Wausau School Board Member Patrick McKee made shock waves this week after announcing a new plan at Monday’s board meeting to reshape the school’s restructuring project.
The Wausonian on Wednesday published a break down of the plan, but essentially McKee’s retains the current middle school and high school structures and makes use of virtual learning to allow classes to draw students from both schools. It also eliminates the busing costs and added times for students.
What will happen to the plan? School Board President James Bouche was complimentary on the plan and is expected to bring it forth for discussion at the next board meeting.
See The Wausonian’s breakdown on Patrick McKee’s Wausau School Restructuring plan.
Also read our story about how YouTubers are flooding the Wausau Police Department with records requests:
What else in Wausau?
No raises for city leaders: Elected officials in Wausau will not get a raise, the city council decided Tuesday. Council members considered a 3% increase for all elected officials, but most on the council said the time wasn’t right. Ald. Tom Kilian even tried to introduce a 3% reduction in pay but that got little support.
Securing the security funding: The city council approved another $68,000 increase in funding for new security measures at city hall. Construction bids came back higher than expected partially because the city’s consultant estimated the costs using the wrong kind of glass. The total project is expected to cost $230,000.
Child abuser sent to prison: A Wausau woman who pleaded no contest to shaking a baby under her care while operating an unlicensed child care facility will be headed to prison. Merisa Wagner will serve six years in state prison and 10 years on supervision when she’s released.
Parking reduction: The city is considering reducing its parking staff down to one from two. That’s after learning the city is losing money on its parking staff. Only just less than 1/3 of the tickets issued come with a fine — most are first-time warnings drivers get. And that “first-time” status resets every year. Since one of the parking patrol officers left, city leaders are considering not filling that position for now and saving money.
Around the metro
Elk spotted in Kronenwetter: Kronenwetter police captured an elk on one of their squad dashcams recently. Check out the footage in this WSAW Channel 7 story.
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Entertainment
Saturday, Oct. 28: I will admit, I get a little excited when I hear the opening bars to Thriller - it’s just so darn fun. Meeting people on a trip who knew the dance and taught it to us, makes it even more special. Fortunately for all of you I won’t be on stage for this production, but the talented dancers of the Wausau Dance Theatre will be, and they always put on a spooky good show. 1:30 pm and 7 pm. $20, $17 for children. Check out the event page for more.
Thursday, Oct. 26: Whitewater Music Hall has been kicking up the dial on music again. This weekend they welcome Feed The Dog and Joseph Huber to their big stage. Joseph Huber is a multi-instrumentalist from Milwaukee with an interesting twist on bluegrass, that incorporates punk and traditional grass styles. Joined by jam band Feed The Dog, this will be one heck of a show. 8 pm. $20. See the event page here.
Saturday, Oct. 26: Hey, this isn’t your grandma’s bingo hall, OK? This is Moonshine Bingo, which is full of flashing light strobes and blacklight shenanigans. Plus your grandma is already in bed! This particular event is special because it comes with a Halloween theme, with a costume contest with prizes for top finishers. Did we mention there is loud music? Anyway, start putting your costume together and get those lucky troll dolls ready for a pretty wild bingo experience. Hall opens 5 pm, bingo starts at 7 pm. $20 per person. Gotta be 21 to join in. 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.
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Sports
Football: Wausau area teams have been eliminated from the state tournament last week. Wausau West lost a nail-biter to conference champion SPASH 32-31 Friday, and D.C. Everest lost to Neenah 54-28.
Boys soccer: Wausau area teams have been eliminated from the state tournament last week. D.C. Everest defeated Superior 3-0 but lost to Eau Claire Memorial 8-0. Wausau West defeated Marshfield 6-0 but then lost 8-1 to Hudson.
Volleyball: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Wausau area teams were eliminated from the state tournament this past week. D.C. Everest went the farthest, defeating Wausau East before losing to Eau Claire North. And Wausau West lost its first round to Eau Claire North.
Wausome recommendations
Good job this week to Rob Mentzer at Wisconsin Public Radio in his follow-up story on Chief Clayton Schulz. The document The Wausonian obtained must have only been a precursor summary — Mentzer obtained the full investigation report and it’s troubling. The Wausonian will be digging into this report as well.
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