Oneida County moves closer to shoreland ordinance revisions
Agency still opposes boathouse stairs, other provisions
Oneida County is moving forward with shoreland ordinance revisions, some of which the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it won’t approve, but this week the county’s zoning director told the committee the agency had softened some positions in meetings with staff and outside counsel.
Federal judge tosses lawsuit challenging absentee witness signatures
Judge: Argument by Dem allies ‘makes no sense’
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Democratic activists that sought to void a state law requiring voters to have a witness signature for their absentee ballots.
Oneida County moves closer to job offers for HSC staff
Rideout proposes additional 50 positions for new Human Services Department
Oneida County officials have been promising for a while now that most employees of the soon-to-be-defunct tri-county Human Service Center (HSC) would be offered jobs in the county’s newly formed Department of Human Services, and sure enough the county took a big step last week in making those offers a reality, presenting a plan to the county’s executive committee to create 51 new positions for 2025.
Election year duel: Microsoft and Biden versus Foxconn and Trump
Biden: Foxconn was just that, ‘a con’
President Joe Biden, Gov. Tony Evers, and a bevy of Democrats descended on Racine County this past week to celebrate Microsoft’s announcement that it would invest $3.3 billion in an artificial intelligence (AI) datacenter campus in Mount Pleasant — and to gloat that the facility is planned for land that Republicans once promised would be an economic Goliath powered by Foxconn.
Bradley, Dallet frame age-old constitutional debate
Independent interpretation or inventing constitutional rights?
It is an argument as old as the Republic itself — whether the U.S. constitution should be strictly or loosely interpreted — and in a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision the debate exploded full scale in a case that, oddly enough, the justices decided unanimously.
Biden administration sides with tribes on Line 5
Then again, administration opposes tribes on Line 5
The Biden administration has weighed in, in court on a controversial Canadian oil pipeline known as Line 5, which runs through tribal lands, both agreeing with tribes that the Canadian pipeline owner is trespassing but opposing the court’s order to immediately shut the pipeline down.
Police remove pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UW-Madison
WILL files discrimination lawsuits against Northwestern
After issuing multiple warnings, scores of police with riot shields forcibly removed a Pro-Palestinian tent encampment from the UW-Madison’s Library Mall last week, as campus protests against Israel’s war to annihilate the terrorist group known as Hamas spread across the country.
Kaul wants state Supreme Court to allow voter drop boxes
In Teigen, Kaul argues, the previous court rewrote the law
In a brief filed last week before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, state attorney general Josh Kaul asked justices to overrule the state’s current ban on election drop boxes, arguing that Wisconsin law does not prohibit the use of drop boxes as a way for Wisconsin voters to deliver their absentee ballots in Wisconsin elections.
Federal judge denies Bangstad motion for preliminary injunction
Court stresses ruling is no reflection on the merits of case
A federal judge has denied Minocqua Brewing Company (MBC) owner Kirk Bangstad’s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have given his business immediate access across town land without the town’s permission.
Nemec is Oneida County’s new forestry director
Oneida County has a new forestry director, Jill Nemec, after the county board confirmed her hiring during its April 16 meeting.
Bangstad a no-show at supplemental examination hearing
Oneida County also files complaint for forfeitures
Legal complications for Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad continued to pile up this past week, as Oneida County filed a complaint for forfeitures for zoning violations that could cost Bangstad tens of thousands of dollars.
County board re-elects Holewinski board chairman
The Oneida County Board of Supervisors has re-elected supervisor Scott Holewinski as chairman of the board, with a unanimous vote by acclamation this week after no one ran against him.
Lakeland Times files records request for Pelican River Forest documents
Forest Service to Tiffany: DNR follows the rules
With questions still circulating about the state Department of Natural Resources’s purchase of a conservation easement in the Pelican River Forest, questions ranging from the state’s procurement of a bridge loan to fund it to the lack of coordination with local governments, The Lakeland Times has filed an open records request with the DNR to try and discover some answers.
Evers vetoes PFAS bill, orders JFC to meet
JFC Republicans: Thanks but no thanks
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed legislation last week to provide comprehensive PFAS relief to eligible communities — dollars that have been approved in the state budget — but the governor said the package of bills contained poison pills designed to help polluters, and he ordered the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to meet in special session to deal with the situation.
DA files open meetings complaint against Lake Tom officials
Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer has filed verified open meetings complaints against the Lake Tomahawk town chairman and a town supervisor, saying she believes the two violated the state’s open meetings laws when they attended an unnoticed presentation on enhanced wake boat regulations last year.
Oneida County zoning denies CUP for Cassian wellness center
Lower property values, incompatibility with land use plans cited
On a 5-0 vote, the Oneida County planning and development committee denied last week a conditional use permit application (CUP) by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC) to construct an adolescent recovery and wellness center in the town of Cassian.
