XRoads41, school district probes headlined 2025's top Oshkosh stories

More than 100 attended an OASD board meeting in the wake of an Oshkosh West teacher’s Charlie Kirk post.

OSHKOSH – Significant leadership turnover. Massive layoffs.

Oh, and another record-setting EAA AirVenture.

Yet, everyone in Oshkosh thought 2025 was just going to be about taxes.

Well, not a single tax story cracked our top 50 most-read headlines in a year that featured everything from a pilot taking off in the wrong direction to school board members creating Facebook aliases.

Here are those most-read Northwestern stories for 2025 — well, the non-EAA-related ones, at least.

Country music stars Jason Aldean and Lainey Wilson to headline XRoads41 festival in 2026

Two of country music’s biggest stars are set to headline the next XRoads41 festival Aug. 6-8, with multi-platinum singer Jason Aldean and Grammy Award-winning artist Lainey Wilson slated to take the stage for the 2026 show.

Festival directors Oshkosh Festivals LLC didn't initially confirm the acts due to contractual obligations, but the news was first announced multiple times during the 2025 three-day concert at Oshkosh Festivals Park.

More than 100 attend OASD board meeting in wake of Oshkosh West teacher’s Charlie Kirk post

More than 100 residents, including past and current students, parents and community members, attended a Sept. 24 school board meeting advocating that the district not discipline Oshkosh West High School teacher Brian Phelps for a Facebook post regarding Charlie Kirk's assassination.

Phelps' supporters cited his desire to promote independent thinking and the First Amendment after the teacher drew the ire of several people online in a lengthy post denouncing Kirk as a "morally evil human."

UW-Oshkosh puts former Campus Center for Equity and Diversity building on the market

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh listed the former Campus Center for Equity and Diversity and its accompanying 29,400 square feet of land at 717 W. Irving Ave. in January after moving the building’s staff to a more central location on campus the previous fall.

The property was described as a three-story building with 27,360 net square footage (28,700 gross square footage) that was originally built in 1968 and significantly remodeled in 2003 with new restrooms on the main and lower levels.

Oshkosh school district to confer with legal counsel amid probe of board members’ social media activity

Oshkosh Area School District investigated board members Timothy Hess and Kelly DeWitt in January over a complaint alleging they were using fake Facebook accounts to post opinions about the district's $197.8 million referendum.

Both board members admitted to the social media aliases but avoided disciplinary measures as the investigation found they were not in violation of board policy.

Vel Phillips dean of students on administrative leave after SRO handcuffs, pins 8th-grader

Vel Phillips Middle School’s dean of students Christopher Willems was put on administrative leave pending an investigation into a Jan. 10, 2025, incident in which a student, 13, was handcuffed and pinned under a school resource officer for more than two minutes.

In body camera footage obtained by the Northwestern from the Oshkosh Police Department, Dean of Students Christopher Willems was seen pushing the student, who is Black, against a wall before SRO Dellas Vandenberg pushes the boy toward the ground by his neck, applies handcuffs and uses one knee to pin him to the ground.

Willems was eventually suspended with pay for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year before the OASD board upheld the district's decision not to renew his contract.