MONROE — So much happened locally in 2023, trying to summarize even the highlights was a daunting task. What do we leave in, what do we take out? That was the challenge in our most recent episode of “A Year in Review.”
The sports-related content is located on page A11-12. As you’ll see, it was a good year for local athletes.
Here are some of our local, non-sports highlights:
Celebrations
Green County Historic Courthouse restoration project completed
After more than two years under construction, the more than $8 million Green County Historic Courthouse renovation project was completed. Crews completed the rebuilding of the top portion of the clock tower, and on a sunny day in early June, the peak was reinstalled. By September, the new slate roof was fully installed, and part of the scaffolding was taken down. By November, the finishing touches were made and a rededication ceremony was held in early December.
Monroe Times celebrates 125 years, overhauls layout for first time in nearly 30 years
Oct. 13, 2023 marked the 125th anniversary of the first Monroe (Evening) Times publication. Throughout the year, the Times celebrated the milestone. First, the Times opened 2023 with a new masthead and logo — the first major change to our overall look since the 1990s. Then, the paper followed up with a trivia campaign on social media in the 125 days leading up to the anniversary, filling the paper with old stories, photos and advertisements of yesteryear.
Inside, our page headers also changed, going with a slim and less space-consuming route. Finally, when the new courthouse project was completed — and scaffolding finally removed — an updated image of the clock tower replaced the long-used images in our previous brand, which in this business is known lovingly as a ‘masthead.’
YMCA Capitol Campaign takes off, Phase 1 goal reached
In January, a challenge was presented to the Green County Family YMCA by the Colony Brands Foundation: If the YMCA raised $10 million for their building campaign, the Colony Brands Foundation would donate $15 million toward the building campaign and an additional $5 million to the Green County Family YMCA Foundation.
It was announced on Nov. 16 that the goal of $25 million surpassed in donations and pledges had been met, enough to complete funding for Phase 1 of the expansion project.
Balloon rally returns
For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the country, 34th Balloons & Blues festival, hosted by the ARC-Green County, was held June 16-17 at the Green County Fairgrounds.
Five Blues bands played, and guests enjoyed a plethora of food options and a dazzling light glow at the end of both nights.
Projects Underway
Downtown revitalization projects ongoing
The White Block building on the southwest corner of the Monroe Square, and the site of the former Eugene Hotel across the street, are involved in historic restoration projects. Both sites have received large grants from the state and other organizations to help fund the work. The White Block building was started in 1898 and finished in 1900, while the Eugene Hotel began its life on the square in the 1920s. Perched above Baumgartner’s, a popular longtime establishment, it has been rented out for businesses, and even residential apartments, in recent decades. The team behind the Eugene Hotel, Baumgartner’s owners Chris and Tyler Soukup, are hoping to get the hotel returned to use as a downtown destination hotel by the end of 2024.
MHLC, Southwest Health break ground on new Darlington facilities
A 36-acre site at the corner of Wis. 23 and Highway K just south of Darlington will be the home to the new Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County campus. The new facility, a $64.8 million replacement hospital as of July, will be larger than the current building, and include a second ER operating room and MRI machine, among other improvements. On July 15, officials from Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County (MHLC) and the state of Wisconsin came together for the groundbreaking of the new healthcare facility.
Up the road on Wis. 23, Southwest Health began construction of its new Darlington clinic.
MHLC also opened a clinic in Blanchardville in August.
Black Hawk school project unexpectedly delayed, but work starts anyway
It has been a long time coming, but shovels ceremoniously hit dirt Nov. 1 at Black Hawk Schools. After a series of delays — from bid costs well above referendum dollars to a contractor going bankrupt — construction on the new addition began. In October, the first part of the project began in earnest, as the baseball field was demolished and paved over for a parking lot. The goal is to have the new building operational during the 2024-25 school year.
New Glarus begins school, athletics facility projects
Students, faculty, administration and other local officials ceremonially broke ground on the football field for New Glarus School District’s new Primary School on Monday, Oct. 16. The Primary School will be connected to the current Elementary School near 14th Avenue.
