WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- Marathon County board members are exploring the creation of a unified county motor pool in order to save tax dollars.

Right now, the vehicles in use by the parks department, sheriff's department, highway department and the various municipal vehicles for the county all all operating on a different set of books and repair services within the county. Marathon County board chairman Kurt Gibbs says that could change in the future. "We're doing an analysis as to whether a merger of those facilities and or personnel would in fact save some taxpayer dollars."

The issue is combining all of the different funding, accounting and budgeting for the departments into a unified system. Funding for the sheriff's department and highway department's vehicle use is partially paid for by the state which require different accounting than just for county use. Gibbs says there's also the simple matter of sharing vehicles. "When say for example the parks department needs a bulldozer or a backhoe and the highway needs it at the same time. So that creates one of the challenges the task force is also looking at."

The task force has a sunset date in December and Gibbs expects to have a final report from the group by the start of December. The group meets tomorrow morning at the courthouse starting at 8 am.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- Monday’s Supreme Court decision not to take up Wisconsin’s appeal on the gay marriage ban has some Democrats putting pressure on other Democrats to hurry up with the licenses.

State Representative Katrina Shankland of Stevens Point issued a statement Monday critical of Democratic County Clerk Shirley Simonis’ office for not issuing same sex marriage licenses immediately Monday. She said, “I expect to see Portage County issuing marriage licenses immediately, as counties across the state are issuing licenses today, including Wood and Marathon Counties. It is not only within their legal authority, but it’s also their duty to issue marriage licenses to everyone.”

Simonis was not in the office Monday, but she has previously said she personally favors same sex marriage, and didn’t issue licenses earlier this summer due to the possible legal issues. Her staff followed the advice of Portage County Corporation Counsel Michael McKenna Monday, who told them to wait before issuing the licenses until the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals officially lifts the stay on their own decision.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals spokesperson told WSAU they cannot lift the stay in the case until they receive official documentation from the U.S. Supreme Court outlining their actions, or lack of action. He said they expect that documentation to arrive quickly.

Most counties have already begun issuing same sex marriage licenses, but there are still a handful that are waiting for the official clearance from the Appeals Court.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- A Wausau tavern might be serving soda, water, or nothing at all for a while if a city committee’s recommendation is approved by the city council. It’s Our Clubhouse Bar has been visited by police over 50 times since opening on Third Avenue in June. The problems range from fights to disturbing the peace.

The Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday heard police testimony, and saw video evidence of some of the issues. Assistant City Attorney Tara Alfonso asked the committee for a 60-day liquor license suspension. Bar co-owner Bryan Morel offered to shut down for 15 days for rehiring and training of staff to deal with the problems.

The committee passed Alfonso’s 60-day suspension recommendation and forwarded it to the full city council. The city council will vote on it October 14th.

RHINELANDER, Wis. (WSAU) -- Authorities are investigating a death late last month at a Rhinelander day care center. The name and age of the child have not been released yet.

Police Captain Ron Lueneburg told WAOW television they do not suspect foul play, as they were made aware of some existing conditions that the child was born with that had an impact on the child dying. It appears the September 24th death is from natural causes, but the case remains under investigation.

Medical Examiner Larry Mathin is still waiting for laboratory test results. More details will be released after the investigation is complete.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- Sometimes, no news is good news... and there hasn’t been much news coming out of the Marathon County Jail lately. Chief Deputy Sheriff Chad Billeb says many things have changed for the better since the incident a year-and-a-half ago where two corrections officers were injured by an inmate. Billeb says that includes a new Jail Administrator, several repairs and maintenance items taken care of, rearranging of some work stations, and additional training for staff. “There’s been a lot of different workflow improvements that have been made. There’s some facility improvements that have been made. Some cameras have been added. Our staff has gone through some additional training in different areas, like tazer, we’ve implemented tazers up there so they have those at their disposal now, and I think just a better awareness of how important the job is that they do and how dangerous that job is.”

