Tribune Press Reporter: A review of the top news headlines for 2015, 4th Quarter
Tribune Press Reporter: A review of the top news headlines for 2015, 4th Quarter
OCTOBER
October 7: LOCAL RESIDENTS SEE POPE FRANCIS: Diane and Bob Swanepoel recently traveled to Washington D.C. to hear Pope Francis speak to the Joint Session of Congress and were able to see him at the Capitol.
10TH ST. CROIX TRAFFIC FATALITY: A 73 year-old New Richmond man, Eugene Sempf, became St. Croix County’s 10th traffic death of 2015. The two vehicle crash on County Highway D and 130th Avenue, about two and half miles south of Emerald occured on Wednesday, September 30th at 10:22 a.m.
BOYCEVILLE NATIVE WINS AWARD: Boyceville native and 1991 graduate Amy (Bird) Reed was named the Wisconsin Special Services Teacher of the Year during a ceremony at Kimberly High School on Thursday, September 3, 2015, in Kimberly, Wis. Reed is the daughter of Bob and Lynda Bird of Boyceville. Reed has taught in the Kimberly School District for the past 13 years.
October 14: VILLAGE BOARD MEETING CUT SHORT: The Boyceville Village Board Meeting on Monday evening was cut short by the sudden illness of one of its members, Jo Palmer. Jo was found slumped in her car and the ambulance was summoned. The board addressed the floodplain ordinance changes and moved to table all other village businesss until October 19.
DOWNING RESIDENT SENTENCED: Javan E. Kastberg, a 25-year-old Downing resident, has been sentenced to five years of probation and one year in jail on one felony count of child enticement.
EQUALIZED VALUE UP, MILL RATE DOWN IN BOYCE-VILLE: Equalized value in the Boyceville school district has increased by $14 million this year (5.5 percent), and the projected mill rate is expected to decrease by 9.3 percent.
WESTCAP TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS: WestCAP will be celebrating 50 years of service to West Central Wisconsin this Thursday, October 15 at the UW-Stout Memorial Student Center in Menomonie.
TCE AMONG SPOTLIGHT SCHOOLS: Tiffany Creek Elementary School of the Boyceville Community School District was among ten schools across the state who have received $25,000 grants to showcase successful practices that improve student achievement.
October 21: CITY MOVES AHEAD WITH PLANS FOR WELL NUMBER TWO: The Glenwood City city council approved the hiring of Municipal Well and Pump Company out of Waupun, Wisconsin, to pull and inspect well number two.
WHEELER MUST REDUCE PHOSPHORUS: According to the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation plan for the Red Cedar River Watershed, the Village of Wheeler must cut the phosphorus discharge from the wastewater treatment facility in half.
HOPE TO START BOYCE-VILLE BASEBALL ASSOCIATION: A group of parents is planning to start a baseball association in Boyceville to coordinate the Little League program. Harry Joles Jr. spoke about the proposal for a baseball association at the Boyceville Village Board’s meeting on Monday.
DESIGN FOR BOYCEVILLE FIRE STATION EXPECTED AFTER JAN. 1: The design for Boyceville’s new fire station is expected to be complete after the first of the year.
October 28: GLENWOOD SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES TAX LEVY: The Glenwood City School Board approved unanimously on Monday night a Fund Tax Levy in the amount of $2,171,718 that will support the proposed budget, which includes General Operations, Debt Services and Community Education.
LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER WINS CONTEST: Sheri Erickson of Wilson is the winner of two awards in the recently concluded Rustic Roads Photo Contest. Erickson won the Best Wildlife or Wildflower Photo category with a photo of coneflowers taken on Rustic Road 4 south of Glenwood City. She was also a runner-up winner in the Best Summer Scenic View category with a photo showing a farmstead with Glenwood City in the background, also taken on Rustic Road 4.
BOYCEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT LEVY LESS THAN ESTIMATED: With more state aid than estimated and an increase in equalized valuation within the school district to $270,290,653, has allowed the mill rate to decrease. The mill rate is about 14.5 percent lower than last year. The board approved a total budget of $11,823,151 and set the tax levy at 10.82662 mills.
