A review of the top news headlines for 2012 – 1st Quarter
A review of the top news headlines for 2012 – 1st Quarter
JANUARY
January 4:
TOWN OF FOREST REVIEWS EMERGING ENERGIES APPLICATION TO THE PSC: The Forest Town Board has reviewed the application Emerging Energies submitted to the state Public Service Commission for 41 wind turbines — and found it lacking.
TOWN OF FOREST APPROVES TWO-YEAR MORATORIUM: The Forest Town Board has approved a two-year moratorium on construction in the township along with an interim zoning ordinance to preserve existing land use.
FODNESS ATTORNEY SAYS SHE WANTS MORE EVIDENCE IN FODNESS CASE: A Hudson attorney representing former Colfax resident Michael Fodness says she wants the Dunn County District Attorney’s office to provide various information, including a cell phone that is buried in a yard somewhere.
January 11:
DOWNING HEROIN OVERDOSE DEATH CASE DISMISSED: Charges against a 38-year-old Minneapolis woman accused of supplying the heroin that killed 37-year-old Adrian Albrecht of Downing have been dismissed, in part because the prosecution’s key witness cannot be located.
SMALL LIFT STATION, BIG PROBLEM: For more than two years the city council and the city maintenance department have wrestled with problems from a small lift station that serves the Tiffany Creek area. That lift station was rebuilt about four years ago with new pumps and electrical equipment. The station serves about 30 homes in that area.
DUNN COUNTY MOVING AHEAD WITH NEW HEALTH CARE CENTER: On a 25 “yes” to four “no” vote, the Dunn County Board of Supervisors has approved the sale of general obligation bonds in the amount of $23 million to build a new health care center.
January 18:
GIFTS AND GRANTS ENHANCE BOYCE-VILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT: At the school board meeting of Monday, January 16th the board was brought up to date on four grants that the district had received. The largest of these was from the Boyceville Wrestling Club in the amount of $25,000. Another was from Fairmount Minerals Foundation and two grants from the Annmarie Foundation.
TOWN OF CYLON SUBSTATION: A substation in the Town of Cylon for the Emerging Energies wind turbine project in the Town of Forest would cost between $4 million and $4.5 million to construct.
FORMER BOYCEVILLE MAN SENTENCED: A former Boyceville resident, Stevie D. Walls Jr., 29, has been sentenced to four years of probation for manufacturing Red Phosphorus methamphetamine. He was sentenced in Dunn County Circuit Court January 9.
MAN ARRESTED FOR POINTING WEAPON AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: A 32-year-old Knapp man, Bradley M. Windsor, was arrested January 13 after allegedly pointing a gun at Knapp Elementary.
January 25:
DUNN COUNTY APPROVES SAND MORATORIUM: Following several hours of discussion and a couple of amendments, the Dunn County Board has approved a six-month moratorium on nonmetallic mining.
DOWNING FLORIST MARKS SECOND YEAR IN BUSINESS: The Downing-based floral shop, Flowers By Nicole, marked its second anniversary in January. The shop is owned and operated by Nicole DeMar and is located on her front porch on Rowley Road just outside Downing.
BOYCEVILLE SCHOOLS GET GREAT REFINANCING RATE: The Boyceville School Board approved the refinancing of General Obligation Bonds from 2001 and School Building Improvement Bonds from 2009. The total amount that was up for refinancing was $2,650,000.
GLENWOOD CITY SCHOOL BOARD HEARS ABOUT LEAKY ROOF, SURVEYS, AND REFERENDUM: At the meeting Monday night, the Glenwood City School Board heard from Board Member, Lori Klinger who reported about a recent Building, Grounds and Transportation Committee meeting where the leaking roof, surveys and referendum dates were discussed.
FEBRUARY
February 1:
NEW ACCOUNTING OFFICE IN KNAPP: Mary Thatcher recently became a small business owner in Knapp with the opening of Connection Accounting and Connection Transportation. She graduated from CVTC in December with an associate degree in accounting.
1880 ERA CABIN GETS HOME IN BOYCEVILLE: Why did Boyceville resident, Gary Evenson dismantle an 1880 era cabin, haul it the 250 miles to his home and then reassemble it in his backyard? Well, because “my cousin has one and he thought I should too,” said Gary.
