Government

A former Lac du Flambeau man has been sentenced to prison on reduced charges of fraud and racketeering.

53 year old Kevin Dean Maulson was sentenced Thursday in Vilas County Circuit Court to three years in prison and 15 years extended supervision.

Maulson was first charged in 2008 with 14 counts. The original criminal complaint alleges 10 individuals or businesses invested about $1.2 million in Maulson’s company, AmeriCash Inc. but were never repaid.

The Elcho School Board has hired an Eau Claire firm to take a look at some of the district's aging facilities.

Superintendent William Fisher says the idea is to take stock of the condition of the school buildings...

"....we have an aging elementary building the(dates) to 1938 and we have some aging boilers. So we decided to move forward and hire the architectural firm of SDS out of Eau Claire to come in and do a facility analysis...."

Changes by the state concerning mandatory numbers of days will enable the Rhinelander School District to make up some time lost due to inclement weather.

Superintendent Kelli Jacobi explains how the days will be made up....

"....there are two early release days coming up. One is on March 25 and one is on May 20. Those early release days have been canceled. They will now be full school days for students...."

A Tomahawk woman has entered a not guilty plea to party to first-degree intentional homicide.

33 year old Latoya Wolf of Tomahawk appeared in Oneida County Circuit Court Tuesday before Judge Michael Bloom.

She was charged in January with allegedly being at the scene of the 2003 death of her uncle Kenneth Wells. His body was found in the Wisconsin River. Initally ruled a drowning, the death was   later  found to allegedly be intentional. Wolf's ex-husband Shannon is charged with the death. He's serving 12 years in prison for another incident where he attacked Latoya.

The Federal Communications Commission last week voted "yes" on Internet neutrality rules. The three-to-two vote came along party lines. Under the new set of rules, broadband Internet will be classified as a common carrier and will be regulated like a typical utility.

One person who watched the issue closely was Don Sidlowski of Three Lakes. He's a government and civic activist for the Northwoods Broadband and Economic Development Coalition. He says he favored an open Internet and was positive for consumers...

A petition to cancel Rhinelander's Business Improvement District downtown has gotten the needed signatures to dissolve the district, but supporters aren't done yet. Emotions on both sides of the issue came out at a required Planning Commission meeting Tuesday(3/2).

The city council chambers was filled with mostly supporters of keeping the BID district. The district started nine years ago with businesses paying extra to promote retention and development of business downtown.

Ten people have been arrested in Forest County as a result of a narcotics sting.

The Forest County Sheriff’s Office and North Central Drug Enforcement Group are wrapping up a five-month undercover investigation. 

Officers executed search warrants at three residences in the Crandon area. 

Charges against those arrested include possession and delivery of narcotics. 

A 19-year-old woman from Beaver Dam has died after crashing her snowmobile.

The accident happened in St. Germaine, near Highway 70 just south of East Holiday Drive.

The Vilas County Sheriff’s office says Emily Lyons went off the trail and struck a tree.  She was airlifted to Wausau hospital for her injuries, but died Sunday.

The accident is under investigation by the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office and the WI DNR.

It’s the 11th snowmobile fatality so far this winter.

After a meeting Thursday evening, the Nicolet College Board of Trustees has picked their top candidate to become the next college president.. Nicolet Board Chair Ron Zimmerman give us more details...

"....the board chose to pursue the candidate Dr. Richard Nelson as our next president of Nicolet College, contingent on a site visit. We're trying to make arrangements to go to New York and visit the college he's at, talk to some people out there and see how that goes...."

About two-dozen picketers took to the streets of Rhinelander Thursday to protest the Right To Work measures moving through the Wisconsin legislature.

Speakers at the rally felt the bills would largely set Wisconsin on a path to lower wages, benefits and working conditions. The state Senate passed the bill largely along party lines with Republican Jerry Petrowski joining 14 Democrats opposed to the bill.

Kevin Koth is a union officer at the PCA Tomahawk Mill...