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• Dunn County resident tests positive for H1N1 flu
• Shooter in deer poaching incident gets license suspended
• Accomplice in deer poaching incident acquitted

Wendy MacDougall, Dunn County Health Department Director, announced Wednesday that a county resident has tested positive for the H1N1 (swine) flu.

She notes that the individual is at home recovering from the viral infection.

"There is no recommendation for workplace or school closures based on this test," she said. She also added there is no recommendation for preventive treatment for others associated with this individual.

MacDougall declined to give the individual's gender or age, citing confidentiality rights.

She reminds the public to: Wash your hands before eating and other activities. Cover your cough with your sleeve/tissue, not your hands. Stay home or seek medical advice/care if you are ill.

There are no probable cases in Dunn County, she said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 26 people in the state have tested positive for H1N1, according to the Department of Health Services. Two days earlier, that number was three. Milwaukee County has the most confirmed cases with nine, followed by Dane's five and Rock's three. There are over 175 probable cases in the state.

MacDougall said for more information go to www.pandemic.wisconsin.gov.

By Jason Schulte, RiverTowns staff

The shooter in the deer poaching incident last November expressed his remorse Wednesday.

"Mr. (Nicholas) Thayer is devastated, embarrassed and ashamed," said his attorney Aaron Nelson during Thayer's plea hearing in Pierce County Circuit Court.

Thayer, 28, was charged with hunting deer during closed season and failure to attach ear tag to deer carcass, two misdemeanors, from the Nov. 15 incident. As a result of the plea agreement, he pled guilty to the hunting deer charge and was ordered by Judge Robert Wing to pay a fine, the exact cost undetermined and for his DNR rights to be suspended for three years. The deer tag charge was dismissed.

Nov. 15, 2008

The incident caught attention of law enforcement around 10:30 a.m. that morning when DNR Conservation Warden Brad Peterson received a complaint from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department that the caller reported he had witnessed a subject in a pick-up truck shoot a deer from County Road A, south of 420th St. with a gun.

The complainant told Peterson he was bow hunting along A when he witnessed the poaching incident. Peterson and the complainant looked in the woods for the deer, but were unable to locate any sign of it.

Peterson returned to the area around 5:20 p.m. that night and observed several vehicles traveling up and down A, but none stopping until 6 p.m. when he noticed a truck stopping in about the same spot where the deer was shot.

For more please read the May 13 print version of the Herald.

By Jason Schulte, RiverTowns staff

"This case is all about trust. One person took advantage of it; the other person was exploited by it."

Those were attorney Aaron Nelson's words to describe Daniel Place's thoughts about the deer poaching incident last November 15.

Nelson was saying the words during the closing statement of Place's jury trial Wednesday in Pierce County Circuit Court. Place was charged with failure to attach ear tag to deer carcass, a misdemeanor. A panel of six men and six men women deliberated for about an hour and found the 27-year-old not guilty of the charge.

Incident

Place's involvement in the incident started in the afternoon when he was asked by Nicholas Thayer, 28, to help him look for a deer he had shot earlier that day. For more please read the May 13 print version of the Herald.