Rhinelander man arrested for intoxicated possession of a firearm
A 40 year-old Rhinelander man has been charged with possession of a firearm while intoxicated, a Class A misdemeanor. Lucas Rougeau was also formally charged in Oneida County court with two other Class A misdemeanors, resisting an officer and battery tied in to domestic abuse. The charges stem from an incident in the town of Stella on the early evening of Nov. 1.
Lac du Flambeau woman injured in Arbor Vitae rollover crash
Charged with first offense of operating while intoxicated
A 21 year-old Lac du Flambeau woman was injured in the rollover crash of the 2018 Mazda CX-9 sport utility vehicle (SUV) she was driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 1.
Getting 4-H back to Vilas County
Effort to get there discussed at Vilas County committee meeting
There’s a desire to get a 4-H program re-established for Vilas County. That was expressed briefly during Tuesday’s meeting of the Vilas County Forestry, Recreation and Land Committee.
Beaver blamed for brief power outage in Minocqua Monday
A beaver was the culprit for a power outage that affected several businesses in Minocqua for a short time Monday, Nov. 2 including Save More Grocery Store. Minocqua firefighters were called to what was said to be a brush fire behind Save More.
Mid-term voter turnout in Vilas, Oneida counties solid
The 2026 November mid-term general election is in the books and in the weeks leading up to Tuesday, there had been much speculation nationwide in the media about voter turnout. In Vilas and Oneida counties, voter turnout may not have been record breaking but it was brisk Tuesday, a sentiment reflected by Vilas County clerk Kim Olkowski Wednesday morning.
North Lakeland school board OKs 2026-27 budget
The North Lakeland school district’s board of education on Oct. 29 approved the district’s operating budget and property tax levy for 2026-27, that levy coming in at $4,009,240.
Michigan man arrested as part of Internet sex crimes sting
An Upper Michigan man has been charged in Oneida County court with two felonies in connection with alleged sexually related Internet crimes. Kenneth Heyrman, Jr., 57, Wetmore, is charged with one count of exposing a child to harmful material and one count of soliciting intimate representation from a minor.
Woodruff town board appoints Brandy Park Commission representative
Discusses Dr. Kate Museum sign request
After more than a decade on the Brandy Park Commission (BPC), Woodruff town supervisor Ray Christenson has decided to resign. He had submitted his letter of resignation to town chair Judi Nelson and the town board accepted his resignation from the BPC during its brief Oct. 27 meeting.
Fundraising goal surpassed for Sayner Community Church
Three years after it began, renovation of the 110 year-old Sayner Community Church is nearly complete
“Something has to happen with this church,” Laurie Zaruba told The Lakeland Times in June, 2025. “It has to be used as a church or it goes back to the town and the town will demolish it if they don’t want to take care of it. That’s the facts of the matter.”
Lac du Flambeau school district’s 2026-27 budget formally approved
Nearly 20 days after approving a preliminary budget for the 2026-27 school year, the board of education of the Lac du Flambeau school district had the same numbers approved during the district’s Oct. 27 annual meeting.
Lakeland Airport Commission sets eyes on January workshop
Airport administrator job description, commission member roles, procedural manual among items to be discussed
The Lakeland Airport Commission intends to have what was described as a workshop sometime in January to go over not only the job description for airport administrator but duties of other individuals on the commission itself such as the chairman.
Minocqua plan commission approves 3 sign permits, 2 administrative review permits
The Minocqua plan commission approved three sign permits and two administrative review permits at its Oct. 27 meeting. The most contentious item on Tuesday’s agenda was an administrative review permit application by Alex Flora and AKF Rentals LLC to rent a property at 116 West Milwaukee Street as a tourist rooming house to guests for less than 30 consecutive days.
Minocqua Visitors Bureau wants to buy town property
Westfahl: ‘We are bursting at the seams’
The Minocqua town board was approached at its Oct. 20 meeting by Minocqua Area Visitors Bureau (MVB) chief executive officer Krystal Westfahl with two proposals, the first having to do with property on East Milwaukee Street the town purchased in 2024 following a vote of the electors at its April annual meeting.
