Local Rhinelander Headlines

Republican legislative leaders have reached a deal on a new state budget.

MADISON - Leaders of the Senate and Assembly plan to hold a news conference on Wednesday morning to announce terms of the agreement. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos's spokeswoman Kit Beyer said Tuesday the deal had been reached and details would come out Wednesday.

The deal was reached on the last day of the fiscal year. Republican senators met in a private caucus for five hours Tuesday to discuss the three main outstanding issues in the budget.

Full story: WJFW

Wisconsin budget year ending with no agreement in sight

Republican Sen. Luther Olsen says the budget-writing committee hopes to meet on Thursday to complete its work so the Legislature can vote on passing the state budget next week.

Olsen commented Tuesday after leaving a five-hour closed meeting with Republican senators.

He says Republican Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald plans to negotiate with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to see if they can reach agreement and schedule a Joint Finance Committee meeting.

Full story: WJFW

Health Department reminds people of food safety for July 4th

WISCONSIN - With the Fourth of July right around the corner, many people will enjoy the holiday out in the warm weather. If you do, it's important to remember food safety to avoid getting any food illness this weekend.

Bacteria spreads much faster in the heat. Any food left out for more than an hour could go bad.

Health Department workers say to keep your food out of what they call the "food danger zone".

Full story: WJFW

Grant program encourages, helps new downtown businesses

ANTIGO - A new grant program could bring new businesses to downtown Antigo. The area has had trouble filling empty buildings for the past few years, but county and city leaders say Downtown Antigo is making a comeback.

Now, business owners who open a store downtown can get some money back.

The Downtown Antigo Entrepreneur Grant Program can give a business owner up to $15,000 just for opening their store in Antigo's Business District.

Full story: WJFW

REST LAKE DAM PART 2: State Senator and retired DNR worker talk about control over controversial Vilas County dam

MANITOWISH WATERS - You can't live in the Northwoods without having a passion for the look and feel of freshwater lakes and streams.

That passion has been a part of a decade long debate over how to manage water levels on the Manitowish River.

People in Vilas and Iron counties have been fighting for years over what to do with the Rest Lake Dam.

Full story: WJFW

Two counties speak out against shoreline zoning changes in the state budget

VILAS COUNTY - Earlier this month, legislators put a proposal into the state budget that would take away a county's ability to make its own shoreline zoning regulations. Here in the Northwoods, two counties have come out against that proposal.

If the state budget went through as it's written right now, individual counties and lake associations could lose their power to set zoning regulations. That's a big issue for many in the Northwoods. Vilas County alone has 1,300 lakes. The proposal has caused great concerns.

"The concern was that the proposal had the potential for doing great damage to the environment, had the potential for causing a severe problem as far as assessment procedures, and generally was opposed by the citizens-the residents-of this county," said Chuck Hayes, a Vilas County supervisor.

Full story: WJFW

A Rhinelander group wants to protect an endangered butterfly

RHINELANDER - A Rhinelander group wants to protect an endangered butterfly. The Monarch March works to save the beautiful monarch butterflies.

The butterfly is in danger because people remove milkweed from their yards. Milkweed is also removed from public ground spaces as well.

Monarchs need milkweed for food and a place to lay their eggs.

Full story: WJFW

Republican senators discussing Bucks arena, prevailing wage

MADISON - Republican state senators are met behind closed doors Tuesday to talk about the three main issues that have held up passage of a Wisconsin state budget for the past month.

State Sen. Paul Farrow said Tuesday that senators planned to talk about roads funding, changes to the prevailing wage and the $500 million Milwaukee Bucks stadium plan.

Senators were meeting in private with members of the Legislature's Fiscal Bureau, which analyzes budget proposals.

Full story: WJFW

Family: Girl, 4, shot by officer firing at dog is recovering

COLUMBUS, OH - A 4-year-old girl who was shot in the leg by an Ohio policeman firing at a dog is recovering after surgery as her family questions how the officer responded.

