National Brat Day - Happy Bratsgiving

4 guys 1 grill 🌭 @thegrilldads @Johnsonville @Leinenkugels pic.twitter.com/vYbiAlTYon

— Charlie Berens (@CharlieBerens) August 15, 2025

Happy Bratsgiving!

National Brat Day - Happy Bratsgiving

4 guys 1 grill 🌭 @thegrilldads @Johnsonville @Leinenkugels pic.twitter.com/vYbiAlTYon

— Charlie Berens (@CharlieBerens) August 15, 2025

National Brat Day

Can you hear the grill sizzle? Happy National Brat Day! pic.twitter.com/LYUlMN3EjB

— Rep. Tony Kurtz (@RepTonyKurtz) August 16, 2024

National Brat Day - Happy Bratsgiving

HAPPY BRATSGIVING!!! Celebrate the sausageiest day of the year🎉https://t.co/QvWRA1Ap13

— Johnsonville (@Johnsonville) August 16, 2023

Northern Lights - Hartland, Sheboygan, Baraboo

Incredible photos of the Northern Lights #AuroraBorealis from Hartland, WI and Sheboygan, WI tonight. AMAZING! pic.twitter.com/tJTyYD9xWr

— Tom Wachs (@Tom_Wachs) March 24, 2023

Northern Lights tower over Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin late on Thursday evening. #wiwx #aurora @TamithaSkov pic.twitter.com/wMxMACSAqa

— Isaac Schluesche (@SlushyWx) March 24, 2023

Beautiful.

National Brat Day - Happy Bratsgiving

Happy Bratsgiving! Go relish the day, sausage enthusiasts.#happybratsgiving #nationalbratwurstday #johnsonvillesausage pic.twitter.com/tuQXDc9Ema

— Johnsonville (@Johnsonville) August 16, 2022

It's not you, it's me(at). #happybratsgiving #nationalbratwurstday #johnsonvillesausage pic.twitter.com/dZCfIXUYOM

— Johnsonville (@Johnsonville) August 13, 2022

Milwaukee 4th of July Fireworks, Parades Cancelled

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The ongoing threat of COVID-19 has canceled another big event this summer. Both Milwaukee's city and county Fourth of July celebrations are not going to happen in 2020.

The city gave a statement saying there would be no Fourth of July parades or picnic. The county has canceled the July 3 Lakefront fireworks show.

From the Humboldt Park 4th of July Association:

It is with heavy hearts and tears in our eyes that we relay the news that our Independence Day celebration is cancelled for 2020.

The City of Milwaukee 4th of July Commission, Mayor Barrett and the Health Department have made the difficult decision to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Humboldt Park has been celebrating the 4th for 110 years through wars, peace, depression and prosperity. We ask that you respect the City’s decision and find a way to celebrate safely at home and we promise to be back in 2021 to celebrate the planet’s renewed health.

Nothing has stopped the 4th of July celebration in Humboldt Park for 110 years.

NOTHING, until this virus.

Do summer outdoor activities like these really need to be cancelled?

Of course, it would be wise for the elderly and other at-risk populations to stay away from crowds even in outdoor settings, but we know the virus does not pose a serious health risk to the vast majority of residents.

According to the models, it's projected there will be ZERO cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin by May 14. That projection was updated on April 28.

I feel bad for Milwaukee residents.

Not all communities in Southeastern Wisconsin have cancelled their celebrations.

For example, Racine's celebration, including the parade and fireworks, is still scheduled for Saturday, July 4th.

Grafton, Sheboygan, and others still plan to celebrate.

Wisconsin - Winter Weather Advisory

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for parts of our area. More at: https://t.co/hy73zJZWB7 pic.twitter.com/sSgxIzR3zh

— FOX6 Weather (@FOX6Weather) February 26, 2019

Lilly Badtke Pizza Party

This EXCLUSIVE story by TMJ4 is positively embarrassing.

Toppers Pizza invited Lilleona "Lilly" Rose Badtke to come have a pizza party. The restaurant shut-down Monday evening, when they got word the little girl was missing. Employees immediately joined search crews.

