The ethics plot thickens | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of May 1, 2025

The Wausonian spent most of a 12-hour day yesterday covering matters related to the fallout from Mayor Doug Diny removing a ballot box from the steps of city hall last September.

That included a morning hearing in Marathon County Court related to the Dinys seeking their seized property back, which only The Wausonian attended. A judge scolded prosecutors for not having answers to arguments ready and revealed that the warrant for the raid was and remains sealed and was filed in Eau Claire County, outside Marathon County’s district.

A further update we published related to the ethics board Tuesday afternoon deciding to delay for months the hearing in the ethics complaint filed against Diny, after the board learned that the city attorney and the city clerk said they wouldn’t comply with a subpoena to appear at the hearing, citing the ongoing DOJ investigation. The city attorney instead provided a list of alternative witnesses and the ethics board, after already making a probable cause determination, plans to investigate further.

And finally, the city council rejected 10-0 a slate of appointments to the ethics board that Diny proposed, saying it was inappropriate for the mayor to make appointments to a board that’s currently investigating him.

That all happened yesterday, and The Wausonian was on hand to report all of it:

On a lighter note, we also reported on a new aesthetics business, which is partnering with a dermatologist Wausonian readers ought to be familiar with, Dr. Stephen Lewellis from our story on his new business Above and Beyond Dermatology. Read about the partnership with Skinnovations here:

And, we featured our latest Full Court Press, covering the civil court cases filed in Marathon County:

What else in Wausau?

The city council Tuesday took a number of other actions. Here is a council notebook roundup of those items:

• AI police software: The council approved 10-0 the purchase of AI redaction software that, during its trial period, already cut the wait time for records requests in half. Police Chief Matt Barnes said thanks to the software he won’t need to hire another staff member to deal with the backlog, which mostly is the result of needing to redact videos.

• HR director: The council approved by 9-1 the appointment of Lisa Nowak as the HR Director. Gary Gisselman voted against her appointment.

• Special event fee: The council approved an amendment to the special event fee that will remove the fee for any event that is canceled and doesn’t require any city services.

• Beer gardens: The council unanimously voted down a proposal to host beer gardens in city parks. The main concern council members expressed was the plan to have parks employees serving beer - that idea didn’t sit well with some council members, some of whom changed their minds since it was discussed at the committee level.

• Wausau Chemical access: The council approved unanimously a resolution to allow Wausau Chemical to access one of its old buildings on the Riverfront. The resolution allows the company to access its former property in order to answer a lawsuit the city filed against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals.

New shelter set to open today: Wausau police are set to open the city’s homeless shelter today (Thursday) as the city continues to seek an organization to run it. The Police Department is seeking volunteers to help run the shelter. The Police are doing this as a stopgap after Catholic Charities announced it would no longer run the Good Shepherd Shelter starting in May. The shelter is located at First United Methodist Church. The police appear to be looking for staff for the shelter too, according to a post last week. Check out the WMC Shelter page on Facebook for more details.

The Grand Theater launches major renovation campaign: The Grand Theater launched a major renovation campaign as the theater enters its second century of existence. The theater plans to raise $17 million to improve the theater including upgrading the seats and sightlines, fixing the roof and upgrading the Grand’s infrastructure, adding better accessibility and enhanced technical capabilities, and a major upgrade of the Great Hall. Grand Theater officials say the theater already has $12 million of the needed $17 million for the renovations.

Around the metro

Task force action leads to trafficking conviction: A 37-year-old Weston man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for his role in trafficking more than 50 grams of methamphetamines. Dustin Bunker will also serve five years on extended supervision after his release, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney for the Western District’s office. Bunker’s arrest came about as a result of an investigation by the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force.

Weston gets grant for Yellowbanks kayak improvements: The village of Weston hopes to soon seek bids on an ADA accessible kayak launch at Yellowbanks Park along the Eau Claire River. The village has received a matching grant from the DNR for $48,000 and other grants totaling $22,500 to complete the project. Parks Director Shawn Osterbrink told the Parks Committee there are items that the village can do itself to save money, so will seek contractors for those items outside of the village’s scope. The total project cost is expected to be between $98,500 and $107,700.50, Weston Administrator Jami Gebert told The Wausonian.

Rian Nyblom pleads guilty in Lincoln Hills case: Rian Nyblom pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of battery by prisoner as party to the crime. Nyblom’s charges stemmed from an incident at Lincoln Hills Correctional Facility Nyblom was involved in that led to another prisoner attacking a female guard and later a male guard, Corey Proulx, who later died as a result of his injuries.

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Entertainment

The Grand Theater has quite the busy weekend with Marty Stuart, a Michael Jackson tribute act with a bonus show, and Ben Folds. But there is also a birding hike, Brad Emanuel with his award-winning Hodag lineup and much more! Check out our Wausome Weekend Guide 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

Softball: D.C. Everest notched another win as it continues the season undefeated in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Evergreens defeated Wausau West 6-2 Tuesday to improve to 6-0 as they lead the Wisconsin Valley Conference. They’ll take on No. 2 SPASH at home today (Thursday).

Baseball: D.C. Everest is off to a blistering start with a 4-0 record in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Evergreens last week defeated Wausau East 5-3 and their game was rained out on Tuesday. They head to Wisconsin Rapids today.

Girls Soccer: Wausau West currently leads Wausau area teams with a 1-0 record but they will have their work cut out for them as they take on No. 1 SPASH (2-0) today (Thursday). Everest trails closely with a 1-1 record.

Boys tennis: D.C. Everest is currently tied for second with SPASH in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, but the Evergreens and the Panthers will settle that today as D.C. Everest heads to SPASH. Both teams are currently 1-1 in conference play.

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