Columbus police say Ava Ellis was hit accidentally June 19 when an officer fired at a charging dog at a home in suburban Whitehall. Police say another relative had flagged down the officer for help after Ava's mother cut herself on glass.

Ava's parents and their attorney dispute the police account and say the officer acted recklessly with children nearby. They say the roughly 40-pound dog was retreating inside from a porch when the officer fired. They also allege the officer drove away without offering help.

Full story: WJFW

Federal report faults police actions during Ferguson unrest

FERGUSON, MO - A Justice Department report summary has found across-the-board flaws in police's response last summer to the protests in Ferguson, including antagonizing crowds and violating free-speech rights.

The Associated Press obtained the summary, which cites "vague and arbitrary" orders to keep protesters moving that violated their rights of assembly and free speech.

It is part of a longer "after-action" report that looked at the way police in Ferguson, St. Louis city and county and the Missouri State Highway Patrol responded in two-week period after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson officer last August.

Full story: WJFW

Deadly fight started during argument about girlfriend

WAUSAU - Wausau police say a fight over a woman left one man dead and sent another to jail.

Forty-year-old Jerry Schnabl was charged Monday in Marathon County with first-degree reckless injury and aggravated battery. Cash bond was set at $250,000.

Investigators say 43-year-old George Diver was injured after fighting with Schnabl overnight Friday at an apartment. Witnesses say Diver did not seek medical attention and went to bed in the apartment after the fight. A 33-year-old woman who lives with Diver in the apartment discovered him dead about 1 p.m. Saturday.

Full story: WJFW

Wausau family working to bring new inclusive park to North Central Wisconsin

WAUSAU - Kids who use wheelchairs or have other disabilities can't use most playgrounds. One Wausau family wants to change that.

The Hoerter family has big plans for Wausau's new accessible playground. The 30,000- to 50,000-square foot play area, called JoJo's Jungle, will give every child the opportunity to play.

"We've picked out two or three main manufacturers and have built a playground with the best of the equipment we found," says Patrick Hoerter.

Full story: WJFW

17-year-old double homicide suspect pleads not guilty by reason of mental defect

An expert will decide whether a 17-year-old is mentally fit to stand trial for allegedly killing her mother and stepfather. That's after the she plead not guilty by reason of mental defect Monday.

Prosecutors say Ashlee Martinson shot 37-year-old Thomas Ayers,and then stabbed 40-year-old Jennifer Ayers more than 30 times.

They think that happened in eastern Oneida County in March.

Full story: WJFW

Local doctor's life experiences led him to become a chiropractor

RHINELANDER - A local doctor proudly calls the Northwoods his home.

Some of Doctor Greg Michals' life experiences led him to make the decision to become a chiropractor.

"There was these car accidents that I got involved with in high school," Michals said. "It was three of them I got in senior year. Usually I tell people I wasn't driving; I had a poor taste in friends."

Full story: WJFW

REST LAKE DAM: State legislature could take control of controversial Vilas County dam

MANITOWISH WATERS - For years people in Vilas and Iron counties fought over how to manage water levels on the Manitowish River and the Manitowish Chain of Lakes.

The Rest Lake Dam controls how much water fills several lakes, rivers, and the Turtle Flambeau Flowage.

Now, legislators in Madison might be the ones to decide where the water goes.

Full story: WJFW

Proposed bill could increase fines for people without ignition interlock devices

WISCONSIN - A court can require a person to install an ignition interlock device, or IID, into their car, after multiple OWI offenses.

A person has to blow into the IID to check their blood-alcohol level to start their car. Now, a new proposed law hopes to increase fines for people who don't install the device.

Under current law, a person found without a required IID can be fined between $150 to $600 for the first offense. But the new law wants to increase these fines to between $500 to $1,200 for the first offense, and up to $2,000 for the second.

Full story: WJFW

Democrats want to remove marriage definition in constitution

MADISON - Wisconsin Democrats say they want to eliminate nullified language in the state's constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Lawmakers held a news conference Monday to introduce the resolution after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.

