A review of the top news headlines for 2012 – 2nd Quarter
A review of the top news headlines for 2012 – 2nd Quarter
APRIL
April 4: A DOLLAR STORE FOR GLENWOOD? The common council approved a resolution that would trade a short city street for other property to allow a Family Dollar Store to locate in downtown. At question was a proposal that the council was considering, a request from a developer that is considering purchasing the former Glenwood City Ford property on West Oak Street to construct a new building at this site.
CONSTRUCTION TO START ON DUNN COUNTY BRIDGE: Dunn County is ready to advertise for bids for replacing the county Highway G bridge near Jake’s Supper Club. Construction on the bridge is expected to start sometime this summer.
TRIAL FOR FORMER WHEELER POLICE CHIEF SCHEDULED FOR JUNE: A new trial date in June has been set for former Wheeler police chief Gary Wayerski.
April 11: ELECTION RESULTS: In the presidential Preference vote Republicans in both St. Croix and Dunn County favored Rick Santorum, but the state of Wisconsin went for front-runner Mitt Romney.
BOYCEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD FINISHES AS 3RD PLACE TEAM FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR: Boyceville High School’s Science Olympiad team competed at the Wisconsin State Tournament at UW-Stout this past Saturday and finished as the 3rd place overall school out of the 39 teams that qualified for state for the fourth straight year, becoming only the fifth school in state history to finish among the top three teams at the state tournament at least four consecutive years.
GLENWOOD CITY MIDDLE SCHOOLER TO MEET FAMOUS AUTHOR: Glenwood City eighth grader Wesley Franklin was surprised last Tuesday when Michael Telzrow, Wisconsin Veterans Museum Director walked into one of his classes and presented him with an opportunity to meet Hugh Ambrose on May 3.
April 18: COLFAX FIRE DISTRICT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR WHEELER: At the March Wheeler Village Board meeting, board members wondered about the possibility of joining the Colfax fire district as opposed to joining the Boyceville fire district. However, Colfax has built a new fire station and Wheeler would have to pay a share of the new building to get into the district if they joined Colfax.
GOV. WALKER SIGNS AG LAW IN ELK MOUND: It is not often that state legislation is signed in Elk Mound, but Gov. Scott Walker visited Five Star Dairy east of Elk Mound April 12 to sign four pieces of legislation related to agriculture. The legislation dealing with the livestock premises registration program, weight limits for vehicles transporting manure, wildlife damage caused by cougars, and eliminating requirements for bovine brucellosis testing.
CAMBELL KITTILSON PARTICIPATES IN 2012 WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL: Cambell Kittilson, age 2, attended the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 9, in Washington, D.C. Cambell is the granddaughter of Bud and Susan Gilbertson of Boyceville.
April 25: St. Croix Electric Cooperative marks 75th anniversary, announces DONATOIN: Members of the St. Croix Electric Cooperative held a celebration fit for a 75th anniversary at their annual meeting April 19 at R&D Banquet Facility in New Richmond. During the business meeting Chairman Bill Peavey announced a $24,000 donation would be made to the Friends of the St. Croix County Fairplex to help pay for the construction of a new dairy barn at the Fairplex facility.
DUNN COUNTY ACCEPTS BIDS FOR HEALTH CARE CENTER: MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board of Supervisors has given final approval for building a new health care center by accepting low bids for the project totaling $16.4 million. Total expenditures for building the new health care center will be $22,671,913, leaving a margin of $738,087, Smith said.
TAKES FIRST AT REGIONAL COMPETITION: The Glenwood City Middle School Destination ImagiNation team took first place in their division at the St. Croix Valley Regional DI Tournament at Spooner on March 24th. They also advanced to the state DI tournament, held at U.W. Stevens Point on April 14th.
BOGIE BENEFIT: A benefit for Olivia Bogie, age 2, will be held April 28 at the Knapp Village Hall. Physicians believe it may be a genetic mutation that has caused Olivia to have been born with her condition, but for now, Olivia remains a mystery.
MAY
May 2: WIND FARM OPEN HOUSE WELL ATTENDED: An open house on the Highland Wind Farm project held at the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in New Richmond April 25 was well attended by those who are both for and against the project.
TO HEAR PLANS FOR SAND FACILTY IN KNAPP: A meeting of the Town of Menomonie Plan Commission April 26 at the Menomonie Town Hall was filled to beyond standing room only to hear about plans for a sand loading facility near Knapp. Vista Sands is proposing to install a rail spur for loading sand along state Highway 12 between Knapp and state Highway 79.
