city’s underserved neighborhoods, “a dream of mine.”
She’s also moved by news that hits hardest in the rural Midwest: from the dairy crisis and the defund-the-police coming home to roost, to brain drain and indiginous people’s role in local civic machines.
So living and working in, say, St. Croix County along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border would work as well as staying in the city that’s captured her heart.
“It would be tough from a personal perspective, but I need work,” she said. “And I’d definitely go work in St. Croix County over CNN in a heartbeat.”
LEFT: Virgil Miller, models the masks he purchased on Main Street. He takes a dim view of President Trump. “[Trump] has no respect for people, no respect for women, no respect for anyone but himself,” Miller said. Photo by Caroline Kubzansky.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 7, 2026 Media Contact Information: Aunt Millie's Bakeries Melissa Koeneman, director of marketing (260) 417-2581 mkoeneman@auntmillies.com
John F. Popp, President of Aunt Millie’s Bakeries
FORT WAYNE, Indiana — Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is deeply saddened to announce the passing of its President John F. Popp, who died on Friday, July 31, at the age of 94. A third-generation member of the family business, John’s leadership, optimism, faith, and unwavering commitment to people helped shape the company and its culture for more than four decades. John Franke Popp was born March 2, 1932, to Lucile and Les Sr. Popp. He grew up with his older brother, Les Jr., on Forest Park Boulevard in Fort Wayne and graduated from Northside High School in 1950. He went on to attend the University of Michigan, graduating in 1954, and entered the U.S. Army that same year. He served as a second lieutenant before returning home following his military service. John was offered an opportunity to begin a career as an analyst with T. Rowe Price, but his path ultimately led him back to Fort Wayne and the family bakery. At his mother’s urging, he returned home to join the business — a decision that would shape not only his own life, but the future of generations of the Popp family and Aunt Millie’s employees. Long before his career in baking, John developed a love for Lake Wawasee and water skiing, eventually becoming the Indiana state slalom water ski champion. It was at the lake that he met Esther Rolene, the love of his life. They married on June 19, 1960, and spent the next decades building a life together, raising two sons and creating countless memories with family and friends. Even with the demands of running a growing company, John made time for what mattered most, including cheering his sons on from the sidelines at their baseball and football games.
John F. Popp and his wife, Esther Rolene Popp
In 1967, John stepped away from the family bakery to pursue a career in real estate, where he developed the subdivisions of Devil’s Hollow, Manitou, Lakewood, West Hamilton Estates, White Loon, and Winding Brook. In 1980, he returned to Perfection Bakeries, where he helped guide the company through a period of significant growth and expansion. The company that would become known as Aunt Millie’s grew under his leadership into one of the largest family-owned baking companies in the United States. John viewed the people around him as an important part of that success. He loved being part of the team and was known for his optimism, encouragement, and genuine care for employees. His leadership was not simply about growing a business; it was about building an organization where people could grow, contribute, and feel that they were part of something bigger than themselves. A third-generation leader of the family-owned bakery founded in 1901, John was deeply committed to protecting and building upon the legacy established by his grandfather, John B. Franke. His influence also reached beyond Aunt Millie’s. He was a passionate advocate for independent bakeries across the country, working with industry organizations to strengthen and protect family-owned businesses. He believed in the importance of education and workforce development and encouraged lifelong learning within the company while supporting the next generation of leaders in the baking industry. In recognition of his contributions to the baking industry, John was inducted into the Baking Hall of Fame by the American Society of Bakers and Engineers in 2021. He also served the state of Indiana after being appointed by Governor Mike Pence to serve on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. While John’s professional accomplishments were many, those closest to him knew that his faith and family were at the center of his life. He cherished Bible Study Fellowship and worshiped at The Chapel and Wawasee Lakeside Chapel. He was quietly generous and found joy in serving others through organizations including the Euell Wilson Center, Women’s Care Center, and Ratio Christi. John enjoyed spring breaks in Florida, trips to Maine, his ’61 Corvette, and working on projects at the lake. He appreciated the simple pleasures of life, but most of all, he loved his family. His greatest legacy will not be measured solely by the company he helped build, but by the family he loved, the people he encouraged, the lives he touched, and the values he carried with him throughout his life. “John Popp believed that success was built on people,” said Rick Brown, Chief Customer Officer. “He cared deeply about our employees, our customers, our communities, and the generations of families who have made Aunt Millie’s a trusted name. His leadership was defined by humility, kindness, and an unwavering commitment to doing what was right.” John’s passing leaves a tremendous loss for the Popp family, the Aunt Millie’s family, and the many people and organizations whose lives he touched. While the company mourns his loss, Aunt Millie’s leadership team remains committed to carrying forward the mission, values, and legacy John championed throughout his life. Daily operations will continue uninterrupted as the company moves forward under its established leadership plan. The Popp family extends its heartfelt appreciation for the many expressions of sympathy and support received during this difficult time. Memorial service information will be shared at a later date. About Aunt Millie’s Bakeries Founded in 1901 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is one of the largest family-owned bakeries in the Midwest, serving customers across six states with fresh bread, buns, rolls, bagels, and other baked goods. For more than a century, the company has remained committed to quality, innovation, and serving the communities it calls home.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 21, 2026 Media Contact Information: Michael Korman, highway commissioner North Township Road District (847) 728-7055 mike.korman@northfieldtownship.com
Northfield Township Road District’s Phase II project placed in Group 1, the top tier, of MWRD’s 2026 Stormwater Partnership Program; construction could begin as early as 2027
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