RHINELANDER, Wis. (WXPR) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition from a family hoping to build a Bible camp and conference center on Squash Lake west of Rhinelander. But that likely is not the end of the legal pursuit.

The Jaros family began the effort in 2004 to get needed permits from Oneida county and approval from the town of Woodboro. They want to build a large facility on family­-owned acreage.

After a series of rejections at the local level, they took the case to federal court. The family argued the local governments were prohibiting them from exercising their religious beliefs, violating a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. In February, a U.S. judge in Madison sided with the county and town.

The Jaros' appealed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. That court backed the earlier opinion. The Jaros family then appealed to the nation's highest court for consideration. The rejection to accept the case by the highest court, ends it at the federal level. But last fall, the family started a parallel action in Oneida County Circuit court, as they had not used their state­ level court appeals pending the federal action.

The case appealing the Board of Adjustment rejection from years ago is pending in Oneida County Circuit Court.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- Wausau city officials are considering several property purchases for economic development projects. One of them would relocate Wausau Chemicals. 

The city’s Economic Development Committee voted to enter into talks with Wausau Chemical to see if an arrangement can be made to benefit both parties.

The concept would have the city purchase the company’s riverside 3.3 acre site for redevelopment, while relocating Wausau Chemical to the city’s west side industrial park. Wausau might end up paying around 1.6 million for the riverfront and up to six million to help relocate Wausau Chemical.

Committee members like the concept, but expressed concern about environmental remediation costs and the total costs of moving the business.

The committee also expressed support for Olson Tire & Auto’s expansion at the former Stettin Elementary School property, and a commercial rehabilitation loan for Thrive Foodery, which plans to open on North 2nd Street close to Athletic Park.

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WXPR) --

The President of Nicolet College is leaving. Elizabeth Burmaster told the Rhinelander school’s staff Tuesday she has accepted the presidency at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Burmaster was named president of Nicolet Area Technical College in 2009, succeeding Adrian Lorbetske. Burmaster is a native of Frederick.

More than 60 applicants applied for the Frederick Community College opening, according to the Maryland college's website.

From 2001­ until 2009, Burmaster was Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. She will begin work in Maryland on August 18.

MADISON, Wis (WRN)   The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday approved a revised policy for dealing with budget surpluses within the University of Wisconsin System. The change requires UW campuses to report to the Board of Regents anytime their surpluses climb above 12 percent, while also reducing the minimum cash reserves campuses must have from 10 percent of their budget to zero.

JFC co-chair Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) says the effort is aimed at giving the Legislature stronger management tools, “so then we can have the accountability and transparency that we desire” with UW System finances.

The policy change follows a year of intense criticism for the UW System, after it was found campuses were sitting on nearly a billion dollars in reserve funding despite several years of tuition increases. The discovery prompted a two year tuition freeze and budget cuts. Governor Scott Walker has said he would like to extend the freeze for another two years, if he’s reelected.

The changes passed on a 15-0 vote, although Democratic state Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine) voiced concerns that they could be used as a reason to under-fund the U-W in future budgets. Mason says he doesn’t “want it to be used as an excuse not to adequately fund higher education in Wisconsin.”

MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) -- The Weston woman found guilty of illegally collecting her son’s Social Security benefits will spend a little time in prison.

54-year-old Susan Schepp will spend six months in a federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She will also have to come up with over 52-thousand dollars in restitution.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb handed down that sentence yesterday. Schepp had continued to collect her son’s Social Security for about five years after he graduated, got a job, and left home in 2003. Her son discovered that Schepp was still collecting the benefits and turned her in to Social Security investigators.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- A registered sex offender is scheduled to be released in Stevens Point soon. 22-year-old Brent J. Broeske was convicted in 2010 of first degree sexual assault involving victims including minor males. He will complete his prison term and will be released as early as May 11th to a Stevens Point residence, where he will be under close supervision by the Department of Corrections.

Broeske is a white male, five foot nine tall, 185 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He will be wearing an electronic monitoring device. Broeske will also be prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors, cannot consume alcohol or drugs, and cannot go to taverns, bars, or liquor stores.

To report known violations, or for further information about this offender, contact the Stevens Point Police Department at 346-1515 or the Department of Corrections web site: www.widocoffenders.org.

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WXPR) -- The Rhinelander Mock Trial team heads to Madison Wednesday to compete with teams from around the country.

Faculty coach Kathy Vick Martini says preparing for the national tournament is a grueling process.because the team has only five weeks to prepare its case.  "The kids basically have to sacrifice everything else that they do for this month and a half to prepare for the national tournament, and to their credit they've been working very hard, and they've done well."

