Local Rhinelander Headlines

Latest on Madison police shooting: Family calls for calm

An attorney for the family of a 19-year-old biracial Madison man says they still have more questions than answers after a prosecutor declined to charge the white police officer who fatally shot the man.

The grandmother of Tony Robinson, Sharon Irwin, says the prosecutor's decision "is politics, not justice."

Attorney John Loevy says the family supports the community expressing frustration and anger, but they want protests to be peaceful.

Full story: WJFW

Our Sister's House in Tomahawk gets $5,000 grant from CN Railroad

TOMAHAWK - After two years in the making, renovations at Our Sister's House in Tomahawk will soon be finished.

Volunteers applied for grants to help pay for the needed renovations, and they were happy to get some good news a few weeks ago.

"One day she looked out her window and said, hey I live next to the railroads, you know CN Railroad. She said why not try to apply there," said Our Sister's House President Bernice Duchac. "So she wrote up a grant request, sent it in, and low and behold, we got the grant."

Full story: WJFW

County Board votes to keep the current ATV law

PRICE COUNTY - Some local ATV clubs in Price County want ATVs allowed on more county roads. Right now they're allowed on some county roads, but that's left some worried about safety.

Tuesday, the county board voted on whether to create rules on who can ride ATVs on county roads.

People who drive ATVs on county roads don't need to have a driver's license. The Price County Board voted Tuesday to keep the county's current ATV law.

Full story: WJFW

Abrahamson makes case to remain as chief justice

MADISON - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson is telling a federal court judge that she should be allowed to continue the work of chief justice that she's done for the past 19 years.

Abrahamson made the arguments in court filings Monday and Tuesday in her ongoing lawsuit against the other justices and the state.

Abrahamson argues that a constitutional amendment allowing the justices to choose the chief justice can't be implemented until her current term is over in 2019. But four of the other six justices went ahead last month and chose Justice Patience Roggensack as chief justice.

Full story: WJFW

Alleged Islamic State recruits from Minnesota ordered held

MINNEAPOLIS - Four Minnesota men accused of trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group have been ordered held pending trial.

 But Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said Tuesday he's open to individual plans for each man that could allow for their release to a halfway house or other less restrictive confinement.

Davis says he wants to meet with each man's attorney to see if a plan can be worked out. He said it's not a ``cookie cutter'' situation.

Full story: WJFW

Wausau woman part of massive kidney transplant chain

WAUSAU - A Wausau woman is the last link in a 68-person kidney transplant chain of donations that started in Minnesota, spread across the country and ended at the University of Wisconsin.

After living with renal insufficiency for 30 years, 77-year-old Mitzi Neyens says her condition had begun to worsen in the past two years.

She was included in the chain after De Pere school teacher Megan O'Leary donated a kidney to a matched recipient in exchange for a matched kidney for Neyens, her long-time family friend.

Poll shows increase in ER visits in majority of hospitals since start of Affordable Care Act

WAUSAU - A new poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians shows the volume of emergency patients in emergency departments has increased since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Experts say that's the exact opposite of what the legislation is trying to do.

The American College of Emergency Physicians poll says three-quarters of ER doctors surveyed have seen more people using ERs.

That's happened at Aspirus Wausau Hospital as well, but Aspirus Wausau Hospital President Darrell Lentz says the flu and other factors certainly played a role at their facility.

Full story: WJFW

North Lakeland Discovery Center receives a 5,000 dollar grant to help Loons in the area

MANITOWISH WATERS - The funding went to building loon nesting platforms.

Loons in the area sometime had difficulty preserving their nests.

"There's definitely a lot of research goals with this study in addition to conservation goals. We are trying to improve habitat for the loons and provide new nesting substrate," said North Lakeland Discovery Center Research and Monitoring Coordinator, Heather Lumpkin. "We're also trying to learn more about what helps loons in situations like they are in on the Manitowish Chain. Where they have fluctuation water levels, and where they have shorelines that don't have a lot of natural nesting substrate."