Lac du Flambeau, Arbor Vitae town boards OK Lakeland Airport budget
The Lac du Flambeau and Arbor Vitae town boards at their Oct. 21 meetings approved the 2027 budget for the Lakeland Airport in Arbor Vitae. The two towns, along with Minocqua and Woodruff, own the airport and those two town boards approved the airport budget of $282,860 during meetings the day before.
Pickup truck takes a swim at LUHS
16 year-old driver uninjured
The driver of a pickup truck escaped serious injury in an Oct. 21 mishap at the entrance to Lakeland Union High School (LUHS). According to the accident report filed by the Minocqua police department, Kayla Stegall, 16, Boulder Junction, was westbound on State Highway 70 and turned south to enter the LUHS parking lot “at a speed unsafe for the turn.”
Nokomis town board sets electors meeting date for Nov. 12
Voters will have say in fire department expansions for Med 4 ambulance
The Nokomis town board, meeting in special session on Saturday, Oct. 17, officially set Thursday, Nov. 12, as the date for a special meeting of the electors at the Nokomis town hall.
Firefighters respond to brush fire on Willow Reservoir island
Cause chalked up to lightning strike the week before
Firefighters from Cassian, Little Rice and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) responded late Monday afternoon to the report of smoke coming from somewhere in the Willow Reservoir near the McCord boat landing in the town of Lynne.
Minocqua town board OKs town’s share of Lakeland Airport budget
The Minocqua town board, on a 4 to 1 vote, Tuesday approved the town’s share of funding the Lakeland Airport’s 2027 budget.
Minocqua’s downtown road work to go a little longer
$1,500-plus fee for contractor every day past deadline
Motorists who go through downtown Minocqua on a regular basis will have to deal with traffic restrictions due to construction just a bit longer. The work, which originally began before Memorial Day, included paving, curb and ramp work and was to be completed by June 18.
Concerns mount in Plum Lake over impending landline discontinuation
Town chair: ‘It’s a public safety issue for our residents’
The pending discontinuation of landline telephone service by Frontier Communications was a topic of discussion at the Oct. 13 meeting of the Plum Lake town board and by the end of that discussion, the decision was made to send a message to company representatives as well as state representatives.
Winchester approves school bus stop at town hall
Lakeland Bus Company had submitted a request to do so
The Winchester town hall and community center will be the new bus stop for Woodruff’s Lakeland Area Bus Services, which handles busing for the five Lakeland area school districts.
Lakeland Airport 2027 budget approval postponed
New direction taken in budget approval process
For years, the elected officials of the four towns that own the Lakeland Airport in Arbor Vitae – Woodruff, Lac du Flambeau, Minocqua and Arbor Vitae – have met on an annual basis, the primary purpose of the meeting to approve the airport’s budget for the next year.
Aspirus Health to close Woodruff’s Seasons of Life Hospice
Transition focused on home-based hospice care planned
In May, 2021, Tennessee-based Compassus announced it would be closing its Seasons of Life Hospice in Woodruff, which was first opened in 2000. On Nov. 1, 2021, Aspirus Health assumed operations of Seasons of Life from Compassus and now, nearly five years later, officials with the health care system announced on Oct. 12 the doors to the facility will close.
NTSB report points to pilot delay in switching fuel tanks
Pilot error has been identified as the cause of a Sept. 12 crash landing in Lake Wausau of a single engine Beech K35 airplane with U.S. Rep. and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany onboard. Tiffany and the pilot, Leonard Boltz, escaped serious injury as a result of the incident.
