The River's Edge Connection | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of July 24, 2025

Wausau leaders voted to buy a property along the Wisconsin River on the city’s near West side that will pave the way for future expansion of the city’s River’s Edge Trail.

But, those leaders apparently punted on the purchase of two other properties that would have done the same further north.

Following a closed session, a joint meeting of the city’s Finance and Economic Development committees approved the purchase of 201 N. First Avenue, which had been the site of MBX Packaging.

The site is one of the few that formerly didn’t allow an easement on its property, meaning a break in the River’s Edge Trail on the West side of the river between Stewart Avenue and Bridge Street.

Despite also being on the closed session agenda, however, the committees took no action on similar purchases of MBX properties on Cherry Street (901 and 1022). That would have helped extend the trail north of Bridge Street.

The larger purpose of the purchases was to remove industrial uses from the river, Community Development Director Randy Fifrick told The Wausonian earlier this week. The city did that with the RiverLife area.

The Wausonian reached out to Fifrick Wednesday to learn more about what the future of the Cherry Street sites is. Fifrick says “we continue to keep the conversation going” around the Cherry Street sites.

County leaders nearly rejected the funding for this pilot program - now it’s keeping children with their families and saving money to boot:

It’s another edition of Trying to Reason with Construction Season, where we break down the street work in the Wausau Metro and show you where to avoid.

What else in Wausau?

Wausau School District sells one of three elementary schools: One of three elementary schools closed as part of the school district’s restructuring has been sold, Wausau School District leaders say. The district has a purchase contract to sell the Hawthorne Hills Elementary property, according to a release from the district. The District is also selling Hewitt-Texas and Grant Elementary school properties, working with real estate agent Tim Wimmer. The sales is expected to close in mid-August, the district says.

This week in data

Concerts on the Square rainouts at 50/50 rate: A fourth Concerts on the Square event has been rained out Wednesday as Wausau Events moved the Brass Differential show inside at the Rothschild Pavilion. A Wausonian analysis shows that half of the shows this year had been rained out and moved inside - four of the eight planned so far.

Around the metro

Sheriff’s Office investigating crash in Frankfort: Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a crash that killed a 10-month-old child and left four others injured last week Wednesday on Highway 97 in the town of Frankfort. According to police reports, the vehicle left the road and crashed into a ditch on Highway 97 between Blueberry and Blackberry roads, ending up in a creek. Wet conditions were believed to have contributed to the one-vehicle crash. Besides the ten-month-old, there was a driver, a 34-year-old woman and two other children in the vehicle. No names have been released and the crash is still under investigation.

Deputy justified in New Hope shooting, investigation finds: The deputy who shot a suspect in a two-person homicide in New Hope has been cleared of any charges, the Portage County District Attorney’s office announced. According to a press release about the incident, which the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office assisted in investigating, the deputy found the suspect, John Schulfer, outside the residence holding a gun. The deputy identified himself and ordered Schulfer to drop his weapon. Instead, the report says, Schulfer raised the gun toward the deputy, who then fired his rifle three times. Schulfer is currently being treated for injuries in the hospital for his injuries and, the report says, admitted to shooting the two victims. The two victims are Paula and Dale Shulfer, 52 and 53, John Schulfer’s mom and dad.

Tiffany eyeing guv run: Multiple sources suggest Tom Tiffany may be eyeing a run for governor. Tiffany’s campaign secured the website tomtiffanyforgovernor.com, which currently redirects to Tiffany’s Congressional campaign page. A spokesperson for Tiffany told multiple media outlets that Tiffany won’t make a decision until after July. That news comes amidst reports that current Gov. Tony Evers won’t seek a third term - but Evers says that decision hasn’t yet been made, according to wispolitics.com.

Sponsored by

Entertainment

One of the largest Hmong festivals in the area takes place at the People’s Sports Complex this weekend, plus the grand opening of the new Bull Falls Brewery, a kids magic show, a paddle pub crawl, the kickoff of the Wisconsin Valley Fair 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.

Sports

College softball: The Wausau Ignite softball team managed to string together a pair of back-to-back wins against the Mankato Habaneros and take a three-game series, its first series win of the inaugural season. The Ignite beat the Habaneros in a doubleheader 5-1 and 3-1 Saturday after losing to the Habaneros 9-0 on Friday. But a 12-3 loss on Tuesday against the Madison Night Mares puts the team at 9-24 on the season, last place in the league.

College baseball: The Wausau Woodchucks have been on a tear lately, notching a blistering 18-8 win against the Lakeshore Chinooks Tuesday after sending the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders packing with a 21-11 win. That caps a five-game win streak as the Chucks improve to 14-3 in the second half of the season, leading the Great Lakes West with a 3.5-game lead over the Madison Mallards.

Boys hockey: The Wausau School District announced they’ve hired Travis Brown as the new coach of the Wausau West Warriors. Brown is a former West player, served as an assistant coach for the Warriors for 11 years and helped develop several players into the highest levels of the sport, including the NHL. That comes on the heels of news that the district hired a new head coach, Brian Bednarczych, as head of the Wausau East-Merrill Bluejacks.

---

Email me at brian@thewausonian.com. And as always, thanks for subscribing to The Wausonian! If you haven’t subscribed yet, check out the free and paid options below to help support local journalism:

Interested in a group subscription? Keep your employees or management team informed with a group subscription with The Wausonian. Don’t let your team be left in the dark! Interested in 25 employees or more? Email me at brian@thewausonian.com for rates.