News

An eerie pirate ship is taking shape inside the Gillett Public Library Community Center just in time for the Halloween season.

Tours of the Community Haunted House, “Halloween on the Black Pearl,” will be given from 6:30-8:30 p.m. the next two Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $3 for what has become the library’s largest fundraiser of the year.

Local craftsman David Bunker built the ship that visitors will enter as they come in. Library Director Kay Runkel said Bunker is one of more than two dozen volunteers who make the event possible.

“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers,” Runkel said Monday as she put finishing touches on the various rooms in the haunted house, which include the ship’s brig, Skull Island and other surprises.

This is the fifth year that the library has staged a haunted house, and close to 500 people came by last year, she said.

The Oconto County Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee is recommending that the County Board hire Beth Ellingson as the county’s new corporation counsel.

A resolution naming Ellingson is on the board’s agenda for its regular meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday at the courthouse, 301 Washington St., Oconto.

Ellingson is an attorney with the Jonathan Olson & Associates legal firm of Green Bay. In addition to her private practice, she also serves as assistant corporation counsel for Marinette County.

The resolution indicates her first day on the job would be Dec. 3 at an annual salary of $94,433, which would be bumped to $97,344 effective Jan. 6.

Cheryl Mick, corporation counsel for the past five years, announced her retirement this summer, effective Jan. 4. Eight people applied for the position, and the committee interviewed three candidates Sept. 28.

Gillett Mayor James Beaton and Superintendent Todd Carlson are collaborating on a town hall-style meeting Sunday evening to discuss the upcoming Gillett School District referendum.

District voters will be asked Nov. 6 for permission to let the school budget exceed state-imposed revenue limits by $600,000 in each of the next three years to maintain educational programs.

“I’ve heard lots of ‘stories’ and, as your mayor, I thought it would be appropriate for you to have an opportunity to get the facts and make an informed decision,” Beaton said in an “Event” post at Facebook.com.

Beaton and Carlson will appear at 5 p.m. Sunday in the Secondary School Commons, 208 W. Main St., Gillett. Carlson will make a presentation about the referendum and then take questions from the mayor and audience.

The Suring School District was awarded $20,122 from the latest Department of Justice School Safety Grant, announced last week.

“This money will be used to add some key fobs to exterior doors so they are never left unlocked, to add auto-locking mechanisms to the student and district office and to start adding safety doors to our entryway,” Principal Pamela Berg said.

The district will also send members to a school safety training, including a resource officer training, she said.

“Lastly, we will send team members to a mental health training that focuses on helping our youth, and bring a trainer to one of our in-service trainings,” Berg said.

Attorney General Brad Schimel announced 263 schools and school districts will receive $21,281,933 from the second round of the School Safety Grant program, which focuses on advanced initiatives to bolster student mental health.

Two state troopers from Oconto County were among 25 law enforcement officers honored during the Wisconsin State Patrol’s annual awards ceremony, held Thursday at the State Capitol.

Trooper Megan LaFave of Oconto received a Lifesaving Effort Award, and Trooper Alex Trofin of Little Suamico was awarded a Superintendent’s Star of Recognition.

The ceremony recognized 25 law enforcement officers for lifesaving efforts and exemplary public service. Seven officers received awards that involved administering the opioid antidote Narcan to overdose victims. As of Jan. 19, 2018, all Wisconsin State Patrol officers were trained and equipped to administer Narcan.

“Wisconsin is extremely fortunate to have so many outstanding law enforcement officers and emergency responders,” Gov. Scott Walker said. “These annual awards serve as powerful reminders of their extraordinary courage and dedication to duty.”

Proceedings of Oct. 10

A Jan. 15 jury trial was scheduled for Caitlynn J. Testolin, 26, Oconto Falls, who is charged with two felony counts of bail jumping and four related misdemeanors in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred May 21 and June 18. A final pretrial conference is set for Jan. 14.

Cesar Uriel Castaneda-Hernandez, 36, Crivitz, pleaded no contest to a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (fifth or sixth offense), in connection with an incident that occurred July 6. Judge Michael T. Judge ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for Nov. 29.

Proceedings of Oct. 9

A deferred prosecution agreement was reached with Joel S. Willmann, 24, Pound, and he was placed in the Oconto County Volunteers in Probation program for two years, in connection with a possession of methamphetamine charge related to a Jan. 4 incident.

Proceedings of Oct. 8

The Gillett School District adopted a $10.5 million budget for the 2018-19 academic year, supported by a $2.376 million property tax levy, at its annual meeting Oct. 3.

The tax rate works out to $8 per $1,000 of equalized value for school purposes, or a tax bill of about $800 for a property valued at $100,000. The rate is down 34 percent from a high of $11.64 in the 2013-14 school year, Superintendent Todd Carlson told about two dozen people who attended the meeting in the Secondary School Commons.

“I think there’s a misconception out there that the Gillett School District is spending more money and more money each year,” Carlson said. “That is so untrue; that is not exactly what’s happening at all.”

The Suring Public School District, in partnership with the Village of Suring Police Department, announced the implementation of a new alert system in the school district called SchoolGuard.

Suring is the first school district in Oconto County to have this system. The SchoolGuard system allows school staff members to use an app on their phones to alert police and other staff members that a major incident is occurring in the school. Once the app button is pushed, the SchoolGuard system is activated.

The system automatically calls 911 and connects that staff member directly with a 911 dispatcher. It also notifies all other staff members that there is an incident occurring so they can take action.

Additionally, the system automatically sends text messages to all law enforcement officers in the area who have the Hero911 app installed on their phones. This means even off-duty officers will know of the incident immediately and can respond.

Bond was set at $2 million cash Friday for a Suring area man who has been charged with the shooting death of a Bellevue woman two years ago.

Anthony J. Kitchenakow, 46, was arrested Sept. 26 at his home on the Menominee Indian Reservation and extradited to Brown County, where he is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Authorities believe he shot and killed Suzette Langlois, a 52-year-old mother of two, while she was parked in her driveway on Manitowoc Road in the early morning of Aug. 29, 2016.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Brown County Circuit Court, Langlois was talking on her cellphone with a friend and said she was being followed by someone in a red pickup truck.

The friend quoted Langlois as saying “there was a male and female approaching her, but she was unable to see their faces because they had their faces covered.” A moment later, she heard yelling and Langlois saying, “No, don’t,” and then silence.

The man charged with firing at police from his home in the town of Lena on March 11 pleaded no contest to three felony charges Friday in Oconto County Circuit Court.

Thomas S. Benser, 51, was originally charged with five counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, five counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, strangulation-suffocation, substantial battery, failure to comply with an officer’s attempt to take a person into custody and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

During a hearing before Judge Michael T. Judge, Benser entered no contest pleas to two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment for shots fired at sheriff’s deputies Matt Morrissey, Christopher Baribeau and Patrick Callahan. The shots were fired after the officers came to Benser’s house to check on his welfare and arrest him for an alleged domestic violence incident from the night before.