Monthly open thread: August 2023
It turns out I’m way behind on my Open Thread post. But that’s just because there were so many great stories to cover this month.
Easily the biggest was on the showdown at the library, the latest in what is becoming a common culture war battleground there.
The book battle
A woman approached me after Monday’s library board meeting. She’d been the person to ask for a book in the children’s section to have some kind of label because of its graphic nature. I can’t recall the exact quote, and we didn’t exchange names, but she looked a bit exasperated when she said she wished there were some way we could all come together and figure this out.
But otherwise, we had some great stories in July, though it’s almost hard to remember stories from way back then in this fast-moving Wausau news environment.
It seems like a long time ago that we were covering the chaos in the Northwoods that was Kirk Bangstad’s battle with Oneida County:
Chaos foams over in the Northwoods
Before this thing is over, I’m going to run out of brewing puns. The foam has officially run over in Minocqua as a meeting around the brewery’s future devolved into chaos. Minocqua Brewing Company, run by the bombastic progressive Kirk Bangstad, found itself in the fight of its life as the brewery faced violations of his administrative permit, which the…
And we still don’t know what happened to Cindy Schulz-Juedes, who died in prison a year after being sentenced in the killing of her husband. But we know it’s being treated as a homicide. It also led The Wausonian to be selected for an interview for a TV show on the murder and trial:
Cindy Schulz-Juedes died in prison after being sentenced last year for the 2006 killing of her husband Kenneth Juedes
Despite what some might say to the contrary, it’s not every day when a murder arrest comes up in the court docket in Marathon County. It’s even more rare when the arrest is for a murder that happened in 2006. So many in attendance were understandably befuddled on a chilly November 2019…
And it’s hard to believe this was still a July story, about the Wausau wealth manager convicted of defrauding seniors - and my own near brush with him:
Tidbits
WarJacks mascot: WSD has taken a lot of heat on the mascot issue (not to mention, the redistricting itself). It seemed like the most logical mascot choice, since it combines both mascots nice and neatly. Turns out, the principle users of the WarJacks logo is Wausau Youth Hockey, and it turns out, they’re not only OK with the district using the logo - they’re thrilled:
If chosen, it will be our honor to partner with the school district and together strive to create a cooperative, inclusive, and spirited environment. We will stand by our commitment to continue to bring Wausau together not only through hockey but as a community. Go Warjacks! (Seth Sierk, president of Wausau Area Youth Hockey)
Well that settles that.
Downtown doings: It’s been a couple of weeks since Wausau Opportunity Zone told us everything is fine at the mall redevelopment site while the main project kicking everything off has been delayed for at least a year due to lack of funding. Now the city council is holding a special meeting Monday, which includes a closed session, on a possible extension of their development agreement since now they won’t meet the deadlines spelled out in its deal with the city.
In case you’re wondering what happened:
Wausau Mall project delayed until 2024 due to lack of funding
The Wausonian in April reported that developers of the first project slated for the former Wausau Center mall site seemed to be seeking additional investment from certain Wausau residents. Area business leaders got a mailing seeking their investment in the Foundry on Third project.
This week’s question:
What are your thoughts on Minocqua Brewing Company and its owner, Kirk Bangstad? Was he wronged by the town/county, or is he causing trouble for himself? Or a little bit of both? For obvious reasons, I won’t weigh in on the comments other than with factual information. 1
We just learned that Kirk Bangstad is suing the town and its officials in federal court, alleging they discriminated against him for his political views. More on this later.