DUNN COUNTY PR&D APPROVES MINING IMPACT CONSULTATION: The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Developing Committee has approved forwarding a request to the Committee on Administration for $4,000 to hire a consultant to assess the impacts of frac sand mining.
The PR&D committee approved the request for the money at the January 24 meeting.
February 8:
BOYCEVILLE MAN INJURED IN CAR ACCIDENT: Cody Hegeman, 19-year-old son of Troy and Dede Hegeman of Boyceville, suffered a broken pelvis due to being ejected from his vehicle. The one-vehicle accident occured Saturday morning, Feb. 4 in Barron County.
NEW HAVEN HEARS FROM GEOLOGIST: About 50 people attended the New Haven town board meeting on Wednesday night where certified geologist, Scott McCurdy gave a presentation about non-metallic mining.
PSC DEEMS EMERGING ENERGIES APPLICATION INCOMPLETE: The state Public Service Commission has ruled that the Emerging Energies application for a wind turbine project in the Town of Forest is not complete.
NEW AMBULANCE DIRECTOR: The city council took action at their meeting Monday night to appoint a new ambulance director (Alisa Eggert), temporarily suspend the impact fees, and apply for an increase in the city’s water utility rates.
BOYCEVILLE SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAM DOES WELL: The Boyceville MS & HS Science Olympiad teams participated this past weekend in the Wright State University Science Olympiad Invitational in Dayton, OH with the high school earning a team award for an eighth place overall finish out of 60 teams and the middle school team finishing in 13th place overall out of 42 teams. The teams were also top finishers at the “Border Battle” Science Olympiad Open Invitational Tournament held at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on January 21.
February 15:
EMERGING ENERGIES DROPS LAWSUIT: Representatives for Emerging Energies/Highland Wind Farm have decided to drop the lawsuit filed against the Town of Forest for breach of contract over the proposed wind turbine project.
TOWN OF SHERIDAN ASSESSOR RETIRES: Marilynn Bartos recently retired as the assessor for the Town of Sheridan after serving for 31 years. She liked the job and enjoyed working in her community.
BOYCEVILLE BURGLARS BUSTED: Law enforcement officials have four people in custody relating to two separate burglary incidents in the village last month.
February 22:
EIGHT AREA WRESTLERS ADVANCE TO STATE MEET: The eight wrestlers are: Riley Knops, Glenwood City Junior, 1st – 106 pounds; Austin Moe, Glenwood City Junior, 1st – 138 pounds; Brett Blaser, Boyceville Senior, 1st – 182 pounds; Adam Holmquist, Glenwood City Junior, 2nd – 132 pounds; Daniel Hayes, Boyceville Senior, 2nd – 152 pounds; Josh Cormican, Boyceville Junior, 2nd – 145 pounds; Ben Marusak, Boyceville Senior, 3rd – 160 pounds; Alex Holmquist, Glenwood City Senior, 3rd – 126 pounds.
DUNN COUNTY APPROVES SALE OF REC PARK LAND: The Dunn County Board has approved selling about a quarter of an acre of the Dunn County Recreation Park for the second phase of the Dancing Oaks apartment project. The Dunn County Board’s approval of the sale at the February 15 meeting for the sum of $8,500 also included easements for utilities and for a walking trail to the rec park.
BOYCEVILLE RECEIVES IPADS: Third Grade Teacher Debra Bell received four iPad 2 touch screen tablet computers in December through a grant she applied for. Ever since, students and teachers at Tiffany Creek Elementary have been experimenting with the technology.
MASSAGE THERAPIST IN KNAPP: Brandi Freeland, a licensed massage therapist, opened her clinic called B Free Massage in Knapp last month and offers seven different types of massage.
February 29:
Three people have been charged in connection with a series of burglaries involving the same residence in the Village of Wheeler. Donald Joseph Binder, 22, now listed as a resident of Colfax in court records, Tanya Marie Baskin, 35, and Craig Richard Baskin, 38 — both of 109 Hillside Drive South in Wheeler — are accused of class F felonies of burglary to a building or dwelling.
