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Voters will go to the polls Tuesday to make their selection as to who will serve as Langlade County’s top law enforcement officer.
The race for sheriff features a battle between incumbent Bill Greening who has served in the position for the past eight years versus challenger Joe Stegall, a corrections officer with the Langlade County Jail.
Polls across the county will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
With no dissension, the Langlade County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a budget calling for a tax levy of $9.1 million.
Action came at a rare evening meeting and capped months of work on the fiscal document. And just prior to the vote, supervisors gave the department heads attending the session a round of applause for their work and cooperation on preparing the budget and maintaining their departments within strict spending perameters.
Supervisors Holly Matucheski and Arlene Bonacci were absent.
The Antigo school board Tuesday gave final approval to the district’s 2014-15 budget, and green-lighted a project to reroof the administrative office building on Dorr Street.
Meeting for its regular October session, the board smoothly worked a full agenda, benefiting, perhaps by a return to a structure which moved many reports and discussion items back to the committee level.
On a unanimous vote, the board passed the budget and levy with only a few modifications from the preliminary spending plan approved in August.
A perfect Indian summer weekend greeted participants—canine and human—and spectators in the annual Dirty Dog Dryland Derby.
Racing took place Saturday and Sunday along the trails at Camp MaKaJaWan near Pearson.
“It was just a super event, with 101 teams participating, the most so far for the Dirty Dog,” organizer Beth Castaldi said. “Teams came from Canada as well as teams from as far west as Oregon as far east as Massachusetts and states in between. And we had many new human faces on the three-wheeled carts, bikes and scooters.”
A northwoods candidate calling for elimination of the office he is trying to obtain makes for a more-interesting-than-usual race for state treasurer.
Jerry Shidell, one-time mayor of Rhinelander, is running for treasurer as a Libertarian, with a slogan of “Hire Me-then-Fire Me.”
It’s the main issue in both the state treasurer and secretary of state races, with candidates questioning whether the offices should exist at all — and how to make them matter if they’re kept around.
Volunteers are gearing up for this year’s Keeping Our Community Warm coat collection drive now underway.
The drive is coordinated by the Salvation Army, with coats on display and available through AmeriGas. Coats may be dropped off at a variety of collection boxes being placed throughout the community or brought directly to AmeriGas, located directly across from the Langlade County Fairgrounds.
“Families who need winter coats and snow pants have already been stopping,” Julie Brandt of AmeriGas said. “We would like to turn the Keeping Our Community Warm sign to face the highway as soon as more clothes are received from families with extras in the closet.”
With the tweet of the drum major’s whistle and the drum beat of its run-on cadence, the University of Wisconsin marching band will take to the field at Camp Randall Nov. 15 to march against cancer.
For the second year, band members are raising awareness for the UW Carbone Cancer Center by wearing special sashes emblazoned with the names of people who have had cancer.
Until the end of October, supporters can honor a loved one by ordering a sash that will be worn by a UW band member. A $250 donation to the cancer center will create a sash to be worn on the field by a band member during the Nov. 15 Nebraska game, then mailed to the donor.
A 2015 budget that calls for a tax levy of $9.1 million will be reviewed Tuesday by the Langlade County Board of Supervisors.
There will also be an opportunity for public comment on the document at the session, slated to begin at 5 p.m. in the county board room located on the lower level of the Safety Building.
The agenda, highlighted by action on the levy and budget, also calls for a mix of regular October business.
The Antigo Optimist Club passed out gift bags to hundreds of youngsters Sunday, just as has been done for decades following its Halloween parade.
“We really did have a great time,” Tonya McKenna Trabant explained.
She was delighted with the size of the crowd and all of the 300-plus bags of treats were distributed. That does not always happen, especially when the weather is less than perfect.
An Antigo woman identified by a prosecutor as the “kingpin” of an illegal drug sale operation shut down by law officers earlier this year has entered pleas of not guilty to a rash of charges filed in Langlade County Circuit Court.