Mock Trial pits students arguing a fictional case. This year it has a zombie theme, where the owner of an energy drink winds up dead after enjoying an evening with friends at a zombie run. His business partner is found not guilty at a criminal trial, but his estate pursues a civil claim, the core of the competition.

As part of evening activities, students will also be decked out in a Zombie Costume Contest.

Even with freshmen in key roles this season, Rhinelander won the state championship in March before the state Supreme Court. The team has won 17 state championships over the years. Rhinelander won the National High School Mock Trial Championship in 1989 and has finished second twice.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- The public had their chance to view plans and ask questions about a proposed railroad crossing overpass.

The options include two overpass and two underpass designs to get Hoover Avenue and Country Club Drive past the extremely busy Canadian National Railroad tracks, which are at the east end of the Stevens Point rail yard.

Kevin Hagen is the Project Manager from AECOM, who says the feedback has been positive.  “In general, very positive feedback. The community really feels that this is a necessary project that we’re talking about here. A few concerns regarding what’s going to happen at the ends and access, but in general, everyone’s very much for the project.”

Hagen says they’ve taken some notes after hearing comments from the public. He’s hoping the city council can give them some direction next.  “Next, we will get a preferred alternative from the city, hopefully within a month or so, and then we will complete our environmental report, submit that for approval, and then once that’s approved, we’ll move into some final design.”

Mayor Andrew Halverson was also at the informational meeting, and received many favorable comments about this project.  “Very positive. You know, folks are extremely excited about this opportunity. We’ve wrestled with this as a community for over 30 years. It’s something that folks are unbelievably inconvenienced by.”

Halverson says the railroad and the commerce that brings is important, but so is solving this crossing problem because it slows response times from Fire Station number two and it holds people up for long periods of time, affecting hundreds of workers in that area.  “I have literally gotten calls from people on cell phones, screaming from their car in traffic at this crossing. They’ve been there for 20, 25, 30 minutes. That is a real issue.”

The lowest-cost option to build the crossing is 12.3 million dollars. Halverson says some of the funding that would be used was earmarked by former Congressman David Obey before he left office.

The grade separation project to get vehicle traffic past the trains has been considered a wish that was too expensive until just recently. Now, it could actually begin with construction in 2017.

(Listen to our interviews with Kevin Hagen from AECOM and Mayor Andrew Halverson on our website.)

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WSAU) -- There will be two separate trials for a Wisconsin Rapids man accused of homicide and arson.

54-year-old Joseph B. Reinwand is accused of trying to defraud his insurance carrier by intentionally setting fire to his house in October of 2010, and he is accused of shooting his daughter’s boyfriend Dale Meister to death in his home in March of 2008. Judge Gregory Potter granted the defense motion to separate the trials, to prevent influencing a jury to convict Reinwand of one case based on the testimony in the other case.

Reinwand’s homicide case is scheduled to go to jury trial October 20th and last over a week. The separate trial on the arson case has not yet been scheduled.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- The Merrill woman accused of trying to hire a killer will enter a plea and avoid a trial.

33-year-old Jessica Strom is accused of offering money and sex to a former classmate to kill boyfriend and attorney John Schellpfeffer. Schellpfeffer practices law in Merrill and Wausau, so special prosecutor Ralph Uttke from Langlade County was brought in to handle the case.

Uttke told WAOW television Wednesday, “We are going to stipulate that she is in fact competent and she is going to enter a plea.” Uttke didn’t elaborate on what that plea might be.

Strom is the mother of three children, including one with the intended victim. All of the children are with other family members.

The plea hearing is set for May 16th in Marathon County Circuit Court before Vilas County Judge Neal A. Nielsen III. Strom is currently being held in the Marathon County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.

STRATFORD, Wis. (WSAU) -- Stratford and McMillan firefighters battled a barn fire Wednesday northeast of Stratford.

The fire at 1726 Rock Road was reported shortly before 10:00 a.m., and the barn was fully engulfed in flames. The building had hay in the loft, and a large amount of saddles and tack inside. The six horses all escaped the fire.

Investigators don’t know the exact cause of the blaze, but suspect it may have started from a lightning strike.

WESTON, Wis. (WSAU) -- A 13-year-old boy was rescued from a hole late Wednesday night.

Weston Fire department received a call around 7:30 Wednesday night saying that a boy had fallen into a hole and couldn’t get out.

A witness says that the boy's younger brother initially fell in the hole, and the 13 year old fell in while trying to save him. He was stuck in mud up to his knees, and everytime neighbors tried to pull him up, the boy sank deeper into the hole.

