Inter-county chase leads to fatal crash | Weekly Wausonian

Wausau news for the week of July 30, 2026

One man is dead following a chase that began in Lincoln County and ended in a crash in Marathon County.

Marathon County Deputies were called to assist by Lincoln County Deputies at 12:13 pm Tuesday after they chased a man in his vehicle into Marathon heading south on Highway K.

The car crashed at the intersection of Highway K and Rainbow Drive in the village of Maine, police reports say, temporarily shutting down the road. A Marathon County deputy helped approach the car with Lincoln County deputies, and that’s when they found the man dead in the vehicle. He was the only occupant.

Wood County is investigating the incident. Neither the circumstances of the chase, nor the identity of the suspect, have been released to the public.

What else in Wausau?

Commission to start recruiting for deputy police chief: The city’s Police and Fire Commission will start recruiting for a new deputy police chief. The recruitment will replace current deputy chief Todd Baeten, who will retire in January. The commission on Monday decided to start searching internally for a new deputy police chief.

ArtRageous organization disbands; individual events go on: The ArtRageous entity has disbanded, Festival of Arts organizers told the city’s Room Tax Commission this week. But, the individual entities will continue on their own on the same weekend, and the public should see no change. Zoe Morning told the commission that ArtRageous was an umbrella organization, consisting of Festival of the Arts, Art in the Park, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum, the Center for the Visual Arts and later Rise Up. The dissolution came up at the commission meeting as this year Festival of the Arts organizers asked for $10,000 on their own toward the event, which draws both artists and tourists from outside the area because of organizers’ marketing efforts. The commission approved the award.

Finance committee approves budget for design of new police, fire stations: The city’s Finance Committee Tuesday gave an OK to setting aside funding for a feasibility study of a proposed new police station at the former UWSP-Wausau campus. The school is opening in the NorthCentral Technical College building this fall, and one round of requests for proposals for the building the county put out earlier this year didn’t turn up a successful proposal. The city is considering moving police headquarters to the campus, which would allow the city’s fire department to occupy the entire building at Station No. 1, which is currently shared between police and fire.

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Around the metro

Marathon County identifies 2027 budget priorities: A Marathon County committee this week approved setting budgeting priorities for 2027, and those include childcare. The county’s Human Resources, Finance and Property Committee identified compensation and health insurance, a child care workforce program, PC replacement, expanding the Crisis and Assessment Response Team and expanding airport service as its priorities as county administration puts together its budget. The county board approved those priorities at its Tuesday meeting.

Weston’s Community Development Authority could disband as districts near close: The village of Weston’s Community Development Authority could disband as the village’s two districts that it oversees near their closures. TIF District No. 1 is about to close this year, as soon as its remaining project costs get paid out. And TIF District No. 2 is beyond its expenditure date. That district could remain open until 2031, but staff say it will likely close before then. The commission asked staff to bring the potential for disbandment to the village board.

Kronenwetter approves zoning for county highway facility: The Kronenwetter Village Board on Monday approved the zoning for a new county highway facility. The county bought three parcels for the facility in Kronenwetter in April 2025. The facility, which is estimated to cost roughly $60 million, will replace an aging and inadequate facility, county leaders say. The move sparked debate about home displacement, and about whether it was appropriate to fund the new project with reserve funds. New County Highway Commissioner Kevin Lang explained that the building would use municipal water for its buildings, but would use a well for its brine-making operation and wash bay operations. That could use up to 1 million gallons per year.

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Business

Game store set to open in new location: The Gaming Emporium in Rib Mountain is set to move into its new location this Saturday. The store, which originally operated in the Wausau Center mall and later Stewart Avenue, opened on Rib Mountain Drive last year. As of Saturday, the store will be open in the former JoAnn Fabrics storefront next to Barnes and Noble.

Entertainment

Take That Back is unusual in that it is led by two saxophonists and is an ensemble of some of the Twin Cities’ top jazz musicians. Plus, our good friends Dig Deep are back, classical music comes to the Leigh Yawkey, our county fair starts next week and more in Your Wausome Weekend Guide!

Sports

College baseball: The Wausau Woodchucks came into Wednesday on a rare three-game losing streak, dropping two to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and one to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders. The Chucks, now 16-10 in the second half of the season, started a two-game homestand Wednesday with a chance to even the score against both teams back to back.

College softball: The Wausau Ignite are four for six as the team continues to improve over its performance in the early season. That includes a 13-0 home win Tuesday against the La Crosse Steamers. The Ignite are now 20-18, in second place but 11.5 games out of first as their season nears its close at the end of the month.

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