Full story: WJFW

Poor driver decision likely cause of Highway 8 blockage

TOMAHAWK - A poor decision by a semi truck driver may have been the cause of a major roadblock on Highway 8 Monday afternoon.

The truck blocked all lanes of Highway 8 near Deer Lake Road, near Tomahawk.

A sheriff's deputy on the scene told us he thought the truck driver may have been trying to make a U-turn on Highway 8. Traffic was completely blocked.

Full story: WJFW

Vilas County trails app hopes to draw more users with new feature

VILAS COUNTY - More than 800 people already downloaded the Map It Vilas County iPhone app. Tourism leaders hope that number will increase as Memorial Day Weekend approaches.

They've added a GPS feature they hope will make more people feel comfortable using the county's trails. There are more than 50 multi-seasonal trails in Vilas County.

Vilas County Tourism & Publicity launched the mobile app on the iTunes Store last summer.

Full story: WJFW

Northland Pines district refinances debt, will save taxpayers $760,000

EAGLE RIVER - Taxpayers in the Northland Pines School District will likely see some savings. The district refinanced its more than $16 million debt.

The district spent about $28 million to build Northland Pines High School in 2006.

This is the second time the district has been able to refinance. It will save the district's taxpayers about $100,000 each year.

Full story: WJFW

Meals on Wheels program finds new home in Woodruff

WOODRUFF - After a fire destroyed the Lakeland Senior Center in Woodruff last Wednesday, many worried how the Meals on Wheels program would continue delivering and serving daily meals to local seniors. But the program quickly found a new home.

"We are welcoming the Senior Center's Meals on Wheels to Holy Family's kitchen," said Holy Family Catholic Church Director of Evangelization Lee Ann Niebuhr. "We have all been so delighted to want them to be here and share our space with them."

The Woodruff Meals on Wheels program serves about 80 seniors through home delivery or dine in services in Oneida County. Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff gladly shared its space.

Full story: WJFW

Right now, most sex offenders can live anywhere in the city of Phillips; city's police chief hopes to change that

Right now, most sex offenders can live anywhere in the city of Phillips.

That means they can live near parks, schools, and other places where children are, but Phillips' Police Chief wants to change that.

Park Falls has an ordinance that prevents sex offenders from living 1,500 feet from places where children gather.

Full story: WJFW

Wisconsin legislators to consider changing Badger Exam

MARSHFIELD - Students in Wisconsin public schools are taking a new test intended to measure learning, but the exam's future is unclear as some state lawmakers say they'd like something different.

That leaves some schools and teachers wondering why they worked hard to get ready for the Badger Exam.

Districts across the state spent months preparing for the new tests by ensuring computer labs and students in grades three through eight were ready.

Full story: WJFW

Body of missing boy found; brother found alive in dumpster

OMAHA, NE - Authorities say they've found the body of a 5-year-old boy whose adult brother is charged in the killing of their mother and whose younger brother was found alive in a dumpster.

Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning said Monday that Josue Ramirez-Marinero's body has been found, but he provided no details.

Authorities have been searching the Elkhorn River on the west side of Omaha since last week.

Full story: WJFW

Democrats put up billboards demanding Walker return home

MADISON - The state Democratic Party has paid for a series of billboards demanding Republican Gov. Scott Walker return to Wisconsin.

Walker, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, has been visiting early primary states such as Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.

He's currently in Israel meeting with Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs and touring strategic and historical sites. He's due back on Thursday.

Full story: WJFW

Group plans Wednesday protests in wake of shooting decision

MADISON - The group that has led protests against Madison police for killing an unarmed biracial man plans to demonstrate on Wednesday, a day after a prosecutor announces whether he's going to file criminal charges in the incident.

Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny, who is white, shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in an apartment house in March. Police said Robinson attacked Kenny. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne plans to announce Tuesday whether he'll charge Kenny.

Full story: WJFW

Wausau woman gets kidney via 68-person organ donation chain

WAUSAU - A Wausau woman is the last link in a 68-person kidney transplant chain of donations that started in Minnesota, spread across the country and ended at the University of Wisconsin.