The Chief Deputy says many projects have been completed, such as painting and repairs without costing taxpayers extra money.  “The dollars used in order to make those improvements did not come from tax levy, though. Those dollars come from what’s called a jail assessment which we receive from the State of Wisconsin based upon the citations that are issued by officers across the state, so those dollars are meant to only improve the facility, and can only be used for the inmates’ benefit, so no tax levy impact there.”

Another area where the Marathon County Jail has improved services and saved money is with their meals. Billeb says changing vendors and involving inmates has improved the food and saved a lot.  “By employing inmates, we are able to cut the costs on the food service by about $165,000 a year. Those inmates come and work in our kitchen, and the payback that they get for that is with every 12 hours they provide of community service, they get a day out of jail. We don’t pay them cash. They don’t get a check. Nothing like that. It’s just how we have to treat their service.”

Before the Jail Task Force met and work began to improve the jail, there were several things that didn’t work well or at all. One was the intercom system. Billeb says another was the visitation phone system.  “There was dollars that were set aside to fix that, and through our research, we found companies that came in and were willing to provide that service for nothing, so they put in all of the hardware, they provided the software, they maintain it for us, and what we get out of that is a commission off of every phone call that’s placed.”

Inmates checking into a cell is much like getting an apartment. Billeb says they inspect the unit with the inmate on the way in and on the way out.  “When an inmate checks into their cell, they sign a sheet of paper that says that the cell is acceptable, that there’s no scratches, no peels, no intentional damage to that cell, and then when they leave that cell, we make sure that there is no damage, so we now have an ability to track that better.”

The Sheriff’s Department is hoping the County Board will help with one more thing to help deal with damages. Billeb says enacting a common ordinance that Marathon County doesn’t have yet would help both in the jail and elsewhere in the county.  “We think the appropriate way to go here is to enact an ordinance for criminal damage to property, to help hold inmates responsible, and quite honestly, that ordinance would be able to be transferred down to our patrol division who could enforce it as well in other areas of the county, so it would be a benefit not just to the jail, but to our entire operation.”

The Marathon County Jail is still crowded, and officials often send inmates to nearby Lincoln County when necessary. They also utilize more electronic monitoring devices for low-risk offenders than they used to.

(Listen to our interview with Chief Deputy Chad Billeb on our website, here.)

KRONENWETTER, Wis. (WSAU) -- Kronenwetter officials are looking at possibly using video cameras to keep an eye on problem areas in the village. Police Chief Dan Joling says just this year, vandalism damage to signs alone has exceeded $20,000. He says the property crime hotspots are in one area of the village.  “We mapped it out, and as one might assume, it kind of falls along where the highest density of population is, and that’s in the north end of the village, so that’s what we’re kind of looking at at this point in time.”

Joling says his initial research has cameras available for about $6,000 dollars, but don’t look for it anytime soon.  “We’re coming down to the timeline where we have to get budget approval, so I really wouldn’t see this as being anything that would probably come to life until 2016 or so.”

The Chief says technology has changed a lot since he began in law enforcement, and the modern tools certainly help manage the work and solve crimes compared to his early years on the force. “Well, for them to have said at that time, ‘Someday, you’re going to have a computer an arms reach away, and you’ll be able to roll down the road and type in plate number and, boom, have the information right in front of you’, I would have said, ‘no way.’ We’ve got it now. We’ve got cameras. We’ve got cellphones. We’ve got all of this nifty stuff, and so for that to be something that I think we have to start looking at? Probably.”

Joling says the technology will be nice if they can get it, but his biggest priority now is getting back up to full staff.  “More important for me here in the near term has been that of acquiring those officers to try to cover the village and try to cover it better.”

Joling will be continuing to research cameras for possible addition to the budget at this time next year.

Several communities use video cameras to keep an eye on problem areas, including Milwaukee, Madison, and Stevens Point, where they keep a close watch on the downtown square from the dispatch center.

MADISON, Wis (WRN-WSAU)  The state Department of Workforce Development has rejected living wage complaints made by workers last month.

A coalition of labor groups filed the complaints in late September, claiming that Wisconsin’s minimum wage is too low and represents an unsupportable wage. The effort was meant to trigger an obscure state statute that compels the governor to ensure the state’s minimum wage is a “living wage.”

