Investigative Reporter
Recent Stories
Oneida board rejects citizen member for Land and Water Conservation
Board also hires a new finance director
On a 15-4 vote, the Oneida County Board of Supervisors has rejected a proposal to add a citizen member to the Conservation and UW-Extension Education Committee after supervisors questioned whether unelected individuals should serve on county committees beyond those required by state law.
Oneida County tourism tops $400M in economic impact
Another record year in the books for both Oneida and Vilas counties
Oneida County tourism officials reported another record-breaking year for visitor activity in 2025, with visitors spending more than $314 million and generating a total economic impact exceeding $400 million for the first time.
County weighs closing boathouse loophole
Oneida County officials are considering changes to the county’s boathouse permitting process after discussing a potential loophole that could allow applicants to clear the shoreland area without ever constructing the boathouse that the permits are intended to authorize.
Oneida County sheriff’s officers: Flock cameras are beneficial
Unreasonable surveillance or tempest in a teapot?
A widening national controversy over the use of Flock automated license plate reader cameras has prompted multiple Wisconsin municipalities to abandon the technology amid mounting privacy concerns, but, in Oneida County, where six of the cameras are deployed, sheriff’s department officers say the system has proven to be a valuable tool that saves taxpayer dollars, accelerates criminal investigations and helps locate missing and endangered people.
State agents, police seize alcohol at Minocqua Brewing Company
State DOR, Minocqua PD on-site at MBC in Minocqua, Madison
Agents with the state Department of Revenue (DOR) Division of Alcohol Beverages were on-site at the Minocqua Brewing Company (MBC) Thursday, June 11, and at MBC’s Madison location, seizing alcohol at the establishments over compliance concerns.
Wisconsin’s tourism industry smashed records in 2025
Oneida, Vilas counties see robust growth
Wisconsin’s tourism industry shattered previous records in 2025, generating a record $27 billion in total economic impact, attracting nearly 120 million visits, and producing more than $1.5 billion in state and local tax revenue.
Report: Housing demand falls as workforce shrinks
State still faces critical housing and economic issues
Wisconsin will need to build substantially fewer housing units by the end of the decade than previously projected, according to a new report, but the author says the revised estimate reflects not an improving housing market but a rapidly shrinking working-age population.
GOP lawmakers challenge Evers’s revival of commutations
Piwowarczyk: Victims should not be blindsided
Republican lawmakers took aim last week at Gov. Tony Evers’s decision to revive Wisconsin’s commutation process, warning that the program could undermine victims’ rights, reopen traumatic wounds for families, and erode confidence in the state’s criminal justice system.
Judge rejects Bangstad effort to federalize privacy lawsuit
Conley sends Walker, Holmes case back to Oneida County circuit court
A federal judge has rejected Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad’s attempt to move a state invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against him into federal court, ruling that the dispute is fundamentally a state-law tort case rather than a federal campaign-finance dispute.
Judge tosses Bangstad First Amendment lawsuit
Court says MBC owner repeatedly violated permit conditions
Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad suffered yet another major courtroom defeat last week, as a federal judge dismissed his First Amendment lawsuit against the Oneida County planning and development committee, ruling that the evidence overwhelmingly showed officials revoked his zoning permit because of repeated violations, not political speech.