St. Croix EDC Names Top Businesses for 2009

Baldwin Telecom named Small Business of the Year

Key personnel at Baldwin Telecom Inc. include, seated from left, Larry Knegendorf, General Manager, and Matt Sparks, Operations Manager; and standing Ruth Brenne, Office Manager, Steve Gossel, Accounting, and Duane Russett, Plant Manager.

Patti Robertson, president of St. Croix Economic Development Corporation, announced the EDC’s selection of the following companies as recipients of the 2009 business of the year awards in St. Croix County:
NCCM Company (River Falls), 2009 Emerging Business of the Year (based in St. Croix County and in business for five or fewer years); Baldwin Telecom, Inc. (Baldwin), 2009 Small Business of the Year (29 or fewer employees); and Scientific Molding Corporation Ltd. (Somerset), 2009 Business of the Year (30 or more employees).
“The 2009 winners share many common traits,” said Patti Robertson. “They are pioneers and innovators in their respective fields. They are high-tech businesses that adapt to changing markets and conditions. They are bright stars in St. Croix County and Wisconsin.”
The companies will be honored at an awards banquet on Thursday, February 25 at the University Center, on campus at UW-River Falls (River Falls, Wisconsin).
Baldwin Telecom, Inc. (BTI) was founded in 1900 as a locally-owned and operated telephone company. It initially provided phone service to customers in the Baldwin and Woodville areas of St. Croix County. In 1982, BTI’s board of directors approved the addition of cable television services to Baldwin and Woodville. The inclusion of high speed internet and cable television extended BTI’s services to Hammond, Knapp, Roberts and the Town of Hudson. In 2002, Baldwin Telecom was recognized as the first independent telephone company in Wisconsin to deploy fiber-to-the-home technology. Today, BTI is St. Croix County’s largest local provider of phone, internet, and cable services. BTI has grown to be more than a telephone company. It is a broadband company that provides all the latest technologies to businesses and homes. Larry Knegendorf is BTI’s general manager and has led the company through its expanded service offerings. Knegendorf served multiple terms as the village president of Woodville and is active in the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association (WSTA).

Strange glow north of Baldwin

In nature there are numerous examples of symbiotic relationships. But tilapia and lettuce are usually not considered in such an association.
But a pair of Baldwin entrepreneurs is working to change that.
Partners John Vrieze and Steve Meyer are co-owners of a new greenhouse north of Baldwin across from Baldwin Dairy on CTH E called Future Farm Food & Fuel, LLC. They plan to raise lettuce in an aquaponics system in an arrangement in which fish effluent will be used as fertilizer for the lettuce
Terms used in the operation include: aquaculture which means fish farming; hydroponics which is growing plants without soil; and combined to be aquaponics which is both.
The fish produce waste products from eating which is broken down to nitrate and used by the lettuce. The lettuce breaks down the effluent in the water and it can then be recycled back to the fish.
Eventually, it is hoped that the methane produced from manure from Baldwin Dairy, can be used as an energy source for the operation.
As you might expect, there are lots of variables in the equation, including temperature both of the air and the water. Meyer said the tilapia prefer a water temperature of about 80° while lettuce prefers 70°, and a temperature of 72° seems to be acceptable for both. Humidity and light are also controlled. Controlling the environment involves an extensive and complicated system.
The lettuce will be grown in stryofoam blocks that float in the shallow ponds of water in the greenhouses. There has been experimenting and learning during the process of setting up the system. “We found that plants will continue to grow if their roots maintain their temperature,” said Meyer. “So we can let the air temperature drop and the plants will still be okay.”
The tilipia have been shipped in at a very small size, about one-half to eight-tenths of a gram in weight and less than an inch in length. After about six months in the system they will reach a size of one to one and one-half pounds and will be harvested.
Current plans call for also growing koi, which can be sold as ornamental fish.
The best plants for aquaponics are leafy greens, said Meyer, “something that uses a lot of nitrogen.” Lettuce, basil and any leafy herb would fit the bill but lettuce is readily salable. Five varieties of lettuce have been tested and the best varieties for growth have been identified. After planting seeds in a spun volcanic rock product that holds water well, they will be transferred to the pond after about 10 days. The heads of lettuce will be ready for market after about 30 days.
Lettuce production will reach 500,000 heads annually. Fish production will reach 25,000 pounds annually.
“Our real goal is community building,” said Meyer. “So people will know where their food comes from and what’s in it.”
The business is managed by two people. Phil Hudson is Manager of Aquaculture and Equipment; Pam Vrieze is the Manager of Greenhouse Production.
More information about the new business can be found on the internet at www.afuturefarm.com.

