Two charged in teen’s beating death (MANITOWOC)
Charges are filed in the death of a Manitowoc County teen. The body of 16-year-old Payton Vertz was found in a marina earlier this month. 26-year-old Dominic Pilgreen and 15-year-old Nathan Reichard (REYEK-ard) are facing 1st-degree intentional homicide charges in the Two Rivers teen’s death. In Manitowoc County court on Monday, Reichard was given a $500,000 cash bail while Pilgreen will have his bail hearing this next Monday. Both suspects are also facing additional charges after they allegedly got Vertz intoxicated before beating him to death. A criminal complaint alleges that Pilgreen and Reichard tried to tie Vertz to a tree along the Ice Age Trail before Payton died.
ATV driver charged in crash that killed Twin Cities man (SUPERIOR)
A criminal charge is filed in an ATV crash which killed a Twin Cities man in northwestern Wisconsin. 38-year-old Brandon LeJeune is charged in Douglas County Court with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. 71-year-old Ross Fredrickson of Eagan, Minnesota died in the June 8th crash, becoming the year’s 18th ATV/UTV fatality, but not its’ last. There have been a total of 42 such deaths so far this year in Wisconsin. LeJeune allegedly admitted consuming three alcoholic beverages, the last about an hour before the crash. He passed field sobriety tests. An autopsy found Frederickson had no alcohol or commonly abused drugs in his system. Lejeune’s bail was set at $1,500 cash bond with conditions of no driving an ATV and no use of alcohol. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 18.
Fire station houses state’s 10th Safe Haven Baby Box (MANITOWOC)
Wisconsin’s 10th Safe Haven Baby Box is installed in Manitowoc. The baby box is housed at Manitowoc Fire Station #3, which is located closest to Interstate 43. The baby box allows mothers who feel they cannot raise a child to anonymously relinquish it to emergency responders. The climate-controlled box would keep the baby safe until emergency crews would find it and take it to a local hospital to check its health. Wisconsin’s Safe Haven law allows a mother to surrender their baby at a hospital, police station, or other emergency medical facility. That can be done for up to 30 days after the child is born. It was previously only 72 hours when the law was first passed back in 2001. A Safe Haven Baby Box in Racine County has been used two times since its installation in 2024.
Menasha High School advances in national competition (UNDATED)
Menasha High School is one step closer to taking it all in a national competition. The T-Mobile Friday Night Lights 5G national competition has been narrowed down to four schools, one from each region of the US. After taking first place against 10 other schools in the Midwest region, Menasha secured $250 thousand and a new Gronk Fitness gym. Now, Menasha competes against three other schools in the US for a $1 million Football field upgrade. This comes after Menasha High School’s Calder Stadium faced significant damage from the July EF3 tornado. You can vote online in the T-Mobile Friday Night Lights 5G for the Menasha Blujays once every day now through November 8.