#Wausau Public Health and Safety committee

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Catholic Charities to close Wausau day shelter as winter sets in amid staffing and funding challenges

Wausau previously committed funding for the day shelter through 2025, but Catholic Charities declined to extend the contract, city officials said.

Damakant Jayshi Catholic Charities will close its day shelter for unhoused residents at the end of this month, citing funding and staffing difficulties. The organization’s night shelter will continue operating as usual, officials said. Wausau previously committed funding for the day shelter through 2025 but Catholic Charities declined to extend the contract, city officials said. Catholic…

[kansascityhappenings]

After a 50-year ‘ban,’ a Wisconsin town is allowing snowball fights again

https://newsource-embed-prd.ns.cnn.com/videos/newsource-video-embed.js

The city council in Wausau, Wisconsin, is looking to tweak a nearly 50-year-old law prohibiting throwing snowballs within city limits.

Don’t worry — the residents of the central Wisconsin town haven’t been deprived of a half-century of winter fun.

But the text of Wausau Ordinance 9.08.020, enacted in 1962, might make you think otherwise. It reads this way:

“No person shall shoot any objects, arrow, stone, snowball, or projectile by hand or by any other means at another person at, or into, any other building, street, alley, sidewalk, highway, park, playground, or other public place within the city.”

After being discussed at the Wausau City Council’s Public Health & Safety Committee meeting December 16, the amendment, which strikes the word “snowball,” must still be approved by the full council at its meeting next month.

With a backdrop of fellow officers chucking snowballs at each other, Deputy Police Chief Matt Barnes explained the law in a video posted on December 5.

Barnes said the police department has enforced the projectile ordinance only about 10 times in the past 15 years.

Only two of those instances involved snowballs, but only because folks were pelting cars driving on the road.

He said the other instances involved people shooting crossbows in their yards, with the arrows landing on a neighbor’s property, and when people threw heavy sandbags off the roof of a parking garage while people were walking on the sidewalks below.

City officials were pushing back on some recent news coverage about Wausau that got a bit out of hand. First a local TV station ran a story briefly remarking on the fact there was a curious snowball law on the books, the New York Post gave it more life and then another article called Wausau “the worst town in America.”

Things escalated quickly.

But the truth is the law was never intended to ban your garden-variety friendly snowball fight.

“A fun snowball fight is a fun snowball fight, and that’s not something we enforce this ordinance with,” Barnes said in the video.

Then, to prove it, he nails the city mayor in the back of the head with a snowball.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/25/after-a-50-year-ban-a-wisconsin-town-is-allowing-snowball-fights-again/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/25/after-a-50-year-ban-a-wisconsin-town-is-allowing-snowball-fights-again/

[wausaupilot]

Wausau officials working on public safety fee plan for ticketed events

Facing a projected $3 million budget deficit over the next five years, the Wausau School District is revisiting the possibility of an operational or even capital referendum for the April 2025 ballot.

Damakant Jayshi Wausau officials are developing a plan to implement new public safety fees for ticketed events that require significant police presence and additional services from city departments. Discussions center on which events should pay the fees and how to collect and track them based on attendance estimates. The Wisconsin Valley Fair, essentially a Marathon County event held in Wausau,…

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Wausau committee extends funding for day center amid usage and staffing challenges, pending council approval

Despite concerns over service usage and staffing, the Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee supports continued ARPA funding for the day center, aiming to sustain services during winter months:

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee this month extended ARPA funding for a Catholic Charities day center for the homeless through April 2025, pending City Council approval. The day center extension aims to continue providing a space for unhoused residents, while the nighttime Good Shepherd Shelter remains funded separately until October 31. Catholic Charities has also…

[wausaupilot]

Wausau could permanently ban alcohol from parks, public facilities

The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday recommended permanently restricting alcohol consumption in city-owned parks and public facilities.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday recommended permanently restricting alcohol consumption in city-owned parks and public facilities. The Wausau City Council imposed the restriction last year after the police department said they have been getting calls from residents about alcohol abuse and related crimes. That measure had a sunset date of Dec. 31, which…

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Domino Bar must open by July 1 or risk losing liquor license

What's going on with The Domino Bar? Here's what we know so far.