Human Service Center was mired in controversy for years
County ignored opinion that model was a dinosaur
A sharp outcry from law enforcement and social services agencies these past few years in Oneida, Forest, and Vilas counties has finally led to the demise of the Human Service Center as a vendor for various mental and behavioral health services to those counties, but serious troubles have long plagued the agency dating back more than 20 years.
Sowinski crushes Fugle in Oneida County judge’s race
Oneida County assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski swept to victory Tuesday in the county’s circuit court judge’s race, defeating Oneida County corporation counsel Michael Fugle and winning nearly 67 percent of the vote.
New studies point to environmental causes for autism
A crescendo of evidence mounts for dual causation
As the numbers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have continued to climb through the years — the latest official figures from last year show that 1 in 36, or 2.8 percent, of 8-year-olds had autism in 2020 — scientists have intensified their efforts to pinpoint a cause or causes, and new studies this past year have added to a growing belief that environmental factors play a pivotal role.
OC board urges state legislature to consider enhanced wake rules
On March 19, the Oneida County board of supervisors passed and sent to the state legislature a resolution urging lawmakers to establish minimum standards that prohibit enhanced/excessive wakes within 500 feet of the shore and in waters shallower than 20 feet in depth.
GOP, Dems pass massive spending measures
Johnson in the crosshairs; Tiffany votes against minibus bills
Northwoods U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany joined other fiscal conservatives this past month in voting against two massive “minibus” spending bills, but they passed anyway as the GOP House leadership helped Democrats push the measures across the finish line.
Times files new open meetings complaint against Lake Tomahawk’s DeMet, Lopez
The Lakeland Times has filed a new open meetings complaint against Lake Tomahawk town chairman George DeMet and town supervisor Lenore Lopez, alleging that a March 13 vote to move forward with an enhanced wake boat ordinance was the product of an illegal quorum that should be overturned.
OC board opposes ‘blanket’ national forest plan amendments
The Oneida County board of supervisors voted unanimously this past week — with two members absent — to oppose implementation of blanket amendments that would be applied to all 128 Forest Service federal lands that have property management plans, rather than the current practice of making revisions on a property-by-property basis.
In judge’s race, Sowinski stresses independence, community values
Oneida County assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski, a fifth-generation resident of Oneida County from Sugar Camp, says that generational continuity and the community values it represents is a huge reason she is seeking a seat on the Oneida County circuit court as judge this spring.
Northwoods River News wins Best in Division award from WNA
Paper also earns top award for general excellence
Scoring 25 total awards and four first place awards, The Northwoods River News was named Best Newspaper in its circulation division at the 2023 Wisconsin Newspaper Association convention last week.
In race for judge, Fugle stresses leadership, experience
Oneida County circuit court judicial candidate Michael Fugle’s legal career may not have been a straight line from college to courtroom — a ski slope or two might have been involved — but the Oneida County corporation counsel says his life path has nonetheless given him the experience and leadership skills Oneida County needs right now in a judge.
Sunshine Week: Your Right to Know
Supreme Court hears censorship cases against states
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments recently in a pair of cases that could determine the strength and jurisdiction of the First Amendment, and, in turn, the future of open government.
Evers vetoes GOP-passed tax cut
Republicans cry hypocrisy; Evers says cut is unsustainable
Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed three Republican-backed bills that would have slashed taxes for retirees and lower- and middle-income earners, saying the bills would set Wisconsin on a path toward insolvency and leave the state unable to meet its basic duties.
Concern: Pelican River easement puts future of ‘working forest’ in doubt
Schienebeck: No assurance of timber production in easement agreement
The lack of a specific definition for a “working forest” in the Pelican River Forest easement could put the future of the forest in doubt and helped fuel opposition to the recently finalized easement, a timber producers professional has said.
Tiffany bill would allow local governments to reject refugee resettlements
State legislature also acts to ensure local government participation
Northwoods U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has introduced legislation that would prohibit the resettlement of refugees in any state or local jurisdictions that take action to formally disapprove of those resettlements.
County coordinator position on life support but still alive
Liaison position more likely to emerge
News analysis Like a body left for dead in the morgue but that suddenly gulps for breath, Oneida County chairman Scott Holewinski’s proposal for a county coordinator to oversee day-to-day county operations hopped off of the administration committee’s cold slab last week and will live to see at least one more meeting.
Resolution would tie elected officials to employee wage schedule
The Oneida County labor relations committee has approved and forwarded to the full county board a resolution to set the wages for 2025 through 2028 for three county elected officials — the county clerk, the treasurer, and register of deeds — which includes assigning the positions going forward to the county’s exempt wage schedule.
Lake Tomahawk property owner vindicated after neighbors’ complaints
The Oneida County zoning committee has for the second time vindicated a Lake Tomahawk tourist rooming house owner following a barrage of complaints and surveillance by neighbors that the property owner characterized as vigilante-like, harassing, and a substantial invasion of privacy.
