Western Wisconsin News Briefs: Osceola native survives crippled cruise

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A northwest Wisconsin native picked the wrong time to go on a cruise with his wife. Osceola native John Bjornstad and his wife Angela were celebrating their 10th anniversary aboard a Carnival cruise ship last week, when an engine room fire cut off electricity while the boat was in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 900-foot boat Triumph was on its way to Cozumel, Mexico. Instead, the disabled ship had to wait to be towed to Mobile, Alabama. And in the meantime, Bjornstad tells the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that things got “nasty” as toilets overflowed in people’s rooms – and many were forced to sleep outside. After five days on the water, the boat finally arrived in Mobile last Thursday night, and the couple was back home on Friday. Bjornstad said he and his wife were lucky that their room didn’t flood. And he does not fault Carnival, saying the crew took care of everyone as best they could – and accidents happen. Bjornstad now lives in Texas. He went to work for British Petroleum after graduating from UW-Stout.

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A former assistant high school track coach in west central Wisconsin is free-on-bond, after being charged with having a sexual relationship with one of his female athletes. 43-year-old Scott Bergman of Thorp is due back in court Thursday on a felony count of sexual assault by a school staffer, and two misdemeanor counts of having sex with a child 16-or-older. Prosecutors said Bergman started the relationship last fall, when he was coaching the 17-year-old girl at Thorp High School. School officials called police. And officers reportedly found nude photos of the girl and intimate text messages on his cell phone. Bergman was fired last November. He posted a two-thousand dollar bond yesterday.

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A man from Superior is accused of arranging drug deals while in jail. 28-year-old Carlos Coleman has been ordered to stand trial on two felony charges of being a party to delivering heroin – and he’s scheduled to enter pleas to those charges on Friday. Prosecutors said Coleman called his 23-year-old girlfriend from his Douglas County Jail cell – and while jailers were listening in, he gave her step-by-step instructions for diluting and packaging heroin. Officials said they monitored a drug delivery a few hours later. And after Coleman called her the next day, they arrested him on the new charges. He was already facing drug charges from last December – and he’ll enter pleas to those on Friday as well. Meanwhile, the girlfriend – Miryah Herron of Hermantown, Minnesota – has also been ordered to stand trial on two counts of delivering heroin. She’s scheduled to enter her pleas on March 15th. She’s free on a $500 bond.

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