Local Wausau News

A mechanical whale meant to scare sea lions from climbing on the docks in Astoria, Oregon was a major flop Thursday. 

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) -- Police say they have arrested a Chicago hospital patient who stole an ambulance and crashed it north of Milwaukee. 

A Green Bay school is on the hook for a surprising bill. Students from Webster Elementary School performed a free concert in the Capitol building rotunda. Weeks later, the school received a bill in the mail.

A transport ministry spokesman says divers have found more bodies as they worked overnight to attach iron chains to the cruise ship, bringing the death toll to 97. More than 330 others are still missing. 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia police say an off-duty detective picking up takeout food ended up stopping a pizza shop robbery in a close-quarters shootout that left one of the suspects dead. 

STEVENS POINT (WAOW)-- The 2015 Special Olympics Summer Games have officially started.

Some pricey changes could be coming to the Marshfield water pipe system. The City of Marshfield's water pipes are getting old and need to be replaced."Our oldest water main was put in in the 1880's. 30 percent of our water system was built before World War II," Marshfield Water Superintendent Dave Wasserburger said.But replacing them is expensive, and will cost around $75 million. That means if this project moves forward, Marshfield residents could expect a $7 per month hike on their water bi...

MORE THAN 18-HUNDRED ATHLETES ARE GETTING READY FOR ACTION IN STEVENS POINT.

The cause of death for a woman whose body was found in her Rothschild house after it caught fire is still unknown.

 A Detroit mother accused of slaying two of her children and storing their bodies in a freezer yelled during separate court outbursts that she killed them.

 A fake life-sized orca officials hope will scare sea lions off docks in Oregon has run into a snag its first day on the job.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is weighing a range of aggressive responses to Russia's alleged violation of a Cold War-era nuclear treaty, including deploying land-based missiles in Europe that could preemptively destroy the Russian weapons.This possibility is known as the "counterforce" option. It is among the responses the administration is considering as it reviews its entire policy toward Russia in light of Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine and other acts that the U.S...

A Wisconsin Senate committee has advanced a bill that would ban non-emergency abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

A Wisconsin Senate committee has advanced a bill that would allow businesses to keep a supply of epinephrine injectors to combat life-threatening allergic reactions.

TOMAHAWK (WAOW) - A 23-year-old volunteer Tomahawk High School track coach is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl, Tomahawk Police Chief Al Elvins said Thursday.

PELICAN LAKE (WAOW) - A Pelican Lake man who volunteers as an emergency medical technician and does other things to help his community is the Jefferson Award aware winner for June.

 An internal police investigation says a white officer who shot and killed an unarmed biracial man in March couldn't have used a stun gun per the department's policy.

The parents of Josh Duggar said Wednesday that their son "improperly touched" four of their daughters, two of whom said they were outraged when their sealed juvenile records were released.

A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors is appealing to the UW Board of Regents to preserve tenure protections and standards of shared governance.

A state appeals court has denied a Wisconsin Rapids newspaper's request for public records from the Wisconsin Rapids Public School District.