Local Antigo Headlines

Antigo First meets goals during year, crowd told

Antigo First held its second annual meeting Thursday evening at the Edison Club, and in a quiet way celebrating the success of the fledgling organization.

Roseann Hoffman, who presides as president of the group, told the nice crowd attending, explained that the group had become active in a number of different areas to bring the area back to life.

Hoffman told those attending, that the group “had met their goals.”

Full story: WJFW

Dance competition to aid Boys, Girls Club will have North Star swinging

“Antigo Thinks You Can Dance” returns to North Star Lanes Saturday in a one-of-a-kind fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Langlade County.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served at 5:30 p.m. with the competition and show at 7 p.m.

The event, sponsored by the Pinnacle Team of Thrivent Financial, will feature eight entrants vying for honors at Antigo’s top dancers.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Getaway Driver In Weston Robbery Officially Charged

An Antigo man that police think was the getaway driver in a robbery of a US Bank in Weston, just over two weeks ago, is expected to be charged Friday with robbery. Andrew Gibney, age 21, will be charged in Marathon Circuit Court on Friday

The department received a report of a bank robbery at the corner of Schofield Avenue and Camp Phillips Road at 11:53 a.m. Jan 13. The suspect entered the bank, handed the teller a threatening note, and fled the bank on foot prior to officers arrival at 11:55am.

Read more: WACD

Antigo First Cites Numerous Accomplishments In 2014

Last night the downtown redevelopment group, Antigo First held their annual meeting at Edison Club in Antigo. The evening started with a presentation from Rosanne Hoffman, the group's president. Hoffman said when she looked at the goals at 2014, she was pleased to see they were all accomplished, including becoming an official organization, having a checking account, and adding events to the downtown area.

Antigo Mayor Bill Brandt also spoke and commended the work Hoffman and other workers have been doing. He added that although the city has some funds and resources available to them, there has to be an effort from the business owners themselves.

Read more: WACD

Parents Opportunity To Register 8th Graders For High School Is Next Thursday

Upcoming Freshman Registration Night for current 8th grade students is Thursday, February 5th from 4:00-6:00 PM. At 4:00 PM students and parents will meet in the Volm Theater to receive information about high school graduation requirements. Afterward students, with their parents, will be able to plan their schedules and register for their classes.

Read more: WACD

Local charges filed against theft suspects, had drugs

A trio suspected in a spree of retail thefts has been formally charged in Langlade County in connection with last week’s arrest on a series of allegations, including those of the illegal drug variety.

Liza Carlson, 31, of Wausau, Renee B. Bennish, 37, of Merrill and Luke W. Aitkin, 35, of Irma were all arrested outside the Antigo Walmart store on Jan. 23. Officials said they appeared to have stolen merchandise from the location as well as the nearby Dunham’s sporting goods store. Items seized from their car suggested they may have targeted other businesses as well including those out of the county.

More was confiscated as well including several hypodermic needles, some of which may have contained illegal narcotics such as heroin or methamphetamine. Items have been sent to the state crime lab for further testing.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Water temperatures checked

At the halfway point of winter, city of Antigo officials are remaining vigilant.

Crews are out flushing hydrants and checking water temperatures several times a week, and 400 homes—about 10 percent of the community—have been placed on run orders. It’s all in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the disastrous winter of 2013-14 when water lines were bursting across the community due to bitterly cold conditions.

“We’re just taking precautionary steps,” Director of Administrative Services Mark Desotell said.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Langlade County again a jobless rate standout

Langlade County is once again outperforming its neighbors in terms of jobless numbers.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported Tuesday that the county registered an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent for December, up from 6.4 percent a month earlier but a full 1.1 percent below last year’s rate.

And those numbers outpaced most surrounding counties, including Lincoln, 7 percent, Forest, 8 percent, Oneida, 8.3 percent, and Vilas, 9.4 percent.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Merrill Man Faces 4th OWI After Driving In Wrong Lane

A 39-year-old Merrill man is charged with his fourth drunken driving offense after investigators received a report of an erratic driver during the early morning hours of Jan. 24. The reporting party said a truck was driving in the wrong lane.

Bradley Emanuel, of Merrill, is charged with fourth OWI, fleeing and resisting arrest.

According to court documents, Emanuel drove down the center of State Street in Merrill, struck a snowbank, pulled into his driveway and closed the overhead door.

Read more: WACD

Downtown Redevelopment Group Has Annual Meeting Thursday Night

Tonight,the downtown group Antigo First will have their annual meeting at the Edison Club in Antigo. The group, according to President Rosanne Hoffman, is for people concerned with the downtown, and have a desire to see it improve. They will elect officers and other positions, and also look ahead to different programs they're involved with in 2015. Coleman Peiffer from North Central Regional Planning, and a representative from Wisconsin Economic Development Coorporation will be in attendance to give a speech.

Read more: WACD

Administrator is staying put

For interim administrator Dr. Don Childs, the job at Antigo is not finished.

Seventeen months after being hired by the Antigo school district to fill a sudden administrative vacancy, the affable Childs had his contract extended through the 2015-16 school year, continuing at his same salary of $120,000.

Action came at the board of education’s regular January session on a unanimous vote.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

School board wrestles with a $1 million shortfall

The Antigo school board Tuesday began wrestling with a projected $1 million budget deficit for 2015-16 school year, and options appear limited.

At its regular monthly meeting, the board heard from District Administrator Don Childs and Director of Business Services Mary Jo Filbrandt, seeking direction on where to begin trimming next year’s spending package.