NOVEMBER
November 4: CITY LAGOON IMPROVEMENTS TO COST 1 MILLION DOLLARS: The Glenwood City city council and members of the Downing Village Board met in a public meeting Tuesday evening, October 27 to discuss future upgrades to the City’s Wastewater Treatment Facility to replace aging equipment and to meet requirements of the State Department of Natural Resources. Downing’s use is about 17 percent of the total volume pumped into the facility.
FIRE DESTROYS SHED IN EMERALD TOWNSHIP: The Glenwood City Fire Department was called out shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday morning, October 31 to the Kahler Family Trust property. A 40 x 70 foot pole shed on the property was on fire and when the fire department arrived the building was completely engulfed with fire and collapsing.
CRANETOWN CAFE OPENS IN GLENHAVEN: Part of the new nursing home in Glenwood City will be the Cranetown Café. A small café located in the Glenhaven Facility, the café’s grand opening will be held on Friday, November 6, in conjunction with the Glenhaven Auxiliary Bake Sale and Coffee Break function.
BENEFIT PLANNED: A benefit is planned for this Saturday to help out a local family, the Cory and Amanda Schone family. Amanda was involved in an ATV accident on September 25.
November 11: BOYCEVILLE TO GET VOTE: Because Boyceville contributed money to the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission’s Regional Business Fund, the village will have a vote on a representative to the fund’s board.
CITY MAY ABANDON MUNICIPAL COURT: At a special meeting on Monday, November 9 it was noted that the council must decide whether to continue or disband the municipal court. The mayor noted that the council must make a decision by its regular meeting next Monday, November 16th, and before nomination papers are filed.
CITY GETS SECOND OPINION ON LAGOON: The City Council entertained a representative from a Rice Lake engineering firm to discuss upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment facility. This is to get a second opinion.
November 18: MAPLE STREET BUILDING TO BE RAZED: The two-story apartment building at 107 Maple Street has been at the center of council discussion over the past year and a raze order had been issued. The city had received three bids for the work with the lowest being from BS Construction of Elmwood. Their bid was for $25,950.00.
COUNCIL VOTES TO DISBAND MUNICIPAL COURT: The Municipal Court will end next April 30th after the term of the judge expires. The demise of the court came on a 3-2 vote by the City Council at its regular meeting on Monday evening, November 16.
BOYCEVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT BUYS ITS FIRST PROPANE BUS: The Boyceville Board of Education has approved purchasing the school district’s first propane bus for $93,215 and has accepted a grant for $23,303 to offset the cost of the bus.
November 25: BOYCEVILLE APPROVES BUDGET: Following a public hearing, the Boyceville Village Board has approved an expense and revenue budget for 2016 of $1,108,302.
MUNICIPAL JUDGE RESIGNS: On Tuesday, November 17, Municipal Judge Carla Lingerfelt filed a letter of resignation with the City Clerk. This was before the regular session of the court was to be held that evening, so no court hearings were held.
DUNN COUNTY DAIRY JUDGING TEAM TO GO TO SCOTLAND: Dunn County’s dairy judging team is headed for Scotland to participate in the international dairy judging competition in June of 2016. The dairy judging team, which includes Brooke Brantner (Little Elk Creek 4-H), Krista Styer (Willing Workers 4-H), Luke Powers (Little Elk Creek 4-H) and Ben Powers (Little Elk Creek 4-H),
DECEMBER
December 2: BOYCEVILLE TO HOST LARGEST SCIENCE OLYMPIAD INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT IN NATION: The small town of Boyceville, WI (pop. 1,089) will host the largest Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament in the nation on Saturday, December 5, 2015. There will be an estimated 1500 students who will participate in this event.
FORMER GC RESIDENT VISITING FROM FRANCE: Doug Rasmusson and his wife, Sylvie Grosjean-Rasmusson recently visited the Tribune Press Reporter office while they were in the United States to celebrate Thanksgiving with Doug’s family.Doug Rasmusson graduated from Glenwood City High School in 1969 and is the son of Gale Rasmusson, who operated a bakery in Glenwood City for nearly 20 years.
MITTELSTADT SENTENCED: A Dunn County judge has sentenced 45-year-old Beth M. Mittelstadt to seven years in prison and three years of probation for threatening police officers with a machete in a downtown Colfax apartment.