Minnesota man sentenced for traveling to engage in sex with a minor
Mithaugen was indicted in March following his arrest in Rhinelander
A Faribault, Minn., man was sentenced in federal court last week by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to eight years in federal prison for traveling from Minnesota to Wisconsin to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. The prison term for Creighton Mithaugen, 38, will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
Playground equipment for Torpy Park OK’d by Minocqua town board
The Minocqua town board, meeting in special session Tuesday afternoon, authorized Mark Pertile, the town’s public works director, to order new playground equipment for Torpy Park.
Confusion in Nokomis
Special meeting of electors for fire station expansion for Med 4 ambulance personnel could be delayed
The town of Nokomis may — or may not — have a special meeting of the electors on Nov. 12. The intent of the meeting is to give eligible voters the opportunity to have their say on a proposal to construct a 1,700 square foot addition on the north side of the town’s fire station which is also where Oneida County’s Med 4 ambulance and paramedics are based and have been since 2009.
LdF voters authorize sale of former fire station
Maulson’s offer of $250,000 approved
Electors in the town of Lac du Flambeau voted during a very brief special meeting on Oct. 12 to authorize the sale by the town of its former fire station building on Wild Rice Avenue. The building was taken out of service as a fire station by the town last year when the new fire station on State Highway 47 was put into service.
No injuries in Pike Lake garage fire
A Pike Lake garage was destroyed in fire Wednesday afternoon. According to a press release from the Pike Lake fire department, firefighters and equipment were responded to the report of a structure fire at a Thorofare Road residence on Round Lake. The owners of the property are listed as Doug and Laurie Walter.
Issues facing Lakeland Airport get a spotlight
Radio controlled aircraft club’s long-standing use of part of a runway called out by Woodruff town chair
In the early 1970s, members of the Lakeland Loons, a radio controlled (RC) model airplane club, began flying their planes on a section of the east-west runway at Noble F. Lee Memorial Field in Arbor Vitae, more commonly known as Lakeland Airport.
Lac du Flambeau school board OKs preliminary 2026-27 budget
The board of education for the Lac du Flambeau school district approved the district’s preliminary 2026-27 budget during its Oct. 8 meeting.
Minocqua man arrested for OWI following vehicle rollover
A Minocqua man escaped serious injury on Oct. 3 when the 2008 Ford F-250 he was driving overturned in the south shoulder of State Highway 47 near the intersection with South Farming Road in Arbor Vitae.
Sayner woman in Rudolph Road crash
A Sayner woman escaped serious injury when the 2019 Toyota RAV4 sport utility vehicle she was driving struck a tree off of Rudolph Road in Arbor Vitae on Oct. 1.
Vilas County fairgrounds group meets in Eagle River
Vilas County corporation counsel advised it not be a county committee
The first meeting of a citizens group tasked with coming up with a plan for a nearly 1,000 foot strip of Vilas County-owned property known as Riverside Park on West Division Street in Eagle River met Tuesday.
LdF tribal elections held Oct. 6
Tribal president John Johnson, Sr. re-elected to fourth term
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians conducted its tribal council election Tuesday. Council president John Johnson, Sr. was re-elected to a fourth two-year term. He defeated William (Billy) Mitchell, 344 votes to 262.
New Plum Lake town hall and community center nears completion
Dedication plans being made
The new Plum Lake town hall and community center is just weeks away from completion. In 2024, the town board began the process to replace the former town hall, applying for and ultimately awarded a $4.2 million Flexible Facilities Program (FFP) grant facilitated by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.
Downtown Minocqua DOT project encounters delay
For a couple of days last week, people going through downtown Minocqua noticed traffic control items had been placed but very little — if any — work was being done on the pavement that had been designated as closed.
Minocqua traffic stop leads to 8th OWI charge for Florida man
A Marco Island, Florida man has been charged for an eighth operating while intoxicated (OWI) charge as the result of a Sept. 18 traffic stop in Minocqua. John David Ash, 64, is held on $50,000 bond in the Oneida County jail, his next appearance in Oneida County court to be a preliminary hearing on Oct. 30.