The future home of the New Glarus High School athletic complex will be directly across 2nd Street from the high school and adjacent to Wis. 69. The turf field will host football and soccer games, with track and field used being available as well. The stadium could be used for other local events and community gatherings. The facility is expected to be ready for use in 2024.
DOT installs 4-way stop at notorious intersection
Effective Wednesday, Dec. 13, the intersection of Wis. 11/81 and County GG became a four-way stop.
The intersection, in the Township of Spring Grove and just west of Brodhead, has allowed traffic moving in both the east and westbound lanes to flow at highway speeds of 55 miles per hour. Cross traffic has long been the culprit of major accidents. Since 2020, there have been four fatal crashes that have resulted in the deaths of six people — including two fatal wrecks in 2023 alone.
LOCAL NEWS
David Joseph Riley returns home, buried with foster parents 8 decades after Pearl Harbor attack
On Dec. 7, 1941, the date that will live in infamy, Juda native David Joseph Riley lost his life aboard the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The surprise Japanese attack thrust the United States into World War II. A total of 2,403 Americans were killed, including 429 on the Oklahoma.
Riley, born in 1916, was Green County’s first casualty of World War II. It took the United States more than 80 years to identify his remains, and it took distant foster cousin Deborah Krauss Smith almost two more years to get his remains home, so he could be buried alongside his foster parents, Elmer and Della Ausmus.
On May 27, 2023, Riley reentered Green County for the first time since joining the Navy in 1940. A program in honor and remembrance was held at Juda High School, and later his committal service was held at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, with full military honors. Hundreds gathered in Juda for the event.
Exchange student Anastasia Yacoub’s home left in rubble
In early May, just weeks before her foreign exchange tenure with Monroe High School was set to be over, sophomore Anastasia Yacoub received terrifying news: Her Palestinian home in Gaza City had been destroyed by an Israeli rocket aimed at taking out a neighbor in her apartment building. Yacoub’s parents and younger brother survived. When her exchange stay was over, she traveled back to Palestine, having to stay with friends and family members while her family came up with the funds to rebuild their home.
In October, Hamas deployed a surprise attack on Israel, leading to an ongoing war. While 1,200 Israelis were killed in the initial attack, Israel’s military has since killed about 20,000 Palestinians, nearly half innocent civilians and children. Anastasia and her family saw their home, in the middle of being rebuilt, destroyed. The family sought shelter, food and water for more than a month before being able to escape through the Egyptian border and into the country of Jordan to live with family.
Brodhead lifeguards, EMTs prevent child from drowning
The quick actions of public pool staff helped save the life of a child at Brodhead’s city pool last June after a suspected near-drowning incident. It all began when a lifeguard noticed that “something just wasn’t right in the water,” with a young male swimmer, according to pool manager Madisyn Kail, adding that the boy was mostly submerged in the water at the time.
Kail and her team of lifeguards sprang into action, grabbing the child and pulling him above water. While that was going on, another lifeguard was already dialing 9-1-1. The boy was initially unresponsive, but after four compressions of CPR, he was responsive and began regaining consciousness.
Tornadoes touch down near Juda, Brodhead, Albany, New Glarus
Deadly thunderstorms ripped across the Midwest and central United States on March 31, and south central Wisconsin was not spared some of the destruction.
On Sunday, April 2, the National Weather Services confirmed three tornadoes touched down in eastern Green County — two EF-0 and one EF-1. All occurred between Juda, Brodhead and Albany.
The system came the weekend before Easter, known as Palm Sunday. Almost 50 years ago to the weekend, on Palm Sunday (April 11, 1965), Monroe was hit by a large tornado as well.
On Sept. 25, a twister struck around 6:08 p.m. east of New Glarus and just south of Belleville, amid storms that evening, weather officials said. Evidence suggested a small-scaled tornado briefly touched down in a field.