Times files open meetings complaint against Lake Tom officials
The Lakeland Times has filed an open meetings complaint against Lake Tomahawk town chairman George DeMet and town supervisor Lenore Lopez, alleging a violation of the state’s open meetings statute when they both attended an enhanced wake boat presentation last year without properly posting their attendance as a quorum of the town board.
County board votes to create new executive committee
Super committee will replace administration, labor relations committees
While a majority of Oneida County supervisors, at least those sitting on the administration committee, are leaning against any substantive reorganization of the county bureaucracy, the same cannot be said of the committee system of elected supervisors, as the full board voted last week to create a new super committee to guide the county.
Gov. Evers signs fair maps for Wisconsin
Most legislative Democrats were against it before they were for it
On Feb. 19, with an array of smiling Democrats standing behind him Gov. Tony Evers signed a law enacting legislative maps crafted by the Evers’ administration and previously submitted by him to the state Supreme Court.
State Senate shoots down Ambs, Lawton appointments
On 22-10 vote, the state Senate last week rejected Gov. Evers’s appointment of former Department of Natural Resources deputy secretary Todd Ambs to the state’s Natural Resources Board, the DNR’s governing body.
Oneida County tightens its grip on HSC transition
Joining Vilas County — with Forest County expected to follow suit — the Oneida County Board of Supervisors amended Tuesday its 1984 joint human services agreement with those two counties, as the counties moved to strengthen their oversight and control of the Human Service Center (HSC) board.
Oneida County reorganization: The same, just more of it
Sentiment grows in Oneida County to keep the status quo
When Oneida County board chairman Scott Holewinski spearheaded an effort to look at the possibility of reorganizing the way the county operates day-to-day — including hiring a consultant to perform an assessment of potential opportunities — he envisioned bringing accountability to what he sees as a sprawling government that lacks uniformity.
Group files open records request for gun rule documents
New rule would reportedly require background checks for all gun sales
Earlier this month, the watchdog group Empower Oversight said that whistleblowers inside the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are drafting a rule that would require background checks for all guns sales in the country, effectively banning the private sale of firearms.
Tiffany encourages counties to challenge PRF easement
Holewinski says he supports test of coordination requirement
The funding may have been secured and the easement recorded, but U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany still believes the massive Pelican River Forest easement can be legally challenged, and this week he encouraged the impacted counties to do so.
State Dems push government-subsidized journalism
Three legislative Democrats have introduced a suite of bills they say will help revive an ailing local newspaper industry, including a tax credit for subscribers and the creation of a newspaper partnership with the UW System.
Assembly passes 14-week abortion referendum, Evers promises veto
On a bill that saw 11 Republicans break ranks, the Wisconsin state Assembly has passed hotly contested legislation that would send to voters a binding referendum on a 14-week abortion ban.
State Senate fires Public Service Commission member
Republicans green light Democrat Strand for PSC chairperson
The Republican-controlled state Senate has voted to reject Gov. Tony Evers’s nomination of Tyler Huebner to the Public Service Commission — the tenth rejection of an Evers’ appointee — but the chamber confirmed Lisa Strand, who joined the commission in March.
Judge denies Bangstad motion for new trial, reduced damages
A judge has denied a motion by Kirk Bangstad for a new trial and for reduced damages in a case in which a jury found that Bangstad defamed River News and Lakeland Times publisher Gregg Walker, and did so with express malice.
Evers: DNR completes Pelican River Forest easement purchase
Administration bypasses legislature; governor ignores local opposition
Gov. Tony Evers used his State of the State address last week to announce that he had completed the largest land conservation easement purchase in Wisconsin history, despite opposition not only from Republicans in the legislature but from impacted counties and towns.
Biden bets the bank on Bidenomics
News analysis It’s an age-old question when presidential elections roll around: Are you better off than you have been?
OC board torpedos HIPAA compliance software
Fried: Ensuring compliance is part of the job
On a 11-6 vote this month, the Oneida County board of supervisors shot down a request by three county agencies to purchase software they billed as a tool to help keep them compliant with federal HIPAA laws, or medical privacy regulations.
Republicans join liberals to push Final Five, ranked-choice voting
Conservatives push back, say it’s a Trojan horse
Never let it be said that there’s no such thing as bipartisanship — not only have some Wisconsin Republicans teamed up with liberal Democrats to do away with the state’s one-person, one-vote tradition of voting but it’s the Republicans leading the way on a idea mostly conceived by Democrats.
County board nixes attorney language in records requests
Supervisors cut ‘insinuation’ that counsel review all records requests
The Oneida County board of supervisors unanimously amended the public records provisions of the county code Tuesday, striking language that injected the county corporation counsel into the process of responding to public records requests.