MONROE - No one can say 2017 was an uneventful year. Even in rural, southwestern Wisconsin, residents experienced the full spectrum of natural events from disasters like flooding and tornadoes to the wonder of a solar eclipse.
Read on to revisit the biggest stories to take up residence on the pages of the Monroe Times this year, in no particular order:
Crash kills 3 Monroe students
Three Monroe High School sophomores died as the result of a two-vehicle accident Feb. 10 in the town of Clarno.
Gage Noble, who was driving one of the vehicles, died at the scene of the crash, while two of his passengers - Joseph Wyss and Anya Teasdale - died after being Medflighted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital.
Jennifer Hopkins, the driver of the second vehicle and a 35-year-old mother of six, was also Med Flighted to UW Hospital in critical condition. A friend later said she was expected to make a full recovery.
About 400 mourners attended a candlelight vigil around the Green County Courthouse on the Square the evening after the crash.
Tornadoes hit the area
Two EF-1 tornadoes swept through Green County on the night of June 28, causing flooding and structural damage.
A report from the National Weather Service listed wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour in Monroe. However, the National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and determined that two tornadoes had touched down north of Monroe.
An EF-1 tornado is the second-weakest tornado category on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornado intensity. EF-1 tornadoes can cause wind speeds from 86 to 110 mph.
Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits said most of the damage was in the unincorporated areas north of the city.
Write-in candidate secures spot on city council
After an unregistered, word-of-mouth campaign, voters chose Monroe native Rob Schilt as a write-in candidate to fill the seat vacated by former Alderman Reid Stangel on the Monroe Common Council April 4.
A post by Schilt on Facebook less than 24 hours before the election began garnered 46 shares. In it, he announced his intent to serve on the council.
The campaign by word of mouth was successful. He received 66 votes, the most of any write-in candidate.
Out with the old: Parking ramp demolished, replaced
Demolition started at the end of 2016, bringing an end to the decades-old municipal parking ramp in downtown Monroe this year. Work took a three-month hiatus before picking back up with the filling of a large pit in March and landscaping finished in late July. The former Monroe Clinic Hospital building was also demolished this year in the continuing renovation project at the clinic.
The ramp was replaced in May by a flat lot with 68 parking stalls and 14 additional spots along the north entryway.
Parking has proven to be a contentious issue in the city. The question of what should replace the parking ramp brought much discussion and some protest at common council meetings over the last two years. Speaking of ...
Prospects of new apartment
complex die in tie vote
Downtown business owners won out May 16 after emphasizing their disapproval of a three-story, 40-unit apartment building proposed for the public parking lot at 16th Avenue and 8th Street.
Monroe Common Council members tied 4-4 in their vote to approve the development agreement with MSP Real Estate, the company based in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, with developments throughout Wisconsin.
Monroe identified a lack of affordable housing in its 2015 comprehensive plan, but area business leaders argued the parking that would be replaced by the new building was too valuable to lose.
Solar eclipse
Residents of Monroe and beyond gathered to witness an eclipse of the sun Aug. 21, despite the light-filtering eclipse glasses having sold out across town the week before.
Viewed from the Monroe Public Library - which distributed free eclipse glasses to attendees - cloud cover dispersed shortly before the eclipse's peak at about 1:15 p.m. to offer a glimpse of the sun mostly obscured by the moon.
Monroe Times bought by Morris Newspaper Corp. of Wisconsin
Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin announced the purchase of Monroe Publishing LLC from Bliss Communications of Janesville Feb. 1.
Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin, a group of 10 weekly newspapers and two shoppers, acquired Monroe Publishing, which included the Times and the shopper publications the Monroe Shopping News, the Freeport Shopping News and the Stateline Buyers Guide. Now, Morris Media of Monroe comprises the Monroe Times and the Monroe Shopping News.
Other changes at the newspaper have included a new publisher, Matt Johnson, and a new editor, Emily Massingill.