Monroe Chamber picks new leaders
The Monroe Chamber of Commerce welcomed new leadership to a group that represents a vital link in marketing Monroe to the world and promoting hometown companies and business interests. Marcey Ciaccio was recently named the group’s new executive director. Chamber President Steve Brewer, of SSM Health, announced the change in an email to chamber members. Ciaccio takes over for former executive director Melissa Even and previously served in leadership roles for SSM Health.
Meanwhile, Ally Langkamp was given an expanded role, overseeing day-to-day office operations; as well as managing chamber events.
Local Government
City Administrator resigns, Rindy promoted
David Lothspeich resigned from his post as Monroe City Administrator in March. After a 3-month search, city clerk Brittney Rindy was hired by the Monroe Common Council as the new city administrator in late June.
Administrative functions have been consolidated under Rindy, who first came to Monroe following college and was one of four finalists for the position. The council chose the finalists from a pool of 18 applicants that had applied through the recruiting firm Public Administration Associates, LLC.
Rufer named permanent fire chief after nearly 18 months as interim
Ending a roughly two-year search, the Monroe Fire Department filled the permanent fire chief role by promoting interim chief Al Rufer in October. The city had been without a full-time fire chief since April 2022 after William Erb abruptly resigned three months into the job. Rufer was named interim fire chief shortly after, his second time in the role.
The city focused attention on the fire department through an ad-hoc committee, which recommended several changes but not the most extreme option, which would have been creation of a full-time department and perhaps agreements to share coverage with other area emergency and first-responder organizations.
Green County Board narrowly passes LGBTQ+ ordinance amid controversy
Following weeks of debate and some protest, the Green County Board on May 13 agreed to recognize June as being LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Green County.
The measure prompted an outpouring of support and opposition to the measure in the weeks and moments before the final vote. In the end, and after more than an hour of official discussion, the board voted 17-14 in favor of the resolution, which recognizes LGBTQ+ Pride Month, consistent with its designation as such nationally.
Taxes rise for many area residents
Many homeowners saw increases in their bills, and county officials were working to educate the public on the intricacies and variables that go in to computing a given property tax liability. More questions than ever about the process are being raised, in part due to major increase in assessed value, particularly in the Monroe area, said County Treasurer Sherri Hawkins in December. The red-hot housing market also has contributed to interest in the valuation process, according to experts.
She created a tutorial on the process to the full county board. And now that presentation, “Understanding your Tax Bill: A Basic Understanding of Assessment and Taxation” is available to the public for download on the county’s website. The presentation covers the basics of how property is assessed and equalized and how tax formulas are applied to calculate bottom-line, tax bills.
Drama surrounds voter-approved School District of Monroe referendum
It didn’t take long for detractors of the voter-approved $88 million referendum in Nov. 2022 to raise a further stink. After property taxes were released in Dec. 2022, the proposed new land for the Monroe High School campus failed to pass a vote in a Meeting of the Electors.
As 2023 rolled around, plenty of headaches ailed supporters of both sides of the controversial referendum. Some of those items included:
● A lawsuit put forth by four citizens aimed to cancel the $88 million school district referendum. The measure was approved by voters in November 2022 by a margin of about 9%. The referendum designates over $3 million to improve Abraham Lincoln Elementary, and the rest to build a new high school campus.
● In March, voters turned down a 70-acre site on County Road DR, just north of the city limits.
● The following day, school board member Teri Ellefson abruptly resigned, citing public vitriol, and personal mental health.
● The school board announced it would pause all referendum-related projects while the lawsuit played out in court.
● The delay in getting approval for a new site then led to the estimated timeline to be pushed back even forth — by more than a year, all while inflation costs rose.
● In April, Mike Froseth, Jr., and Teri Montgomery were elected as new school board members, replacing Tim Wolff and Cheryl McGuire, who did not seek reelection.
● Jim Curran was later picked by the board to fulfill the remainder of Ellefson’s term, which ends in 2024.
● In May, Green County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Vale sided with the school in the lawsuit, allowing the referendum project to proceed.
● The board debated ways to get a better consensus from the public on where the school should be built, at either the DR or B&S (31st Ave) locations, or revert to the smaller current property, with a longer timeline to be completed. In the later stages of getting a survey completed, the B&S property owners offered a “land swap” deal in June — essentially making the purchase of the 70-acre land to the east of 31st Avenue an even trade.
