All Charges Dismissed Against Iron County Man in Bizarre, Fabricated Bomb Scare Charge

Farm Defender Accused of Terrorism - By Rebecca Kemble with
Citizens Concerned about the proposed Penokee Mine
- We paid a visit to the Gollubske family in Kimball, Iron County,
Wisconsin. Their buildings, land and underground springs have been
affected by blasting from an asphalt company nearby. Their surface water
and air quality has been affected by the air pollution coming
from the asphalt cooking facility. Bob Gollubske was
arrested last May for terrorism because in his attempts to
seek justice and protect his farm,
he called the FBI and after describing his situation to no
apparent effect he asked the person on the phone,
"How would they like it if I blew up the
Iron County Courthouse?" He was
jailed for 4 days and released on a $10,000 bond.
Now he face(ed) penalties of 10 years in prison.
Bob reports that there are no more trout in the creeks
on the north side of Hwy 2 due to the air pollution and the
shifting granite bedrock from the explosions that has
diverted the artesian spring water to different locations.
He says the only place he fishes for trout anymore is
up in the Penokee Hills, and now they are under threat of
explosives from Gogebic Taconite's GTac bulk sampling
activities. Video of his testimony at the DNR hearing on
GTac's bulk sampling permit.

Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden defamed 76-year-old Robert Gollubske as causing  "a public furor," terrorizing and threatening to blow up the Iron County Courthouse in Hurley.

These statements are not facts. These statements are lies. Hence, the charges were dismissed by another judge.

Iron County District Attorney Martin Lipske wanted to throw the book at the mild-mannered farmer, Gollubske, because Gollubske last spring and summer had engaged in a campaign against the GTac proposed mine, saying it will result in environmental damage similar to that Gollubske blames dynamiting and controlled explosives inflicted to his farm and home's structural damage and poisoning.

Gollubske spoke about his concerns at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held a public hearing on Gogebic Taconite's Bulk Sampling Permit application and Gtac's pre-application notice on August 15, 2013 on video.

A request for a new judge was granted in State of Wisconsin v. Robert R. Gollubske, known locally as "Barrel Bob" Gollubske, a 76-year-old farmer from Hurley because of his four wheeler.

Price County Circuit Court Judge Douglas T. Fox presided over this morning's hearing.

Gollubske says the same type of damage he attributes to construction and road building companies would be wrought by GTac in Ashland and Iron counties.

Gollubske called the FBI, an assistant at the Iron County Courthouse, among other authorities to warn the community that the mine's explosions could poison and cause unforeseen damage. He is not alone in this assessment.

For his trouble, pro-mining Iron County DA Lipske tried to paint the farmer Gollubske as a "terrorist."

The WCCO list felony "Bomb Scares" in State of Wisconsin v. Robert R. Gollubske (Case Number 2013CF000027).

Gollubske retained attorneys, Jeff Scott Olson and Peter Bear of Madison.

This morning all charges were dismissed. But Gollubske has been through an ordeal, a trauma.

"I feel happy, I feel good. But I gotta tell you after the Iron County Sheriff or whoever arrested me, I now have bad dreams of him holding his gun over me, shaking his hand and waving like he's going to shoot me. I will never forget this for as long a I live. He was shaking and then asked, 'are you Mr. Gollubske?'" said Gollubske.

"I feel happy, I fell relieved, but my wife you know, she had a heart attack over this, a quadruple bypass, and thanks to Marshfield (Clinic). Being called a terrorist, how it felt. I still can't believe I was accused of being a terrorist."

Another thing I want to say is you will never now how it felt when charges were dismissed; you will never know. My thanks comes from my heart, (attorneys) Peter Bear and Jeff Scott Olson, and you know my heart is with them."

I have my health, my wife is struggling, you look at our barns and garages, the rattled windows; it looks like an earthquake if you see it."

"So, I'm the terrorist, but not after this morning," said Gollubske.

Gollubske said he can be reached at the following address in Hurley in Iron County:

Robert Gollubske
Kimball Drive West
Hurley, Wisconsin 54534

Iron County Judge Steps Aside in Anti-mining Barrel Bob Gollubske Case

Penokee Range

A request for a new judge has been granted for Robert Gollubske, known locally as "Barrel Bob" Gollubske, a 76-year-old farmer from Kimball.

Iron County Judge Patrick Madden, known as a pro-mining judge, and notorious as the corrupt jurist who presided over the 1997 trial and 2012 hearing of Donald Miller, has agreed to step aside in this matter in a rare recusal for Madden.

Gollubske, a farmer in the Town of Kimball, Wisconsin, in Iron County, has drawn the enmity of Iron County officials for complaining about explosions near his farm.

He warns about the dangers of the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine, blasting and dynamiting and ruining an environment.

For his complaints, Iron County officials have accused Gollubske of  (threatening) words, and causing "a public furor," as Madden has said publicly.

Few believe in this sparsely populated county that Judge Madden possesses the ethics to preside over the Gollubske trial, which ought to be dismissed with prejudice very quickly if anything like justice exists in Iron County.

Gollubske has also retained the services of renown civil rights attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, in addition to Peter Bear of Madison.

Gollubske did not endear himself to Madden (aka Madman) and DA Lipske at the DNR Public Hearing on G-Tac Bulk Sampling and pre-Application Notice held on August 15th in Hurley, Wisconsin (see below).

Gollubske also spoke against Mathy Construction company and the Northwoods Paving company that he blames for damaging his farm and home by their use of dynamite in the area. Mathy Construction is doing blacktopping work.

Gollubske says the same type of damage he attributes to Mathy will be wrought by Gogebic.