Dave Hirsbrunner charged with theft, misconduct
Dave Hirsbrunner, former Monroe High School athletic director, appeared in Green County Circuit Court Sept. 27 on felony charges that he embezzled money from ticket sales at school sporting events.
He faces a charge of theft and three counts of fraud-related misconduct, all Class I felonies. The criminal complaint, filed in June, alleges he stole $2,950 from the school district between Dec. 1, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2015.
The school district put Hirsbrunner on paid administrative leave in November 2015 with no public explanation. By the end of that month, he resigned, paying the district $6,390 in a separation agreement.
His wife, former District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner, left after her contract expired in June. Her departure left the district with a position to fill ...
New district administrator in town
The Monroe school board selected Richard Waski, former Monroe High School principal, to succeed Cory Hirsbrunner as district administrator on a 7-2 vote March 13.
Waski served as MHS principal from 2010 to 2013 before becoming the district administrator of the Adams-Friendship Area School District. He also has been an associate principal, activities director, high school science teacher and coach.
He started his new Monroe position in July.
Monroe board hires new fire chief
A three-month process ended Jan. 10 when the Monroe Board of Police and Fire Commissioners voted unanimously to hire Dan Smits as the new Monroe fire chief.
Smits was chosen over then-interim chief Lane Heins, who had taken over in September 2016 after Daryl Rausch left the department.
The possibility that Heins would be hired as chief permanently prompted 10 Monroe firefighters to sign a letter, asking the commission not to hire him because of what they identified was his negative effect on morale. Other firefighters pushed for his hiring and wrote their own letter in his favor.
Smits, who was deputy chief at the Crete Fire Department in Illinois before coming to Monroe, has been a firefighter for 40 years. He began in Lansing, Illinois, as a paid on-call worker at 18.
Home bakers win their day in court
Thanks to the efforts by three area residents, Wisconsin is no longer one of two states that makes the sale of home-baked goods illegal.
The suit, filed by Lisa Kivirist of Browntown, Kriss Marion of Blanchardville and Dela Ends of Brodhead in January 2016 against Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, contended that Wisconsin's prohibition on the sale of home-baked goods places restrictions that are unequal to those placed upon other homemade foods.
Lafayette County Judge Duane Jorgenson declared a Wisconsin statute unconstitutional May 31. He limited his decision almost a month later by declaring it only applied to the case's three plaintiffs, but continued to hear arguments from state lawyers and those of the plaintiffs from the Institute for Justice before making his ultimate ruling in early October.
City Hall sits empty through 2017
The Monroe City Hall's renovation project ran the full gamut from uncertainty to conflict to resignation this year. The project, which started in August 2016 and was intended to last only six weeks, stalled after new floor tiles failed to adhere to the cement underneath.
After attempted repairs and negotiations with KPH Construction and Environmental of Milwaukee, Monroe Common Council members declared the company at fault in February for failure to complete the work. Liberty Mutual, the insurance company funding work through KPH, denied the city's claim over the summer following an investigation.
City council members attempted to solicit new bids to finish the failed flooring project in October but decided at long last to have city employees take on the work when the sole bid failed to meet requirements, but within the last week also authorized contracted attorney Jeff Younger to negotiate options for work with Liberty Mutual. The answer to when city staff, displaced from their usual offices for more than a year, will be able to move back into City Hall remains unknown as 2018 begins.
Monroe gets a dog park
Thanks to the efforts of Alderman Jeff Newcomer and Monroe residents Ryan Ziltner and Katherine Frey, Monroe's first park specifically for dogs opened Sept. 10.
The dog park, 2.63 acres of fenced land, surrounds the North Industrial Park water tower. Its use requires a license, which can be purchased through City Clerk Carol Stamm, currently housed at the westside fire station in Monroe. On Monday, the annual membership price will be $30 for the first dog and $5 for each additional dog.