● The board took the revised B&S land-swap option to the public, and in a meeting of the electors on July 17, with more than 1,700 district voters showing up to Monroe High School to cast their ballot, the site was approved.
The board has since approved a slew of checklist items to continue the project. A community informational meeting is set for Jan. 24, 2024, and project leaders hope to break ground in the spring of 2024, with the new school operational in 2026.
HONORS
New Cheese Days royalty announced, button revealed
Tony and Esther Zgraggen of New Glarus were picked to be the new King and Queen, replacing Gordy and Ruth Bergemann. The Zgraggen’s are both Switzerland natives and run Alp and Dell Cheese Store in Monroe.
Breanna Brooks of Juda was chosen to replace Tess Zettle as Cheese Days Ambassador. Brooks and Zettle also unveiled the new Cheese Days 2024 button logo, which features an accordion player in lederhosen.
Monticello native wins U.S. Cheese Championship — for Connecticut company
The top prize in the 2023 U.S. Cheese Championship may have been awarded to a Connecticut company, but the cheesemaker himself is fresh from the cheese factories of southern Wisconsin.
Eric Schmid, 29, a 2012 Monticello graduate, won the top award for Europa, an aged Gouda made by Arethusa Farm Dairy in Bantam, Connecticut. The award was presented to him via video link from the contest stage in Green Bay.
With a score of 98.739 out of 100, Europa topped 2,249 entries from 197 dairy companies and cooperatives across 35 U.S. states to win the coveted top prize.
Green County’s Swedlund honored as the 2023 Wis. Fairest of the Fair
A Juda native was named over 36 other state contestants to become the Fairest of the Fair, a ceremonial position that promotes the state’s dairy interests.
Wisconsin State Fair officials introduced the 2023 Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs, who was selected during the annual Wisconsin Association of Fairs Convention in the Wisconsin Dells. A group of 36 contestants vied for the highly sought-after position in Wisconsin but Sharlene Swedlund, 22, representing the Green County Fair, took home the title.
Monroe’s Artful Dressmaker 1st at London event
Deborah Ruschmeyer won in the Fashion Open Category for making a wedding dress out of recycled materials.
In January, after delays because of COVID-19, Ruschmeyer traveled to London, where she competed against designers from all over the world in the Fashion Open Category for Embroidery. The annual competition is organized by Hand & Lock, which identifies as “the world’s finest providers of hand embroidery since 1767.”
She took first place, beating two designers from India.
Brodhead toddler’s modern art pays off
A Brodhead family won $20k and was a finalist for the $100k prize on TV show America’s Funniest Videos (AFV) after their son drew on walls, furniture and his younger sibling.
A Brodhead family made a laughter-filled second appearance on America’s Funniest Home Videos, took home $20,000; and got a free trip to Los Angeles for a taping of the show.
The appearance was the first of two the family logged from the same cell phone video of young Braxton Hertzner, interacting with his younger brother, nine-month old Beckett. The kids’ dad, Logan Hertzner of Brodhead, narrates the clip and sent in the video of his younger son, getting into trouble with his baby brother.
The clip shows the younger child’s head generously covered with black marker; and Braxton’s dad asks him what he’s done. The marked-up baby was shown after Hertzner pans his camera around the room, where there’s also a child-colored mother’s wallet, his own toys — and even a white wall with black marker all over it.
The family, including Julia, the mom, initially took home $20,000 and which qualified them for the $100,000 prize.
MHS student wins state pageant, competes at nationals
Jayde Kapple was named the 2023 Teen Wisconsin Petite Queen and represented the state in the Petite USA pageant in Milwaukee in August.
Crime
High speed pursuits lead to criminal charges, deaths
Four major high-speed police pursuits came to Monroe in 2023.