Lindsay L. Hodges, 30, of 537 S. Hudson St. was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday before Judge Fred Kawalski. She waived that hearing and subsequently denied the charges. A new court date to discuss the next step in the case was not immediately set.
You’d have to be a dirty dog to complain about the weather forecast.
Temperatures are forecast to be in the mid to upper 50s for this weekend’s kick-off of the 2014-2015 sled dog racing season, the Dirty Dog Dryland Derby.
Racing will take place Saturday and Sunday at MaKaJaWan Boy Scout Camp in Pearson.
Court Commissioner Melinda Olsen presided over Tuesday’s session in Langlade County Circuit Court, ordering payment of fines for a variety of traffic and ordinance-related violations.
Among the most expensive fines were those for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. The minimum cost for a first offense is $887.50. For those with a blood alcohol level greater than .15 percent, an extra $50 surcharge is added to the tally for an ignition interlock device.
Fines for the offense went to Bret T. Hartl, 29, 600 Gowan Road; Joshua J. Turcotte, 25, of N4510 Highway H; and Michael D. Young, 28, of 780 Gowan Road.
An Elcho woman remains hospitalized in fair condition at Aspirus Wausau Hospital today as a result of a three vehicle accident Wednesday afternoon approximately seven miles north of Antigo.
Ruth Krueger, 85, was one of four individuals injured in the crash which closed a section of Highway 45 for more than five hours.
Also hurt were the drivers of all three vehicles, 80-year-old Raymond Krueger, 82, of Elcho, Ronald Musselman, 49, of Eagle River, and Brittany Krueger, 20, of Antigo.
District Administrator Bill Fisher brought good news, with a touch of caution, to voters attending the Elcho school district’s annual meeting Wednesday.
“This district has been incredibly frugal and fiscally responsible to its taxpayers,’ the administrator said as he wrapped up a 45-minute presentation on the budget and school operations. “We have a fiscally sound school district that is showing growth in student achievement.”
“I look forward to this particular evening every year,” Fisher said...
An Antigo man is jailed today on a $25,000 cash bond awaiting prosecution on allegations he forced intercourse with an adult female this past weekend.
Efraine C. Perez, 41, of 707 Clermont St. stands accused in Langlade County Circuit Court with two counts, the most serious for second degree sexual assault — a crime which upon conviction carries a maximum prison term of 40 years, up to $100,000 in fines or both.
A misdemeanor charge of theft, involving a coat taken from a downtown tavern, is also pending.
The White Lake school district’s annual meeting was a bit somber Tuesday evening.
The 2014 session came when the voters were passed the euphoria of a building project that brought the new gymnasium including a community fitness site, dining and concessions area and ancillary facilities to support the school complex.
And it came just months after those same voters declined to approve a spending referendum that would have allowed the district to continue to spend $250,000 beyond state-imposed revenue limits.
The International Association of Firefighters is going pink for breast cancer awareness. Locals around the U.S. and Canada wear a pink-themed uniform shirt for the month of October. Antigo Firefighters Local 1000 then makes the shirts available to members of the community for a cost of $15.
Blinged-out bras, some almost beyond description, are vying for honors in Schroeder’s Gifts annual Bras for a Cause.
The event, held in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month during October, continues through Friday, with voting by store patrons. Each vote costs $1. Place five votes and get 20 percent off any item of your choice.
It promises to be a tough decision, with the bras decorated with everything from sequins to boxing gloves.
Three teenagers have died in a highway crash in Shawano County and a fourth person has been injured.
Sheriff’s officials say a 15-year-old girl from Bonduel and two males from Shawano, ages 17 and 18, died when a car and a sports utility vehicle collided on Highway 22 in the Town of Belle Plaine Tuesday evening.
Investigators say the car’s driver apparently lost control, crossed the center line and was struck by the SUV.
Upgrades to the Clara R. McKenna Aquatic Center, funded entirely by donations, have netted the Antigo school district significant energy savings and a big check.
