Wausau News: Three-way contest for clerk of courts?

The Weekly Wausonian for June 2, 2022

Jun 02, 2022

You might have already seen signs for two candidates vying for the clerk of courts position. A third one might be joining them.

As of press time for The Wausonian, at least two candidates — Pam Van Ooyen and Kelly Schremp — will be on the August ballot for clerk of courts. Ben Seidler, a third potential candidate, had taken out papers but last we heard from the clerk, hadn’t filed nomination papers.

All three are running as Republicans. County offices are partisan positions, for some reason, separating them from non-partisan positions such as county board (although, I argued recently, that’s starting to become a thing of the past). That means, either way, there will be an August primary. With no Democrat running, it means whoever wins in August most likely has the position (unless a write-in somehow is successful).

Chad Billeb, currently the county’s chief deputy, is the only candidate on the ballot for Marathon County Sheriff. Billeb is running as a Republican.

Paid subscribers this week read about how the city is spending its pandemic relief dollars so far, and how much spending is coming up:

The Wausonian

How Wausau is spending millions in ARPA funding

President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law on March 11, 2021. The act is a $1.9 trillion aid package to address economic shortfalls that occurred as the result of the pandemic and America’s response to it. Municipalities, including towns, villages and cities, along with counties, are getting millions in pandemic relief…

2 years ago · B.C. Kowalski

What else in Wausau news?

Police apprehended a suspect in the robbery of Wood Trust Bank last week. Police say he was apprehended in Illinois and will be extradited to Marathon County to face charges of armed robbery of a financial institution. The suspect, Tommy Pittman, 55 of Wausau, didn’t display a firearm, police say, but implied he had one in his pocket.
A Department of Health Services report completed last week confirms Wausau’s water doesn’t meet the department’s new standards for PFAS levels, and hasn’t since at least 2019. The report recommends Wausau residents use bottled water and filters to limit exposure to Wausau’s drinking water, and thus limiting exposure to PFAS.

Around the metro

Marathon City leaders say they have no PFAS in the village’s drinking wells. As in, below one part per trillion, well below the DNR and Department of Health Service’s recommendation of 20 ppt or fewer. Mosinee also tested its wells recently, and all but one were below 20 ppt. Mosinee will be retesting its wells, per DNR request.
Speaking of PFAS, new breaking on Wednesday from Weston says that elevated PFAS levels have been found in Well Nos. 3 and 4. Weston took well No. 3 offline May 27 as its PFAS levels exceeded the new state recommendations.

Business

A new coffee shop called The Pickle Jar opened up on the city’s north side recently, and it’s pretty interesting. Besides coffee, the Pickle Jar has local crafts, vintage items and upcycled products to browse. Follow the link to find location details and hours. (The Wausonian occasionally highlights new businesses in the Wausau area. If you have a new business or know of one, send an email to keepitwausome@gmail.com.)

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Entertainment

Saturday, June 4: A number of years ago Wausau attempted to hold a Pride Parade and it became controversial really fast. The same happened with declaring June Pride Month. This year Wausau will host a daylong Wausau Pride event Saturday at the 400 Block. There will be live music, a Pride Mural unveiling, and an outdoor movie. The festivities will then proceed to Whitewater Music Hall. See the Facebook page for more information. (There’s also a daytime event so really it’s kind of going on all day.)
Saturday, June 4: Also going on Saturday, the metal/rock band SLAB will be headlining Arrow Sports Bar’s Parking Lot Party. SLAB, who’ve shared the stage with bands such as .38 Special, Foghat and Buckcherry, to name a few, bring the rock you need to unwind for the weekend. The day will also see Max Koepke and HYDE, who’ve played the 400 Block before. Plus there will be food trucks, a bags tournament and an outdoor bar. The whole thing goes on all weekend, so be sure to check out the events page for all the details.
Thursday, June 2: Yoga is getting both expensive and rare in Wausau. So free yoga, heck yeah! The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is hosting a free yoga session in its sculpture garden, starting at 5:30 pm. Bring your mat and some comfy clothes and get your down dog on. Also, the Museum stays open until 7:30 pm so you can take in some art. There, you’re all cultured now. See the event page for details, including on upcoming yoga.

Looking for kids/family events? Check out the full listing from The Wausonian’s new partner Wausau Mama, who puts together a weekly listing of children/family activities.

Sports

D.C. Everest Girls soccer finished the season without a single loss in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Evergreens finished in first place in the conference, racking up five shutouts in conference play for the season. The 12-0 Evergreens (No. 2 seed) defeated Marshfield in the first round of the playoffs 4-0 and take on Hudson (No. 3 seed) in the regional final at home on Saturday.
Wausau West defeated D.C. Everest in the first round of the WIAA baseball tournament Tuesday. The Warriors won 3-1 and will now take on No. 1 seed Eau Claire North. Everest and West tied for second in the Wisconsin Valley Conference in the regular season.
Boys tennis state tournament starts this weekend. D.C. Everest, Wausau West and Wausau East will all have players competing.
Wausau West boys golf failed to advance to the next round of the WIAA state tournament after dominating in the regular season. West finished 5th of eight teams in the sectional round.
The Wausau Woodchucks lost their season opener and home opener. The Chucks fell 11-2 to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders Monday and then lost 10-2 to the Spiders Tuesday at Athletic Park. The losses leave the Chucks tied for last in the division, along with the Lakeshore Chinooks. The Chucks took on the Chinooks Wednesday night past press time Wednesday night.
A number of competitors from 14 states and even Japan took on the Rib Mountain Adventure Challenge adventure race near Brokaw (technically village of Maine now). Team Toyota Tundra, comprised of national-level adventure racers, took the 18-hour championship. See the rest of the results here.

B.C.’s Picks

I try to bring a random fun thing for you each week. This week, it’s Pico-8, a virtual gaming console. For $14.99 you can program your own games, or just browse and play other people’s games for free right in your web browser. Maybe I’m a bit of a nerd like that, but it takes me back to the 8-bit Nintendo days.

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