2017: A Year in Review: A look back the top news stories in April, May and June
COLFAX — The Colfax Messenger celebrated its 120th birthday in 2017.
And, as the newspaper did 120 years ago, the Messenger continues to bring news to its subscribers.
Here is a look back at the top news stories in 2017 from April, May and June.
April 5, 2017
• About 150 people attended a public hearing at the Rock Creek Town Hall on the proposed modification to the Cranberry Creek Dairy nutrient management plan to add 57 fields and 1,414 acres. Many of the people attending the hearing wore “no permit” tee-shirts.
• The issue with Iverson Road in Colfax has been unsettled for three or four years, and the Colfax Village Board has now agreed to resurface the street but not to address stormwater runoff problems.
• Jennifer E. Huffman, 18, who was a student at Colfax High School at the time of the incident, has been charged with substantial battery, battery and disorderly conduct.
• Lonnie Eppers, 43, formerly of Elk Mound but now a Wheeler resident, has pleaded guilty in Dunn County Circuit Court to one felony count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver.
April 12, 2017
• Gary Stene was elected as the village president in the April 4 spring election to replace incumbent Scott Gunnufson, who decided not to run for re-election.
• In the Village of Elk Mound, Steven A. Abraham was elected as village president with 71 votes. He faced incumbent village president Tom Gilbert, who received 66 votes.
• During the 2016 audit report, the Elk Mound Village Board learned that the village has about 10.5 months of operating costs in the general fund.
• The next step in solving the problem of slow Internet connections in Dunn County is figuring out exactly where poor Internet service persists through a “gap analysis” survey.
April 19, 2017
• Young and old alike enjoyed the petting zoo at the 22ers 4-H Club annual Easter egg hunt April 15 in The Square at the Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center.
• Scott Gunnufson, village president, bid farewell to the Colfax Village Board during his last meeting April 10. Following two terms as village president and a partial term as a trustee, Gunnufson decided not to run for re-election.
• What started as a polite discussion regarding what the Elk Mound Board heard from the auditor’s report April 5 descended to nearly an hour of disagreement and barbed comments at the April 11 meeting.
• The Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center has hired Melissa Mann as the new director of nursing.
• U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin visited Five Star Dairy near Elk Mound April 13 and wants “fair rules and a level playing field” for Wisconsin Dairy farmers.
April 26, 2017
• The Easter Bunny, flown by Ace Helicopters, dropped 4,000 plastic Easter eggs at Kyle’s Market April 22. The Easter egg drop had originally been planned for April 15 but had to be postponed because of rainy weather. About 400 children attended the event. Easter was April 16.
• The Dunn County sheriff reported that drug cases have doubled since 2014 and have quadrupled since 2012.
• Elk Mound Police Chief Travis Hakes and part-time patrol officers Cory Dechow and Kory Evans resigned ahead of the April 19 regular village board meeting.
• The Colfax Board of Education accepted $3.7 million in bids related to the $7.2 million referendum at the April 18 meeting. Many of the bids were related to concrete, masonry, steel, roofing and plumbing.
• When Cedar Country Cooperative (Elk Mound), Lakeland Cooperative (Ridgeland) and United Ag Cooperative (Almena) merge, the new cooperative’s service area will stretch from Superior to south of Menomonie.
May 3, 2017
• Becca Lee and Spencer Herrick were crowned queen and king at the Colfax High School 2017 Junior Prom April 29 in the Martin Anderson Gymnasium.
• The Elk Mound Village Board accepted the resignation of Police Chief Travis Hakes at a special meeting April 27.
• Sandy, a believed-to-be four-year-old mustang who originally came from New Mexico and had never been handled until recently, learned more about obstacle courses at the Horse-and-Hound-A-Thon and Adoption Day sponsored by Ponty tales Refuge & Rehab at the Colfax Fairgrounds April 22. Sandy is being trained by Bryanna Hoeper of Albertville.
May 10, 2017
• Representatives for the frac sand mining industry say companies are hiring again and are ramping up production.
• Four people from Colfax are working on the addition to Colfax Elementary that was part of the $7.2 million referendum approved by voters last November. The crew members from M&J Masonry from Colfax include Jason Seehaver, Jeremy Seehaver, Jeremy Schindler, Josh Seehaver and Tim Bradford.
• Representatives for the Town of Colfax Plan Commission have asked the Howard Town Board to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to extend Howard’s mining ordinance to cover the Town of Colfax.
• Jami A. Golden, 37, Colfax, who was accused in the hit-and-run accident last December involving the owner of Mom’s Restaurant and Pub, Linda Salazar, has been sentenced to five months in jail and five years of probation. Golden said she thought she had hit an animal, but when she arrived at work, realized she might have hit a person and returned to Colfax.