DWD responded to the complaints on Monday, saying “there is no reasonable cause to believe that wages paid to the complainants are not a living wage.”

Wisconsin Jobs Now executive director Jennifer Epps-Addison calls the finding outrageous, considering so many people are struggling to get by on the state’s minimum wage. “In this day and age, there’s not a single person in this state who believes a working family can survive on $7.25.”She says it was disrespectful for the state to dismiss the complaints without even following up, or holding a hearing, or taking any actual testimony. She argues it “shows a complete disregard for the working people of the state” by Governor Scott Walker and his administration.

Governor Walker has frequently voiced opposition to increasing the state or federal minimum wage, arguing such action could actually reduce the number of jobs available and “put a buzz saw” to the state’s economic recovery.

Epps-Addison says workers will continue fighting for an increase and have not ruled out taking legal action.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- One of the Wisconsin counties that did not issue same sex marriage licenses Monday is now offering them.

Portage County Clerk Shirley Simonis says they waited at the advice of Corporation Counsel Mike McKenna until the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay on their own ruling. The stay prevented any changes until the State of Wisconsin could appeal the matter to the Supreme Court. Now that the Supreme Court has decided not to consider Wisconsin’s appeal, they have sent documentation back to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, and that court lifted their stay order Tuesday morning. With that action, there are no possible legal obstacles preventing clerks from issuing same sex marriage licenses.

Simonis says she and McKenna were concerned about issuing the licenses too soon and having them ruled illegal later. With the stay lifted, she said, “I issued a license this morning and I have no doubt it will be legal for them. That’s what we wanted all along.”

CRANDON, Wis. (WXPR) -- Two Forest County Correctional Officers and a spouse of one of them have been arrested on numerous state and federal charges.

Forest County District Attorney Charles Simino and Sheriff John Dennee report the arrest of Jeanie Pitts and Melvin Donek, both employed as jailers and Pitts' husband Richard.

Sheriff Dennee says his office began an investigation several months ago, along with state investigators. Due to a conflict of interest, Dennee says outside investigators were called in. Monday numerous search warrants were executed in two other northeastern Wisconsin counties along with Forest county. Federal ATF agents also were involved.

Anticipated charges include theft; receiving stolen property; soliciting forgery; delivery of articles to inmates; and misconduct in office.

Individuals arrested in Brown and Oconto counties face a range of state and federal charges. The Forest county inmates are being held in Marinette county.

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) -- The Amherst woman convicted of killing a man while driving drunk at a high rate of speed is going to prison. 24-year-old Hanna Schacht was sentenced by Portage County Judge Thomas Flugaur for homicide with a motor vehicle while operating with a prohibited blood alcohol level, and causing injury while driving with a prohibited blood alcohol level. The two sentences combined add up to six years behind bars followed by six years on extended supervision.

Family members of victims Daniel Wetzel and Richard Wetzel addressed the court along with attorneys from both sides. Daniel Wetzel died at the scene of the Town of Lanark crash September 15th, just over a year ago.

Schacht didn’t say anything, and hid her face as the judge passed sentence. She was found guilty July 1st.

MARSHFIELD, Wis. (WDLB) -- As Ukrainian leaders continue to fight pro-Russian separatists, they also continue to fight for a better way of life, and that includes leaning on University of Wisconsin officials for help in establishing a better higher education system.

Four young professionals from the Ukrainian government are spending this week in Wisconsin, as part of the Open World program established by Congress in 1999.

Markian Duleba is from Kiev, trying to understand the rules and regulations of higher education in the U-S.  Oleksander Sych is a first Deputy with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education. He drafted new higher education laws in Ukraine, and says through an interpreter that he has seen examples of things he can take back from Wisconsin.  The Ukrainian delegation is getting help from current UW Board of Regents member and former Lieutenant Governor Margaret Farrow. 

