Local but Overlooked News: One-stop shopping for drugs and a new couch?

Teri Barr joins The Maggie Daun Show for the “Local but Overlooked News” segment and Maggie asks, “Did cops really bust a Wisconsin man for selling Fentanyl at a furniture store?”

A one-stop shop for drugs and a new couch?

It’s the start of a new year, but the old issue of fentanyl-use continues in Wisconsin. 

More than 1,300 residents died of an overdose while using the synthetic opioid in the last 12 months.

But now police in the Fox Valley think they may have just shut-down a major supplier of the drug to kick off 2024.

Christopher Turner is facing a long list of charges related to selling fentanyl across the state. A criminal complaint includes information an Appleton furniture store was being used as a front for other business dealings, including drugs.

Officers say they busted Turner at the store and found drugs along with $60,000 in his pockets. 

Did you know Narcan is widely available in Wisconsin and can be purchased without a prescription at hundreds of pharmacies? Narcan blocks opioids from binding to receptors in the brain, quickly reversing the effects of an overdose.

Here is a map created by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to find a location near you and to learn more about administering Narcan when someone is experiencing a drug overdose.

A Quiet OK for a New Casino

You may recall hearing about a possible tribal casino in the far southeastern part of the state, but then-Governor Scott Walker put a stop to any of the plans chances of moving forward.

Now, more than 10-years later, the proposal unceremoniously reappeared on the Kenosha Common Council agenda Wednesday night, January 3, 2024. It passed on an almost two to one vote.

The Menominee Tribe of Indians says it could mean jobs and money for the area with the casino being part of a larger Hard Rock Hotel project. The new plans include a small concert venue and banquet halls. It would be built on the former Dairyland Greyhound Race Track grounds. 

There are still some residents who are not in favor of the casino, but Governor Tony Evers is in support of it. 

County board members are next to get a look at the overall project and a vote is scheduled in two weeks.