May 17, 2017
• Bo Weber, who lost his mother, Wendy, to ovarian cancer in 2013, is honoring the memory of his mother with his debut music album, “Wendy,” released on Sunday, May 14, Mother’s Day, and plans to donate all of the proceeds from the sales of the compact disk to the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
• The Village of Colfax is officially looking for a new attorney. For many years, the law firm Schofield and Higley out of Menomonie represented the village. The law firm is now known as Schofield, Parent, Mayer and Huff S.C. Ken Schofield has retired, and John Higley died in 2015.
• The state Department of Natural Resources has rejected the revised nutrient management plan submitted by Cranberry Creek Dairy because the plan does not support the proposed expansion to 6,794 animal units.
May 24, 2017
• The Dunn County Board has approved reinstating the moratorium on expanding or starting new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) for an additional 45 days to allow the Livestock Operations Study Group more time to finish working on a report.
• Following a hit-and-run accident last December that left her critically injured, Linda Salazar is now back at work at Mom’s Restaurant and Pub.
• Colfax High School and Elk Mound High School each held their graduation ceremonies May 19.
May 31, 2017
• The Elk Mound Village Board learned it was not an appropriate course of action to withhold payment to former Police Chief Travis Hakes until passwords and other items had been received. The village board accepted Hakes’s resignation in April.
• Dunn County’s broadband “gap analysis” survey is almost ready to go live.
• The design for a spreading garden for cremains at Colfax Evergreen Cemetery have been completed. Lisa Neuburg, family and consumer science teacher at Colfax High School, and Mark Mosey, CHS biology teacher, presented a design completed by CHS senior Bryanna Buchanan to the Colfax Village Board’s parks committee May 17.
June 7, 2017
• Mike Hanke of Chippewa Falls was the featured speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery May 29 and reminded the audience that some veterans survive the war but not the peace.
• Colfax Elementary students have raised $4,000 to restock the school’s aquarium after all but five fish died earlier this year.
• The Colfax girls’ track and field team are the WIAA D3 regional champions.
• The Elk Mound boys’ and girls’ track teams are the Dunn-St. Croix Conference champions for the second straight year.
• The Elk Mound boys’ baseball team are the 2017 Dunn-St. Croix Conference and regional champions.
• The Elk Mound girls’ softball team are the Dunn-St. Croix Conference champions for the third straight year.
June 14, 2017
• The Elk Mound Village Board has approved Mike Tietz as the interim police chief.
• A rail spur on the west side of Colfax to serve Woods Run, Anderson Bridges, Timber Technologies and to create a spur for a “future company” would cost $3 million, the Colfax Plan Commission learned June 5.
• The Town of Howard’s attorney is recommending not entering into an intergovernmental sand mining agreement between the Town of Howard and the Town of Colfax.
• What will be the fate of the odd-shaped piece of property south of the Colfax Railroad Museum known as Soo Park? Is there enough room to build a duplex? Should the railroad museum develop the property as a miniature train ride? The Colfax Plan Commission discussed the possibilities June 5.
• The Howard Town Board has denied a request from EOG Resources to amend the sand mining agreement to allow the company to mine sand year around, seven days a week, 24 hours per day. The current agreement allows the company to haul sand between October 15 and April 30.
June 21, 2017
• The 98th Colfax Free Fair starts Thursday, June 22.
• Although village residents were under a “boil water” order from Saturday morning, June 10, until 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, village employees responded to the problem right away Saturday morning, the Colfax Village Board learned June 12. A water system computer error caused a loss of pressure at the water tower.
• The Colfax Village Board has hired the law firm of Weld Riley S.C. as the village’s attorney.
• The Village of Colfax’s wastewater treatment system has received a grade of “A” for 2016 on the Compliance Maintenance Annual Report, including staying under the limit for phosphorus.
June 28, 2017
• Dunn County Treasurer Megan Mittlestadt has submitted her resignation, which will be effective July 14.
• Dunn County’s broadband gap analysis surveys are now live. Residents in Dunn County are encouraged to fill out to the survey to help make a more accurate map concerning access to broadband Internet service in the county.
• After being in the wrestling cooperative with Bloomer for eight years, the Colfax school district has one more year left on the cooperative agreement, the Colfax Board of Education learned at the June 19 meeting.
• The county’s nursing home, The Neighbors of Dunn County, has been evaluated at being worth $10.3 million, the Dunn County Board learned at the June 21 meeting. The construction cost for The Neighbors five years ago was about $23 million.