The delegates are spending the week observing classes at Marshfield and Pittsville High Schools and U-W Marshfield-Wood County. They will also visit the U-W Madison Law School and the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service at U-W Marathon County in Wausau. They've also had an opportunity to observe cranberry harvesting while in central Wisconsin.

UNDATED (WRN)  Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday that the state Government Accountability Board will not exist in its current form in another two years. Vos made the comment during a WisPolitics luncheon in Madison with state Representative Peter Barca.

Vos was responding to a question from WisPolitics Jeff Mayers regarding campaign finance regulations. “The difference between express advocacy and the different kinds of advocacy is not even a bright line that the GAB could draw,” Vos said, referring to an aspect of the John Doe investigation into alleged coordination between Governor Scott Walker’s campaign and an advocacy group during the 2012 recall election.

“I promise you that two years from now . . . the GAB will not be in the current format” Vos said. “It is dysfunctional, it is unresponsive, and it is totally undemocratic.”

Vos cited the GAB’s decision last month to release a newly redesigned ballot for the November elections. Vos’ reelection campaign and that of Senator Scott Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit over the redesigned ballot, which clerks in a majority of Wisconsin counties elected not to use. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed over procedural issues, but Vos made it clear Tuesday that he is still bothered by the ballot redesign process, and he laid the blame squarely at the feet of GAB executive director Kevin Kennedy.

“Kevin Kennedy has to go. He needs to be gone. He is an embarrassment, and I can’t say it any more emphatically than I am right now,” Vos said. He offered few specifics on what sorts of changes he envisions for the GAB, which is charged with oversight of Wisconsin’s campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying laws.

“That’s part of what we’re going to talk about with our caucus, but I think it’s important for the public to know that the current Government Accountability Board, under the bureaucrats who are running it, just don’t have the confidence of the public in Wisconsin,” Vos said. “To redesign a ballot in the middle of the election, using a process that would not necessarily be considered bipartisan or nonpartisan, is something that we’re all deeply disappointed in.”

MADISON, Wis (WRN)  The state Department of Natural Resources has confirmed its first two cougar sightings of 2014.

Agency officials say that trail cameras caught images of a cougar in Lincoln County in July, and in Marinette County on Labor Day. A landowner spotted a cougar image on his trail camera east of Merrill. The Marinette County sighting was near Middle Inlet, and it was reported to the DNR last Tuesday.Cougars had almost vanished in Wisconsin in 1910, but there have been more of them sighted in recent years. Last year, the DNR got dozens of reports of cougar sightings, but only three were verified. Another eight were confirmed as probable.

The DNR says there is no evidence that cougars are breeding in Wisconsin, and that the big cat pictured is likely a male making his way through the area.

BOWLER, Wis. (WSAU) -- A woman who was a pioneer in Wisconsin education has died. 

Her name was Dorothy Winona Davids, and she completed her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1945 at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, becoming the first member of a minority group to graduate from the campus. Davids started teaching fifth grade in St. Croix Falls after graduation, and retired as an associate professor at the UW Extension in Madison in 1985.

UWSP Chancellor Bernie Patterson said she will be remembered as a dedicated, lifelong educator who touched the hearts and minds of countless people in very powerful ways.

The Dorothy Davids Multicultural Resource Center at UW-Stevens Point was named in her honor in 1999. After her teaching career, she became an annual presenter at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s American Indian Studies Summer Institute, which provided professional development for hundreds of licensed teachers in the state.

Davids’ funeral was held Tuesday. She was 91-years-old.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) - Wausau school district students will be taking part in International Walk To School day today.

Marathon County health educator Destinee Coenen says the Walk To School Day is a chance for parents and students to leave the car at home for their trip to school. "What the Wausau school district is trying to do is get families to rethink their method of transportation to school and hopefully use an active form of transportation such as bicycling or walking." A large contingent of families will be leading kids on a trip to Franklin Elementary, while a Walking School Bus will be picking kids up for trips in to GD Jones Elementary.

It's a chance to get out and leave your car behind, but Coenen says letting your kids walk to school can take some getting used to for some people. "It's something that's not always very comfortable for parents which is something we understand, and so having students walk with their friends or even having their parents walk with them, you know it's a time to converse, it's a time to unplug a little bit."

