A Marathon County eNewsletter
The Marathon County Veterans Service Office created a safe way to organize a contactless “drive-up event” that maintained social distancing to honor our local Veterans.
Over 200 Veterans received a resource bag full of helpful items and the opportunity to be recognized on Veterans Day with a “thank you” from fellow Veterans. (Click the title for details…)
August 18, 2020, marks the Centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which stated that the right to vote could not be denied based on one’s gender.
This historic milestone granting women the right to vote will be celebrated in Marathon County through a number of virtual events, including (Facebook/Zoom) panel discussions, interviews, and learning community sessions.
A few of the topics to be discussed during the several-day program in August 2020 include who worked to support the 19th Amendment, how amendments work, what role social and civic groups played, what to expect for women over the next 100 years — including an interview with Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg — and much more! (Click the title for details…)
Over the last 4 years, Katie Rosenberg has written nearly 30 articles for the County’s newsletter. Her profiles and ride-along stories were some of our readers’ favorites.
As she transitions from being a County Board Supervisor to her new role as Mayor of the City of Wausau, Katie reflects on some of her favorite pieces of writing and personalities she met along the way. (Click the title for details . . .)
Marathon County Board Supervisor Yee Leng is a 25-year-old man who has dedicated himself to bringing Hmong voices to the table in local government in Marathon County not merely as token committee members, but as fully participating members of a policy board.
Residents of Hmong descent make up roughly 5% of Marathon County’s population. But up until recently, our elected bodies haven’t reflected that diversity. Yee Leng Xiong is working to change that.
(Click the title for details . . .)
County Administrator Brad Karger reflects on the back-to-back August shootings and how local staff and officials are working to ensure public safety in Marathon County.
Learn about suicide prevention measures, veteran supports, active shooter training for government employees, cybersecurity updates, a specially trained crisis response team, onsite school-based trauma therapists, and more in the full article. (Click the title for details…)
County Board Supervisor Katie Rosenberg talks with Nan Kottke about her 48-year career in the County Clerk’s Office.
The interview reads like a movie script, what with Nan working her way up from the mail room as a teenager to a well-respected elected official.
Nan’s last day on the job will be Friday, September 13, 2019. Learn more about Nan and her hopes for the person who takes over as your next Marathon County Clerk in the full article. (Click the title for details . . .)
County Administrator Brad Karger explains the June Pride resolution, as well as the July reconsideration vote.
The most significant takeaway? The majority of Supervisors still voted to declare June as Pride Month in Marathon County, thus educational sessions and assessments with regard to the County’s fair treatment of all residents and employees will go on as directed in the resolution that passed in June, and June will remain “Pride Month” in Marathon County. (Click the title for details…)
From her hopes for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau to the initiation of what she touts as “people-focused policies,” Marathon County Board Supervisor Ka Lo is pushing to make changes for the better in Marathon Country. Her fresh perspectives, her bold stances, and her understanding of the rewards of hard work are truly inspiring.
Learn more about Supervisor Lo, her family’s harrowing journey from Laos to America, her love for the community, and her goals for the future in the full article. (Click the title to read more…)
Wisconsin Judicare’s program works with the Marathon County court system to provide FREE mediation services (by trained volunteers) to citizens in a variety of civil cases, helping to free up our already overloaded courts.
Marathon County’s mediation program has already had national recognition in a Harvard Law & Policy Review article, and the success of the program in its first year has led to a planned expansion to mediate over 400 cases in its second year.
Learn more about the financial, emotional, and other benefits of this community program — and how to register for an upcoming volunteer mediator training session — in the full article. (Click the title for details…)
Our existing broadband access is bad for business in Marathon County. Not all businesses and residents in Marathon County have access to reliable, high-speed internet — and that puts us at a disadvantage attracting businesses and recruiting talented people to live and work here.
Area farmers and rural teachers find it especially hard to do their jobs without reliable wireless internet. Marathon County Government was tasked with hiring a consulting firm that specializes in assisting communities with broadband expansion to help us create an action plan. Read on to learn more about this project and what’s being done to help area farmers and teachers in the meantime. (Click the title for details…)
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