GCHS VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUDITORIAN ANNOUNCED: The Glenwood City School Board started off their meeting on Monday night with High School Principal, Tim Johnson announcing that Laurena Schug and Megan Stansbury are the class of 2012 valedictorian and salutatorian.
BALDWIN MAN CHARGED WITH BOYCEVILLE SEXUAL ASSULTS: A 33-year-old Baldwin man, Michael Allen Powell, has been charged with four counts of first degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 in connection with incidents that happened in Boyceville. He is scheduled for a final pre-trial in Dunn County Circuit Court March 6.
MARCH
March 7:
FOREST ZONING COULD COST $10K-$20K: Developing a zoning ordinance for the Town of Forest could cost between $10,000 and $20,000 and take up to a year to finish, according to Nolan Wall, a planner with Stevens Engineers out of Hudson.
NEW EQUINE VETRINARY FACILITY: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Jennifer Teigen has been a practicing veterinarian in the Glenwood City area since 1992. One year ago she opened an equine veterinary service facility called Topline Equine Veterinary Care at her farm just south of town.
PSC PROPOSES 76% WATER RATE INCREASE FOR THE VILLAGE OF KNAPP: The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is proposing a 76 percent water rate increase for the Village of Knapp. A public hearing is set for March 20.
March 14: GLENWOOD SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES FULL-DAY 4K, DECREASE IN HEALTH INSURANCE: The Glenwood City School Board met on Monday night where they approved full-day 4-K programming, voted to decrease the percentage of health insurance paid to support staff by the district and learned that their bleachers do not need to be updated.
WHEELER MAN TRIAL CASE RESCHEDULED TO JUNE: The trial for a 25-year-old former Wheeler resident accused of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in Wheeler was scheduled for March 26 and 27 but now has been postponed until June. Daniel Z. Sims, 25, is charged with one count of second degree sexual assault of a mentally ill victim and one count of third degree sexual assault in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred in Wheeler last June.
DEER HUNTING IN BOYCEVILLE PROPOSED: The village board entertained Jim Swanson from the Menomonie Rod and Gun Club at their regular meeting Monday evening. Swanson is proposing a deer hunting within the village limits.
March 21:
TOWN OF STANTON VOTES TO HAVE REFERENDUM: Approximately 100 people attended a Town of Stanton special meeting on March 14 and voted unanimously in favor of putting an advisory referendum on the November ballot on whether or not the town should become zoned.
WHEELER UNDECIDED ABOUT JOINING BOYCEVILLE FIRE DISTRICT: Wheeler Village Board members are undecided about whether to join the Boyceville fire district. James Carter, village president, said at the Wheeler Village Board’s March 13 meeting that he was hesitant about signing the contract with the Boyceville fire district for fire protection services. The new contract does not contain a price or a date for implementation, he said.
NEW LINES DRAWN FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVES: New district lines have been drawn for state representatives and state senators. These lines are in responds to the new census figures from the 2010 count.
March 28:
SALSEG EARNS EAGLE SCOUT RANK: Kevin Salseg, son of Bob and Brenda Salseg officially became an eagle scout on December 1 and had his scout ceremony at Holy Cross Lutheran Church last Sunday. Kevin, 18, is a Glenwood City High School senior.
PRIMARY ELECTION NEXT TUESDAY: Wisconsin citizen will be going to the polls next Tuesday, April 3rd for the annual Spring Election and Presidential Preference vote. The field of candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United State has been reduced to four people, but the state ballot will have six names on it. They are the four still in the race, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, plus Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann. On the Democratic ballot only Barack Obama is listed. But in both ballots an elector can select to send an uninstructed delegation to the national conventions.
BOYCEVILLE AND GLENWOOD CITY SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES: Three people are seeking the two open seats on the Glenwood City School Board. They are Charles W. Rasmussen, Judy Achterhof and Charlotte Obermueller-Heimer. Rasmussen and Achterhof are the incumbents. Four district residents, including both incumbents, are vying for a pair of open seats on the Boyceville Community School District’s board of education. Current school board members Gail Stark and Harry Joles, the board’s president and treasurer respectively, are being challenged by Gary Faulkner and Erik Evenson in the April 3 Spring Election. The top two vote getters will win seats on the board.