A very strange allocation | The Weekly Wausonian
Wausau news for the week of Jan. 2, 2024
First off, Happy New Year! It’s still been a light week but not as light as one might have thought - as we will see below.
A surprise from an area non-profit set the city into a scramble Christmas week.
Catholic Charities told city leaders on Dec. 16 that the organization would no longer be operating the day center as of Dec. 31.
The additional challenge, besides the obvious, is that the money to pay for it was coming through ARPA - and that money had to be allocated before the end of the year or the city would lose it. Though that became more complicated.
The city met on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, to reallocate $400,000 to the police department toward homeless services, including the $32,000 to run the day center through April when it normally would close.
The decision failed at council on Dec. 26 7-2 (it needed a super majority of the total number of council members, which was eight votes).
But the city held another meeting Monday after Alderperson Terry Killian brought it back for reconsideration. She explained to The Wausonian that she’d meant to vote in favor but pressed the button accidentally.
Alderperson Victoria Tierney challenged that notion though, when it was learned that the city would have just shifted the money toward the motor pool. That money never would have been lost to the feds, Tierney asked Finance Director Maryanne Groat. Groat agreed. (The $32,000 would have though.)
You can see the exchange here:
Ultimately it passed 11-0.
Subscribers this week read about a planned shooting at IDEA Charter School that was investigated by police:
And our latest installment of Hold my Beer, the Wausau Tavern report:
What else in Wausau?
Child care grants available: Childcaring Inc. announced they are offering child care grants to help grow the ecosystem. They’re offering “free child care foundational training, free pediatric care and CPR training, a $5,000 stipend to the program and a group center job or assistance in family care startup.,” according to a press release from the organization. Marathon County went from 199 child care centers in 2012 to 83 in 2024 and families struggle to find spots for their children with long waiting lists for expensive programs.
Around the Metro
Highway 52 crash: The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office says they were at the scene of a crash on Highway 52 Monday that caused them to temporarily close down the highway. Deputies haven’t released further details of the crash but witnesses say it was severe.
Sponsored by
Sponsored by
Sponsored by
Entertainment
Friday, Jan. 3: Jackson Taylor is really growing his country music career, and he’s building it from right here in the Wausau area. Born in Medford, Taylor calls Weston home while having a full tour schedule, taking him all around the state in the next few months. His style is a very top-40, singer-songwriter style of country that might sound familiar to those who listen to modern country. Taylor considers country artists Jason Aldean, Riley Green and Canaan Smith the main influences of his acoustic guitar-driven style. Jackson played 175 shows per year, and this year will make his way to Bantr, which is starting to become a real spot for music recently, and in the event listing they promise complementary popcorn and arcade games such as Pac-Man. 8 pm. See the event page for more.
Saturday, Jan. 4: It seems like we’ve been writing a lot about Tom Jordan this week - but that’s because the founder of 20-Watt Tombstone has been playing around these parts quite a bit lately! Jordan will join Scott Kirby this week for a show at Malarkey’s Pub, one of Wausau’s leaders in the music scene. Jordan plays a mean, dirty, noisy blues rock with his slide guitar style that’s always worth checking out. And Kirby brings the chops with a blues, rock, Americana style from Rhinelander, so they should make for a solid evening. 8 pm. malarkeyspub.com
Sunday, Jan. 5: Ready to try a new sport? The kickoff of this new league took a little while longer to get off the ground than previously hoped, but the city’s first-ever broomball league is up and running. They call it a drop-in league because you can show up to any of the Sunday night games and get a spot on a team to play this sport. Broomball is kind of like hockey, but it uses a rubber ball rather than a puck, a mallet instead of a hockey stick and you use shoes, not skates. That makes it a little safer and adult-friendly. $5 per night, plus $2 to rent a hockey helmet if you don’t have one. The rest of the equipment is provided. 6 pm. See the event page for more.
Looking for kids/family events? Check out the family-oriented listing from The Wausonian’s partner Wausau Mama, who puts together a weekly listing of children/family activities.
Sports
Girls hockey: The Central Wisconsin Storm added one loss to its record last week, but continues to have a mostly winning season. The Storm beat the Metro Linx 6-0 Saturday. They also beat the Lighting Co-op 8-0 Thursday, but lost to St. Croix Valley Friday 5-4. The Storm now hold a 10-2 record heading into the 2025 half of the season.
Other sports haven’t played since Dec. 20, according to valleystats.org. They will resume next week Tuesday.
LAST CHANCE! I am raising rates in 2025 and I am going to do so on Monday morning. So if you want to lock in the 2024 rates for The Wausonian, this week is your last chance to do so. Subscribe below to see all The Wausonian’s content!