Tim Stieve, Captain of the SAFER District Fire Department says the boy was rescued by firefighters when they laid ladders across the hole to support the weight of the rescuers, and pulled the boy out of the hole.

The hole was caused by a water main break, which created the muddy conditions. The hole itself was dug earlier Wednesday to fix a gas leak.

According to Stieve, the boy was examined by paramedics at the scene, and was found to be in good physical health. The boy was then released to his mother.

MERRILL, Wis. (WSAU) -- Expert testimony was heard Wednesday in the trial against Ashley Baumann in Merrill.

Six witnesses testified on Wednesday. Crash reconstruction expert Thomas Erdman from the Wisconsin State Patrol was on the stand for nearly two hours, explaining how Baumann could have been the only one in the driver's seat. He told the court that the way that the occupants were ejected from the vehicle could only mean that Baumann, who was thrown forward from the car, was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

Dr. Ken Sullivan from Ministry Good Samaritan Hospital in Merrill told the court he could not determine where people were sitting in the vehicle based on their injuries after Defense attorney Wright Laufenberg questioned him on the injuries from the crash.

State forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Corliss also took the stand and testified that the injuries that Misty Glisch suffered in the crash show that she was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Laufenberg tried to press him on the injuries suffered by the other two victims, Jerrica Woller and Jessica Hartwig, claiming that injuries would show that Woller and not Baumann was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, but Corliss stated that there was no evidence to that effect.

The prosecution may call its last witnesses today and rest its case. The jury could start deliberating as soon as Monday.

WESTON, Wis. (WSAU) -- The Congressman from Weston has a new constituent. 7th District Congressman Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel Campos Duffy tweeted a photo of their 7th child, who was born Tuesday.

So far, the Duffy family hasn’t released their new daughter’s name, but say she and mom are doing great.

CHICAGO, ILL. (Wisconsin Radio Network) -- Just a day after a federal judge ordered an end to a secret criminal probe into possible illegal campaign coordination and the destruction of evidence in the case, a federal appeals court moved to temporary blocked that decision.

A three judge panel for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued it’s own stay in the case late Wednesday, citing concerns that compliance with the ruling could “moot some or all of the issues on appeal in the case.” The judges also barred Federal Judge Rudolph Randa from issuing further orders while the case is being appealed.

The ruling comes after a day of intense focus of Randa’s decision, in which he found that a John Doe investigation into alleged campaign coordination between conservative groups and Republican candidates in the 2011 and 2012 recall elections violated the First Amendment rights of those groups. The judge said the group and its treasurer found a way to circumvent campaign finance laws, and the move should be recognized as a way to promote political speech instead of restricting it.

Randa ordered an immediate halt to the investigation and the return or destruction of all evidence gathered so far. The appeals court said prosecutors can keep the evidence for now, as long as they “hold the information in confidence and not use it.”

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- There’s a kitchen in Wausau that gets used by several small businesses. It’s the fully equipped commercial kitchen at the Entrepreneurial & Education Center in Wausau’s west industrial park.

Romey Wagner is the City Council President, but his day job is Facility Manager, for the center. Wagner says they offer start-up businesses several services and facilities, including a state certified kitchen for producing food products that can be sold to the public.

Wagner says people with food product ideas to bring their recipes to market and see if their products can grow, without the huge initial investment in a building or equipment.  “I have a state certified kitchen. We have twelve clients that have a product they want to bake or make, whether it’s a hot sauce, a barbeque sauce, donuts, cookies, soup, sauces. They work whatever hours they need to keep their hobby business going.”  He adds, “We have the huge commercial ovens, the commercial dishwashers, stoves, mixers, fryers. We have a twenty-gallon water jacketed soup kettle so they can make large quantities of their product and simply only pay a small rental fee.”

Wagner says a couple of new clients have begun production in the past couple of months. Some of the businesses have even grown into getting their own locations.  “Businesses that start up come in. We can help them out and allow them to stay for up to five years, and then we don’t kick them out, they graduate. We help them find a location in the area that works out best for them, where their clients can get to them. It’s like graduating your kids from college. We send them off with a smile.”

The Entrepreneurial & Education Center is a new business incubator. Wagner says their shared kitchen is modelled after one in Algoma which has over 70 clients with producers marketing items throughout the Green Bay and upper peninsula areas.  “We thought that that would be something that the area could use, with the people showing up at the farmer’s markets and things (like that) selling their products, this is a way they can inexpensively go into legitimate business and make their products safely, and sell it.”

Wagner says some of the success stories that started at the center include Jean Bean Soup Company, Luchi’s Pasta Sauce, Kim’s BS Sauce, Kaveli, JAR Hot Sauce, and Elan Naturally.