December 9: FORMER DC ATTORNEY SENTENCED: William R. Lamb, a 55-year-old former Dunn County attorney has been sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation on two felony counts of theft and forgery.
BOYCEVILLE SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAMS DEFEAT STATE CHAMPIONS: The Boyceville High School Science Olympiad defeated three-time defending Indiana State Champion Munster HS and 22-time defending Iowa State Champion Ames HS for the first time ever on their way to finishing in third place overall out of 76 teams this past Saturday at the 9th Annual Boyceville Science Olympiad Invite. The Boyceville Middle School Science Olympiad Varsity team finished in third place overall (but was the second place school) at the 38-team Boyceville Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament also this past Saturday, defeating defending Minnesota state champion Chippewa Middle School from North Oaks, MN and defending Iowa state champion Ames MS.
RECEIVE $1,000 FOR HINMAN PARK IMPROVEMENTS: On Saturday, the County American Legion donated a $1,000 check toward the efforts to improve Hinman Park in Glenwood City. The money came from funds raised by the American Legion from their annual Youth Golf Tourney held in Hammond.
December 16: BOYCEVILLE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS SOLICITING BIDS: The Five-Year Capital Improvement and Planning Committee of the Boyceville Community Fire District has recommended sending out requests for proposals (RFPs) for the design of a new fire station.
ONE DEAD IN CRASH: A single vehicle accident Sunday morning near Knapp has claimed the life of Joel Lee Ghinter, 44 of Wilson. He died when the 1993 Ford pickup truck he was driving left a Dunn County road and hit several trees along 90th Street in Dunn County.
TIME FOR PASSENGER RAIL: The West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition, along with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and several area businesses, believe it is time once again to offer passenger rail service between the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley.
BOYCEVILLE DISCUSSES BUS ROUTE TO MENOMONIE: The Village board entertained a representative of the Dunn County Transit Commission at its regular monthly meeting, Monday, December 14th. Ken Conklin informed the board that the Commission had received a petition signed by 16 village residents asking to establish bus transportation from Boyceville to Menomonie, for doctor appointments and shopping.
WHEELER APPROVES WAGE INCREASE: The Wheeler Village Board has approved a .73 percent base wage increase for village employees. Members of the village board also approved a 2.27 percent increase for village employees for hourly wage income equality adjustment compensation.
December 23: FOREST AND EMERALD RESIDENTS URGED TO TEST WELL WATER: St. Croix County Public Health is encouraging all residents in the Forest and Emerald area to test their well water for coliform bacteria. There have been some recent unsafe water test results and public health wants to assure residents are drinking safe water.
BOYCEVILLE FIRE DISTRICT SETS TRIP TO GRANTSBURG: Members of the Boyceville Community Fire District have scheduled a visit on December 30 to visit the new fire station in Grantsburg. The Grantsburg fire station was built two years ago, has more square footage than the proposed fire station for Boyceville, and cost $1.62 million to build.
KNAPP MAN BOUND OVER FOR ASSAULT: A 66-year-old Knapp man, Elmer C. Shilts Jr., has been bound over for trial on three felony counts related to the sexual assault of a child alleged to have occurred in Colfax.
NEW RUSTIC ROAD IN ST. CROIX COUNTY: Governor Scott Walker announced the designation of two new Rustic Roads in the state: Rustic Road 116 (R-116) in St. Croix County. R-116, also known 140th Avenue, is a paved road spanning 2.2 miles that begins at County A and ends at 120th Street.
December 30: CITY WILL UPDATE WELL NUMBER TWO: The city council has decided to update one of its two wells and pump. At the end of the discussion about the well and pump, Mayor John Larson said that it looks like we will demolish the building and build a new structure.
ZUREK SENTENCED: A 20-year-old Elk Mound man, Gunnar D. Zurek, who was the driver in a Town of Tainter car crash in September of 2014 that killed his girlfriend and injured another man has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and ten-and-a-half years of supervision.
PUBLIC HEARING HELD ON WASTEWATER FACILITY: The City Council entertained a public hearing in regards to the proposed upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment facility that is shared by the City and the Village of Downing. At the public hearing Monday evening, the council and a few local residents listen to Phil Kurth of Foth Infrastructure and Environment LLCX out of DePere, Wisconsin explain the proposed plan with the use of slides.
