Wittenberg Enterprise & Birnamwood News

2 die in one-car crash

Published by kjpasson on Fri, 08/30/2024 - 7:48am

One man and one woman died in a one-car accident Aug. 29 in the Town of Bartelme.

The Shawano County Sheriff's Department responded at 5:09 p.m. to the crash at Elm Road near Koan Tuk Drive.

Callers reported the vehicle was on fire and there were severely injured people on scene. Deputies responded to the scene along with the Stockbridge-Munsee Police Department and found the vehicle fully engulfed.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.

USDA grain survey underway

Published by kjpasson on Wed, 08/28/2024 - 7:26am

A sample of producers around the country will receive agricultural survey questionnaires from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The agency is taking a comprehensive look into the 2024 production and supply of small grains — including wheat, oats, barley and rye.

Milk production down slightly

Published by kjpasson on Wed, 08/28/2024 - 7:25am

Milk production in Wisconsin during July totaled 2.76 billion pounds, down slightly from the previous July according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report.

The average number of milk cows during July, at 1.27 million head, was unchanged from last month but up 1,000 from July 2023. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,175 pounds, down five pounds from last July.

Milk production in the 24 major states during July totaled 18.2 billion pounds, down 0.2% from July 2023.

College News

Published by kjpasson on Wed, 08/28/2024 - 7:24am

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Taylor Johnson, of Shawano, has been named to the 2024 spring trimester dean’s list at Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Main Campus in Davenport, Iowa.

Northcentral Technical College

Northcentral Technical College reports the following students were awarded diplomas during the spring 2024 term.

Aniwa: Emily Hoppe, Matthew Stepanik.

Birnamwood: Ty Rastl, Christina Thrun, Kathy Resch, Mason Meverden, Morgan Treu, Sara Beth Bernarde.

Bowler: Rolanda Bierman, Serena Rasmussen.

Shawano County may borrow to balance budget

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 1:00pm

Shawano County department heads have been told to trim 5% of their proposed 2025 budget or face the wrath of the county’s executive committee.

That was the decision of the committee when it gathered Aug. 21.

The proposed $18 million tax levy is about $3 million over the limit.

A 5% savings will knock $900,000 off the total, and the county is preparing to possibly borrow the remaining $2 million.

Carrie Buntjer, finance director, said she received an initial indication of 6% interest for short-term borrowing.

Lumberjack Days

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 12:37pm

French gets 12 years for drug death

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 12:10pm

Stephany French will remain in prison for close to a decade for her role in giving Ho-Chunk man Julian Bourdoin a fatal dose of fentanyl believed to be heroin in 2021.

Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge Katherine Sloma sentenced French on Aug. 20 to 12 years in prison for first-degree reckless homicide involving drugs and four years for theft of property from a corpse for taking Bourdoin’s phone after the fact. Sloma ruled that the two sentences will run concurrently.

Pay differential argued again, knocked down

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 11:51am

Reiterating that the sheriff’s department would rather offer a 50-cent per hour pay differential for second shift and weekend working dispatchers and correctional officers, Supervisor Tess Serrano urged the Shawano County Executive Committee to make that part of the proposed 2025 budget.

The committee denied the request at its Aug. 21 meeting. Instead, the committee added funds to pay for one more jailer and one more dispatcher.

Pertussis cases found in Shawano County

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 11:41am

The Shawano-Menominee Counties Health Department has announced that cases of pertussis (whooping cough) are circulating in Shawano County.

Pertussis is caused by a bacteria and easily spreads from person to person through contact with droplets of saliva expelled by an infected person when they talk, cough, or sneeze, etc. Initially symptoms may be similar to the common cold — runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, and mild occasional cough.

Public Record

Published by kjpasson on Tue, 08/27/2024 - 11:10am

Shawano County Sheriff’s Department

Aug. 25

Deputies responded to 29 incidents, including noise on Campground Road in the Town of Seneca; assisting with a fire on East Division Street in Shawano; operating without a license on state Highway 47 in the Town of Lessor; seven 911 calls; two reckless driving incidents; one traffic hazard; three crashes.

Aug. 24