Sweet Lola’s Cupcakery & Bakeshop, and Sugar & Spice Cheesecakes started at the center and have graduated to their own locations.

(Listen to our interview with Romey Wagner on our website, here.)

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- An event is coming up a week from Saturday, May 17th, to benefit the Robert W. Monk Public Gardens and your gardens. It’s their Green Saturday fundraiser. It’s a plant sale featuring some special plants and a unique flea market sale.

Vickie Richmond-Hawkins is the Board President for the Monk Gardens. She says they are accepting donations of many garden-related things, including tools and decorations. Richmond-Hawkins says they focus on their specialty perennials, and their flea market.

She says now is the time to donate items to the flea market, so those old treasures, or what you might consider trash in your garden, can become treasures in somebody else’s garden.  “It might be used tools, it might be an artwork piece, it might be planters, anything that’s garden related that we would love to re-sell and have the proceeds from that go to benefit the operations for the Monk Gardens, which we are developing here in northcentral Wisconsin.”

Monk Gardens is a 501-C-3 nonprofit group, so donations are tax deductible.  The money raised goes to operating the Monk Gardens.  “We have all kinds of costs, whether it’s running the aerators in our ponds, electric bills to run those aerators. The cost of operations of a garden, that’s where the proceeds of this plant sale will go back to.”

Drops offs are accepted this week and next at several Wausau area businesses. Large items can also be picked up by contacting Monk Garden staff. 

Donations can be dropped off at these businesses:

Wild Birds Unlimited in Rib MountainMarathon Town and Country on Campus Drive in WausauThe Garden Path on Greenhouse Road, WausauAce Hardware in Weston

Large item pickup:  Julie Bowman at 502-338-9896 or Jerry Hines at 715-212-8471.

The Robert W. Monk Gardens can be found online or on Facebook.

(Listen to our interview with Vickie Richmond-Hawkins on our website, here.)

MILWAUKEE (WRN)  For the second time in three days, a federal judge has ordered a halt to the John Doe probe into campaign activities surrounding Wisconsin’s recall elections.

Just a day after a federal appeals court stayed his initial order in the case, Judge Rudolph Randa ruled that an appeal by prosecutors to keep the investigation going was frivolous. The decision puts a preliminary injunction back in place ordering an end to the probe and the destruction of evidence.

The decision is aimed at an original appeal by prosecutors, after Randa rejected arguments that they are immune from a federal lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Club for Growth. The group is one of several targeted by the investigation, which is looking at possible illegal coordination between issue advocacy groups and Republican recall election candidates.

Wisconsin Club for Growth attorney David Rivkin praised the decision, saying Judge Randa corrected a technical oversight identified by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Rivkin says the decision re-affirms that “the John Doe probe is an abuse of government power to target private citizens for exercising their free speech rights.”

The decision will likely result in another appeal in the case.

MARSHFIELD, Wis. (WSAU) --The first of the Peace Officer Memorials held in our area for National Police Week takes place in Marshfield on Thursday evening.

Police Chief Gary Jepson says the ceremony is meant to honor all fallen officers, including Marshfield’s own Fred Beell. According to Jepson, “We will have an honor guard, we intend to have a bagpiper there, we’ll play ‘Amazing Grace’ and we’ll have a 21 gun salute.”

The keynote address will recognize the families who send their loved ones off to uncertainty. Jepson added that, “It’s certainly not assembly line work. You go into work every day, not knowing what’s going to take place.”

Also to be honored is the Marshfield Police Department’s employee of the year, Dan Leonard. That ceremony gets under way Thursday night starting at 6:30, and will be held at Beell Stadium, which was named for Marshfield’s fallen officer.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- Bridge Community Clinic in Wausau is holding an open house today to show off their newly expanded dental clinic.

The funding for the expansion comes from grants under the Affordable Care Act, and goes along with a similar expansion of the medical side of the Wausau facility. Dental director Georgia Fischer says Bridge offers everything you need in a dental office. "Preventative care with our hygienists, we have exams and x rays and cleanings and fillings and extractions, and a wide variety of services that are found in general dental practice settings."

The clinic is a federally qualified non-profit and Fischer says they do not turn away patients if they need to pay out of pocket or through state insurance. "They are very welcome to call to schedule an appointment, and talk with a patient financial advocate if they so so choose. Insured, uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid families."

The open house runs today from 3 to 7 pm. Fischer says they're ready to start taking patients as well. "Our main phone number is 715-848-4884, and anyone who answers the phone will be able to direct you or assist you with any questions you may have."