Kronenwetter changes and other election results | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of April 3, 2025

Village of Kronenwetter leadership will see a number of new faces starting this month.

David Baker, a former county board member, was elected village president over fellow challenger Aaron Myszka Tuesday. Baker earned only 18 more votes than Myszka, winning 1,528-1,510. Both defeated incumbent president Chris Voll in the primary in February.

Kronenwetter also has three new board members after Tuesday. Sandi Sorensen, Dan Joling and Jessica Stowell were elected to the board from six candidates - all are newcomers.

In Weston, Mark Maloney held on to the presidency, defeating challenger and board member Jim Pinsonneault. Village residents also elected Maloney, Pinsonneault and Barb Ermeling to the village board, with Hooshang Zeyghami not making the cut. However, Maloney in his interview with The Wausonian said if elected, since he would have to give up the board seat, he planned on appointing whoever wasn’t elected to the open seat.

Residents in the Wausau School District narrowly defeated a referendum that sought to exceed levy caps by $8 million per year to address a budget deficit and deferred maintenance in the district. District leaders made the case that this wouldn’t cost taxpayers money because the district planned to get the funds by not paying off debt as aggressively as it had. Echoing what district leaders said in a public meeting last March, Superintendent Cale Bushman said “With the result of the referendum vote, our current financial situation will require our district to make some difficult decisions moving forward.” That could include “staffing reductions, continued deferment of maintenance projects, reductions in funding for activities/athletics, reduction of course offerings, and possible salary freezes,” Bushman says. (Read Bushman’s full statement on the district site.)

Town of Bergen voters overwhelmingly voted for write-in for the town clerk position over Gloriann Doyle. Doyle was recently charged with multiple felony counts of forgery, theft of more than $100,000 and misconduct charges after prosecutors accuse her of stealing from the town in order to pay back money she defrauded from the non-profit she was employed at. Amy Veenendaal, who launched a write-in campaign, earned 177 of the 188 votes to win the race. Meanwhile, Doyle pleaded not guilty to the charges as part of a preliminary hearing. She remains in custody on a $50,000 cash bond.

Pete Nievinski was elected the next Mosinee mayor, defeating fellow challenger Keith Brod 1,224-360. He’ll replace former mayor Brent Jacobson.

Subscribers this week read our Wausau Tavern report, which contained a pretty serious crime last month:

And readers got our previews for the Weston Village President race and the village of Kronenwetter board race ahead of Tuesday.

What else in Wausau?

Rules for thee: The city council rules committee, not ordinarily the most newsworthy of committees, debated the merits of the mayor delivering speeches before meetings and whether or not enough decorum was being maintained in meetings. The committee elected to require a public comment period be added to the agenda of standing committees, and it is looking into whether a general “Mayor’s Communication” agenda item is sufficient to meet public records laws or whether a specific topic ought to be added to the agenda so the public can be sufficiently notified. The committee is also considering whether to ban signs from the council chambers during meetings. Any rule changes must be approved by the council in a committee of the whole meeting. Committee member Michael Martens said the rules review came about after a number of residents complained about how the city council meetings were being run, and several council members also shared those concerns.

Ice outages: A late-season ice storm left several in the Wausau area without power Monday. WPS estimates 60,000 customers statewide were left without power, and that included outages in Marathon County and central Wisconsin. Some in the Wausau area are still without power as were many residents in the Northwoods Wednesday morning. A total of 9,225 customers were without power as of Wednesday morning.

Around the metro

River rescue: Rescue workers pulled a man who is suspected of running from officers from the Wisconsin River last week. According to reports obtained by The Wausonian, a 19-year-old man on March 27 stumbled drunk onto someone’s porch in Rib Mountain and demanded to be let in, ultimately throwing a landscaping brick through another resident’s sliding glass door. Deputies found a blood trail leading from the broken glass to another yard. When they followed the trail, they encountered the man who then ran from deputies, walking over the ice on the Wisconsin River and then swimming into the water. He was in the water for 15-20 minutes, police reports say, and ultimately came back to the ice. That’s when SAFER rescue workers pulled him ashore, according to deputies reports. Authorities expect to charge the man with criminal trespassing to property. Sheriff’s Department officials say they consider this a mental health incident and thus did not put out a new release about the incident.

Technical snag in Kronenwetter led to extended hours: The village of Kronenwetter had some technical hiccups Tuesday morning and had to switch to paper poll books - but, village officials say many had already left the polling site over frustrations with long wait times. Kronenwetter clerk Jennifer Poyer says the village received a court order allowing it to keep polls open until 9 pm. (CORRECTED: A previous version of this post said ballots instead of poll books.)

Entertainment

New Age Phonograph packs a bluesy, vintage sound with the aesthetics to match, Bradley Sperger brings his one-man show to The Garage, a look at a couple of long-term shows that have a likelihood of selling out such as The BoDeans, and so much more in our Wausome Weekend guide:

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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Business

Malarkey’s sale to hospitality group closes Tuesday: A hospitality group called Fork Truck Food Group recently bought Malarkey’s Pub, sources with the group confirmed to The Wausonian. The city’s Public Health and Safety Committee last week awarded the pub’s liquor license to Ryan Gallagher, Paul Grinsel and Jesse Bartnik of the group, contingent on the sale closing. Malarkey’s founder Tyler Vogt announced last week that he was selling Malarkey’s in order to focus on Westsider Diner and a new business he has not yet disclosed.

New El Tequila Salsa location opens: A new location for Rib Mountain Mexican restaurant El Tequila Salsa opened last month. The new location was built from scratch along Highway NN in Rib Mountain near Granite Peak, as the restaurant leaves behind its own location next to IHOP and across the street from Era Pancakes.

Sports

High school spring sports kick off soon: Softball conference season kicks off April 8, and baseball, girls soccer and boys tennis kick off the following week.

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