OBERMUELLER TO RUN FOR CONGRESS IN MINNESOTA: Former Glenwood City resident Mike Obermueller won the DFL endorsement last Saturday to run in the Minnesota 2nd Congressional District. Obermueller is the son of Kathy Obermueller and the late Francis Obermueller of rural Glenwood City and a graduate of Glenwood City High School with the class of 1991.
DUNN COUNTY TREASURER TO RETIRE: Dunn County Treasurer, Mary Erpenbach, has announced that she will retire and not seek reelection to the position of County Treasurer. She submitted a Notification of Noncandidacy to the County Clerk on April 30.
May 9: MILESTONE MATERIAL SEEKING EXPANSION OF DOWNING QUARRY TO MINE FRAC SAND; The Dunn County land conservation office is considering a permit modification for Milestone Materials at the Downing quarry to expand the operation by 20 acres and to increase the depth of the existing quarry by up to 50 feet.
FREAK ACCIDENT IN THE TOWN OF TIFFANY: The body of a 72-year old West St. Paul man, Clifford William Frederick, was found in the woods by a team of rescue people early Friday morning, May 4th. According to a report from the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department, he had left to go turkey hunting in the Town of Tiffany at about 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 3rd.
KNAPP RESIDENT ORDERED TO PAY $366,000. A 39-year-old Knapp resident, Nathan M. Dusek, who is a former liquor store manager in Hudson has been sentenced to jail time and to pay $366,000 in restitution. Dusek was charged with two Class G felony counts of theft in business setting of greater than $10,000.
DIAMOND DEDICATED: Ruth and Ed Pafko gather with family and friends at the Boyceville High School Baseball field before the dedication ceremony honoring his brother Andy Pafko. Boyceville named its baseball field, Pafko Diamond, in honor of the Boyceville native and former major league player.
May 16: FRANKLIN MEETS AUTHOR; Glenwood City Middle School student, Wesley Franklin and his family took a trip earlier this month to meet author and historian Hugh Ambrose and attend the Wisconsin Veteran’s Museum Gala in Madison, WI.
GLENWOOD TO GRADUATE 48 THIS SATURDAY: Commencement exercises for the Glenwood City High School’s Class of 2012 will be held this Saturday, May 19 at 11 a.m. in the high school gymnasium. 48 seniors will be receiving diplomas at this year’s ceremony.
RECALL PRIMARY RESULTS: The 2012 Primary Recall Elections were held earlier this month on May 8. The recent results of the election in St. Croix County and Dunn County show that Gov. Walker is leading in votes over Barrett along with former Dane County Executive, Kathleen Falk. As a whole, the State of Wisconsin Primary Election results favor Barrett over Falk.
May 23: GROUNDBREAKING FOR NEW DUNN COUNTY HEALTH CARE CENTER: Six years seems like a long time. But with the groundbreaking ceremony May 16 for Dunn County’s new health care center, six years was really quite reasonable compared to the length of time for some municipal projects to get off the ground, said Gene Smith, county manager.
BOYCEVILLE TO GRADUATE 59 STUDENTS THIS FRIDAY: Boyceville’s valedictorian Emily Guy and Salutatorian Kyle Franseen will lead their classmates at the graduation ceremony this Friday, May 25.
NEW REPORTER: Kelsie Hoitomt, a 2008 graduate of Glenwood City High School and graduate of UW-River Falls, has been hired as the new reporter at the Tribune Press Reporter.
May 30: MARVIN CORMICAN RETIRES: Marvin and Carol’s son, Gary, is now taking over the business and turning it into “Gary Cormican Excavating”. Gary has been helping his dad with the family business since he was in school. Marvin Cormican broke ground for his excavating business back in May of 1967. When asked why retirement now, Marvin said, “I am 76 years old and it is just time.”
DUNN COUNTY RESIDENTS SAY VISTA SANDS IS OFFERING “HUSH MONEY”: Several residents who attended the public meetings held by Dunn County officials to gather comments about the county’s nonmetallic mining report say that Vista Sands is offering “hush money.” Barbara Flom, a resident in the Town of Lucas who says she was offered a mine lease last fall but did not sign the lease, said that Vista Sands is asking area residents to sign “confidentiality agreements” or “cooperation agreements” and is offering $30,000 to $45,000 to people in the neighborhood “to keep their mouths shut.”
SCHMIDT MAKES DREAM TEAM: Hailey Schmidt of Downing, daughter of Steven and Jolene Schmidt, is a Brownie in the Girl Scouts Troop #54105 and was lucky enough to be invited to the 2012 Dream Team for selling over 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Her total sales were 1,073 boxes of cookies.