After living with renal insufficiency for 30 years, 77-year-old Mitzi Neyens tells Press-Gazette Media (http://gbpg.net/1QBCJh3 ) that her condition had begun to worsen in the past two years.

She was included in the chain after De Pere school teacher Megan O'Leary donated a kidney to a matched recipient in exchange for a matched kidney for Neyens, her long-time family friend.

Full story: WJFW

North Lakeland Discover Center receives a 5,000 dollar grant to help Loons in the area

MANITOWISH WATERS - The funding went to building loon nesting platforms.

Loons in the area sometime had difficulty preserving their nests.

"There's definitely a lot of research goals with this study in addition to conservation goals. We are trying to improve habitat for the loons and provide new nesting substrate," said North Lakeland Discover Center Research and Monitoring Coordinator, Heather Lumpkin. "We're also trying to learn more about what helps loons in situations like they are in on the Manitowish Chain. Where they have fluctuation water levels, and where they have shorelines that don't have a lot of natural nesting substrate."

Full story: WJFW

Walker pushes back on vehicle registration increase

Gov. Scott Walker has indicated he won’t support increasing Wisconsin’s vehicle registration fee, even though the Legislature’s top Republicans say they’re open to it.

Walker's proposed transportation budget borrows $1.3 billion to pay for roads, a move that's been roundly panned by lawmakers from both parties. That list includes Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who both said this week they'd consider raising the vehicle registration fee. Vos said it could be used to reduce borrowing.

Read more: Price County Review

District Attorney to decide on charging officer in Madison shooting Tuesday

MADISON - A Wisconsin prosecutor says he's ready to announce whether charges will be brought against the white police officer who shot an unarmed biracial man in Madison.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne says he'll announce Tuesday whether Officer Matt Kenny will face charges in the death of 19-year-old Tony Robinson.

Police said Kenny was responding to reports Robinson had assaulted two people and was running in traffic. Police say Robinson attacked Kenny, but details haven't been released.

Full story: WJFW

North Central Technical College welcomed more than 3,000 middle school students for first ever Science and Engineering Festival

WAUSAU - It was a two day event that came out of a partnership with NCT and Michigan Technological University. Friday was for the students, and Saturday was open to the public.

Mind Trekkers is a group of graduate and undergraduate students from MTU and they travel around the nation bringing the "WOW" of science to campuses just like NTC's.

NTC had about 150 staff and students volunteer for the event. Michigan Tech brought about 40 Mind Trekkers to Wausau. The group works to get middle school students excited about science, and so far it seems successful.

Full story: WJFW

Community celebrates Mother's Day with pancake breakfast

RHINELANDER - Many celebrated Mother's Day with their families Sunday. One local group in Rhinelander held its monthly pancake breakfast Sunday morning to help honor the special day.

The Knights of Columbus in Rhinelander host a pancake breakfast once a month at the Nativity of Our Lord church. Around 75 people come out for their breakfasts.

Money they raise goes to different charity events in the community. The knights wanted mothers to be able to celebrate by not having to cook.

Full story: WJFW

Traffic stop leads to drug arrest in Merrill Saturday

MERRILL - A traffic stop led to a drug arrest of a 40-year-old Merrill man Saturday.

An officer stopped the man on Grand Avenue in Merrill after he recognized the driver did not have a valid driver's license. After stopping the driver, the officer thought the man was acting strange,

The officer found a pipe filled with marijuana between the seats. The man was taken to the Lincoln County jail where he was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Full story: WJFW

19-year-old died after UTV accident in western Wisconsin Saturday

SPRINGBROOK - A 19-year old died after his UTV turned over in western Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Dunn County Sheriff's Office says the victim was a passenger on the UTV when it crashed in the town of Springbrook, near Eau Claire. The 19-year-old was trapped under the UTV.

The driver was apparently making a turn when the UTV rolled onto the passenger side. Authorities say they were not wearing seat belts.

Full story: WJFW

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