Another 20 Wisconsin Counties, including Manitowoc, have filed lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical companies of causing the nation’s opioid overdose epidemic. County Executive Bob Zigelbauer told us at Seehafer News that the County Board voted 17-7 in an emergency meeting to approve a motion to join the lawsuit. He stated, “We had a good discussion at the County Board level on Monday night. It was really outstanding actually. All the people had an opinion, and they worked it out.” Zigelbauer says the decision to join was done with the utmost due diligence. “The lawyers and other people think, throughout the country, that this will be a good cause of action to clean up the mess of the opioid crisis. It affects us in the community in various ways. The county, we have to provide a lot of services because of this.” Zigelbauer said. “It affects us in the Sheriff’s Department budget, the Jail budget, the Health Department budget, the Human Services budget. It affects a number of departments in the county.” Money has been set aside in the budget through 2019. The lawsuits seek unspecified monetary damages from the companies deemed responsible.