A look at the numbers of yard signs for current Mayor Katie Rosenberg and challenger Doug Diny would paint the picture of a competitive race for mayor of Wausau.
And that’s pretty much what happened. Rosenberg received 2,274 votes, or 52.58% of the vote tally. Diny wasn’t too far behind with 1,822 votes or 42.13%. Christopher Wood, who last summer became infamous for making anti-Semitic speeches on the 400 Block campus, finished a distant third with 223 votes at 5.16% of the vote.
Voters in Kronenwetter seemed to send a message of rejecting the status quo. Challenger Randy Fifrick, a previous county board member, garnered 125 votes to incumbent Joel Straub’s 71. A third candidate who announced he was dropping out but did so too late to be removed from the ballot, Alex Vedvik, still got 49 votes.
And Aaron Myszka led the way in Kronenwetter’s nine-way race for six seats, earning 20.68% of the vote. Challengers Scott Dauel, Ryan Leff and Cindy Lee Buchowski-Hoffman, and incumbents Ken Charneski and Sean Dumais made the final six who will go on to the spring election.
And in City Council District 4, Tom Neal garnered 74% of the vote, with challenger Deb Weiss earning a little more than 17% of the vote. Another challenger, Vylius Leskys, dropped out of the race but too late to be removed from the ballot.
See The Wausonian’s election night livestream with founder B.C. Kowalski and writer Devon Welsh.
This week, subscribers read the inside details about plans to create a $600,000 per year program to transition homeless women into housing:
And the response to Kronenwetter Board Member Ken Charneski’s lawsuit against the village:
Around the metro
Stabbing details: Details have emerged in a case of a man suspected of stabbing a Mosinee police officer. Randy Beardsley faces multiple charges after police say he stabbed a police officer checking on him as he lay on the sidewalk. When the officer contacted him, he was non-responsive, staring up at the sky, reports say. Then he sat up suddenly, and the officer tried to keep him seated. He then grabbed at the officer’s leg, and the officer jumped away after feeling a stabbing pain in his calf, reports say. Officers held Beardsley at gunpoint, but he wouldn’t respond to commands. K9 officer Ace ultimately bit Beardsley to get him to comply so officers could arrest Beardsley, according to court documents. Beardsley is currently being held in Marathon County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.
One more contested county board race?: County Clerk Kim Trueblood told The Wausonian this week she expects to hear back from the Wisconsin Elections Commission about whether an appeal to rejections of Jo Ann Egelkrout’s nomination signatures will in fact put her back on the ballot. The other candidate in the race, Kody Hart, challenged some of Egelkrout’s signatures as did the county clerk. That left Egelkrout with less than 50 signatures, disqualifying her from the ballot. If Egelkrout ultimately can get on the ballot, it would mean 14 contested county board races this April.
Mayors running for higher office: Mosinee Mayor Brent Jacobson announced this week that he is running for State Assembly in the newly created District 87. That’s a new district created under the new legislative maps signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers. And former Merrill mayor Derek Woellner annoucned via YouTube shorts that he will be running for U.S. Senate as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” against Tammy Baldwin. Woellner was the youngest ever to be elected to the office in Merrill when, at 25, he defeated Bill Bialecki in 2018.
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Entertainment
Friday, Feb. 23: Bob Allen is one talented guitar player and singer (and I’m not just saying that because once upon a time I was in his band!). Allen, his equally talented brother Brandon on drums and their deep groove bass player Wade Kaiser head to The Garage, which has quickly become a go-to for local music. The Allen Brothers have a wide-range of songs in their arsenal to entertain you with. 7 pm. See the event page for more details.
Saturday, Feb. 24: Back in 1918, a group of men on a farm near Withee accused of dodging the draft faced incoming lawmen set on arresting them for not participating in World War I. Instead, the situation devolved into a shootout as the Kruegers and ultimately a siege by a group of area volunteers. Marathon County’s History Speaks brings this local tale to life at its Saturday event. 2 pm. Free. Check out the event page for more details.
Monday, Feb. 26: There’s almost no chance you haven’t heard of this duo who orginated out of Atlanta — the Indigo Girls have been touring since the late 80s and really came into prominence in the 1990s, especially through their participation in the Lillith Fair tour. Songs like Closer to Fine and Galileo you’d surely recognize. For fans of the duo, here’s your chance to see them in Wausau. 7:30 pm. $45. Check out the Grand’s 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
Boys basketball: Wausau East has one game left Thursday as the Lumberjacks are tied for second in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. A Lumberjack win puts them either second or tied for second to finish the season, depending on how SPASH does. A SPASH win and a Lumberjack loss sends Wausau East to third. Wausau East is the No. 1 seed in Division 2 of the WIAA playoff tournament. They’ll take on the winner of Ashland and Merrill Friday, March 1 at home. Wausau West will take on Kaukana that day in Kaukana, and D.C. Everest will head to Hudson.
Girls basketball: Wausau West finished as the best of the Wausau area teams, with 7-5. That puts them third place in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Wausau West will head to SPASH on Friday for the first round of the WIAA playoffs. Wausau East lost a play-in to River Falls 62-51 Tuesday. D.C. Everest lost a play-in game to Eau Claire North 61-41.
Boys hockey: Wausau West lots its third playoff game to Hudson Thursday, falling 4-1 to the No. 3 seed. Conference rival SPASH then defeated Hudson in turn on Tuesday 5-3. Chippewa Falls defeated D.C. Everest 13-0 on its way to a matchup with SPASH. Merrill co-op lost its first round to The Warriors.
Girls hockey: The Central Wisconsin Storm defeated Hayward 7-3 Tuesday in its first matchup of the WIAA playoffs. That came after the No. 2-seeded Storm received a first round bye in the tournament. The Storm will play Friday 7 pm at the Mosinee Recreation Center for the Sectional Title.
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