Tribune Press Reporter 2013 Year in Review – 4th Quarter
Tribune Press Reporter 2013 Year in Review – 4th Quarter
OCTOBER
October 2:
PSC APPROVES WIND FARM: The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved the Highland Wind Farm application for the Town of Forest to build up to 44 wind turbines with the substation located in the Town of Cylon. On a vote of 2 to 1, the PSC approved the application September 26 after issuing an order to reopen the application May 14.
HITZ NEW TOWN CHAIR: Russell Hitz is the new chair in the Town of Hay River following the death of Stan Andrews on August 2.
NEW PARKING SIGNS: New parking signs were installed on Monday along the south side of Maple Street in Glenwood City, after the city received a complaint from a Woodville citizen who was ticket for parking on the street during Rustic Lore weekend, for the lack of signage.
October 9: FIRE AT FRIEBURG FARM EQUIPMENT: Smoke poured from the Frieburg Farm Equipment building Tuesday morning October 8. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
LOCALS HELP WISH COME TRUE: Brian and Cari Cassellius were paired to Braden Massey and his mother Kelley of Dyersburg, Tennessee family for Branden’s bear hunting experience, which took place at the Cassellius’ cabin in Barnes. The Child’s Wish charity grants bear hunts to critically ill and/or disabled children 10-17 years of age.
UNRUH RECEIVES AWARD: Troopers Trent P. Betley of Hudson and Robert W. Unruh of Glenwood City were awarded Meritorious Service Awards. They were among 21 members of the Wisconsin State Patrol for saving lives and other exemplary service who were honored with special awards presented by Governor Scott Walker on Wednesday, October 2, at the State Capitol in Madison.
October 16:
ANDY PAFKO DIES: Baseball legend and Boyceville’s small town hero, Andy Pafko, passed away last week at the age of 92 while in the comfort of his room at a nursing home in Stevensville, Michigan.
RECALL PETITION DELIVERED: A recall petition against Glenwood City Mayor John Larson and Council members Nancy Hover and David Graese was delivered to City Clerk/Treasurer Sharon Rosenow on October 9th.
FOREST PLAN COMMISSION APPROVES ZONING ORDINANCE: Following a public hearing October 9, the Forest Plan Commission recommended that the Forest Town Board approve the proposed zoning ordinance.
CITY TO SELL OLD CITY HALL: The Glenwood City Common Council voted 5 to 1 to put the old city hall up for sale at their meeting October 14.
October 23:
FOREST TOWN BOARD APPROVES ZONING ORDINANCE: A zoning ordinance for Forest township as recommended by the town’s plan commission has been approved and forwarded it to St. Croix County for review, with two Forest Town Board supervisors voting to approve the ordinance and one abstaining. The town board also has approved moving forward with the development of a “resident sound monitoring” system. and is planning to make an open records request to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
AWARDED FOR LIFE-SAVING EFFORTS: Amanda Drinkman, the granddaughter of Bill and Elaine Drinkman of Downing, was recognized over the weekend by the Polk County Sheriff’s Department for her courageous act in helping to save the life of Daniel Gaffney when he was drowning.
CITY LIBRARY NOW BAT-PROOFED: The Glenwood City Council heard at their October 14th meeting heard from Nancy Hover that “American Pest Solutions had been contracted to handle the library’s bat problems and they completed their work the week of September 23rd.”
October 30:
ON TO STATE: After the Sectional meet in Boyceville last Saturday, October 26, the Glenwood City and Boyceville cross country teams will each be advancing one participant to the state meet: Glenwood City’s Taylor Drinkman and Boyceville’s Tanner Johnson-Hetchler.
TRAIN COLLIDES WITH TRUCK: Glenwood City Emergency personnel worked to extricate and treat Anthony Ninke of Clear Lake after the manure truck he was driving was struck by a northbound Canadian National locomotive with cars at the 150th Avenue crossing in the Town of Glenwood at approximately 1 pm. Monday, October 28. Ninke works for Lofty Acres Dairy in Glenwood City.