Fuel oil dealer pleads not guilty

A longtime fuel oil distributor from Glenwood City pleaded not guilty Wednesday in St. Croix County Court to 14 criminal counts accusing him of defrauding customers.
John P. Rassbach, 54, pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of theft, six counts of misdemeanor theft and three counts of attempted misdemeanor theft. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for February 10.
Rassbach is accused of defrauding customers of his business, Rassbach Oil Co., which sells fuel products to homeowners and farmers. The charges arose from an investigation by the State Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in conjunction with the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department.
Rassbach reportedly intentionally deceived or attempted to deceive customers to whom he sold fuel products, including LP gas, gasoline, and diesel/fuel oil.
Rassbach faces a maximum penalty of more than 20 years in jail, more than $110,000 in fines and restitution if convicted of the charges.
The state Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.

From the Exchanges
   Interesting items from
      the surrounding areas

AMERY FREE PRESS: In his second meeting as acting mayor, Mike Karuschak, broke a tie vote, a rare experience in Amery’s history. The issue revolved around the non-motorized trail from Amery to Dresser. The issue concerned a desire of some to have the county reconsider its plans for a limestone surface and instead install asphalt. It currently has a $1.2 million fund for the project. With council members Kay Erickson and Diane Taxdahl absent, council members Kris Strobusch and Rick Davis led a charge against the idea. Their position was that at some future date, legislation may be passed permitting motorized vehicles on the trail and surfacing it with asphalt was not necessary. Currently the state of Wisconsin, which owns the trail, mandates that it be non-motorized. Council members Dave Myers and Jack Rogers supported the asphalt option. When the council deadlocked on the vote, Mayor Karuschak broke the tie by voting for asphalt.

SUN ARGUS (THE GATEWAY TO PIERCE COUNTY): In a letter to the Elmwood Village Board dated December 28, 2009, Jodi Pulk announced her intent to officially resign her position as village clerk. According to Pulk, her reasons for resigning from a position that she has held for six years include job stress “dealing with the Talford and Meyer situation” along with “always being on duty.” Pulk described her six years as “contentious” and indicated that it was time “to just take a step back and concentrate on my family.” In her resignation letter, she wrote, “I have truly enjoyed my time getting to know the residents and learning the history of the village, but it is time for me to find a less stressful position and get back to enjoying life again.” Rick Talford contacted the Sun-Argus on Monday, January 11. In an interview with him the following day he claimed that he has had no contact with Jodi Pulk since May of 2007. “I am not responsible for her current stress,” he said. Talford claimed the basis for the conflict he had with Pulk prior to May of 2007 stemmed from her refusal to grant his request to view public records. The conflict escalated to the point that Pulk requested and was granted a restraining order against Talford. Talford said that the restraining order was based on false information. He further claimed that Judge Robert Wing dismissed the disorderly conduct charges that the Village of Elmwood had filed against Talford in 2007. This was confirmed in an article in the Pierce County Herald dated August 9, 2007. Talford also claimed that Pulk had been suspended with pay as part of a disciplinary action. This was confirmed by Bob Rapakus, chairman of the Personnel and Finance Committee. “The suspension began on December 18 and was to have ended on January 11 at the monthly board meeting,” he said. In the meantime, Pulk resigned. Rupakus declined to provide details about Pulk’s suspension.

THE COURIER-WEDGE (DURAND): Spenser A. Weber, 19, of Eau Claire, who is one of the four men accused of the November 4 drive-by shooting in Rock Creek, pleaded not guilty Monday, January 4 to two felony charges, according to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. Weber faces charges of party to first-degree reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. He is scheduled to return to court on March 23. Facing the same charges are James M. Hutter, 20, and Johnathan M. Hutter, 18, both of Arkansaw, Wis., and Tony Hurlburt, 19, of Durand. According to police, all were involved in the shooting incident. Allegedly the shooting occurred over the sale of some marijuana or a disagreement about a comment regarding a girlfriend. According to the criminal complaints: Dunn County authorities were called to a home owned by Denise Hazen at N1170 850th St., Mondovi at 8:15 on November 4. Hazen reported there had been a drive-by shooting at her home. Her son Cody and his girlfriend were home at the time of the incident. According to the Leader-Telegram, Johnathan Hutter is believed to have been the shooter, authorities said. However police said all four men knew about the shooting. James Hutter has an arraignment hearing on Monday, January 25. Hurlburt, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges is scheduled to return to court Tuesday, March 23.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): No quarry, they said. In what amounted to a tight-rope decision between individual landowners’ rights against the rights of a collective group of neighbors and environmentalists, Polk County’s Land Information Committee narrowly voted last week to deny a special Exception Permit requested by Kraemer Mining Materials, Inc., that would have allowed the company to open a 61-acre trap rock (basalt) quarry. The company and a group of area landowners had proposed the mine for a 187-acre site east of County Rd. MM near Dresser.

Aaron Kusilek benefit will be January 24 at B-W HS

            Last summer and fall Baldwin-Woodville junior Aaron Kusilek suffered a number of ailments in his neck and left jaw. After a series of doctor visits he was finally diagnosed with a rare disorder mandible myxoma.

            The benign tumor from the disorder left Aaron with part of his left jaw and some of the roots of his teeth destroyed. On November 3 Aaron underwent surgery to benign the process of reconstructing his jaw.

            The process of reconstructing his jaw involves taking bone from elsewhere from his body and grafting it in place. In the first surgery, said Aaron, the bone did not match up well so the next surgery may involve grafting more bone to the jaw or maybe stretching the bone that already has been placed in his jaw.

            A further surgery, hopefully later this year, will be for teeth implants.

            The surgeries have been at Fairview University Medical Center in Minneapolis.

            At school, prior to his illness, Aaron was an involved individual. But because of his illness and surgery that has already taken place and more to come, he had to quit football last fall. This winter he is not able to participate in wrestling. “I can’t wrestle this season,” Aaron said last week. “But I’m hoping to next year.”

            He also hopes to participate in football next season and already he’s back in the weight room in preparation.

            Jake Cimino, Aaron’s wrestling coach, praised him. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I know,” said Coach Cimino. “If he could be out there this season he would be and he’s already in the weight room. He is a team captain and shows up for all the meets and practices if he can. He’s a pretty darn good kid.”

            Other activities in which Aaron participates include Lone Pine 4-H Club, FFA and Junior Class activities.

            Two fundraisers have been set for Aaron to help offset the expenses that have been incurred during his treatments. First, on Sunday, January 24 at B-W High School is a roast beef dinner, silent auction, bake sale. It will be held from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Thrivent Financial will match donated funds.

            A dance and raffle will be held on Friday, February 19 from 7:00 p.m until midnight at the Coachman Supper Club. Music will be by Round 2 and Boondoggle.

Lee Milligan died Sunday

           St. Croix County Agricultural Agent Lee Milligan died Sunday, January 10 as a result of complications following an appendectomy.

            Milligan, 55, started work as St. Croix County’s Agricultural Agent in January of 1988. He had formerly been employed in the same capacity in Pepin County.

            Milligan was a Centuria native and attended UW-River Falls. He graduated in 1976 with a bachelor of science degree in Animal Science and Farm Management.

            After working for a few years, Milligan went back to school and received his masters degree in Agricultural Economics. He then accepted the Pepin County job.

            Milligan was most recently featured in this newspaper in November for receiving a national award for St. Croix County’s Farm-City Day, although characteristically he gave credit to others.

            Milligan is survived by his wife Debbie and two daughters.