"We scoured this city," says Tim Krahn, who works at Toppers Pizza. "It hit home for all of us. We all have kids. We felt compelled to help find her."

"Being a father, you just don't expect to get a call saying your child is missing," says Lilly's dad, David, who got a call from his ex-wife, saying Lilly never came home from school. "It's the worst feeling. But the fact that the community rallied around us, was so amazing. It was unexpected, and very appreciated."

It turns out, Lilly had slept over a friend's house, without telling anyone. She showed up at school the next morning, and had no idea everyone had been looking for her.

"My mom didn't know," Lilly says. "I was pretty surprised when everyone started hugging me, and my stepmom was crying."

When asked if she's thankful so many strangers stepped-up to help her, Lilly's answer was simple. "Yes, very much."

So someone involved called TMJ4 to bring their cameras to this little party celebrating the fact that a 7-year-old's parents couldn't keep track of their child.

EXCLUSIVE!

It's an "exclusive" embarrassment.

Video here.

Lilly, guest of honor, got to help make pizzas at Toppers. What a reward for being the child of parents unable to get their act together!

Yes, it's great the child wasn't abducted or injured or worse. That's reason to be very thankful.

She was simply spending a school night sleeping at a friend's house and none of the adults involved communicated at all. That's mindboggling to me.

Does this really merit a celebration that deserves EXCLUSIVE coverage on the 10:00 PM news?

I'm sure Toppers is enjoying the free advertising, but I don't think a celebration, highlighted on the local news, is in order here.

Hey! Let's celebrate bad parenting and getting people to frantically search Sheboygan for a kid not really missing! Woo hoo! Pizza!

Nice EXCLUSIVE, TMJ4.

Lilleona Badtke

Lilleona Badtke is safe.

Let's just say she's no longer missing.

After an all-night search for the missing child, the 7-year-old showed up at school.

From FOX6 News:

Lilleona Badtke was located Tuesday morning, October 14th at Longfellow Elementary.

“That’s my Lillybean, I just grabbed her and hugged her,” said Lilleona’s stepmom, Tina Badtke.

She was reported missing around 3:15 p.m. on Monday, October 13th after parting ways with her sibling during her normal route home.

The Sheboygan Area School District’s superintendent, says the girl slept over at a friend’s house Monday night. The parents she stayed with were apparently unaware of the search.

“Don`t rely on a 7-year-old saying ‘yeah mom knows I’m here’, be a parent yourself and call the other parent,” said Rebecca Paez, a relative of the Badtke family.

The superintendent says there was no communication between the families about the sleepover. He wants to take this as an opportunity to teach students how to stay in contact with their parents, and how to better communicate their whereabouts.

“Talk to your student, your child. If the child is staying over, you that are accepting that child, make sure you talk to that parent. Don’t just assume that they know where their child is staying,” said Superintendent Joe Sheehan.

Oh, my God.

What a mess!

Authorities are using this story as a teachable moment.

Really? That's necessary?

Parents need instruction on keeping track of their young children?

Authorities need to educate children about communicating their whereabouts with their parents?

Authorities need to teach parents that they should communicate with the parents of their children's friends?

Unbelievable.

In the first place, a sleepover on a school night is odd. It's not a good idea, unless it's necessary due to some extenuating circumstances. Plus, according to the story, Lilleona "parted ways with her sibling" while walking home from school. Apparently, the child didn't have clothes for a sleepover or clothes to wear to school the next day.

Wouldn't that cause the friend's parents to question the situation?

When a child is missing, I would think one of the first things the parents would do would be to check with the child's friends. Obviously, the search did not include this friend. Don't Lilleona's parents know her friends?

Did Lilleona spend the night with a family her parents don't know at all?

Why would the parents of Lilleona's friend permit the child to spend the night, a school night, without talking with Lilleona's parents?

There was a lot of bad parenting here. The adults really blew it. Terribly irresponsible.

Bob Ryan Loses in Recall (Video)

Sheboygan voters elected a new mayor yesterday. It was the first time they recalled a mayor.

Bob Ryan was ousted by Terry Van Akkeren.

