About Us

The Point/Plover Metro Wire was founded in November of 2017. The rapid erosion of the local news landscape drove many of the professionally trained journalists to larger cities or other industries entirely. But we are growing out of the desperate need for a local news organization.

Publisher Brandi Makuski began her career as a cub reporter for the Stevens Point Journal in 2004. She later founded the Stevens Point City Times and grew the publication to the largest print newspaper in Portage Co., Wis. Makuski now owns and publishes the digital Point/Plover Metro Wire, the only locally-owned and operated daily news source in the county.

As corporate buyouts and layoffs left the citizens of the Stevens Point/Plover area with less and less hands-on, in-person reporting, the Point/Plover Metro Wire staff organized to collect information and bring important local news and content to the citizens of Portage County, Wis.

With no corporate backing, the Point/Plover Metro Wire is financed wholly by online subscriptions and minimal but local advertising. Reporters are local and work hard, 24/7, to provide information vital to their readers.

We’ve cast a wide net for reporters, and our staff currently includes Patrick Lynn, a familiar name to longtime readers of the Stevens Point City Times, and Craig Marx, whose brilliant writing was a staple at the Antigo Daily Journal, and later, the Antigo Times. Longtime local journalist Lisa Pett is also a contributor, along with several other local writers.

Digital subscriptions cost $7.99 a month or $85 a year.

Subscribers are supporting a locally-owned and operated news company whose sole mission is informing the public. These subscriptions help create local jobs, implement journalism education in local schools, and sponsor fundraising events for local organizations.

Questions or concerns? Call our newsroom at 715.310.3319.

Online and Social Media Standards:

Commenters are solely responsible for the content of their posts. The Point/Plover Metro Wire staff reserves the right to remove content or posts from the comments section or its social media pages. Comments may be used in publication and/or edited for length. Staff may not be able to respond via social media so please call 715-310-3319 with any immediate concerns, questions, or comments.

Controversial issues are a part of news reporting. Personal attacks, name-calling, libel, defamation, or hate speech will not be tolerated. Anyone posting threatening, harassing, bullying, obscene, pornographic, sexist, or racist language will be removed from social media pages.

False information posted to subvert facts contained within a news article, without proper citation, will be deleted.

No profanity will be tolerated on Metro Wire social media pages or comment sections.

A limited number of links to relevant content, or quotes from the relevant work of others’ is permitted with appropriate attribution and any associated copyright notice is permitted. Otherwise, any piece of writing, artwork, or other graphic representation, must be original to the author posting it, or it may be removed.

Comments posted by fictitious social media profiles will be removed.

The Metro Wire social media pages and comment sections are not places for advertising, promotion, recruiting, campaigning, lobbying, soliciting, or proselytizing.

Elected officials are welcome to the conversation, but may not use the Point/Plover Metro Wire social media comment section to campaign or to amend their quotes contained within news articles.

Followup news articles, retractions, clarifications, and other information pertaining to the news stories may not be appropriate for social media and may only appear at www.spmetrowire.com.

Staff Directory

Brandi Makuski, publisher/editor
715-310-3319
[email protected]

Luke Carptenter, Jr., photographer
715-310-3319
[email protected]

Brad Makuski, sales
715-496-7691
[email protected]

Denise Jaskie, subscriptions/accounting
608-212-1367
[email protected]