By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review A once-popular Wausau bar and grill that has been largely closed since November is at risk of losing its liquor license if they do not resume regular operations by July 1. The Domino Bar, 740 Washington St., has been a Wausau staple for nearly 100 years. On July 1, 2023, the Domino was sold to a new owner, Brougan Milbradt, who performed extensive…

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Request for Wausau Police to add officers addressing homelessness passes committee, but sees strong reaction from public

By Damakant Jayshi and Shereen Siewert Wausau’s Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday approved a request from the police department to add two additional officers to address growing homelessness in Wausau, though reaction has been mixed from the public. Talks began in February about the proposed additions, when Police Chief Matt Barnes told the Police and Fire Commission that about 100…

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Salvation Army shifts to family-only shelter

Also, an update on capacity numbers for January at local shelters.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Salvation Army will shift to a family-only shelter and will move individual men out by April 26, a move that comes two months after the organization discontinued serving individual women. No new individual men are being accepted into the Salvation Army’s nighttime shelter in the interim. Community Outreach Specialist Tracy Rieger, during her monthly briefing on…

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Wausau mulls transitional housing program amid police suggestion

The Wausau Police Department put forward a suggestion for a transitional housing pilot program to serve single homeless women in the area, a proposal that was discussed this week by the Public Health and Safety Committee.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Police Department put forward a suggestion for a transitional housing pilot program to serve single homeless women in the area, a proposal that was discussed this week by the Public Health and Safety Committee. CW Solutions, which calls itself a “private human service company,” created a two-step plan to help people move from temporary living situations to stable,…

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Campus Pub sold, liquor license surrendered to Wausau

The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday put on hold the liquor license revocation process for Campus Pub after the owner surrendered the license voluntarily.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday put on hold the liquor license revocation process for Campus Pub after the owner surrendered the license voluntarily. A revocation-related hearing was set for Monday, and the committee approved the process last month. Committee Chair Lisa Rasmussen said city staff learned that Kevin Steinke, who owned the pub at 110 W.…

[wausaupilot]

Wausau committee denies request by Campus Pub to hold liquor license

The business owes $7,765.71 to Badger Liquor Co, Inc. city officials say. There is also delinquent personal property tax owed to the city, according to city’s documents. The Wausau Police Department closed the pub on June 30.

Damakant Jayshi Wausau’s Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday refused to extend a liquor license for Campus Pub, which has been closed since late June. According to the City Clerk’s office, the license for Campus Pub was renewed but not issued after the Wisconsin Dept. of Revnue placed a hold for an outstanding debt. In her memo to the committee, Deputy Clerk Mary Goede wrote that…

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Wausau committee continues block party permits

The Wausau Public Health and Safety committee on Monday approved a tweaked ordinance to continue to allow pubs, bars and taverns to block off a portion of a street for outdoor parties after securing permission from the city.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Public Health and Safety committee on Monday approved a tweaked ordinance to continue to allow pubs, bars and taverns to block off a portion of a street for outdoor parties after securing permission from the city. The decision comes in the wake of a request from two west-side bars on either side of Elm Street between North Second and North Third Avenues – Matt’s 101…

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Wausau mulls citations for toy firearms

This stems from a recent case in which a suspect in a stolen vehicle threatened to shoot police - but the 'handgun' he had in his hand was a fake.

Damakant Jayshi The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee on Monday approved the police department’s request to issue citations for the use of facsimile firearms in line with an existing Wisconsin statute. The Wausau Police Department requested the committee to include the Wisconsin statute related to restrictions on the use of facsimile firearms into the Wausau Municipal Code. “A…

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Wausau moves toward alcohol restrictions in parks

Wausau is considering new alcohol restrictions in city parks, acting on a recommendation by the Wausau Police Department. Here's what the new rules are likely to say.

Damakant Jayshi Wausau is considering new alcohol restrictions in city parks, acting on a recommendation by the Wausau Police Department. Two city committees on Monday gave their nod to the measure, which would go into effect on Jan. 1. Initially, the proposal would have encompassed parks solely in the downtown Wausau area but committee members chose to make the rules uniform. Deputy Police…

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Wausau agencies work to fill daytime shelter void after Open Door closure

What led to the closure remains murky. Here's what we do know.

Damakant Jayshi and Shereen Siewert Officials in Wausau are grappling with how to provide services to homeless residents impacted by the abrupt closure of Open Door, which received funding this year to operate a daytime shelter. What led to the closure remains murky. Bob Grady, executive director at Open Door, resigned from his role and the agency ceased providing day shelter services about 10…

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Wausau could nix humane officer under new animal control model

Wausau could eliminate its humane officer and shift those responsibilities to multiple part-time police employees, under a proposed animal control model under consideration.

Damakant Jayshi Wausau could eliminate its humane officer and shift those responsibilities to multiple part-time police employees, under a proposed animal control model under consideration. The Human Resources Department and Committee will examine the hiring portion of the proposal, after a recommendation last week from the Public Health and Safety Committee. One alder on Public Health said he…