“We are staring down the barrel of a sizable deficit,” Childs said, noting that past years of budget cuts “have literally taken anything out of the budget that could be considered fat. You are now looking at cutting muscle and bone.”

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Antigo men formally charged in Weston bank robbery

An Antigo man accused in a robbery at a Marathon County bank was reportedly armed with a note alleging that he would “kill” the teller he handed it to before escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.

Kevin Calhoun, 29, is one of two men charged in connection with the Jan. 13 robbery at the U.S. Bank in Weston.

A co-defendant, Andrew Gibney, 21, also of Antigo, is accused of being the get-away driver in the case.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Antigo First meeting Thursday, trial removal of bump-outs eyed

The Antigo First organization will celebrate a year of small successes and look ahead toward an ambitious 2015 agenda on Thursday, and it’s encouraging more people to help.

The downtown business organization will hold its annual meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Edison Club.

“We’re looking for those people who are truly interested in the downtown and who want to see it prosper,” Roseann Hoffman, the organization’s president, said. “We need people to volunteer. We need people who care.”

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Drug paraphernalia seized from suspects cited in thefts

Three people remain in police custody today when a weekend investigation into a suspected theft at an Antigo retail store turned up evidence of drug activity.

The individuals, a 35-year-old man from Irma and two women, ages 43 and 31 from Merrill and Wausau, were suspected of stealing items from Dunham’s sporting goods store. Their vehicle was located in the nearby Walmart parking lot and the trio was taken into custody — the man after he returned to the car and the women following a foot chase with police while leaving the store.

In one of their purses, officers found hypodermic needles, “cooker cans,” and rubber tourniquets, items which police said was “indicative of methamphetamine or heroin use.” Officials said one of the women admitted to smoking meth in the car en route to Antigo.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

'American Sniper' film a big hit in Antigo, across the U.S.

“American Sniper” is a big hit across the United States, and that certainly translates to Antigo’s Palace Theater.

Tim Suick said this morning that he crowds since the picture opened Friday night have been “great,“ and that was easy to see as Fifth Avenue, Edison Street and even the municipal parking lots had plenty of action associated with the “Sniper” film.

“People have really enjoyed it,” Suick said. He explained that it is a true story about a man who is an American hero, and people are finding that very attractive.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

'Hard water' fishing sure to beat blues

With the exception of a dog chasing a crow, there is perhaps nothing more optimistic than an ice fisherman.

Just do the math:

Give or take a few gazintas, Remington Lake contains 20,286,180 gallons of water, the equivalent of about 7 million fish bowls. Cole Musolff’s hole through the ice is maybe a foot in diameter, a very tiny window to a watery world.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Library adds more video games, hopes to bring teens into facility

For local teen-agers, the Antigo Public Library is fun and games.

Steph Cherrywell, who recently took over duties as youth services librarian, is beefing up the video game collection, hoping to encourage more young people to come to the library and check out the wide variety of services and offerings available.

“Games are getting more and more recognized for their narrative qualities,” Cherrywell said, and gaining acceptance within the traditional library framework.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Man Due In Court After Road Rage Incident In Wausau

A 26-year-old man is due in court today, after he allegedly fired a shot into the air during a road rage incident in Wausau. Kyle Krahn spent the weekend in the Marathon County Jail after his arrest on Friday afternoon. He was booked on possible charges of reckless endangerment, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct, and shooting a firearm in the city. Police said the incident happened late Thursday night on a street on Wausau's west side.

Read more: WACD

Langlade County Seeks Public Assistance In Solving Thefts

Deputies in Langlade County need your help finding more information about two thefts that happened earlier this month.

The Langlade County Sheriff's Office says a red ice-shanty was stolen from the Elcho area some time between January 10th and January 15th. It's a V-Nose trailer that is 6-and-half feet wide and 14 feet long.

A snowmobile was also stolen this month, according to the Langlade County Sheriff's Office. The 2012 Polaris Rush Pro-R 800 went missing between January 17th and January 18th in southern Langlade County.

Read more: WACD

Propane Prices Significantly Down From Last Year

Wisconsinites who heat their homes with propane are paying a little more than two years ago -- but nowhere near the huge spikes from last year at this time. The U-S Energy Information Administration says the average Wisconsin price for residential propane was 1.79-a-gallon as of last week -- down six-cents from December 15th. But wholesale prices rose by six-cents over the previous week, and last week's consumer price was almost 30-cents above the high of 1.50-a-gallon two winters ago. Still, today's propane prices are a bargain compared to the five-dollars plus that folks were paying last year at this time.

Read more: WACD

A few changes for '15 fair, 187 days away

The 2015 Langlade County Fair is 187 days away, and there will be a few changes along with some old favorites.

Members of the Fair Board recently returned from the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Convention in Wisconsin Dells, a key industry conference where fair officials from across the state share ideas, discuss their problems and triumphs, and most importantly book acts.

“It’s really a good chance to network,” fair administrator Rhonda Klement, who also serves as the District 1 representative on the Wisconsin Association of Fairs State Board, said.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

Local bank heist figure may be tied to another

A Langlade County man has been linked to a second armed bank robbery, this one across state lines.

The Illinois-based Round Lake Beach Police Department has identified Kevin J. Calhoun, 29, of Antigo as the man who stole money from a branch of the U.S. Bank on Oct. 8, 2014.

The community is located approximately 50 miles from Chicago on the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

Full story: Antigo Daily Journal

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