From Reuters:

The mayor of a Wisconsin town whose heavy drinking last summer sparked pressure to step down lost a special election on Tuesday to a former Democratic state representative.

First-term Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan, 48, lost the first mayoral recall election in the city's history to Terry Van Akkeren, 57.

Van Akkeren received about 53 percent of the votes cast to Ryan's 46 percent, according to unofficial returns from the city clerk's office.

More than 4,000 Sheboygan voters had signed petitions to force the recall after Ryan was caught on tape making sordid jokes about a sister-in-law and was photographed passed out in a tavern during a drinking binge last summer.

Ryan had said on Monday he believed the recall election may have served as an intervention. He has said he has not had a drink for months.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of," Ryan said Tuesday after learning of the results, adding that he would not run again for mayor, "but maybe I'll write a book."

Well, Ryan does have some things to be ashamed of.

They'd probably make for interesting reading if he's serious about writing a book.

It sounds like Ryan is hoping to sell the rights to his story, maybe a made-for-TV movie on cable.

Ryan's antics received national attention. He might think he can exploit that.

Fame at what price?

YouTube can be a curse.



Here's video from FOX6 News:



Video from TMJ4:



Here's video of Bob Ryan's concession speech:



Ryan is certainly angry at the media.

He wants to be seen as a victim, ostracized because of his addiction to alcohol. He was supposed to just go away.

Comparing himself to "the way we used to treat girls, teenage girls back in the 50s where they'd have an issue and they'd send them away and then they'd come back all nice and shiny" was weird to say the least.

Ryan isn't like a pregnant teenager, but like it or not, he was sent away.

Bob Ryan Wins Primary

Apparently, the people of Sheboygan like Bob Ryan as their mayor.

They're very forgiving people.

From the Sheboygan Press:

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan and former state Rep. Terry Van Akkeren captured the top two spots in Sheboygan’s first-ever mayoral recall primary on Tuesday.

Ryan and Van Akkeren advance to face each other in the Feb. 21 general recall election, which will be a rematch of the 2009 mayoral election, in which Ryan defeated Van Akkeren to win the office.

If Ryan wins on Feb. 21, he will continue as mayor; if Van Akkeren wins, he would be sworn into office at the March 5 Common Council meeting and serve the remaining 13 months of Ryan’s term, which ends in April 2013.

Ryan and Van Akkeren topped an eight-candidate primary field, which drew a turnout of 34.5 percent of Sheboygan’s 28,458 registered voters and caused some polling places to run out of ballots briefly in the late afternoon.

In unofficial results, Ryan finished first with 3,225 votes (33 percent), followed by Van Akkeren with 2,567 26 percent).

...Ryan’s well-documented problems with alcohol, including the fallout from a three-day drinking binge in Elkhart Lake last July, also played a major part in the recall effort. Citizens collected 4,481 valid petition signatures to force the election.

Getting signatures to force a recall election is one thing.

Succeeding in booting an official out of office is another.

Glamping

Glamping - glamorous camping.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Kohler Co. wants to bring "glamping" - short for glamorous camping - to the shores of Lake Michigan near Sheboygan.

The hospitality division of the Wisconsin maker of Kohler kitchen and bathroom fixtures is proposing a luxury "tented forest" that would include 15 permanent, canvas-covered structures featuring heating and air conditioning along with frills such as microwave ovens, refrigerators, wet bars, fire pits, gas grills and screened-in dining areas.

And yes, Kohler brand fixtures in the bathrooms.

The lodging complex would host an estimated 30 guests at any one time, and be built amid 247 acres of company property just north of Kohler-Andrae State Park.

Most of the structures would house guests, but there would also be a spa tent and a guest-only restaurant and bar. Guests would walk, bike or use electric carts to get around.

The complex would be open for nine months each year, closing from Jan. 3 through March 31.

The development may be unusual for Wisconsin, but glamping, in which campers typically are treated to roomy, protective tents and first-rate food and wine, has become part of safari vacations in other parts of the world, said Rose Gray, manager of business development for Fox World Travel in Oshkosh.

"I'm not much of an 'outdoors' girl. This sounds like something I could do," Gray said.

