BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 VOL. 56 NO. 47 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
SPECIAL SECTIONS: Check out the Fall Home Improvement and Wedding Guides. INSIDE
Bat fight leads to high speed chase
Norine hits back on television story
JONATHAN RICHIE EDITOR@BURNETTCOUNTYSENTINEL.COM
JONATHAN RICHIE EDITOR@BURNETTCOUNTYSENTINEL.COM
BURNETT COUNTY—A Webster man has been charged with aggravated battery of an elderly person after he allegedly attacked a 72-year-old man with a billy club during an altercation in Webster. He then led police on a highspeed chase that ended with authorities finding him underneath a boat. Cowan J. Bruss, 29, Webster, has been charged with aggravated battery of an elderly person, a class H felony and attempting to flee or elude an officer, a class I felony. He was also charged with three misdemeanor charges for disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and resisting an officer. According to the criminal complaint, on Sept. 4 dispatch received a report of a “fight involving bats” at Affordable Auto on Highway 35. Sheriff deputies arrived around 1:10 p.m. to speak
BURNETT COUNTY—Former Burnett County District Attorney Bill Norine is challenging claims made by a Twin Cities television station. Those claims suggested Norine asked a number of former female defendants for dates using social media, according to a story aired last weekend. KMSP-TV interviewed several former defendants and Norine about interactions that occurred through social Bill Norine media. Reporters from KMSP spoke with Angela L. Johnson who currently has an open case for possession of THC and drug paraphernalia. Online court records show she was initially also charged with possession of methamphetamine. Norine allegedly asked Johnson out through Facebook Messenger. KMSP reports Norine sent a message saying, “let me buy you dinner and we’ll compare notes. But if you would rather not I will understand.” The station contacted six different women through social media and all replied that Norine contacted them for dates through Facebook. Norine, in a statement to the Burnett County Sentinel refutes the claims. “This is a small community. Many of the
SEE BRUSS, PAGE 2
LINDA LUHMAN | SENTINEL
Showing shades of excellence Olivia Meyer and her calf strike a pose at the Central Burnett County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 22. See more highlights from the fair on pages 16 and 17.
SEE NORINE, PAGE 2
WIS 70 resurface and beam guard installation project underway Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has begun work on a 4.6 mile resurfacing project on WIS 70 from WIS 35 to Viola Lake Road in Burnett County. Improvements include milling a 2.75-inch layer of asphalt, paving 3 inches back, widening the paved portion of the shoulder from three feet to five feet, replacing beamguard at
the Clam Lake Narrows, and placing new signs within the project area. To improve safety and lessen sound impacts, the project will also include new sound-dampening “mumble strips.” Monarch Paving is the prime contractor for the $2.4 million project. Eighty percent of the project will be paid with federal transportation funds
NEWS 715-463-2341 editor@burnettcountysentinel.com
and twenty percent will be state funded. PROPOSED TRAFFIC IMPACTS During construction, WIS 70 will remain open to traffic, with a minimum single lane open and controlled by flagging. Construction is currently scheduled for completion by the end of
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November 2018. For more information regarding traffic impacts, transportation news and improvement project updates in Wisconsin’s northwest region follow us on Twitter: @WisDOTnorthwest or visit the region’s 511 website: http:// projects.511wi.gov/region/northwest.
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