On Monday, representatives of Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, along with Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, presented the Antigo Unified School District with an incentive check for $19,358.04 following the completion of a project to install new air handling equipment at the indoor pool complex.
Possession of illegal drugs was a common theme for individuals whose cases were called in Langlade County Circuit Court this week.
Troy Cotter, 27, of Elcho was sentenced Friday to serve a one-year term of probation as part of a ruling which cleared several pending cases filed as the result of an Aug. 27 traffic stop in the town of Price.
Officials said he had slightly under three grams of marijuana and a pipe in his possession.
The Antigo Junior Women’s Club held its annual craft fair Saturday at the Langlade County Fairgrounds multi-purpose building drawing a very nice crowd to the facility to eyeball the work of local crafters and those from throughout central Wisconsin. There were hundreds of people manning the booths that included a showplace for an amazing display of work and artistry.
A 22-year-old man is dead after the pickup truck he was driving hit a house north of Birnamwood early Saturday morning.
According to the Shawano County sheriff’s department, the north side of the residence, which included the garage, ws heaviest was heavily damaged. The accident was reported at about 2:40 a.m. Saturday on Highway 45 approximately a half-mile north of the village.
Property owners in the White Lake school district will review a general fund budget topping $2.7 million, funded by a levy of $1.846 million when the district convenes its annual meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting, which will also include a review of the district’s upcoming spending referendum, will begin at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
The agenda calls for a presentation of the proposed budget followed by a vote on the tax levy.
When the Antigo High School Red Robins marched off the field Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, they played the final bar of perhaps their most successful season ever.
The Marching Red Robins finished third in Class AA at the state championships held at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
“We did great,” Director Jeff Dewey said. “It was our best show of the season and the band ended really strong, which was our goal for the year. They went off the field feeling good.”
The emerald ash borer is creeping closer to Langlade County, and local officials are taking a proactive approach.
The insect, which destroys an ash tree’s ability to take up nutrients and water, was recently discovered in Rhinelander in neighboring Oneida County, an unwelcome intruder into the northwoods ecosystem.
In competition, momentum is everything, and the Antigo High School Marching Red Robins have it.
Fresh off four first place finishes, the Robins will march into Perkins Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday, competing in the Wisconsin State Music Association Marching Band Championships.
The Robins will perform in Class AA and are scheduled to take the field at 6:45 p.m. They will complete against Sauk Prairie, Whitnall, New Berlin West, New Berlin Eisenhower, Merrill and Greendale.
The White Lake High School half of the Wolverine football team is celebrating homecoming this week.
The team, a co-op with Elcho High School, will take on the Florence Bobcats in a 7 p.m. match-up. The White Lake Marching Band will perform and the court will be announced at half-time. A bonfire will follow the game.
On Saturday, there will be a homecoming dance in the school’s small gymnasium from 8 to 10 p.m. with grand march at 10 p.m. Cost is $5 for singles and $7 for couples. A lock-in will follow until 6 a.m. on Sunday.
Volunteers have put the finishing touches on Antigo’s challenging new single track mountain bike trail and are already making plans for more loops.
A crew led by Brady Koss and Josh Zalewski along with other members of the Antigo Bike and Ski Club spent Saturday morning at the trailhead, located at the now-closed city landfill off Dump Road in the town of Rolling.
“This is a really neat project,” Sarah Repp, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said. “The group is really enthusiastic and involved.”
The White Lake High School half of the Wolverine football team is celebrating homecoming this week.
The team, a co-op with Elcho High School, will take on the Florence Bobcats in a 7 p.m. match-up. The White Lake Marching Band will perform and the court will be announced at half-time. A bonfire will follow the game.
On Saturday, there will be a homecoming dance in the school’s small gymnasium from 8 to 10 p.m. with grand march at 10 p.m. Cost is $5 for singles and $7 for couples. A lock-in will follow until 6 a.m. on Sunday.
