A failure to reconsider | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of March 12, 2026

Last month the Wausau City Council voted to approve awarding a HUD grant to two area non-profits to spread the word about lead abatement. That came despite concerns that the proposal process was rushed and was held over the holiday season.

The city council on Tuesday barely upheld that decision; but that came after more controversy and scrutiny over the terms, which included concerns that funding might be going to exorbitant salaries.

After debating for most of Tuesday’s city council meeting, the council voted 9-2 affirming the decision to award the grant to HOLA and New Beginnings. After some council members later expressed confusion on what they were voting on, the council held another vote to reconsider the decision, which failed 6-5.

City Council Member Victoria Tierney questioned some of the spending in the grant, which included a six-figure salary when only a handful of homes would see lead actually addressed under the program. Tierney said she wanted to see less money going toward administration and more money going toward education and actually removing lead from homes.

But Community Development Manager Tammy Stratz told the council that while the grant itself only abates lead in a few homes, the grant sets up the city’s ability to do so, leading to future monies that would help remove lead from more than 150 homes. She said the salary was only reported for the purposes of the grant, and that the money would be going toward employees who will be “boots on the ground.”

And City Council President Lisa Rasmussen told the council that the grant is complex — the city nearly considered not accepting the grant money because of the complexity of the federal requirements. Lead abatement will happen with a separate pot of money through a combination of federal grants and loans, as The Wausonian has reported. The money is intended to help communicate with Spanish and Hmong-speaking residents when city staff aren’t able to.

Our latest election story revolves around Wausau’s Firefighter referendum — and we dive into why it was necessary in the first place:

Thomas Street area residents, including Tom Kilian, told the city they thought the area was polluted for years. Turns out, they were right:

What else in Wausau?

Wausau school district buying iPads: The Wausau School Board approved the district buying iPads for students to use in Horace Mann and John Muir middle schools. The iPads are meant to replace the Chromebooks students currently use. Teachers say they wanted the iPads because they have better tools for learning, administration and creativity and were more durable than the Chromebooks, which broke often. And, with a buyback program they’re actually less expensive than the Chromebooks. The board voted to use $610,000 from the 2022 referendum money to purchase the iPads. That referendum asked voters to fund classroom upgrades, security upgrades, upgrades to the school forest and to tackle deferred maintenance on the district’s buildings.

Former firefighter sentenced in drug theft: A former Wausau paramedic pleaded guilty and received a probation sentence after he stole drugs from the department meant for patients. Jared Thompson pleaded guilty Monday in Marathon County Court to two counts of misconduct in office and two counts of theft of less than $2,500. According to criminal complaint, Thompson was found to have used his access as an EMS division chief to procure hydromorphone and fentanyl, much of which he used himself. As The Wausonian reported last year, an alert firefighter noticed used drug packaging in the bathroom and began investigating, ultimately leading to Thompson being arrested on suspicion of stealing drugs from the Wausau Fire Department.

Around the metro

Man injured in sugar shack explosion: A man was injured when his sugar shack exploded in the 170200 block of County Line Road in the town of Hewitt, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office officials say. The 59-year-old man was found with burn injuries when deputies arrived on scene at 3:59 pm March 5. The man was transported to the hospital to treat his injuries. Sheriff’s officials say the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.

Rothschild says water is PFAS-free since filtration installed: The village of Rothschild says there have been no PFAS in samples of its water since the village installed a new PFAS filtration system, which the village announced in January.

County gains from TIF closure: Marathon County received a six-figure check from Marathon County in December resulting from the closure of the city’s TIF District. The county received $257,238 from the city of Wausau for its share of the proceeds following the closure of TIF District No. 6. The city closed the district recently after extending the district an extra year, which allowed the city to spend TIF money affordable housing.

Kronenwetter approves final resolution for a mining permit: The village board approved the final resolution authorizing a conditional use permit for a mine within the village limits, despite the objections of numerous residents. The approval, by a vote of 4-2, came despite Board Member Ken Charneski pointing out that limits on the lifetime of the project from 10-15 years and on the scope of the project were no longer included. The Millstone Mine has been a hot button issue for Kronenwetter residents who are concerned about noise, pollution, traffic and the potential decrease in their property’s value.

Kronenwetter appoints new trustee: After a vacancy was left in the village earlier this year, the board now has the seat filled. The village board on Monday appointed Dan Lesniak to the open seat. Lesniak served on the village board from 2006 to 2022 and after a year away from village politics, joined the plan commission. The board selected Lesniak after a board member changed their vote following a 3-3 tie with former board member Alexander Vedvik. The seat was left open after board member Mary Jensen resigned in early February.

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This week in data

Forward Analytics shared some data around affordability in Wisconsin at a recent county meeting. While wages rose 90% since 2000, many other services and goods rose at a much higher rate.

We compiled the data into the visualization you see below:

Entertainment

The Blues Cafe brings the biggest indoor blues event of the year to the Rothschild Pavilion this weekend. Plus, an amazing drum act from Japan, a night of heavy Celtic music and much more in Your Wausome Weekend Guide.

Looking for kids/family events? Check out the full listing from The Wausonian’s partner Wausau Mama, who puts together a weekly listing of children/family activities.

Sports

Boys basketball: No. 1 seeded D.C. Everest defeated its first WIAA playoff opponent, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, 66-60 Friday, but lost the next day to Neenah 66-52. Wausau West lost to Marshfield 74-35 after beating Superior and Wausau East lost to Rhinelander 64-52 in Division 2. That eliminates Wausau area Wisconsin Valley Conference teams from the tournament.

Girls basketball: Mosinee will play in the WIAA State Semifinal today (Thursday) at 1:15 pm. Mosinee will take on No. 1 seeded Oostburg for a chance at heading to the state championship.

Junior league hockey: The Wausau Cyclones will begin the first round of the Fraser Cup playoffs after winning their last two home games of the season. The Cyclones will head to Rochester Friday for the first game of the series and take on the Rochester Grizzlies at home Saturday. If a third game is necessary to complete the three-game series, Wausau will head back to Rochester on Sunday. The Cyclones finished the season by defeating the Peoria Mustangs 6-5, the same score on both Friday and Saturday. Wausau finished the regular season 27-19 with one overtime loss.

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