...Said Gray: "Back in the old days, when somebody had the most amazing RV you'd ever seen, we'd call that 'condo camping.' This is kind of the same concept, but this is 'glamping.' "

Gray said the development makes sense. The area, which features Road America auto racing along with other weekend events, sometimes is in need of additional lodging.

"You are in a very, very high-end market when you are talking about Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run and The American Club and all that Kohler hospitality is. So, certainly, you are going to think in terms of a high-end camping experience if that is, in fact, what they're hoping for," Gray said.

Give the people what they want.

It's good business. Catering to Lisa Douglas-types makes sense if there's a market for it.

Still, I just don't get why anyone would want to go glamping.

What's the appeal of high-end amenities under a tent?

The camping experience isn't "high-end."

Then it's not camping.

First-rate food and wine around the campfire? A spa?

That sort of pampering is not being out in the wild and soaking in nature.

Ah, wilderness!

Bob Ryan Won't Resign - News Conference

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan refuses to resign.

He won't go.

From FOX 6 News:

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan says he is "more resolute than ever" to remain in his post as the city's leader. Ryan says the time is now to put the issues of his drinking aside and move forward with Sheboygan's business.

Mayor Ryan has been under fire for his drinking, most recently for a weekend binge in Elkhart Lake in which he was involved in a barroom scuffle.

On Tuesday evening, Ryan said he'll voluntarily take a sobriety test if any of his colleagues believe he's been drinking while on the job. He says he has not had a drink in 37 days. Some in the crowd gathered began to applaud Ryan for that statement. But Ryan said he would rather have the applause when he hasn't had a drink in 37 months.

Video:

 

So Ryan has been sober for 37 days.

How long will he manage to stay sober?

Not long enough.

How many chances are Sheboygan's citizens willing to give Ryan?

How many strikes until he's out?

Watch video of Ryan's press conference here.

Bob Ryan Should Resign

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan refuses to resign. He declares that he's not going anywhere, even as the Sheboygan Common Council begins the process of having him removed from office.

Because Ryan is fighting the complaints and the Council, it's necessary to call in the lawyers.

It will be a costly battle.

From the Sheboygan Press:

After a flurry of parliamentary moves and angry exchanges between the mayor and aldermen, the Common Council voted Monday night to hire an attorney to look at complaints filed against Mayor Bob Ryan related to a recent drinking binge in Elkhart Lake and to begin the process of potentially removing him from office.

After aldermen voted to hire an attorney, a motion failed that would have transferred $50,000 to a legal services fund to pay the attorney. The council voted to reconsider, however, and approved an amendment to cap the initial outlay at $10,000.

A combative Ryan offered to sign a pledge that he would never drink again as long as he is mayor and said he was stepping up his treatment program for his alcoholism.

But he also claimed he had done nothing to deserve being ousted and said he was the victim of rumors and reiterated that he will not resign.

“This whole thing stinks,” he said. “You should know by now that I never quit. Even if everything out there is true, does it constitute reason to remove me from office?”

Ryan is offering to sign a pledge that he won't drink again while in office as mayor.

How lame!

And then when Ryan goes off on another drinking binge, he'll probably offer to sign a new pledge, promising never to drink again.

Ridiculous!

It's clear that Ryan's alcoholism is not under control. Again and again, he has had high profile relapses.

Ryan has terrible judgment. He's kidding himself if he truly believes that he's up to the job of being mayor of Sheboygan. He's not kidding anyone if he thinks signing a pledge will reassure the people.

By fighting the Common Council, Ryan shows that he has no problem with needlessly sticking the taxpayers with a mountain of legal bills. He cares about himself much more than the people of Sheboygan and the city.

Ryan doesn't understand that he's a public servant. He acts as if the people are mistreating him, as if he's the victim here.

It all boils down to Ryan's failure to hold himself accountable for his repeated inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.

Ryan refuses to accept responsibility. He's stubborn and selfish.

The Council is doing the right thing. Ryan has shown that he's not fit to serve as mayor. He doesn't need enablers. He needs to be confronted with reality.

It's time for him to go. Enough already.