DONATION TO BOYCE-VILLE FFA: Soybeans were loaded onto a pick-up truck October 10 when Richard and Rayann Rother donated more than 3000 pounds to the Boyceville FFA. The donation netted the local chapter over $600 that will be used for various chapter activities.
NOVEMBER
November 6:
BOYCEVILLE AMBULANCE RECEIVES GRANT: The AgStar Fund for Rural America recently awarded a $2,500 grant to Boyceville Community Ambulance District through its annual Emergency Response Equipment (EMS) Grant Program.
LAPEAN APPEAL DENIED: An appeal filed by the former owner of LaPean Implement on a conviction for defrauding a New Auburn bank out of more than $100,000 has been denied by the District III Court of Appeals.
TWO LOCALS COMPETE AT STATE CROSS COUNTRY: Taylor Drinkman of Glenwood City and Tanner Johnson-Hetchler of Boyceville represented their cross country teams at the State championships in Wisconsin Rapids at the Ridges Golf Course Saturday morning (Nov. 2).
November 13:
RECALL ELECTION SET: The recall petition against the mayor and two council persons has been certified and the special election set for December 17.
HURT IN CONSTRUCTION FALL: 19-year-old Logan Goodell of Wheeler, a 2012 graduate of Boyceville High School, was working on the Dresbach Bridge near La Crosse and fell roughly 40 feet into the Pier 2 coffer dam on the morning of Wednesday, November 6. He suffered a brain hemorrhage, compound fracture on his right leg, a fractured arm and other minor injuries as well.
FORMER BV TEACHER NAMED SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YEAR: Dr. Ron Walsh, superintendent of the Elk Mound school district, as the Superintendent of the Year for 2014. Dr. Walsh started his career in education teaching fifth grade at Connorsville Elementary in the Boyceville school district. After teaching at Connorsville for five years, he taught fourth grade at Wheeler for one year and second grade at Boyceville for one year.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STOPS IN BOYCEVILLE: In August a film crew from National Geographic recently flew into the Boyceville Airport and made their way to the home of Rick and Andrea Hanestad to film and interview the couple and their children about a special member of their family; Wiley the Coyote.
HEAD-ON COLLISION: A head-on collision involving two cars traveling on State Road 128 just north of 80th Avenue Monday morning has seriously injured the drivers of both vehicles. Richard J. Clemens of Hammond and Jonathan Nitchals of Glenwood City were transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN.
FODNESS SENTENCED: Former Colfax resident Michael Fodness has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and ten years of extended supervision on charges of child enticement.
November 20:
NEW BV POSTMASTER: Last Friday, November 15 Tammy Hansen was sworn in under oath as the newest postmaster at the Boyceville Post Office.
BACK TO STATE: This is the first time in the history of football at the Glenwood City High School that a team has made a back-to-back appearance at the State Championship game. The Hilltoppers defeated the Pittsville Panthers 48-26 last Friday night to win the semi-final game and return to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
SUTLIFFS OPEN GUN SHOP: Sharon and Tim Sutliff are the new owners of “The Vault”, a gun shop on Main Street in Boyceville. The building formerly the National Bank of Boyceville.
ROB WYSS AGENCY TO REMAIN OPEN: Keeping the doors open at the Rob Wyss Insurance Agency are Rob’s wife Kelly Wyss and Jean Dalton.
PHARMACY OPENS: The Village Pharmacy of Glenwood City officially opened for business inside Ormson’s SuperValu last Friday, November 15.
November 27:
RECALL ELECTION CANDIDATES FILE: The recall election is all set for Tuesday, December 17 at which time the mayor and two members of the city council will face the recall. Mayor John Larson is being challenged by Ken Peterson in this recall election, with Chris Schone facing incumbent City Council member Dave Graese, and Barbara Standaert is challenging incumbent Nancy Hover. Because only one candidate filed against each of the incumbents, the need for a primary is not necessary and the winners of the December 17th election will take seats on the city council.
