10/29/2024

MINOCQUA - The owner of Minocqua Brewing Company has been arrested AGAIN.  This time for Defying a Gag Order, Taunting the Judge. Kirk Bangstad was arrested on the 15th, charged with two counts of criminal defamation after a Facebook post that was published multiple times that included false and manipulated images of Lakeland Times publisher Gregg Walker and general manager Heather Holms in a pornographic rendering. In a court appearance on the 21st, the judge set a $2500 signature bond and ordered Bangstad not to make remarks about the case or the parties. The hearing was short with Bangstad becoming contentious, with the judge at one point removing Bangstad from the hearing. Bangstad has since defied that order, reposting the statement that got him into trouble the first time and dared the judge to come after him.