METRO BRiEFS
by B.C. Kowalski
City Pages’ year end wrap up Here’s some of the top stories around the Wausau area from 2020 Well, I’m pointing out the obvious to say COVID dominated our headlines. There were others of course, but it’s hard to deny COVID-19’s impact on our reporting. I always had the sense in the back of my mind that it would be nice to write about something NOT COVID, but to do so generally would be irresponsible. We’re a reflection of what is going on, and that is what is going on. So, here are the top stories of 2020, not necessarily in any order.
Addressing homelessness
It started with an ordinance around trespassing in the city’s downtown parking ramps. That led to outcry that the ordinance was essentially criminalizing homelessness. What could have led to a reactionary battle instead led area leaders, organized by the Wausau Police Department and United Way, to start coming up with some real solutions to homelessness. That includes a new task force under the direction of United Way’s Ben Lee working toward real goals and metrics; it led to increased attention and focus on a plan to start a Community Partners Campus with services such as The Neighbors’ Place and Catholic Charities all under one roof; and to Wausau PD creating an officer position to work with the homeless population, as well as buying a house and partnering with North Central Health Care to create a transition house where homeless folks can get a fresh start. City Pages wrote about that in this week’s cover story. Homelessness is not an easy thing to address, but as Wausau is finding out, the biggest thing is boots on the ground. Having an officer working directly with the population has proven the best way to start solving the homelessness problem in Wausau.
The mall’s redevelopment This year, 2021, we will finally see Wausau Center come down after nearly 40 years of existence. The news didn’t break this year - work had been underway on repositioning the mall for some time. Stores and stores continued to clear out of the mall - it had almost stopped being news. That this plan seems to be most likely successful, though, is different. Plans to try to redevelop Sears into a movie theater fell apart; plans to move Yonkers to the former JC Penney anchor spot was approved and never materialized. (How exactly that would save the mall was never terribly apparent. These national retailers supposedly would want one empty anchor spot but were uninterested in another? Hmm.) The plan: Tear down Wausau Center,
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citY PaGES
December 31-January 7, 2021
Coronavirus, masks and schools
If someone came in and wrote all the stories under this header for me, I wouldn’t have had much else to do. Many watched the virus taking hold in China and it seemed like a thing that wasn’t going to happen here. Then it did. Big time. It divided America further, eroded scientific understanding among people from both political ideologies, and shut down business as we know it. Everyone had to adapt. Even us. Schools came to the front of that debate, and something interesting emerged from the data: Schools seemed to be flatten it all out to make the spots “pad ready” as they say in development speak, and attract developers to build mixed use buildings that have downtown housing, a small amount of retail, some office, and other odds and ends. Included are public markets and green space. Critics have suggested that the organizers aren’t taking the potential for environmental contamination nearly seriously enough, and that the city has spent a lot of money (and will probably be asked for more when the developers show up). They also point out that too much was developed behind closed doors, that early agreements appeared to violate state tax reimbursement laws (that was removed under the newly negotiated terms by Mayor Katie Rosenberg) and that dedicating anything to office space might be a mistake given how so many people are working from home now. Several more stores and restaurants in
pretty much COVID safe. Speaking with a Wausau School District official about why, she said the schools are heavily regulated, with masks, shields, six feet social distancing strictly enforced. Through nearly 1,000 cases traced by school district officials, only one was spread at school. Similar results were reported at schools across the country. Before the great schools opening or closing debate, the debate centered around the pools. Weston opened theirs, others such as Wausau’s or Rothschild/ Schofield’s stayed closed. Weston didn’t appear to have any issues keeping theirs open.
▲ Parents concerned about schools reopening gathered at the Longfellow Administration Center in Septemeber.
And the virus went from abstract to reality for many. As one person told me, who lost loved ones to COVID-19, at first it seemed like no one you knew got COVID - then suddenly everyone knew someone. City Pages, as always, steered clear of ideology, and stuck to what the data showed, as soon as we could get it. We learned along the way too, as did others. A quote from a professional poker player seemed even more relevant: Less certainty, more questions.
the mall have closed, and many others have signs that they will be packing up at the end of January. Many leases were up for renewal in January, and of course knowing the mall is closing, they’re not planning on renewing. But either way, expect the mall to be a massive story in 2021 as it was in 2020.
Wausau gets a new mayor
Political wonk Katie Rosenberg seemed a bit shocked herself when she realized she’d become Wausau’s next mayor back in April. Her response — HOLY BALLS — went viral on Twitter, and has led to much national attention to Wausau, including everything from Jewish publications (Rosenberg is not Jewish but many assume she is because of her last name), to the New York Times. Rosenberg defeated former mayor Robert Mielke about a month into the pandemic, and so many of her initia-
▲ Mayor Katie Rosenberg, a couple of weeks before she won the mayoral election.