The trio organized the effort to create a dog park after it was identified as a goal in the Monroe Comprehensive Plan.
Read on to revisit the biggest stories to take up residence on the pages of the Monroe Times this year, in no particular order:
Crash kills 3 Monroe students
Three Monroe High School sophomores died as the result of a two-vehicle accident Feb. 10 in the town of Clarno.
Gage Noble, who was driving one of the vehicles, died at the scene of the crash, while two of his passengers - Joseph Wyss and Anya Teasdale - died after being Medflighted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital.
Jennifer Hopkins, the driver of the second vehicle and a 35-year-old mother of six, was also Med Flighted to UW Hospital in critical condition. A friend later said she was expected to make a full recovery.
About 400 mourners attended a candlelight vigil around the Green County Courthouse on the Square the evening after the crash.
Tornadoes hit the area
Two EF-1 tornadoes swept through Green County on the night of June 28, causing flooding and structural damage.
A report from the National Weather Service listed wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour in Monroe. However, the National Weather Service conducted a storm survey and determined that two tornadoes had touched down north of Monroe.
An EF-1 tornado is the second-weakest tornado category on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornado intensity. EF-1 tornadoes can cause wind speeds from 86 to 110 mph.
Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits said most of the damage was in the unincorporated areas north of the city.
Write-in candidate secures spot on city council
After an unregistered, word-of-mouth campaign, voters chose Monroe native Rob Schilt as a write-in candidate to fill the seat vacated by former Alderman Reid Stangel on the Monroe Common Council April 4.
A post by Schilt on Facebook less than 24 hours before the election began garnered 46 shares. In it, he announced his intent to serve on the council.
The campaign by word of mouth was successful. He received 66 votes, the most of any write-in candidate.
Out with the old: Parking ramp demolished, replaced
Demolition started at the end of 2016, bringing an end to the decades-old municipal parking ramp in downtown Monroe this year. Work took a three-month hiatus before picking back up with the filling of a large pit in March and landscaping finished in late July. The former Monroe Clinic Hospital building was also demolished this year in the continuing renovation project at the clinic.
The ramp was replaced in May by a flat lot with 68 parking stalls and 14 additional spots along the north entryway.
Parking has proven to be a contentious issue in the city. The question of what should replace the parking ramp brought much discussion and some protest at common council meetings over the last two years. Speaking of ...
Prospects of new apartment
complex die in tie vote
Downtown business owners won out May 16 after emphasizing their disapproval of a three-story, 40-unit apartment building proposed for the public parking lot at 16th Avenue and 8th Street.
Monroe Common Council members tied 4-4 in their vote to approve the development agreement with MSP Real Estate, the company based in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, with developments throughout Wisconsin.
Monroe identified a lack of affordable housing in its 2015 comprehensive plan, but area business leaders argued the parking that would be replaced by the new building was too valuable to lose.
Solar eclipse
Residents of Monroe and beyond gathered to witness an eclipse of the sun Aug. 21, despite the light-filtering eclipse glasses having sold out across town the week before.
Viewed from the Monroe Public Library - which distributed free eclipse glasses to attendees - cloud cover dispersed shortly before the eclipse's peak at about 1:15 p.m. to offer a glimpse of the sun mostly obscured by the moon.
Monroe Times bought by Morris Newspaper Corp. of Wisconsin
Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin announced the purchase of Monroe Publishing LLC from Bliss Communications of Janesville Feb. 1.
Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin, a group of 10 weekly newspapers and two shoppers, acquired Monroe Publishing, which included the Times and the shopper publications the Monroe Shopping News, the Freeport Shopping News and the Stateline Buyers Guide. Now, Morris Media of Monroe comprises the Monroe Times and the Monroe Shopping News.
Other changes at the newspaper have included a new publisher, Matt Johnson, and a new editor, Emily Massingill.
