Local Rhinelander Headlines

Families can make National Forest part of Christmas tradition

CHEQUAMEGON-NICOLET NATIONAL FOREST - Many families make cutting down their own Christmas tree a family tradition. Rangers hope you make the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest part of that tradition.

The U.S. Forest Service sold 740 permits to cut down trees in the forest last year. So far this year, the Eagle River-Florence Ranger District has sold more than 80 permits.

A major reason the forest service offers the permits is to get more people out experiencing the forest.

Full story: WJFW

Community saves a local youth program

RHINELANDER - In September, we told you about a Northwoods program for kids that was in danger of closing down. That won't happen...all thanks to the community.

The Kids In Need Youth Program in Rhinelander lost a lot of its grant funding for 20-15. If they didn't make up that money, the program would have to shut down.

The community didn't let that happen. The Dobbs Charitable Group made a big donation.

Full story: WJFW

Threatened hostage held in Yemen is Beloit College grad

BELOIT - Al-Qaida is threatening to kill a Beloit College graduate taken hostage in Yemen.

Luke Somers was kidnapped in September 2013 in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, where he had been working as a freelance photographer. The 33-year-old Somers was born in Britain but studied creative writing at Beloit College about 10 years ago. A spokesman for the school says Somers graduated in 2008.

Full story: WJFW

Staying safe while working out in winter

ACROSS THE NORTHWOODS - With all the cookies, cakes, and home cooked meals, staying active during the holidays can be tough. Many of us like to stay active during the holiday season. We head outside through late fall to enjoy the weather before the bitter cold winter comes.

However record setting early cold temperatures and snow forced a change in plans. Because of that the Rhinelander YMCA has had larger crowds in their training room.

Full story: WJFW

Plea deal in baseball bat beating death

WAUSAU - More than two years ago, friends found Kerby Kneiss brutally beaten to death in their Wausau garage. Police arrested two men.

Zachary Froehlich, now 21, admitted that he swung the bat that killed Kerby Kneiss. Froehlich was sentenced last month to 33 more years in prison for first-degree reckless homicide.

The other man, 23-year-old Warren Krohn, reached a plea deal in Marathon County Court on Wednesday. He pled no contest to being party to felony murder and to being party to burglary of an occupied dwelling with use of a dangerous weapon.

Full story: WJFW

26-year-old Ironwood man gets 1 year of jail after getting caught in online underage sex sting

RHINELANDER - A 26-year-old Ironwood man will spend the next year in jail, as a condition of his five years of probation, for a felony of child enticement after getting sentenced Thursday in Oneida County court.

Benjamin Lahti met a 15-year-old girl online in 2013 after posting a craigslist advertisement asking for sex. It was an undercover police officer posing as a 15-year old girl as part of a statewide police operation.

Lahti was arrested in March 2013 after going to Minocqua under the impression he was meeting the 15-year-old girl. Prosecutors Thursday said the officer repeatedly told Lahti that she was 15 years old during online chats.

Full story: WJFW

Senate Republican committee members named

MADISON - Republican Sen. Alberta Darling, of River Hills, will return as co-chair of the Legislature's powerful budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced that and other committee appointments Thursday.

Sen. Luther Olsen will remain as chairman of the Education Committee, but Fitzgerald created a new panel on education reform and government operations to be chaired by Sen. Paul Farrow.

Full story: WJFW

Local weather observers needed

NORTHWOODS - Our team of meteorologists at Weather Watch 12 focus hard on bringing you accurate weather, but we can't do it alone. Our weather watchers give us reports every day from the Northwoods community, and we're looking for more watchers to join the best weather team in the Northwoods.

"I've been kind of recording it (weather) for mainly my own observations, because we thought of doing solar and wind energy," said Armstrong Creek Weather Watcher Walter Leja. "That's why I got started in it."

Full story: WJFW

Chagnon's attorney asks Court of Appeals to review decision

OSHKOSH - Police believe a Rhinelander man made a booklet of more than 270 photos of young girls with pornographic phrases in it.