In 2009, Gollubske sued Mathy Construction Company of Onalaska, Wisconsin, and Northwoods Paving Co. (a division of Mathy Construction) of Ashland for damage to his home and farm, fearing his family is getting poisoned, an assertion he repeated at the Aug. 15 DNR hearing.

Gollubske called the FBI in May and made a rhetorical comment about blowing up the courthouse as an analogy (if not well-formulated) to the damages the Mathy Construction Northwoods Paving blacktop plant has caused at his farm.

At least Madden has stepped aside from this case, though even a perusal of the Don Miller case should cast doubt over, and taint any case over which Madden has presided.

Barrel Bob Gollubske is just a townie, a nice 76-year-old man about to find out how what a corrupt DA Lipske is.

Gollubske's friends in the community a few weeks before he was arrested said he is a just a harmless, gentle farmer who is upset about developers and now the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine destroying the Penokee Range.

Gogebic has secured the mineral rights for a "22-mile, 22,000-acre stretch of the Penokee Range from southwest of Hurley to about six miles west of Mellen," notes The Nature Conservancy.

Said one neighbor, "He (Gollubske) was really angry with the blacktop company, and he claims they and the Iron County cops blew up his barns. When I looked in the news archive there was two articles about Kimball residents complaining of big explosions shuddering their houses. And ya know what the cops tried to tell the paper? We had reports some kids were shooting a cannon off. Cops said they told the kids to knock it off. I'm not kidding. Imagine cops going to a house full of kids that had a cannon big enough to fire something off to shudder houses for a few miles around and just telling them to knock it off?!"

No wonder Gollubske called the FBI.

Does even DA Martin Lipske, replete with incompetence and corruption, believe Gollubske is a terrorist?

Here's video of Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske at the DNR Public Hearing on August 15th held in Hurley.

- A version of this piece appeared August 18, 2013 -

Are Iron County Lipske-Madden Team Railroading Another Man —Robert Gollubske

Gogebic Iron Range in Green

Update: A request for a new judge has been granted for Robert Gollubske. Patrick Madden is known locally as a pro-mining judge, and is notorious as the corrupt jurist who presided over the 1997 trial and 2012 hearing of Donald Miller, having an affair with the alleged victim, Miller's live-in girlfriend whom Miller had asked to leave his home, before, during and after the 1997 trial. Gollubske has also retained the services of renown civil rights attorney, Jeff Scott Olson, in addition to Peter Bear of Madison.

Robert Gollubske, a farmer in the Town of Kimball, Wisconsin in Iron County, is right about at least one thing, the government of Iron County doesn't like him.

Specifically, Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden and Iron County DA Martin Lipske don't like him because Gollubske is warning about the dangers of the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine, blasting and dynamiting and ruining an environment.

Gollubske did not endear himself to Madden (aka Madman) and Lipske at the DNR Public Hearing on G-Tac Bulk Sampling and pre-Application Notice held August 15th at Hurley, Wisconsin.

Gollubske spoke against Mathy Construction company and the Northwoods Paving company that he blames for damaging his farm and home by their use of dynamite in the area.

He says the same type of damage he attributes to Mathy will be wrought by Gogebic.

In 2009, Gollubske sued Mathy Construction Company of Onalaska, Wisconsin and Northwoods Paving Co. (a division of Mathy Construction) of Ashland for damage to his home and farm, fearing his family is getting poisoned. He said this shows the dangers of explosions used in mining.

Penokee Range

Lipske wants to prosecute the 75-year-old man arrested in May for saying he wanted to blow up the courthouse to get FBI agents to his farm property to show them what he says are damages caused by Mathy Construction dynamiting for blacktop road-building.

Judge Patrick Madden said, "The (threatening) words are out there and in people’s minds." He said the public doesn’t feel safe and the case has caused "a public furor."

Typical Madden, typical BS.

The only people who don't feel safe are those who fear the mining company blowing open a huge open pit mine in the Penokee Range, and the heavily armed corporate militia operating illegally at test drilling sites for whom both Lipske and Madden front.

Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske is just a townie, a nice 75-year-old man about to find out how what pricks Madden and Lipske are.

Gollubske has expressed his fear about the Gogebic Taconite Mine around town, and Lipske and Madden think they have found a way to shut him up.

Gollubske's friends in the community a few weeks before he was arrested said he is a just a harmless, gentle farmer who is upset about developers and now the proposed Gogebic Taconite Mine destroying the Penokee Range.

Gogegic has secured the mineral rights for a "22-mile, 22,000-acre stretch of the Penokee Range from southwest of Hurley to about six miles west of Mellen," notes The Nature Conservancy.

Said one neighbor, "He (Gollubske) was really angry with the blacktop company and he claims they and the Iron County cops blew up his barns. When I looked in the news archive there was two articles about Kimball residents complaining of big explosions shuddering their houses. And ya know what the cops tried to tell the paper? We had reports some kids were shooting a cannon off. Cops said they told the kids to knock it off. I'm not kidding. Imagine cops going to a house full of kids that had a cannon big enough to fire something off to shudder houses for a few miles around and just telling them to knock it off?!"

No wonder Gollubske wants to call in the FBI.

Gollubske is just a farmer who has seen too many explosions near his home and he thinks Gogegic blowing open the proposed open pit mine is nothing but trouble; he wanted to call in the FBI for help because he doesn't trust the local police.

Gollubske' instincts are right.

Iron County Judge Patrick J. Madden and Iron County DA Martin Lipske are not known for being impartial, and certainly not prosecutorial discretion. What they are known for is being corrupt. And the local police just follow along, no questions.

Here's video of Robert (Barrel Bob) Gollubske at the DNR Public Hearing on August 15th held in Hurley.