Here's video, from FOX 6 News:

 

Brat Days, Sheboygan

The 58th annual Brat Days is in full swing in Sheboygan. Great food. Great music. Great activities.



Johnsonville is a major sponsor of the event.

Apparently, the lame anti-Scott Walker contingent is too occupied with the recall elections and disrupting the opening ceremony of the Wisconsin State Fair to politicize and boycott Brat Days in Sheboygan.

Unlike Madison's Brat Fest, it appears Brat Days will be spared.

Bob Ryan Won't Resign

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan refuses to resign.

From the Sheboygan Press:

Following through on his vow in recent days, Mayor Bob Ryan again refused Monday night to resign his office after aldermen voted 14-2 to officially request that he step down because of a recent drunken binge by Ryan.

“We all know that I will respectfully decline,” Ryan said after re-entering the council chambers following the vote. He stepped out to allow Council President Eric Rindfleisch to oversee the discussion on the resolution.

Only Aldermen Joel Hammen and Kevin Matichek voted in Ryan’s favor.

...Meanwhile, Sheboygan City Clerk Sue Richards said Monday she has received a letter asking that Ryan be removed from office.

Richards, who did not divulge the contents of the letter, said she has forwarded it to City Attorney Stephen McLean.

“We’re treating it as a communication at this point and not a formal complaint until it is reviewed by the city attorney,” Richards said.

McLean said he would review the letter and it would likely come up before the next council meeting in two weeks.

The council by itself cannot remove Ryan from office, but can begin the process of forced removal following a formal complaint by a citizen of the city.

Ryan is not fit to serve. He has shown that he does not have control of his alcoholism.

There's no question that he should resign.

It's amazing that Ryan continues to hang on.

What arrogance!

Video, from FOX 6 News:

 

Aldermen Ask Ryan to Resign

UPDATE, July 28, 2011: Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan says he will not resign
____________________

FOX 6 News reports that Sheboygan aldermen will ask Mayor Bob Ryan to resign.

 
__________________

From the Sheboygan Press:

City aldermen, meeting as the Committee of the Whole, recommended Wednesday night that Mayor Bob Ryan resign his post in the wake of an alleged weekend-long drinking binge in Elkhart Lake.

In a prepared statement made following a closed-door meeting that lasted almost two and a half hours, Council President Eric Rindfleisch said if Ryan refused to resign, the committee “recommends that the council take further steps.”

The episode “has brought embarrassment to the city. The council is reviewing its options from censure to removal if a formal complaint is filed,” Rindfleisch said in the statement.

I think Ryan should resign.

I hope people close to Ryan convince him that his resignation is in order.

Mayor Bob Ryan, Drunk in Elkhart Lake

UPDATE, February 21, 2012: Sheboygan mayoral recall: Mayor Bob Ryan ousted from office by challenger Terry Van Akkeren
____________________

UPDATE, July 28, 2011: Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan says he will not resign
____________________

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan is struggling again with his alcoholism.

In 2009, Ryan was filmed at a bar, apparently drunk and making sexual remarks about his sister-in-law.



The antics of Sheboygan's mayor became fodder for comics, like Jay Leno.

JAY LENO: Oh, well, here -- here is another one of those stupid men behaving badly stories. The mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a man named Bob Ryan, has apologized after he was caught on a cell phone -- He was at a bar, and somebody had a cell phone camera, and he's talking to the guys about his sister-in-law, and saying that he heard she was good at one particular sex act.

Well, he gave a press conference, and his wife was standing next to him. The sister-in-law wasn't there... Well, she may have been under the podium, but she wasn't at, she wasn't at, you know, at the press conference.

(Laughter, applause)

But anyway, so far calls to his office are split down the middle -- half want him to resign, the other half want the sister-in-law's phone number. So, I don't know what's going on there.

Very embarrassing.

Now, Ryan is involved in more embarrassing public incidents, this time in Elkhart Lake, a small town in northwestern Sheboygan County, home to Road America and resorts.

From the Sheboygan Press:

Mayor Bob Ryan — an admitted alcoholic who a year ago said he was seeking treatment — confessed Tuesday to having a "couple drinks" over the weekend.

