Officer unhoused | The Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of April 11, 2024

This week the city council approved hiring two more officers to combat what police say is a growing problem with crime committed by homeless individuals downtown.

The officers will be partially funded through foundation grants and the rest through city reserve dollars. The officers would be funded through 2025 and the city council could decide whether or not to keep them (if they don’t, the city would just not hire to replace two retiring officers to get back to 79 total officers).

Proponents say crimes downtown, including increasingly with weapons, are making people feel unsafe and are increasing. Wausau Police Chief Matt Barnes says he’s not saying all homeless people engage in these behaviors, but the small subset of those who do can’t be allowed to continue committing crimes.

Advocates for the homeless disagreed. They said adding police officers would be criminalizing homelessness and that what the unhoused in Wausau really need are more services including case management that will help people introduced back into housing stay there.

The Wausonian lays out the arguments for and against hiring more officers in the piece below:

We also showed up in court (the only media to do so) for the latest hearing in the Ken Charneski/Kronenwetter lawsuit:

What else in Wausau?

Lame-duck appointments removed: Outgoing Mayor Katie Rosenberg on Tuesday pulled her appointments of 21 different people to nine different committees after complaints from Mayor-elect Doug Diny that they were inappropriate. Many of the appointments would have been active throughout Diny’s term. City Attorney Anne Jacobson said it wasn’t technically against any city ordinances or council rules, but that the next city council could make a rule prohibiting the practice if it so chose. Diny will be sworn in before the end of the month.

Hmong leader running for Assembly: Hmong American Center Executive Director Yee Leng Xiong announced Saturday he is running for the 85th Assembly District, challenging current officer holder Pat Snyder. Xiong is also on the Marathon County Board and D.C. Everest School Board, and previously on the Weston Village Board. Snyder was technically drawn out of the district by the latest redistricting map, but says he is looking to rent an apartment in the district.

Community Paramedic: The city council Tuesday approved a new program that employs a community paramedic to deal with their chronic users of emergency services. It’s meant to lead to better outcomes for patients while providing them extra assistance and reducing the number of emergency calls the Wausau Fire Department responds to.

BREAKING — Police arrest suspect in early Wednesday morning shooting: Police arrested a suspect in a shooting around 2:30 am Wednesday on the city’s east side. Police say a resident of a home in the 200 block of N. 7th Street called 911 after one man shot another man in the leg with a gun during a dispute. The suspect, who police identified as Zach Tesky, 36, fled the scene but was later arrested by Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputies around noon, police reports say. Police say he was in possession of a stolen vehicle from the 1700 block of Stark Street that was reported stolen overnight Wednesday.

Around the metro

State Park Speedway’s last season: Officials with State Park Speedway say this will likely be the raceway’s last season. The Wimmers will no longer operate the track after this season, which most likely means that it will no longer hold races after this year, race track officials say.

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Entertainment

Friday, April 12: One of Brad Emanuel’s biggest gifts is that he knows, from years of road experience, how to work a crowd. A lot of musicians I know learned that from him too, since several of them played in his band at some point. Emanuel has been on the big stage at Hodag (and has won the state band competition there twice) and has played the 400 Block for Concerts on the Square, but he’s just as comfortable raising a beer glass in the air at your favorite bar and getting the crowd to enjoy a drink with him. Come see Emanuel’s golden voice at The Garage, Rib Mountain’s burgeoning hotspot for live music. 8 pm. See the event page for more information.

Fri-Sun, April 12-14: Don’t be fooled by the name “children’s theatre” — the Central Wisconsin Children’s Theatre group puts on some top-notch performances that’ll leave you entertained! Here they will be putting on Princess Whatsername. What’s it about? From CWCT’s website: “It begins in the Misty Forest, where a girl is sleeping all alone. But when she wakes, nothing looks familiar to her. She can’t remember anything — not where she’s from, how she got here, or even her own name! She embarks on a journey to discover her identity and meets several fairy-tale characters along the way — Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, Goldilocks, the Three Bears, Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, and Rapunzel to name a few.” 7 pm Friday and Saturday, 2 pm Saturday and Sunday. Check out the event page for more.

Tuesday, April 16: The New Beginnings organization has done wonders for the refugees coming to the Wausau area. Outreach to the community is an important part of that mission. With that, the non-profit organization will be hosting this screening of The Swimmers at the Grand Theater. The film is a “2022 BAFTA-nominated film that tells the true story of two sisters working to save refugees at sea,” according to the description. New Beginnings staff will hold a question and answer session afterward. Free. 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

Baseball: Wausau West came out to a blistering start to the season, defeating Wausau East 6-2 on Tuesday. The Warriors will play Wausau East again today (Thursday).

Softball: D.C. Everest is off to a strong start on the season, shutting out Wausau West 11-0 in the first game of the year. The Evergreens will head to Wisconsin Rapids next week.

Girls Soccer: Wausau East and D.C. Everest kick off their seasons today (Thursday).

Boys tennis: Wausau East, Wausau West and D.C. Everest kick off their seasons today (Thursday).

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