Dave Hirsbrunner charged with theft, misconduct
Dave Hirsbrunner, former Monroe High School athletic director, appeared in Green County Circuit Court Sept. 27 on felony charges that he embezzled money from ticket sales at school sporting events.
He faces a charge of theft and three counts of fraud-related misconduct, all Class I felonies. The criminal complaint, filed in June, alleges he stole $2,950 from the school district between Dec. 1, 2014 and Oct. 15, 2015.
The school district put Hirsbrunner on paid administrative leave in November 2015 with no public explanation. By the end of that month, he resigned, paying the district $6,390 in a separation agreement.
His wife, former District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner, left after her contract expired in June. Her departure left the district with a position to fill ...
New district administrator in town
The Monroe school board selected Richard Waski, former Monroe High School principal, to succeed Cory Hirsbrunner as district administrator on a 7-2 vote March 13.
Waski served as MHS principal from 2010 to 2013 before becoming the district administrator of the Adams-Friendship Area School District. He also has been an associate principal, activities director, high school science teacher and coach.
He started his new Monroe position in July.
Monroe board hires new fire chief
A three-month process ended Jan. 10 when the Monroe Board of Police and Fire Commissioners voted unanimously to hire Dan Smits as the new Monroe fire chief.
Smits was chosen over then-interim chief Lane Heins, who had taken over in September 2016 after Daryl Rausch left the department.
The possibility that Heins would be hired as chief permanently prompted 10 Monroe firefighters to sign a letter, asking the commission not to hire him because of what they identified was his negative effect on morale. Other firefighters pushed for his hiring and wrote their own letter in his favor.
Smits, who was deputy chief at the Crete Fire Department in Illinois before coming to Monroe, has been a firefighter for 40 years. He began in Lansing, Illinois, as a paid on-call worker at 18.
Home bakers win their day in court
Thanks to the efforts by three area residents, Wisconsin is no longer one of two states that makes the sale of home-baked goods illegal.
The suit, filed by Lisa Kivirist of Browntown, Kriss Marion of Blanchardville and Dela Ends of Brodhead in January 2016 against Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, contended that Wisconsin's prohibition on the sale of home-baked goods places restrictions that are unequal to those placed upon other homemade foods.
Lafayette County Judge Duane Jorgenson declared a Wisconsin statute unconstitutional May 31. He limited his decision almost a month later by declaring it only applied to the case's three plaintiffs, but continued to hear arguments from state lawyers and those of the plaintiffs from the Institute for Justice before making his ultimate ruling in early October.
City Hall sits empty through 2017
The Monroe City Hall's renovation project ran the full gamut from uncertainty to conflict to resignation this year. The project, which started in August 2016 and was intended to last only six weeks, stalled after new floor tiles failed to adhere to the cement underneath.
After attempted repairs and negotiations with KPH Construction and Environmental of Milwaukee, Monroe Common Council members declared the company at fault in February for failure to complete the work. Liberty Mutual, the insurance company funding work through KPH, denied the city's claim over the summer following an investigation.
City council members attempted to solicit new bids to finish the failed flooring project in October but decided at long last to have city employees take on the work when the sole bid failed to meet requirements, but within the last week also authorized contracted attorney Jeff Younger to negotiate options for work with Liberty Mutual. The answer to when city staff, displaced from their usual offices for more than a year, will be able to move back into City Hall remains unknown as 2018 begins.
Monroe gets a dog park
Thanks to the efforts of Alderman Jeff Newcomer and Monroe residents Ryan Ziltner and Katherine Frey, Monroe's first park specifically for dogs opened Sept. 10.
The dog park, 2.63 acres of fenced land, surrounds the North Industrial Park water tower. Its use requires a license, which can be purchased through City Clerk Carol Stamm, currently housed at the westside fire station in Monroe. On Monday, the annual membership price will be $30 for the first dog and $5 for each additional dog.
The trio organized the effort to create a dog park after it was identified as a goal in the Monroe Comprehensive Plan.