The measure is largely symbolic as a federal appeals court struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban last year.

Full story: WJFW

Vos says he has votes to pass Bucks deal in Assembly

MADISON - Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he has enough votes to pass a financing plan for a $500 million Milwaukee Bucks arena that relies on $250 million from state and local taxpayers.

It's unclear whether there are enough votes in the Senate.

Vos on Monday released the draft of the proposal along with an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. It comes nearly a month after the outline of the deal was first announced by Gov. Scott Walker and others.

Full story: WJFW

Postcards mailed to inactive voters in Wisconsin

MADISON - The state elections board has mailed postcards to nearly 100,000 registered voters in Wisconsin who have not cast ballots in the past four years.

The state Government Accountability Board on Monday says the postcard titled "Notice of Suspension" is one of the steps it takes to ensure that inactive voters are removed from the statewide voter list.

The postcard asks voters who have not participated in an election in the past four years whether they want to remain active on the state's voter list. If they do, they have one month to return the postcard.

Full story: WJFW

Two injured after ATV crash in Wood County Sunday afternoon

WOOD COUNTY - An ATV crash left a 40-year-old woman and an 8-year-old girl injured Sunday afternoon in Wood County.

The Wood County Sheriff's Department got a call around 4:00 in the afternoon of an accident at the intersection of Kronstedt Road and County Highway F in the town of Sigel.

Police found the ATV overturned with the two passengers in a ditch. Both of the passengers were not wearing helmets.

Full story: WJFW

A Northwoods-style gift shop celebrates grand opening

RHINELANDER - It's not always easy to turn a hobby into a job. One Northwoods woman has done just that. By opening her own one-of-a-kind gift shop, called A Step In Time. Her grand opening was this weekend. The store's motto is unique.

"I like to take, not really 'really old' furniture, but just wood furniture that's good quality and make it look older," said Helen Johnson, owner of A Step In Time. "I try to carry unique things. I don't want to have a lot of one thing. Like my pieces of furniture, you'll never have another one or see another one just like it."

Helen has had a passion for wood working and working with furniture for a long time.

Full story: WJFW

Suspect arrested after man dies following fight over mutual girlfriend

WAUSAU - One man died in Wausau Saturday after a fight with another man over a mutual girlfriend.

The suspect who survived the fight is 40-year-old Jerry Schnabl. He was arrested for reckless homicide and taken to the Marathon County Jail.

Witnesses say the fight happened on Friday night about a girl that both men wanted to date.

Full story: WJFW

President Obama to travel to La Crosse for economic event

LA CROSSE - President Barack Obama is coming to Wisconsin this week.

The White House confirmed the visit Saturday night, saying only that Obama will visit the La Crosse area Thursday ``for an event on the economy.'' Additional details are expected to be released later this week.

The La Crosse Tribune (http://bit.ly/1FIEPn8 ) reports it is Obama's first visit to La Crosse since being elected president and the city's first presidential appearance in more than a decade.

Full story: WJFW

27th Annual Charlie Baker Memorial Musky Tournament finishes successful weekend

RHINELANDER - Fishermen from all over the Northwoods finished up the 27th Annual Charlie Baker Memorial Musky Tournament Sunday afternoon. It was held on the Moen Lake Chain in Rhinelander.

47 boats hit the water this weekend. There were 94 people entered in the tournament.

The largest fish caught Saturday was 43 inches. People say the weather Saturday was great for fishing.

Full story: WJFW

Proposed hog megafarm causes stir in northern Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE - Opponents are raising concerns about a proposed hog ``megafarm'' in northern Wisconsin.

An Iowa business plans to produce thousands of pigs annually a few miles from Ashland and the shore of Chequamegon Bay.

But plans for the Bayfield County farm are coming under fire from some residents who fear that millions of gallons of hog manure will eventually wash off the land and pollute Lake Superior.

Full story: WJFW

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