News

Sparta man sentenced to 20 years for sexually exploiting children

Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 11:17am

A Sparta man, Zachariah M. Svoboda, 29, was sentenced Tuesday morning to 20 years in prison after his conviction of charges related to trafficking and sexually exploiting children. In October 2018, Svoboda pled guilty to just five of the 34 charges against him, including sexual exploitation of a...

Skeletal remains confirmed as Harold A. Anderson

Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 11:16am

Human remains found Sept. 17 on Townline Road in Tomah have been identified as missing person Harold A. Anderson, however, how Anderson died remains uncertain. According to a press release issued earlier this week by Tomah Police Chief Mark Nicholson, “The investigation and subsequent examination...

SASD moves forward with seeking an operating referendum

Monday, January 14, 2019 - 12:00pm

The Sparta Area School Board approved a resolution last week authorizing the school district budget to exceed the revenue limit of $750,000 per year for three years for non-recurring purposes and will be moving forward with a referendum election to exceed the revenue limit. The district worked...

2005 Sparta High School graduate Angela Biederman is pictured at the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Swissvale, PA, where she was one of several artists chosen to install artwork in the idled steel mill.

Pursuing a passion for art

Monday, January 14, 2019 - 11:24am

Angela Biederman has followed her passion for art since she was a Sparta High School student The 2005 graduate earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UW-Milwaukee, and her Master of Fine Arts degree from Kent State University in Ohio, before making her way to Pittsburg, PA, where she has...

A Tomah Area Ambulance Service ambulance is engulfed in flames on Highway 12 outside Baraboo. Flames from a fire hit an oxygen tank which caused an explosion. Two TAAS paramedics and a transfer escaped serious injury.

Tomah ambulance goes up in flames during transfer

Monday, January 14, 2019 - 11:18am

The Tomah Area Ambulance Service had a new unit on order for its service. After a fluke incident Sunday night in Sauk County they are hoping delivery can be a little sooner than originally planned. According to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department, TAAS emergency personnel were able to remove a...

David P. Schreier began pulling in 1966 until 1985 when he became the Chief Executive Officer and President of the WPI.

All good things come to an end

Thursday, January 10, 2019 - 12:00pm

It may be fair to say there is no greater fan of the sport of truck and tractor pulling than David P. Schreier. Having been a competitor himself, Schreier is a former NTPA Grand National Champion who bleeds green and yellow as his love of John Deere runs deep. Schreier came from a modest beginning...

THS band director Charlie O'Brien peaks down at his music as he leads the wind ensemble during the inauguration ceremony for Gov. Tony Evers. Also pictured is the group from atop the Capitol rotunda. Herald photos Bob Kliebenstein

THS wind ensemble performs at Gov. Tony Evers inauguration

Thursday, January 10, 2019 - 11:30am

A day out of school for a field trip usually is a day filled with relaxation for students. But the Jan. 7 field trip for the Tomah High School band's wind ensemble to Madison had a different tone - literally. And their musical tone was spot on for hundreds of spectators who filled the Wisconsin...

After he took his oath of office, Sheriff Revels’ wife and grandchildren had the honor of pinning on his official badge. Herald photo by Nicole Vik

Revels sworn in as new Monroe County Sheriff

Thursday, January 10, 2019 - 11:00am

Wes Revels was sworn in as the new Monroe County Sheriff in front of a large crowd consisting of friends, family and colleagues at a ceremony Monday morning. Judge Todd Ziegler who said, “It is hard to imagine anyone more qualified to be sheriff than Wes,” swore in Sheriff Revels. “Wes has all the...

Mourners set up a memorial this week to 9-year-old Jaden Allen Stalsberg in front of his house on North Water Street. The Meadowview fourth grader died Sunday after falling though the ice on Perch Lake. Herald photo by Pat Mulvaney

Police ID Sparta boy who died after falling through ice

Thursday, January 10, 2019 - 10:33am

Authorities identified Jaden Allen Stalsberg as the 9-year-old boy who died after falling through the ice on Perch Lake in Sparta last Sunday. The boy was a fourth grader at Meadowview Intermediate School. According to GoFundMe page started by a family member, Jaden and his brother Dustin, 12, were...

Rescuers look for the body of a nine-year-old Sparta boy who fell through the ice on Sunday afternoon. The boy, who was underwater for over an hour and a half, was recovered and flown to Rochester where he later died.

Sparta boy dies after falling through ice on Perch Lake

Monday, January 7, 2019 - 10:34am

Sunday afternoon turned tragic for a Sparta family after a nine-year old boy was pulled from beneath the ice on Perch Lake and later died. Authorities have yet to release the names of the children involved in the incident, which began with a call to 911 shortly after 3 p.m., reporting that two...