News

The Wausau Police Department wants to find the man who pulled off an armed robbery early Saturday morning.

According to a Facebook post, Wausau Police say the robbery happened at 12:45 a.m. Saturday at a convenience store in the 300 block of Grand Avenue.

The vehicle involved is missing a hubcap.

If you can identify this vehicle or person, please contact the Wausau Police Department at (715) 261-7811 or call Marathon County CrimeStoppers at 877-409-8777 (you can remain anonymous).

A K-9 officer that helped patrol the streets of Rhinelander for nearly a decade has died.

The Rhinelander Police Department announced the passing of retired K-9 Drago in a Facebook post over the weekend.

Drago was born in Southern Wisconsinin in 2007, and went on duty after he and his human partner Sergeant Angela Welch completed their initial four-week certification course in April 2009.

During the course of his career, Rhinelander police say Drago had a total of 546 call outs resulting in 147 narcotic finds and many criminal apprehensions.

A retired couple from Minocqua are among travelers unable to return to the United States, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Mary Myers and Daryl Carrington were traveling in South America when word came in the night while camping on a mountain in Peru that they had to leave. It didn't work. When they got to the airport in Cusco it was chaotic and they found that they couldn't get on the plane if they didn't have boarding passes.

A Vilas County judge denied a request to modify the sentence for a man convicted in the death of his wife 20 years ago.

Genelle Plude died in October of 1999 in Land O’ Lakes.

Her husband Douglas Plude had originally been convicted of murder by a jury in 2002, but that conviction was overturned by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2008.  That decision came after the credibility of one of the state’s witnesses was called into question.

Plude was then convicted of first degree reckless homicide in a plea agreement, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Gov. Tony Evers Saturday delivered a short message to state residents: stay home.

Below is the press release and a link to Evers message via YouTube.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2020

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today reminded Wisconsinites to follow the guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), urging the public to stay home as much as they are able to help protect the health and safety of Wisconsin's healthcare workers.

Oneida County is telling people with a second or seasonal home within its borders not to visit.

It’s also telling snowbirds not to come back to the county during the coronavirus outbreak.

If people have already returned, the county wants them to self-isolate for two weeks.

In a release, the county pointed out it has one of the highest populations of older adults in Wisconsin and “very limited healthcare infrastructure.”

Oneida County Public Health is offering a daily update on local testing concerning the COVID-19 outbreak. Director Linda Conlon says they're getting word out on social media...

"We will be putting on our Facebook page Monday through Friday for Oneida county how many tests we have done, how many negatives, how many positives, if we have any, and how many tests are pending. We will be doing that Monday through Friday. In addition to our count, we will have a link to the Division of Public Health website which has the statewide count..."

Rhinelander Mayor Chris Frederickson has declared a State of Emergency in the city because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The declaration will expire April 17 unless extended.

It says all meetings will be held within the guidelines set down by Gov. Evers recent edict to limit the size of gatherings to 10 or under.

Among other points:

Community Resources- Information on childcare, healthcare, food programs, volunteer needs and other community resources.

View an Updated List of Local Community Resources

A person has tested positive for COVID-19 in Marathon County, the closest confirmed occurrence of the disease to the Northwoods to date.

The Marathon County Public Health Department confirmed the positive test Friday morning.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has announced the first two deaths from coronavirus in the state. 

The first victim was a man in his 50s from Fond du Lac County.  The second was a man in his 90s from Ozaukee County. 

The governor made the announcement Thursday.  The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state has reached 159.  That includes one patient in Dane County who has recovered.

A church in Marshfield is offering a way for people to go to confession even with crowd restrictions in place due to COVID-19.

The pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church says someone sent him a picture of a priest at another church holding drive up confessions in the parking lot.

"We have a limit of ten people in the building and it was an opportunity to create awareness, make it visible, make it more obvious and since we live on the main drag that's why I did that," said Father Keith Kitzhaber, Sacred Hearth Catholic Church's pastor.