32-year-old Albert Chagnon is a registered sex offender.

Prison officers found the booklet just before he was released from prison. He now faces 23 felony counts. But if Chagnon's attorney gets his way, those charges will be dropped.

Full story: WJFW

Wisconsin DNR set to end 2014-15 wolf season

MADISON - Wisconsin wildlife officials say they're going end the 2014-15 wolf hunt on Friday.

The Department of Natural Resources has already closed four of the state's six wolf hunting zones. The agency announced Thursday it will close the last two zones on Friday.

According to agency data, hunters had taken 151 wolves as of Thursday, one more than the statewide quota. They could take even more animals before the zones close on Friday.

Full story: WJFW

Lac du Flambeau tribal members to get new IDs that meet federal requirements

LAC DU FLAMBEAU - Lac du Flambeau tribal members will be able to use new tribal IDs for a number of things. That includes using them to get into federal buildings or to fly.

The federal government created stricter photo ID requirements after the September 11th terrorist attacks, but those requirements posed problems for Native American tribes.

They wanted to be able to use their own tribal IDs when IDs are required by the federal government.

Full story: WJFW

Internet safety speaker teaches students, parents how to avoid online dangers

RHINELANDER - Some teenagers use technology to do more than just keep in touch with friends. Some use it to share nude photos.

In October, the Oneida County Sheriff's Office began an investigation into more than 40 School District of Rhinelander students who allegedly shared nude photos on their cell phones. None of those students will face criminal charges.

Instead, school leaders want to educate students about the dangers of technology.

Full story: WJFW

US defense bill to bring work to Marinette Marine

MARINETTE - The recent announcement of a $585 billion defense policy bill to counter Islamic State militants in Iraq means good news for a Wisconsin-based naval construction company.

The office of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan says the bi-partisan agreement between the House and Senate includes funding for three littoral combat ships instead of two. Marinette Marine and a Louisiana shipyard will be responsible for the construction of the ships. But it's still unclear which company will receive a contract for two of the three ships.

Full story: WJFW

Walker says right-to-work law would be distraction

MILWAUKEE - Gov. Scott Walker says he hopes Republican leaders in the state Legislature do not focus on passing a right-to-work bill.

Walker made the comments Wednesday, a day after Republican Rep. Chris Kapenga of Delafield said he planned to introduce right-to-work legislation during the upcoming session.

Walker once again did not say whether he would sign a possible bill, but reiterated that he is discouraging legislative leaders from taking up the issue.

Full story: WJFW

Local Artist Gaining Attention

SUGAR CAMP - An artist that sells his works all over northern and central Wisconsin could see a boost in the number of works he sells. Scott Schmidt takes his inspiration from the wildlife and forests of northern Wisconsin. Schmidt makes beautiful works of art by carving sculptures out of trees.

Schmidt says his grandmother and father helped give him a flair for art as a child. It was one art teacher that taught him to think beyond drawing and painting.

Full story: WJFW

Northwoods Girl Scout cookie sales going online in January

RHINELANDER - Girls selling Girl Scout cookies in the Northwoods will start selling them online this January. The new tool means you can now get cookies shipped to your home.

Tina Crofoot is an area cookie chair for the Girl Scouts in Rhinelander. She says the website won't replace the old paper sheets. Girls can also still deliver the cookies as well, but the site will give the scouts more flexibility to contact their friends and family online.

"On their emails they can send a little personalized message to each and every person that they send through, so they can make it kind of like their own mini-environment," Crofoot said. "It's kind of like their web portal or basically their online store."

Full story: WJFW

Tomahawk Department of Public Works gets new truck for free from Tomahawk Fire Department

TOMAHAWK - The Tomahawk Department of Public Works will use a modified truck from the fire department to haul snow.

The department's old truck was unreliable, so it made moving the snow difficult.

The old truck used by the Tomahawk Department of Public Works had almost one million miles on it.

Full story: WJFW

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