But while Ryan downplayed the relapse as one night out with friends, employees and customers at two Elkhart Lake nightspots said Ryan had been an obnoxious regular for at least several days, drinking from mid-afternoon until closing time while being rude and vulgar, especially toward women. They said he passed out at least once and was even seen getting into his car after drinking.

"He basically came to town on a rampage," said a bartender at the Barefoot Bay Tiki Bar in Victorian Village, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"He's been on a bender," said another man, who saw Ryan over several nights.

This comes three weeks before he is scheduled to face a judge over a sexual harassment complaint filed after he allegedly made drunken advances on Angela Payne, then the city's director of human resources. Payne filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that will be heard before an administrative law judge Aug. 16-19.

City officials responded Tuesday by scheduling a closed session Committee of the Whole meeting for 6:30 tonight.

Ryan on Tuesday called the matter a "setback" to his ongoing treatment program — the same term he used after a relapse last July.

"It's not that big of a deal, anything that transpired," Ryan said. "I got off my program a little bit here, had a little minor setback, was out in Elkhart, went to a different couple places, end of story."

Ald. Eric Rindfleisch, president of the Common Council, said he was concerned with Ryan's version of events and information making its way to him and other leaders.

"I feel that (Ryan's comment) minimizes what took place and I feel that whatever did happen was far more serious than the mayor is discussing at this time," Rindfleisch said. "As a city leader and a resident and a taxpayer … I'm again appalled that the person that occupies the office of mayor has dragged the city through the mud."

...Witnesses at the Brown Baer grill and tavern said Tuesday that Ryan became a regular in recent days, arriving in the afternoon and staying until near closing time.

Three witnesses — two women and one man — said Ryan was at the Brown Baer after hours Sunday night, drinking Jack Daniel's whiskey and diet colas. Ryan made rude and sexually explicit comments to staff and patrons — when he wasn't passed out, said the witnesses, who asked to not be identified.

"He said some really inappropriate things (to women). Things you can't print in your newspaper," one woman said.

Ryan was passed out for long periods of time, during which bar patrons took pictures with him.

In one case, two women bared their breasts next to the passed-out mayor, the witnesses said. In another instance, a man took Ryan's watch off and put it on his own wrist, had his picture taken wearing it and then put it back on Ryan's wrist, they said.

"There are probably some pretty good pictures on the Internet by now," a witness said.

One man, who declined to give his name because Ryan is a "pretty powerful guy," said Ryan's comments led to a physical altercation at the Brown Baer.

"(Ryan) was basically being a (jerk)," the man said. "After a while, one guy got sick of it and punched him twice. Bar stools went flying; glasses went flying."

Both men were kicked out of the bar and Ryan sat outside the bar until police arrived. They did not arrest Ryan but told him to move on, the man said.

Yikes! The patrons at the Brown Baer sound like a real classy bunch, don't they?

...On another night after Ryan had been drinking, one woman said she saw him leave the Brown Baer and get into his car, a metallic blue Corvette convertible.

"He couldn't even focus," she said.

At the Tiki Bar, Ryan also was rude and vulgar to waitresses and other women, said a bartender, who also asked that his name not be used.

"He would show up in the early afternoon and stay pretty near closing time every night," he said. "Two nights in a row I had to cut him off."

I imagine Sheboygan residents must be losing patience with their mayor.

Perhaps he should focus on battling his alcoholism and step down.

Ryan is downplaying the reports of his drunkenness in Elkhart.

Ryan said he was out drinking Saturday with several business owner friends who live in Elkhart Lake, whom he declined to identify. He said he was only in the village on Saturday, and he stayed the night before driving home Sunday.

"I was not drinking and driving if that's the question," he said.

When questioned about reports of sexually inappropriate comments, he denied anything the various allegations.

...And Ryan denied ever passing out: "I was not passing out in any bars," he said.

Ryan said in April 2010 that he realized through the two-pronged scandal that representing the city is a 24-hour job, saying, "I thought I could keep a private life and be the mayor at the same time. I realized that is not possible."