Birth to 3 screenings at the Minocqua public library Oct. 7
Oneida County program helps determine ‘milestones’ in child development
“Give a child a good start in the first 1,000 days.” That’s the theme of a free developmental screening event for children from birth to three years of age conducted by Oneida County Human Services.
Ethics complaint filed against Vilas County board chair
Eagle River citizen’s group takes action against Jerry Burkett following September county board meeting
An Eagle River woman has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission (WEC) regarding comments made by Vilas County board chairman Jerry Burkett during his chairman’s report at the Sept. 22 Vilas County board meeting. Kathryn Craffey filed the complaint with the state this week.
A matter of an inch
Minocqua plan commission sends certified survey map to town board with unanswered questions
The Minocqua plan commission Tuesday, following a lengthy discussion regarding a certified survey map for property the Rynders Revocable Trust has on Richardson Plat Road Road, held off on a recommendation and forwarded the matter to the town board for consideration at its Oct. 6 meeting.
Lakeland Airport Commission discusses upcoming annual four town meeting
The town boards for the four towns that own the Lakeland Airport — Arbor Vitae, Lac du Flambeau, Woodruff and Minocqua — are scheduled to meet on Oct. 14 at the Michael K. Timmons Community Center in Woodruff.
Vilas County Sheriff stays with Flock
Ritter: ‘We’re going to continue to use it as long as the law says we can use it’
Last week, as reported in the Sept. 25 edition of The Lakeland Times, Oneida County sheriff Grady Hartman announced the sheriff’s office has ended its use of what has become across the country in recent months controversial Flock automated license-plate reading surveillance technology.
Vilas County board OKs resolution for new forestry building
The Vilas County forestry and recreation department received the green light from the county board during its Sept. 22 meeting to proceed with plans to replace the building currently housing offices for the department’s staff and storage of its equipment.
Two people injured in motorcycle/pickup truck collision
Crash resulted in Hwy. 51 closure
Two people were injured in a crash involving motorcycles and a pickup truck on U.S. Highway 51 at the intersection with County Highway L in Nokomis on Saturday, Sept. 19. According to a press release from the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, during the initial investigation, authorities found two motorcycles entering Hwy. 51 from Hwy. L were struck by a southbound Ford F250 pickup truck driven by David Larson, 66, Fond du Lac.
Vilas County board chairman goes off on Eagle River term limit referendum
Burkett to county board: ‘You’re next’
Vilas County board chairman Jerry Burkett Tuesday issued a warning to the rest of the 21-member county board. Burkett, also until recently a long-time member of the Eagle River city council, spoke out during his chairman’s report toward the end of the county board meeting against an ongoing drive by a citizen’s group in favor of a term limit referendum for the city council on the November ballot.
Hwy. 70 maintenance work continues on Minocqua’s west side
Culvert reinforcement at the Tomahawk River
Work to better protect what is a rusting culvert began this week on the bridge over the Tomahawk River on State Highway 70 on Minocqua’s west side.
Cross Country Cruisers seek financial contribution from Woodruff
With 2027 budget preparation time here, the Woodruff town board was approached by representatives of the Cross Country Cruisers Snowmobile Club regarding a financial contribution for the club’s operations during the town board’s Sept. 22 meeting.
Lakeland area man charged with solicitation of prostitutes
Arrest comes after year-long investigation by tribal police
A Lac du Flambeau man charged with one count of solicitation of prostitutes, a Class H felony in Wisconsin, faces up to six years in prison if ultimately convicted. Richard J. Fimreite, 64, could also have to pay a fine of up to $10,000.
October electors meeting scheduled in Lac du Flambeau
Town board accepts $250,000 counter-offer for former fire station; electors to vote on proposed sale
The Lac du Flambeau town board will conduct a special town meeting in October to give town residents the opportunity to vote on the proposed town sale of its former fire station building on Wild Rice Avenue. The building was taken out of service as a fire station by the town last year when the new fire station on State Highway 47 was put into service.
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