HOLY CROSS TO CELEBRATE 125 YEARS: In celebration of the unity of several area Lutheran churches, Holy Cross Lutheran Church will be hosting a special day of worship and gathering on Sunday, June 10, celebrating the 125th anniverary from roots of the church.
JUNE
June 6: NEW VETERINARIAN: Dr. Mike Mueller is the new face at the St. Croix Valley Veterinary Clinic. He is now the large animal veterinarian. He grew up in Edgar, Wisconsin and attended UW-River Falls and UW-Madison.
ONE LIBRARY COMPUTER RECORVERED: The City Council learned Monday night that one of the two computers that were stolen from the City library about a year and a half ago was recovered. City Police Chief Robert Darwin reported to the council that a search warrant served on a Minnesota home uncovered one of the missing computers.
RETZ SCORES MEDAL AT STATE: Miranda Retz of Boyceville, competing in her fourth and final state meet, scored the schools only medal as she vaulted to a third place finish in the Division 3 girls’ pole vault competition last Saturday.
ONE ABDUCTEE HAS LOCAL TIES: According to a Fox News report, two American tourists abducted by Bedouins in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula were released unharmed after being held for 24 hours. The release came following negotiations between local tribesmen and the kidnappers, a security official told Fox News. One of the two men, Brandon Kurtz, 30, is the grandson of Wallace and Irma Lindholm of Glenwood City.
June 13: GLENWOOD HOLDS FIRST INFORMATIONAL SAND MEETING: The Glenwood Town Board has held the first in what is expected to be a series of both informational meetings and formal meetings about the proposed sand mine south of Glenwood City.
GOERS PLEADS NOT GUILTY: A 30-year-old Minneapolis man, Jonlee Goers, who accused of taking a hostage in the Town of Sherman and stealing his car at knifepoint on April 27 has pleaded not guilty in Dunn County Circuit Court. Goers is scheduled for another court appearance on July 24.
WHEELER CASE RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER: A trial scheduled June 21 and 22 for a 26-year-old man accused of the sexual assault of a mentally ill victim in Wheeler has been postponed until October. Daniel Z. Sims 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.
CELEBRATING 125 YEARS: Holy Cross Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, celebrated the 125th anniversary of its Lutheran roots in Glenwood City Sunday, June 10.
TWO-FACED CALF DISCOVERED OUTSIDE OF WILSON: Last week at the Blegen farm outside of Wilson, one of Dennis Blegen’s beef cows gave birth to a deceased calf with two faces. Along with the two faces, the calf had four eyes, two on the inside of the head and two on the outside. It had two ears, two noses, and two mouths.
NEW STEPS FOR LIBRARY: New steel steps were recently installed outside the Boyceville Public Library. There is some finish work yet to be completed.
June 20: TOWN OF MENOMONIE APPROVES RAIL SPUR: A proposed rail spur in the Town of Menomonie near Knapp advanced another step when the Menomonie Town Board approved the rezone to industrial June 14.
COUPLE ACCUSED OF SELLING LAND TWICE: A Wheeler couple, Douglas A. and Lisa A. Snyder who accused of selling the same five acres of land to two different buyers, has made an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court June 12.
CYLON APPROVES SUBSTATION PLANS: Wednesday night , June 13, the Town of Cylon Board unanimously approved its Planning Commission’s recommendation to move forward with plans to construct a $5 million electric substation. The substation will be responsible for distributing the energy generated from the proposed Highland Wind Farm in neighboring Town of Forest.
WINK SIGNS ON WITH ST. PAUL SAINTS: Wednesday, evening, June 13 was the day that T.J. Wink, Glenwood City graduate, made his debut as a St. Paul Saints pitcher. By pure chance, a few members of the Glenwood City community were in attendance at the game and they were able to see Wink play and be his surprise fan club.
June 27: BRIDGE TO BE CLOSED: The bridge on county Highway G near Jake’s Supper Club will close after July 4 for construction.
OBERMUELLER FOR CONGRESS: Mike Obermueller is a Glenwood City graduate from the class of 1991. He is a former Minnesota state representative and is now running for a seat on the United States Congress.
JUDGMENT AGAINST RASSBACH: Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced on June 19 that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) has obtained a civil judgment in the amount of $109,396.55 against John Rassbach of Glenwood City, WI, resulting from fraudulent billing of customers of his fuel products business (Rassbach Oil Company).
CLARA WICKENHAUSER TURNS 101 YEARS OLD: Clara Wickenhauser has spent just over a century on this earth, an experience that few can say they have lived. She was born on June 24, 1911 and was raised between Glenwood City and Emerald on a small rural dairy farm.