But Tuesday he took the opposite tact in explaining his behavior, adding that the incident is mitigated because he wasn't in Sheboygan.

"Is it a newsworthy story? No, I would hope it would not be. Nothing happened. It's not a story. It's my personal life," Ryan said. "I was out and about in Elkhart Lake. I was not in Sheboygan. … It's a different city."

Ryan acknowledged being part of a physical altercation, which he said started when a man he didn't know at the Brown Baer confronted Ryan about being out drinking.

"Not that I should be out drinking alcohol, but if I can't even go to a place for year after year without people giving me a hard time, something's wrong with that picture," Ryan said. "I think there might have been a little pushing and shoving on his end toward me, but it was nothing major. It wasn't a big deal."

Ryan's excuse that his drinking and alleged bad behavior took place in another city is ridiculous.

That doesn't make it OK.

Sheboygan aldermen will meet tonight to discuss the matter.

Here's video, from FOX 6 News:

 

Karen Lueders

Karen Lueders of Sheboygan is responsible for putting Wisconsin in the national spotlight once again.

Lueders allegedly bit off her husband's tongue while kissing him.

From the Sheboygan Press:

A Sheboygan woman accused of biting off her husband's tongue while kissing him was charged Tuesday with felony mayhem and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.

Karen Lueders, 57, of 2833 Windepoint Court, severed half of Willard Lueders' tongue during a "manic" episode about 11 p.m. Monday, authorities said. She now faces a rarely used felony — related to intentional disfigurement or mutilation — that carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

...According to authorities: A criminal complaint said Karen Lueders was "still carrying a New Year's horn in her hand and singing Christmas carols" outside her house as the first police officers arrived on scene. They had been summoned by a 911 call from her husband, Willard Lueders.

As officers asked what kind of help was needed, Karen Lueders blew the horn in an officer's ear. She also threw a coffee cup at police.

Police found Willard Lueders, 79, in a bedroom holding gauze to his mouth. Emergency responders told police his tongue had been bitten off.

By nodding to officers' questions he confirmed that his wife was responsible. Karen Lueders also told officers she had bitten off her husband's tongue.

...In a later written statement, Willard Lueders said the incident began when he went into the bathroom while his wife was on the toilet. When he leaned over to kiss her, she went into a "manic state," grabbing his genitals and biting off his tongue.

According to Willard Lueders, his wife had been behaving oddly in the preceding days, speaking very fast and talking about spiritual things.

Police recovered the severed half of Willard Lueders' tongue and sent it with him to Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center. He was later transferred to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, where doctors worked to reattach the tongue.

This is really a horrible story.

Willard Lueders was severely injured by his mentally ill wife.

Any jokes about the case seem insensitive when one hears the 911 call placed by Willard Lueders.

After half his tongue was bitten off, Willard Lueders used a series of "uh huh" and "uh uh" sounds to communicate with 911 dispatchers and get medical help, according to a recording released Wednesday.

Karen Lueders — the wife charged with felony mayhem for allegedly severing the tongue — can be heard in the background singing Christmas carols, carrying on a conversation with herself and rambling about the end of the world. Karen Lueders is in jail awaiting the results of a mental health evaluation ordered by a judge on Tuesday.

Willard Lueders, 79, called police about 11 p.m. Monday from the couple's home at 4833 Windepoint Court. He makes a series of unintelligible moans and exclamations before dispatchers begin asking him questions.

"Can you breathe OK?"

"Uh huh."

"Is this Willard?"

"Uh huh."

"And you need an ambulance?"

"Uh huh."

Karen Lueders, 57, is heard in the background throughout the nearly seven-minute recording. Most of the time she is too far away from the phone to be understood on the recording, but she appears to be carrying on a conversation.

"Are you afraid like I was afraid? Because you're insane," she says at one point. After an unintelligible reference to reality, she adds: "The end of the world is coming, young lady. You're going to hell."

...Karen Lueders can be heard repeatedly singing portions of "O Come All Ye Faithful" on the 911 call, at times clapping along with herself. Willard said "uh uh" when asked by dispatchers if she had been drinking.

Listen to portions of the 911 call.

From FOX 6 News: