THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G.

THE NOTORIOUS J.V.S.

AND BOOBIES, TRACKERS AND BREASTFEEDING. WHAT?

907. Welcome to today’s Blog. We are going to cover two important stories today. So let’s start with the first one,”THE RETURN OF THE NOTORIOUS J.V.S.?” It’s about the two desperate despots, Jim and Jenny Paine. The Google definition of despot is “a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.”

The best way to document this story is by the timeline.

AND NOW!!!!

JIM PAINE ENTERPRISES PRESENTS 

“THE REVENGE FOR JENNY TOUR 2025”

908. So what happened after Jenny Van Sickle’s humiliating election loss to upstart Sarah Anderson? Well I took the liberty to give you my take, reenactment if you will, on what possibly took place. Here it is.

I can only imagine the ear piercing and brain busting sounds coming from the Paine-Popsicle household the night of the elections after her loss. Maybe it went something like this:

908. Let’s start with this post on Craig Sutherland’s Facebook page on April 9, 2025.

Craig Sutherland April 9 

Attached is a screenshot I obtained through an open records request, showing Councilor Jenny Van Sickle attempting to reprimand a city employee after her election loss. Imagine working for a city and receiving communication like this from an elected official! 

Let's remember that she is still the elected representative for the Second District until the new councilor is sworn in next week. 

This behavior is concerning, particularly considering that Councilor Van Sickle is the wife of our mayor. It's reasonable to question whether he approves of these messages.

We need to uphold professionalism and respect in our city government!

1. Remember this when she attempts to run from, I mean for, dog catcher! 
2. and what is wrong with being a “dog catcher” I mean why is she putting any job down. Just ridiculous 

3. I think Animal Control “dog catcher” an SPD position is a very sought after and respected job.

And just so others are aware. You are not elected into it. City employees are chosen off of qualifications and knowledge of position duties. So she may want to get her facts straight before she puts other peoples positions down.

4. exactly! I know our Humane Officer and she’s wonderful…and its not an easy job! 

5. can she run for the seat in the district her husband lives in? 

6. think maybe they should call a Human Resources meeting, and suspend her until the end of her term. 

7. There is no business, or reason in any business especially something as highly visible as public governmental duties, where that's considered professional. That's petty as shit 

8. She is who we thought she was.

9. nothing justifies threatening an employee at her job for things she said off the job. And this isn't the first time Jenny had spoken like this. 

10. our elected officials are held to a higher standard, and that email was way out of line regardless of what the city employee said. She claims she "never meant for it to be a public exchange", but that's only because she didn't expect people to see it. I don't know her personally or have any personal issues with her, but watching the way she speaks to people at the council meetings, HR committee, and the forums, this is not a one off situation and it's time she's held accountable for shitty behavior. 

11. Way to keep it classy, lame duck councilor jimsickle. Better hurry…not much time to wreak your vengeance. Totally disgusted and not at all surprised. 

12. does she always try to sound uber-educated? Almost comical. 

13. Kinda sounds like the recipient of that letter should be requesting the HR meeting 

14. Jenny Jenny Jenny! Who wrote your name and number on the bathroom wall? You should see a shrink for your hangups and then you can finally grow up! 8675309 

15. She is a nasty person. 

16. Like you said though, her husband is the Mayor. Just as trashy as she is. Nothing will come of it. *I pray I’m wrong 

17. Wow. That’s evidently who she is… just awful. I’m glad you got this. And I’m glad she’ll be gone. 

18. That is terrible of an elected official to attack someone because they lost, but can't come to terms with it, disgraceful 

19. Wowza! That is terrible!

One of many good reasons she on her way OUT!

20. Definitely showing the type of person she is. So happy she got ousted! Be worthless at home instead of on the council. 

21. To be clear, the mayor’s wife says and does the exact things that go through the mayor’s head. Jim Paine is literally married to his spirit animal. 

909. The reason I ran this little cat fight is that later on the Blog today Councilor Fennessey will have some comments about JVS that will be relevant to this story. And nothing on this story was reported on by Shelley Nelson or the Superior Telegram.

910. For me, the real story of THE RETURN OF THE NOTORIOUS J.V.S.? starts on May 3 when Craig Sutherland posted this story on his Facebook page. I also reported this story on Blog 95. Here it is.

Every year, the city council votes on its committee appointees, and this year, one name stands out in the Metropolitan Interstate Council: former city councilor Van Sickle as the “Citizen Appointee.” 

Let’s not forget that these citizen appointees are recommended by the mayor—who happens to be married to former councilor Van Sickle. If that’s not nepotism, I’m not sure what is! 

Ask your city councilor to vote NO.

Other notes: He has his staffer and another councilor(Ludwig) appointed as citizens.

911. On Blog 95 I didn’t include the readers comments to Craig’s post so here are some of them now.

1. And he adds his staffer to the WI point committee…GTFOH 
2. I’d like to be a citizen appointee for a couple committees! I’ve tried getting involved in several projects and haven’t even gotten so much as an offer to help with a steering committee or anything city related.
3. If I remember correctly, the President and Vice President recommend the committee appointments, and the Citizen appointees are recommended by the Mayor separately under Business by Mayor recommending those appointments and voted on by the Council for approval or not. I looked at the agenda and it’s lumped into new business. Well maybe things have changed. That word change is quite intriguing. See ya Tuesday.
4. Must be why the mayor “re-worked“ the city nepotism policy!!
5. The city just voted her out. Why would he appoint her when the people have spoken?
6. and put her on a committee with her opponent who beat her?
7. I find that a bit odd like there is some sort of motive. Seems highly inappropriate but I guess I don’t know all the ins of a citizen appointee. I also find it interesting that the mayors secretary is on the list of appointees. How does one come up with the nominees and are we trying to get diverse perspective and have balance to the committees? Again all questions I have because I don’t know what it all entails but from first glance seems really off!
8. I should also clarify maybe her title isn’t secretary but she’s something to the mayor. I don’t want to spread misinformation!
9. yeah…I’d think (no idea the criteria or rules) if it was me, I’d want to venture outside of the office and home to find new ideas.
10. Several of those that I could participate in as a citizen
11. it’s too bad you weren’t in the Paine family
12. So gross what the superior is going thought
13. I'd ask my councilor but JVSP is best friends with Lindsey Graskey
14. she’s proven that!
15. When I tuned in to the council meeting last night, I was taken aback to hear Council President Graskey on the verge of tears ...about committee appointments?! WTF is going on down there? 

AND MY FAVORITE

13. Please please please, someone run against this corrupt mayor and give people an option to end his time as the Mayor of Superior.

And by the way, the Fake News Superior Telegram? No reporting on this story that I can find. But you will see as we go on that the Fake news has really outdone themselves on this one.

MAY 6,2025—CITY COUNCIL MEETING

913. I really would like you to watch the video of the city council meeting. I know I’m asking a lot. Really a lot. But this is one for the ages. Paine is on defense and looks completely caught off guard. He continued to try and push for the vote on these appointments but when it looked like the council was not going to give him his way, which is rare, his narrative switched over to try and postpone the voting for two weeks and then everything seemed to fall apart. Paine wanted out of that room ASAP.

914. Councilor Fennessey obviously seemed like the adult in the room while Paine seemed completely unhinged. Funny enough it was Paine who beat him in the 2017 Mayoral election, a mistake that Superior should always regret. 

There are special appearances from Tooler Elmo, The “Puppet” called Moffat, Jack ‘Visiting Angels are on line 1” Sweeney and others. But the most bizarre part of it is when council president “Evil” Linda “Ghastly” had a meltdown and started crying.

She was wearing some beautiful gold chains and earrings. She was also wearing a Spuds MacKenzie t-shirt. Yes that Spuds MacKenzie. I love Spuds MacKenzie. I think that’s the first time I saw somebody crying while wearing a Spuds t-shirt. And why do I call her “Evil”? I’ll let you know in an upcoming Blog. FYI. The Google definition Of Ghastly is:

Ghastly" means shockingly repellent, frightening, or terrible. It can describe something that is intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable, or something that resembles a ghost. While often used in a literal sense to describe things related to death or ghosts, it can also be used figuratively to describe things that are simply very bad or awful. 

This whole segment of the council meeting was obviously about the appointment of the Notorious J. V. S., but her name was never once mentioned by anyone that night. What’s up with that?

So please watch the video. I don’t want to be alone in my misery. The segment itself starts at the 52 minute mark. Here is the link.

915. https://www.youtube.com/live/LlYBo_gC0iE

916. There are three things people never want to watch. How hot dogs are made, a City of Superior council meeting headed up by Jim Paine and a Jim Paine “State of the City” speech. Look at all the harm Paine and his wife are causing this city just because of their selfish, disgusting lust for power. 

917. Did you count how many times he used the word “Postpone”? I ran out of fingers and toes trying to figure that out. So now he has two weeks to strong arm and probably threaten the council to vote for his precious little power hungry Jenny, the sore loser. 

His nauseating and impossible to understand never ending diatribe was pretty much indecipherable. It’s just hard to explain. He can read his cringe worthy state of the city speeches off a prepared statement but he proved tonight he doesn’t think well when he has to go off script. In fact, he’s awful. This city is in big trouble.

One other observation. Paine who is desperately trying to get this postponed because he knew he didn’t have the votes. He said that since the council only had his proposal for 24 hours that maybe they didn’t have enough time to decipher it and a 2 week delay would be good and of course that would give him more time to bully them into voting for his little princess, the Notorious J. V. S. Because even though her actual name didn’t come up at the meeting it is the only appointment that city council had a problem with. No one else, just her. 

That’s funny because in December 2022 when Jordan Wheat’s license for the Palace Bar came up for a vote, Paine slapped his “Manifesto of a Madman” letter on city council explaining why he wanted them to vote against her only 2 hours before the meeting. And of course a copy was sent to the Democratic political operative Shelly Nelson. And when the vote came up council members Fennessey and Johnson asked for a 2 week postponement. Paine said no. Why? Because unbeknownst to us Paine had been working behind the scenes for some time securing the votes from most of the council. He knew he had this in the bag. So they voted 8-2 not to postpone and then 8-2 not to grant her a license. In the end, 24 hours to review his wife’s appointment wasn’t enough time but 2 hours for Jordan’s was more than enough. Can you spell corruption? I can. J-I-M P-A-I-N-E.

FINAL COMMENTS ON THIS STORY

918. Jim and Jenny Paine are like a couple of low end dime store cult leaders. Kinda like a couple of gypsies, grifters if you will. Two unhinged power seeking politicians with no real accomplishments to brag about. Two Marxist/Communist types where their selfish lust for power is their only real goal. And with the help of the local press and people like Shelley Nelson have gotten them to where they are now. But their glass dome of protection was smashed to smithereens when The Notorious J. V. S. was tossed out like a garbage bag full of Thanksgiving leftovers by the voters of Superior. Then the duo of destruction, with a lot of help from Shelley Nelson and the Superior Telegram went into damage mode and all hell broke loose. Sorta sad and sickening when you think about it. And it stinks!

919. On the last Blog #96 I ran this story from the Telegram.

“Council selects 2 vice presidents” 

I purposely left out the last paragraph because it wasn’t that important to the story and some information was left out by Shelley Nelson from yesterday’s council meeting. So here is how the paragraph appeared in the Telegram.

In other business Tuesday, councilors:

• Authorized city officials to waive the bidding process and enter into a contract with OIR Group in an amount not to exceed $50,000. The California-based firm that provides independent police oversight is being consulted to address division in the Superior Police Department.
• Approved a new grant program paid for by the small business grant program to help building owners with the cost of architectural code reviews required to change the use of commercial properties.
• Approved funding to complete reconstruction of the skate park at Heritage Park with Grindline Skateparks Inc. for a total cost of about $1 million. The project was originally planned to be built in two phases but the condition of ramps in the current park threatened to close the facility.

920. What’s missing is what I considered the most important part of the meeting. Here it is. 

THE MISSING PARAGRAPHS

MOTION to postpone all appointments except Standing Committees was carried by unanimous roll call vote: AYE – 10 Ledin, Anderson, Moffat, Sweeney, Fennessey, Elm, Ludwig, Herrick, Johnson, Graskey NO – 0 MOTION to approve 20 Standing Committee appointments including:

• To the Human Resources Committee appoint Councilor Sweeney, President Graskey, and Vice President Moffat as members, with Councilor Anderson to serve as an alternate member; 
• To the Public Works Committee appoint Councilor Ludwig, Councilor Ledin, and Councilor Moffat as members, with Councilor Elm as an alternate member; 
• To the Finance Committee appoint Councilor Sweeney, Councilor Elm, and Vice President Herrick as members, with Councilor Fennessey as an alternate member; 
• To the Licenses and Fees Committee appoint Councilor Sweeney, Councilor Fennessey, and Vice President Herrick as members, with Councilor Anderson to serve as an alternate member; and 
• To the Public Safety Committee appoint Councilor Elm, Councilor Johnson, and Councilor Anderson as members, with Councilor Ledin as an alternate member. was made by Councilor Johnson and seconded by Vice President Moffat and carried via voice vote. 

920.

1. Here is the agenda link to the council meeting of May 6, 2025

https://www.superiorwi.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05062025-1078

921. Once again the name Jenny Van Sickle is not mentioned in the “PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGULAR COMMON COUNCIL MEETING” even though that’s what all this is about. Unbelievable isn’t it?

So why did the award winning scribe Shelley Nelson omit this paragraph from her article? Did she just have a brain fart and forgot to? Did she feel it wasn’t newsworthy? Or was she once again covering up for the Mayor? Based on her past history I would say it’s the latter. So the question becomes why? Why would Shelley Nelson omit this important part of the story?

Simple. Paine did not want the story out for obvious reasons. Mostly because it stinks to high heaven. Bringing back a defeated politician and giving her a position in government only weeks after the voters said “No thanks, we don’t want you” is just not a good look. He can now spend the next 2 weeks trying to convince city council to vote for the return of Jenny without too much pressure thanks mostly from the mainstream “Fake News” press.

922. I am curious how this cozy relationship with Shelley Nelson and the Mayor works. When he wants to quash a story does he call, email or text her? Or does she contact him? Or does she instinctively know which ones to bury after doing it for this long? Hey Shelley, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll be happy to put it right here on the Blog. I’m sure my readers would like to know as well. I think Shelley Nelson has a lot of “splainin” to do.

SUPERIOR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 20

923. I need another favor from you, my loyal readers. I would really like you to watch the video from this meeting. But this one is much better than the last one. It’s shorter for one thing but Councilor Fennessey was the star of this show. He made one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen by any politician at any level.

He explains why the Notorious J. V. S. should not be appointed to that board. He was calm, clear, concise, prepared, believable, passionate and just made a lot of common sense. In other words the exact opposite of Jim Paine. I couldn’t help but think what a different city Superior would be if he had been elected in 2017 instead of Paine.

Here are a few things to watch.

A- The “Puppet” called “Moffat” chimed in with a few blurbs that for me, sounded like they may have been rehearsed.

On the subject of Moffat, I found this post on Craig Sutherland’s Facebook page. Here it is.

This was on Craig Sutherland’s Facebook. Not sure what’s behind it but I don’t disagree with his assessment. He doesn’t seem to be a fan of the “PUPPET” called “MOFFAT” This is the entire post. Short and sweet.

Craig Sutherland

Feb 4, 2025

This guy is fucking nuts.

1. Yup. I think the minions are trying to out talk everyone else
2. Yup I’m watching him polish Jim’s shoes while he talks
3. that’s not his shoe he’s polishing.
4. didn’t mean to offend you but having sat on that council it’s easier to make a statement that isn’t directed to one person but easier to find humor in a response or behavior. There was nothing said by Councilor Moffat that was directed to the resolution as presented. Watch the meeting and then watch the last one and then watch the next one. There are pet projects and issues that involve some councilors to the affect of showing relevance. Look at the 2nd District Councilor. She has an appointment so a five second answer becomes a 5 minute speech with drama, confusion, and anger.
5. Just so ya know, and this is from experience and service on the Council, resolutions DO NOT go through committees. A few of the Councilors may have wanted you to think differently. Nose growers
6. They can't even get along as a council. How are they supposed to run a business?

            -------------------------------------------------------

B. Notice how quiet Paine is while Fennessey is ripping his wife apart. More on that after the video.

C. Linda “Spuds” MacGraskey is not crying or wearing her Spuds MacKenzie shirt. I’m disappointed.

D. Frog ‘Legs” Prell makes a few statements. You can make your own assessments on them. I personally find them very unconvincing.

The main players in today’s story are Paine, his wife the Notorious J. V. S. (in spirit only, the reek of her political ambitions permeating the air in the council chamber), a Puppet called Muffat and a side of Frog legs, with a special appearance by councilor Fennessey that make the four previously named players look like idiots.

924. The issue at hand starts at 1:02. Here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/live/2J-hjEOKgZU

925. Did you notice how Paine was mostly silent during Fennessey’s smackdown of his wife? He knew he had the votes in the bag. He had 2 weeks to do what he had to and he got it done. So why bother defending her honor? It’s all about power after all. 

SHE’S BACK!!!!

926. It’s just another blow to the city and another reason for businesses and people not to move or relocate to Superior. Residents have ever right to feel defeated after watching this dog and pony show. The people voted her out and I doubt any of them thought that it would be OK for her husband to appoint her to a board. You know when people say “Too soon? Well this was “WAY TOO SOON”.

It’s a bad day for Superior, it’s a bad day for the voters, it’s a bad day for businesses, it’s a bad day for many of the people who work in city government, it’s a bad day for common sense. You can’t sugar coat it, it’s a very very bad day.  Just because something isn’t illegal it doesn’t mean it’s immoral. When you pull off a stunt like this it leaves the voters with a sense of frustration and disillusionment and it leads to even more resentment and distrust towards those in power.

For me it was like watching baby seals getting clubbed to death. The baby seals were the taxpayers and Paine, City Council and of course the Notorious J. V. S. were holding the clubs.

SUPERIOR TELEGRAM, SHELLEY NELSON HIT NEW LOW

927. “Cut and Paste Shelley “The Hack” Nelson is not a reporter. She is a deflector, an enabler, a political operative for the Democrat Party and the #1 sycophant and #1 fan girl for Jim Paine. 

JIM PAINE IS NO STRANGER TO ENABLERS

It has gotten to the point that she is now insulting the intelligence of her readers. She thinks we are stupid. Maybe some like Dee Dee “Flamingo Feathers” Fedders and others are, but I think that most of you who read the Blog know better. Writing only one article on the biggest story of 2024, the property tax scandal, two weeks after the story broke and offering no real new information or perspective just doesn’t cut it. And even worse her paper the Telegram didn’t even name it in their top stories of 2024 article. That is a dereliction of duty. 

And the coverage of the story of the humiliating defeat of Jenny Van Sickle in the spring 2025 elections which I think was the biggest story concerning any city councilor in the 15 years I lived in Superior was a joke. Considering her high profile and controversial time on council and the wife of our sitting Mayor the coverage by her and her paper was insulting to their readers. As I’ve said before, every time I read a Shelley Nelson article I am left with more questions than answers. Maybe she should quit the Telegram and become Paine’s press secretary. But she has hit a new low with her lack of coverage or maybe we should call it her cover up in this next story. 

This article appeared in the Telegram on May 21, 2025, the day after, 24 hours after the city council meeting where the comeback of Jenny Van Sickle to the demonic, corrupt halls of the institution known as Superior City Hall was now complete. So one would expect a comprehensive, detailed story about the political comeback of the year by one of the two most visible political figures in Superior, the other being her husband Mayor “Silent Bob” Paine. Right? Wrong.

Here is the Telegram article, the day after her amazing comeback.

Council hires contractor for East End road project

By Shelley Nelson

May 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM

927-SUPERIOR — Contracts and related agreements have been awarded for the reconstruction of East Fifth Street between 24th and 31st avenues east.

The Superior City Council on Tuesday, May 20, awarded the contract for construction of the nearly $3.4 million project to M. Jolma Inc. of Ashland despite concerns raised by northern Wisconsin building trades.

The company submitted the lowest of five bids for the project that includes full excavation and replacement of the road and sidewalk, a new drainage system and utility work.

The union trade association questioned whether the company met the requirements of the city’s responsible contractor ordinance.

“This is not a union, nonunion issue,” said Kyle Bukovich, president of the Northern Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades Council. “This is straight up with the responsible contractor ordinance.”

Bukovich provided councilors with a packet of information from the village of Minong about a project that M. Jolma was contracted for, but allegedly didn’t complete the work.

It shows that the village had to get another construction company to come in and fix everything to finish the project, Bukovich said. He encouraged councilors to reach out to Minong to request information pertaining to the Wild River Trail Campground.

“We believe M. Jolma is not the most qualified bidder on this project,” Bukovich said.

An attorney representing M. Jolma said the Minong contract is subject to negotiations as the company and village work to resolve payment for the project.

“We obtained a certificate of substantial completion,” said attorney Aaron Dean.
“The engineer agreed that we completed our work in early June of 2023. The engineer has signed pay applications, and we haven’t been paid $221,000.”

Derek Pederson, vice president of the trade council, said M. Jolma’s response on an affidavit stating that the company is a responsible contractor is false because the company was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor for noncompliance with the federal Davis-Bacon Act.

“Why did they not want to disclose this information?” Pederson asked. “What are they hiding? Can we really trust the contractor will be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money? Does the city want to work with a contractor that starts off lying on documents to the city?”

Councilor Brent Fennessey said after watching the Superior Public Works Committee meeting, he doesn’t think M. Jolma meets the strict definition of a qualified bidder.

“But neither does the second highest bidder, the third highest bidder or the fourth highest bidder,” Fennessey said. “All of them have something where we could dig up something to say ‘gotcha.’ … I’m almost more inclined to see us just scrap this whole thing and do it over, allowing the bidders the opportunity to do it right.”

Councilor Nicholas Ledin said Fennessey “hit the nail on the head,” but it’s a project that needs to get done, and there are protections for the city in place.

“We do need to take a look at the responsible contractors ordinance because indeed it’s something that is going to come up again,” Ledin said.

Councilor Garner Moffat said he’s confident that city staff can manage the process and make sure the goals of the project are met, and wages will be appropriate.

Councilors voted 6-4 in favor of awarding the contract to M. Jolma. Councilors Mike Herrick, Mark Johnson, Sarah Anderson and Fennessey voted against it.

Councilors also approved a $282,000 contract with Short Elliot Hendrickson for oversight of the East Fifth Street reconstruction project, and agreements with Superior Water, Light and Power and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway outlining responsibility for utility work and the rail crossing at about 25th Avenue East during the project.

In other business, councilors:

• Awarded a contract to Northern Interstate Construction for a new splash pad in Wade Bowl at a cost of $688,000.
• Adopted an ordinance change to eliminate the $5 charge for a provisional tavern operator’s license.
• Appointed or reappointed 48 residents and council members to serve on 20 boards, committees and commissions that serve the city and community.

928. So you might be wondering why I ran this story about yet another sketchy city of Superior story. Well for one thing it seems that almost every story coming out of this city is sketchy doesn’t it? But the reason is that this is it. This is Shelly Nelson’s award winning coverage of the comeback of the Notorious J. V. S. What? Did you miss it? It’s the final line of the article.

“• Appointed or reappointed 48 residents and council members to serve on 20 boards, committees and commissions that serve the city and community.”

So there you have it. Her comeback is complete and Shelly Nelson did not mention her name even once in both articles she wrote about these two council meetings. And voila(that’s french you know) the Sicklemeister is back in the saddle again an all’s well in the corrupt city of Superior, the laughing stock of the Mid-West.

AND NOW

929. This has to be the weirdest story I’ve seen in the 15 years I lived in Superior. It’s so bizarre that you feel like somebody wrote this as an elaborate spoof because it doesn’t sound like it could be real. But apparently it is. How can a small little city like Superior continually be involved with one stupid story after another. All you have to do is look at the people running it. 

The down side is we are missing important facts that the non-transparent Mayor Paine is withholding, so we will go with what we have beginning with this story.

Mayor: Superior Police Dept. Internal Struggles Near Possible ‘Crisis’

April 23, 2025 by Dan Hanger

930. SUPERIOR, Wis. — The Superior Police Department is dealing with “urgent” internal struggles that Mayor Jim Paine said needs an outside review as soon as possible to keep the situation from becoming a “crisis.”

Mayor Paine made his concerns known at the April 17 Public Safety Committee meeting.

He said there are a number of cultural issues, interpersonal conflicts and potential personnel concerns that have “overwhelmed” the ability of senior administration.

Senior administration, of course, includes Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt who took over as chief at the beginning of 2024 after Nicholas Alexander retired from that role.

Chief Winterscheidt did not speak on the record about the internal concerns while at the committee meeting and instead let Mayor Paine lead the conversation.

“I mean, I don’t want to paint a picture of an absolute crisis here, so I hope I’m not sounding too alarmist. We have issues that left untended will grow into serious problems and potentially a crisis,” Paine said. “We’re not sure exactly how to tend to these issues. So that’s what we’re consulting on.”

Paine did not elaborate at the meeting on specific examples or explanations about the internal issues of the police department.

The committee approved Paine’s request to hire an outside consulting firm, OIR Group, at a cost of no more than $50,000 to investigate specific allegations within the police department, while also reviewing the overall health and effectiveness of the department before providing recommendations for the city to consider.



The city council will have the final say on the $50,000 contract as early as the next council meeting May 6.

Wife of Superior Police Chief Suing The City

April 24, 2025 by Matt McConico, Dan Hanger

931. SUPERIOR, Wis. – Mikayla Marie LeRette, the wife of Superior Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt, is suing the City of Superior and former Superior Police Capt. Thomas Champaigne. 

LeRette is a currently an investigator for the Superior Police Department.

The federal lawsuit was filed in March 2025. It has two key claims in it.



The lawsuit alleges LeRette’s squad car was illegally tracked by Capt. Champaigne, and that she was not given appropriate privacy when expressing breast milk following her pregnancy and return to work.

The lawsuit comes as Superior Mayor Jim Paine says the Superior Police Department is dealing with “urgent” internal struggles and an outside review is needed as soon as possible to keep the situation from becoming a “crisis.” Mayor Paine made his concerns known at the April 17 Public Safety Committee meeting.

The mayor said there are a number of cultural issues, interpersonal conflicts, and potential personnel concerns that have “overwhelmed” the ability of senior administration. 

Some of the incidents in the lawsuit allegedly happened before and after LeRette’s husband became Chief of Police.



Winterscheidt became chief Jan. 27, 2024.

The suit claims in November of 2022, LeRette requested a place to “express her breast milk during the working day and would need breaks from work and a suitable place to do so.”

The suit says, “There was no area within the police department designated for lactating mothers. Because there was no better alternative offered to her by her superiors, Plaintiff LeRette agreed to put a chair in the women’s locker room (which includes toilets, sinks, and showers, and almost no privacy)…. she would place a chair behind a curtain in the shower stall, use an extension cord to connect the pump to electricity in the shower area.”

LeRette says she complained about the accommodations to then Police Chief Nicholas Alexander and no additional actions were taken.

The court filing continues to allege, “From November of 2022 until September of 2023 Plaintiff LeRette experienced countless interruptions while expressing breast milk, including interruptions from male janitorial staff, male members of the police department and [her direct supervisor] entering the shower stall and turning the lights off on Plaintiff LeRette while she was lactating and sighing loudly in disgust while doing so.”

A separate issue in the suit also claims then Capt. Champaigne placed an electronic tracking device on the police vehicle that had been assigned to LeRette.

The suit says the tracking device was moved to a different vehicle when LeRette was assigned to a new vehicle.

The lawsuit alleges that even after Champaigne’s retirement, her vehicle still had a tracking device placed on it.

It is not know when the tracking stopped. The suit says the tracking was on-going from at least Feb. 28, 2024 to Mar. 25, 2024.

The court filing did not specifically explain how LeRette discovered the tracking timeframe.

LeRette says she never consented to having a tracking device on her car. The suit continues to claim the tracking of her car was illegal because there was no warrant authorizing LeRette’s vehicles to be tracked.

There are no future scheduled hearings for the case at this point. Lawyers for each side of the case have until early May to filed additional documents including certain pretrial motions, objections, or request that the court can determine the case without a trial on the merits. After those filings are made it is expected the judge will schedule future hearing.

932. Here are some comments from readers of Dan Hanger’s Facebook.

1. So NO ONE in the police department, on the Police and Fire commission, in Human Resources or the city administration knew how to appropriately accommodate a nursing mother?? Un-flipping believable.
2. Its a corrupt place all the way around.
3. Exactly! Was going to say the same thing. I don't have trust in any officers from Superior.
4. I’m sorry but that police department needed outside help...a longggg time ago.
5. here must be more to this. A tracking device is common place especially on state/city vehicles. To say it 'followed' her to another vehicle is a drama pull. Sounds like a possible divorce and money grab.
6. Ok ok. I was a drug addict for many years. (Been clean over 9 years) I was the plaintiff of many arrests by Paul Wintersheidt ( Mr. PEARLY WHITE WINTERSHEIDT) while he was on the drug task force before he was chief. I know personally for a 100% fact, he loves using tracking devices on vehicles. I have no opinion on her breastfeeding privacy but I can almost GUARANTEE, he put that tracker on her car, not the old chief. Wintersheidt has absolutely no qualms about breaking laws when It comes to anything. Maybe she should be looking at her husband, not the whole dept.
7. So. In the entire courthouse facility, (I.E. meeting or conference room, private office, etc.) that has a door that locks? There isn’t one room she could have used in private? I find that very hard to believe.
8. More to this than we’re being led on…I know and heard so many stories. God bless the good ones who do good for our community but TIME for the investigation, long over due!! 

City Council Approves Outside Investigation Into Internal Issues With Superior Police Dept.

May 6, 2025 by Dan Hanger

933. SUPERIOR, Wis. — Urgent internal struggles within the Superior Police Department will officially be handled by an outside consultant for no more than $50,000 after the city council unanimously approved the measure at tonight’s city council meeting.

Last month, Mayor Jim Paine told the Public Safety Committee there are a number of cultural issues,
interpersonal conflicts and potential personnel concerns within the police department that have overwhelmed the ability of senior administration to fix, which includes Police Chief Paul Winterscheidt who took over as chief at the beginning of last year.

“The issues are very complex, and they’re beyond the professional experience of most of the folks that we have on staff now,” Mayor Paine told FOX 21 Tuesday. “We need to have our police department functioning at the highest possible level, and we need to do that as quickly as possible. And it’s worth spending some money to make sure that that that department is functioning.”

While specific issues within the Superior Police Department have not been publicly released, FOX 21 has reported police investigator Mikayla LeRette, who is Chief Winterscheidt wife, filed the lawsuit against the city in March.

The lawsuit alleges LeRette was not properly provided a place to pump breast milk upon her return from pregnancy leave 2022.

And in 2024, LeRette said her squad car was illegally tracked by Capt. Thomas Champaigne.

Court documents do not reference why her department vehicle was allegedly being tracked.

Mayor Paine told FOX 21 the city has the facilities and policies necessary to fully support pregnant and breastfeeding mothers over and above the requirements imposed by law.

Meanwhile, according to the Superior Telegram, investigator LeRette’s lawsuit follows an internal investigation conducted last year into whether LeRette misrepresented her working hours and took absences without authorized leave.

934. Here are a few comments from readers of Dan Hanger’s Facebook.

1. How about they do it within our city counsel too 
2. How about firing up the fiber optic high speed internet and see that there will literally be less than 1% willing to pay for it, instead of wasting absurd amounts of taxpayer money to wire up the whole city. 
3. Sounds like a bunch of disgruntled children. Lets waste more money. 
4. You would think Duluth and Superior would have at least a MOU to assist each other's department with internal investigations as they would be "deemed" outsiders and save $$$. This was done routinely in the Federal Bureau or Prisons to assist other federal institutions. Not a hard thing to do and would save money/time. 
5. What about all the other issues. Supposed to be running the city can't even run your department's.
6. Can't wait to the real details to be known. This is so one sided. 

MY COMMENTS

935. Without more information it’d hard to really say a lot but I can assure you there is more to this story. Here my takeaway for now.

The Mayor said:

“The issues are very complex, and they’re beyond the professional experience of most of the folks that we have on staff now,” Mayor Paine told FOX 21 Tuesday.

I Say:

Then you should get better staff. You have 10 councilors and a lawyer on staff and now the Notorious J. V. S. the smartest woman in Superior is back and all the connections that these people have you are trying to tell us you all can’t figure it out and so instead you want to spend 50 G’s for an outside firm? Sorry I’m not buying it. 

Here at the Blog we will keep our eye on this story and keep you updated.

936. That’s it for today. I’ll see you next time.

Thanks,

Brian

 COOL SHELL FORMATION ON MY BEACH WALK