Merrill
CRIME & SAFETY
Sunday fire leads to hours-long Hwy. 51 shutdown
A portion of southbound Hwy. 51 was closed to traffic for five hours on Sunday while crews battled a blaze that started in a storage garage in Arbor Vitae. The blaze was reported at about 6:40 p.m. at 111107 Kern Lane. The four-bay storage garage was engulfed in flames when crews arrived, with several small explosions. Several vehicles near the garage were also on fire, officials said.
Lahti sentenced in drunk driving homicide
At a July 8, 2024, sentencing hearing in Lincoln County Court, John James Lahti, age 43, of Merrill was sentenced to 15 years in prison plus 10 years of extended supervision in the Sept. 17, 2022, death of an 8-year-old Gleason boy and the injuries to his family members, sustained when Lahti was driving drunk and crossed the center line on Hwy. 17 north of Merrill causing a head-on crash. Lahti struck a vehicle ccupied by a family of four, and the collision resulted in the death of eight-year-old Ian Skaar and serious injury to his mother, Leah Skaar, both of whom were passengers in the vehicle. Ian’s sister and his father, Tom Skaar, who was driving, also sustained minor injuries.
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