Coenen says drivers should take it easy near schools. "Not all children know to look for cars or make sure a car sees them or to make eye contact with the driver. So it's really important as drivers we slow down and we pay careful attention when we're in those school zones."

You can learn more about the program and the event online at http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/

ROSHOLT, Wis. (WSAU) -- State officials say a Marathon County deer farm already under quarantine has had a third deer test positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.

State veterinarian Dr. Paul McGraw says the deer is from the same herd that has had previous positive identifications. "This was found on a hunting preserve, this is the same preserve that's had two previous positives over the last year and a half or so. This was a 5 year old buck, it's been on the preserve for 4 years, so not all that surprising that we found another positive."

The preserve is already under inspection and control, and McGraw says there have been no violations that lead to another positive test. "This farm is already under quarantine, and no live deer can leave that farm. It's a hunting preserve so what they do is hold hunts there, and at this time that can still continue." He adds that every deer that leaves the facility is tested for Chronic Wasting Disease. "This farm is required to test any deer that is hunted or harvested or any deer that die so that we do continue to monitor and detect any that are positive."

The Wilderness Whitetails hunting preserve and its three other locations have been quarantined since December 2013 when the first deer tested positive.

LOYAL, Wis. (WSAU) -- Looking for a job? Well, Clark County Economic Development Director Sheila Nyberg says they’ve got 207 “living wage jobs” open right now, and another 144 are expected to open in the next several months.

Nyberg says there’s just about every type of job, “Across the gamut, there’s office staffing, electro-mechanical, machinists, industrial painters, food production, administrative, manufacturing, engineers, maintenance, truck drivers, and many, many other types. We have a wide open variety of jobs in Clark County.”

Nyberg says the jobs are located in all parts of the county, and the reason for all the jobs is the many different types of industries located there.

For more information about those jobs you can go to the Clark County website or call the Clark County Economic Development Corporation at 715-255-9100.

UNDATED (WXPR) -- The Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest wants to find out how people are using its roads, and whether the system is sustainable.

It’s doing a study to find out how people are using the nine thousand miles of Forest Service road that range from paved surface to gravel or dirt trail.

Chequamegon Nicolet spokesperson Hilary Markin says road budgets are going down while maintenance costs are going up. That has led to a growing list of overdue projects.  “This last storm that went through really brought some of those to light. We did do a huge push here in September to try and fix as many of those culverts to make those roads safe for our travelers. And we continue to do that on a constant basis, but there’s a bigger need out there than what we having funding for.” Markin says it’s not clear that the Forest Service will close any roads, but it wants more information about how people are using them.  “So do they use it access their private land, do they use it as a hunting road, do they use it for gathering raspberries or other forest products? So what we’re trying to do is gather those values.” She says public use will be analyzed alongside financial cost environmental impact. Any proposal that comes out of the analysis will go back to the public for review. 

The Forest Service is taking input online about the road system, and is also holding an input session in each of its ranger districts.

There is one in at the Lincoln Town Hall in Eagle River on October 15th, and another one at the Laona Office on October 22nd.

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- A Mosinee man will spend the next four years in prison for leading police on a high speed chase in April.

22-year-old Andrew Penrod pleaded no contest to on Tuesday to attempting to flee and officer and operating while under the influence of a controlled substance. He also pleaded guilty to possession of meth. Once released, Penrod will spend three years on probation.

Penrod was driving near Pepper Court in Mosinee back in April without headlights when an officer tried to pull him over. That’s when Penrod accelerated through a stop sign, starting the chase. He was able to get onto northbound I-39 at Maple Ridge Road, where speeds reached 78 miles per hour.

Penrod was apprehended after crashing into a fence and a tree in The Bonney Oak Drive neighborhood southeast of Cedar Creek Mall. He started running from officers after the crash, but eventually stopped evading officers. The complaint says Penrod had taken heroin about an hour before the chase, and had swallowed methamphetamine to keep officers from finding it.