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WJFW News

Monico Vacation Home Vandalism Update Submitted: 01/30/2013

MONICO - Piece by piece and memory by memory, a family with a vacation home in Monico is recovering. Their home was viciously destroyed by burglars. We showed you their vandalized home last week.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office arrested all three suspects in this incredible act of vandalism. But the Wierzbicki's will need a lot more than that to pick up the pieces.

This week they struggled to figure out where to even begin.

"We had to inventory each item on each one of these pages," says Brian Wierzbicki, while paging through an itemized list of personal items that were destroyed. Three hundred of them in all.

That doesn't include the major structural damage to the property. There isn't a wall, ceiling, floor, or light fixture left intact.

The family has already put in 60 hours of work cleaning up their home. But for every layer of destruction they clear, they find another.

"They used a pick axe and a wood axe and chopped up the concrete. Many, many things were discovered beneath mattresses and things like that," says Wierzbicki.

The Wierzbicki's are still in limbo with their insurance company. Brian says he'll have to wait and see how the case plays out in court before he'll feel any better.

"There's a really seriously strange mindset that would allow them to do this much damage, with this much violence, for this amount of time, and then just move on to something else," says Wierzbicki.

One of the suspects, 17-year-old Jeffrey Stefonik was in Oneida County Court Wednesday. He's charged with six felonies, including burglary and criminal damage to property.

A 15-year-old is being charged in juvenile court.

Seventeen-year-old Anthony Briggs is also charged in this case, and out on bond.

Surprisingly, we reported Briggs was allowed to participate in a Three Lakes High School wrestling match Monday.

"Something I enjoyed has been destroyed and it's amazing that they're able to participate in something that they enjoy," says Wierzbicki.

We asked Superintendent Dr. Karling why Briggs hadn't been suspended from the Wrestling team, and he declined to comment.

WIAA rules state a player can be suspended for tobacco, alcohol and controlled substances. But it also says they can be suspended for violating the school's code of conduct. No word on whether felony criminal charges count.

Story By: Lyndsey Stemm

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Wausau Paper Signs Agreement to Sell Submitted: 05/20/2013

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RHINELANDER - Wausau Paper today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its specialty paper business to a new company sponsored by KPS Capital Partners L.P. (“KPS”), a New York-based private equity firm with significant experience in the paper industry.

The new company will be known as Expera Specialty Solutions, LLC (“Expera”).

KPS, as previously announced, has also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the specialty paper business of Packaging Dynamics Corporation

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Rhinelander man killed in ATV crash Submitted: 05/20/2013

MERRILL - A Rhinelander man died in an ATV crash in Lincoln County this weekend.

The Sheriff's Office responded to a crash just after 6 Saturday night in the town of Harrison.

49-year old Randy Romenesko appeared to have lost control of his ATV and crashed into a tree. He was taken to Ministry Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police say Romenesko was wearing a helmet but wasn't properly secured. Speed may have been a factor, but police believe alcohol was not.

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Obama, Walker Approved at Identical Rate in Wisconsin Submitted: 05/20/2013

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WISCONSIN - President Obama and Governor Scott Walker couldn't be much further apart on the political spectrum.

But Wisconsinites seem to like them about the same -- in fact, at exactly the same rate.

The Marquette University Law School came out with a new poll taken earlier this month.

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Motorcylcist speeds away from Lincoln Co. Sheriff's Deputies at 100+ MPH Submitted: 05/20/2013

MERRILL - When most people see flashing red lights, they pull over.

Lincoln county deputies are looking for a motorcycle rider who didn't.

A Cafe Racer bike flew down highway 51 around 7pm last night going 84 miles per hour.

A deputy south of Tomahawk tried to pull the driver over, but the biker took off at over 100 miles an hour. For safety reasons, the deputy did not start a chase.

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Late Spring Shouldn't Affect Potato Crop Submitted: 05/20/2013

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ANTIGO - Most of us waited eagerly for spring so we could start our summer hobbies.

But farmers wait for spring so they can get to work.

John Schroeder runs a potato farm in Antigo.

He says the late spring could mean a bad harvest for crops like alfalfa, but potatoes should be just fine.

"It generally started a little wet and cold, he said. "We were probably three or four days behind planting right now, but we had a good week last week, so we're catching up."

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Students Raise Money To Teach Kids In China Submitted: 05/20/2013

MINOCQUA - Most kids like to spend summer break fishing, camping or just hanging out.

But two Northwoods teenagers want to get right back into school in another country.

But they need help.

Two students at Lakeland Union High School only have 24 days left to meet their $6,000 goal.

Nathan Grebe and Steven Zhang are trying to raise money to join a three week summer camp in Beijing, China.

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Massive tornado flattens homes, neighborhoods in Oklahoma Submitted: 05/20/2013

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide roars through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.

NBC News reports at least 37 people are confirmed dead as of 7:30 p.m.

The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city.

The National Weather Service says it had winds up to 200 mph.

People wearing neon-green vests were joined by residents in the search through rubble. Neighborhoods are flattened and homes blown apart.

Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department says an elementary school took a direct hit from the mile-wide tornado.

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