FOREST ASKS PSC TO RECONSIDER WIND PROJECT: Following approval of the Highland Wind Farm project in October, attorneys for the Town of Forest have asked the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to reduce the decibel limits and to reconsider the approval.
TOPPERS TAKE SILVER: The defending WIAA Division 7 state football champion’s bid for a second consecutive crown fell short Thursday morning in Madison as the Black Hawk Warriors dethroned the Hilltoppers 44 to 22 in the D7 state championship game.
DECEMBER
December 4:
WOMAN ACCUSED OF STEALING FROM BANK: Amber C. Goodell of Boyceville made an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court November 26. She has been charged with stealing $48,000 from Bremer Bank in Elk Mound.
BOYCEVILLE LIBRARY RECEIVES DONATION: Ginny Julson, Director of the Boyceville Public Library, received a check for $5,000 from Ellen Carlson, which was a donation on behalf of her late husband Alan and his mother Arlien. The Library will receive a grand total of $20,000 from the Carlson family with $5,000 increments donated throughout the next four years.
MENOMONIE MAN DIES IN BOYCEVILLE HUNTING ACCIDENT: Brian Kohnke of Menomonie man was shot in the abdomen during a deer drive between Boyceville and Wheeler on Thanksgiving Day.
December 11:
BAR OWNERS APPROACH COUNCIL: The owners of Aaron and Lisa’s Boondocks, Aaron and Lisa Moede, appeared before the Glenwood City Council at Monday night’s meeting to say that Glenwood City Police Chief Robert Darwin is harassing their bartenders.
GC SCHOOLS RECEIVE DONATION: The Glenwood City Board of Education recently approved an anonymous donation of $20,000, which was matching funds from the online auction that took place earlier this fall.
BOYCEVILLE LUNCH PROGRAM HAS TOO MUCH MONEY: The Boyceville school board learned Monday that the district’s lunch program has too much money and it must be reduced.
December 18:
FOREST RESIDENTS APPROVE ZONING AUTHORITY: On a vote of 130 to 108, residents in the Town of Forest have approved zoning authority for the Forest Town Board at a special town meeting December 16.
LOOKING FOR A BIG TURNOUT: With the polls open for just over two hours, Tuesday morning, 70 people had entered the polling place to vote in the Dec. 16 Glenwood City recall election.
TOWN OF TIFFANY REQUEST TABLED: The Boyceville Community Fire District and the Boyceville Community Ambulance District have both tabled a request from the Town of Tiffany to take the remainder of the township into the Boyceville service area.
GAS UNDER $3: It has been quite some time since the price of a gallon of gasoline was less than $3. The price dipped under that mark ($2.99) this week on Monday afternoon, December 16.
December 25:
RECALL FAILS, BUT VOTE WAS CLOSE: The city council will stay the same following last Tuesday’s Recall Election that failed to change the makeup of the city council. The six council members and the mayor will retain their seats. For Mayor, the vote difference was 43 votes as Mayor John Larson defeated challenger Ken Peterson. However, the difference between councilperson David Graese from his challenger Chris Schone was two votes, and just three votes seperated incumbent Nancy Hover and challenger Barb Standaert.
HEIMER’S COMMENTS: The Tribune Press Reporter fielded a couple of telephone calls from local citizens asking this newspaper to print comments made by Glenwood City School Board member Charlotte Obermueller Heimer on her social media account following the City’s Recall Election of December 17th.
SEMPF SELECTED FOR ORANGE BOWL GAME HALFTIME SHOW: Erica Sempf, a freshman and Boyceville Band member, was selected to be a member of the 2014 All Star Invitational Marching Band. The band will perform during the pregame and halftime festivities of the Orange Bowl game on January 3, 2014.