On Feb. 17, a pair from Illinois hit another car and a traffic signal post, and then fled on foot in the 800 block of Wis. 69. The car was being pursued by Stephenson County, Ill. Sheriff’s Office deputies and later, those from Green County. After striking another vehicle, the suspect’s car left the road before crashing into the traffic signal. The vehicle sustained damage and the two occupants fled on foot. They were captured nearby.
In March, a 49-year-old man led police on a high-speed chase from Monroe to Freeport, beginning at Monroe’s Walmart and ending across state lines in Stephenson County. The driver, Melvin Bradford of Freeport, was arrested without incident and faced aggravated felony fleeing to elude and possession of drug paraphernalia charges in Stephenson County.
Jayden Horton, 16, of rural Freeport, died July 22 after stealing a car and leading police on a chase that ended with a head-on collision. According to police, a 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck originally stolen in Jo Daviess County was spotted by its actual owner near West Avenue and Meadows Drive in Freeport just before 10 p.m. He fled, and at one point, the driver lost control of the vehicle, as it left the road at Walnut and Lamm Road, crashing head on into a tree, causing him to be thrown from the vehicle.
In November, a Janesville man, 49-year-old Casey J. Austin, robbed the Orfordville Dollar General at gunpoint and then fled to Monroe, where he was briefly pursued by police. He pulled into a business’s parking lot on 17th Street and 12th Avenue, where he pointed the gun at MPD officers before quickly turning the handgun on himself and fired. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Argyle man charged with attempted murder after stabbing
Joseph Wallgren, 32, of Argyle, was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in April after allegedly trying to stab a 59-year-old female roommate with a kitchen knife. Believed to be suffering from some type of a mental health issue, Wallgren thought he overheard the woman say she was going to eat a child, so he slashed her across the throat. The victim survived.
Gunfire leads to 16-hr search
Authorities found a veteran in a mental health crisis who fled after firing a weapon, causing a brief stay-at-home order in York Township.
Paul Michael Anderson, 35, allegedly fired a gun in the range of a family member during the early evening hours of Wednesday, May 17. Authorities were called and he fled. No one was injured in the initial discharge of the firearm.
Authorities searched for him all night, and finally, about 16 hours after the initial incident and after four hours of telephone negotiations, Anderson was safely taken into custody.
Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud had given residents in the Town of York a shelter-in-place order while the search was on. At 6:48 a.m. on May 18, Skatrud lifted the shelter-in-place order.
Hammer sentenced to 5 years after long wait
Derek Hammer, the boyfriend of a missing Monticello woman, was sentenced in May to five years in state prison on charges unrelated to the disappearance of the 37-year-old mother, Melissa Trumpy. Hammer is suspected of foul play in the case and is among the last people to see her alive since her disappearance in Oct. 2021.
Rock County Circuit Judge Ashley J. Morse considered sentencing on several bail jumping felonies, a disorderly conduct, drug, and weapons charges. In the end, Morse sentenced Hammer to serve about 5 years in prison on the most severe charges, with the time running concurrently and credit granted to Hammer for about 430 days credit he had spent in Green County Jail.
30-year-old arrested for murder of Benton grandmother-in-law
Shannon Bussan, 30, of Elizabeth, Ill., was charged in March of first-degree intentional homicide in the February death of Lynne Montgomery, 83, of Benton. Bussan married, and has children, with Montgomery’s grandson. Her initial bond was set at $1 million and later reduced to $100,000.
200 dead goats lead to arrests
A Lafayette County couple have been arrested on more than 100 combined charges, including felonies related to the inhumane treatment and deaths of goats on a farm near Darlington. As many as 200 of the animals perished on the farm, at the hands of Kyle D. Lincicum and his wife, Stephanie, over the course of about a year, authorities alleged in a criminal complaint. They were reportedly renting the farm and raising the goats through an agreement with the property owners.
Each were charged with 20 counts of mistreatment of animals, 20 counts of failure to provide proper food and drink for confined animals, five counts of timely disposition of carcasses, one count of transfer of another’s personal property; and one count of theft. They also were apparently selling some of the herd they were supposed to be raising at the farm, in the 11000 block of Prairie Road in Seymour Township.