            A Celebration of Life for Lee Milligan will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 15 at Faith Community Church in Hudson. Visitation will be Thursday at O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Baldwin from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. and one hour prior to the Friday Celebration of Life.

New administrator for Baldwin

Baldwin has a new village administrator/Clerk-Treasurer.
Patti Glockzin, a native of Grantsburg has been hired to take the place of Cindi Deringer, who has retired. The appointment is subject to approval by the full village board at their January 13 meeting.
Glockzin said she has eight years experience in local government administration, including financial administration. She has worked in communities from 1,200 population to 6,500 population. That experience was in the state of Oregon. So far, she said, the only differences she’s noticed between Wisconsin law and Oregon law is in terminology.
Glockzin is a UW-Stout graduate. She has been on the job less than a week, she said, during which she has spent most of her time reading and learning her duties. Included thus far is training for the February primary election.
She said she has recently purchase a fixer-upper house in Grantsburg. Working on that on weekends she listed among her interests.

From the Exchanges

Interesting items from the

surrounding communities

PIERCE COUNTY HERALD (ELLSWORTH): Three buildings were either destroyed or badly damaged in a fire overnight Sunday and Monday in Durand. The fire reportedly began in the Main Street Café and Grill at 11 p.m. Sunday and spread via the roof to Cottage Hill Floral and Frame and to the Toni’s Interiors building, which completely burned to the ground. The café and floral buildings were badly damaged. The totally destroyed building was being used as a storage area for Toni’s Interiors’ main building which is just across the street. The storage building had been for sale for a couple of years. The old, historic Pepin County Courthouse is just in back of the damaged buildings. The fire was reportedly put out at 5 a.m. Monday. Crews were removing debris all morning and afternoon, as Main Street was blocked off to traffic. All three buildings are reportedly to be total losses.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): A Polk County Sheriff’s deputy who has been suspended multiple times for causing serious damage while behind the wheel of county squad cars may face sanctions from the department yet again. Polk County Sheriff Tim Moore acknowledged Tuesday that Deputy Eric D. Swan has been indefinitely placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. “We’re still just looking into a situation,” Moore said. Citing personnel data privacy laws and policy, Moore declined to comment further on the nature of the ongoing investigation. According to multiple law enforcement sources, Swan is accused of using excessive force when he assisted an Amery police officer in arresting an uncooperative suspect last fall. The incident, captured on Swan’s squad car dashboard camera is currently being investigated for criminal charges as well. Swan is no stranger to formal reprimanded. In October 2008, Swan was given a 90-day unpaid suspension and ordered to re-complete an Emergency Vehicle Operating Course after he was found to be at fault in a near-collision with a motorcyclist near Loveless Lake. Prior to 2008 Swan was reprimanded three other times, according to personnel records, and he was suspended twice for damaging county squad cars while on duty. He collided with other drivers twice and in 2006, and he spun a squad car into a ditch while traveling at a high rate of speed.

AMERY FREE PRESS: John B. McDonald, 53, Cumberland, was found dead on Wednesday, December 30, pinned under the back blade of his tractor. Barron County Sheriff, Chris Fitzgerald said his department received a call from a friend of McDonald’s saying he hadn’t talked to the man in two days. Normally they talk every day. A deputy responded and found a snow packed driveway and no lights on in the house. A garage door was open with a Ford truck parked inside. He also saw a tractor down a small hill where it had run over some saplings and a body pinned under the back blade. The city of Cumberland cleared the driveway and the fire department removed the tractor.

HUDSON STAR OBSERVER: A former inmate in the St. Croix County jail has filed lawsuit against the county and its sheriff, alleging she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a jailer who later killed himself. In the lawsuit filed December 23, Jackie L. Peterson, 32, currently an inmate in the Robert E. Ellsworth Correctional Center, Union Grove, claims that on November 4, 2008, Darren Hyland moved her around the jail assaulting her three times. Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said Monday that his department began an investigation when a female jailer reported there was apparently something going on between Hyland and Peterson. As soon as jail administrators heard the allegations, Peterson was moved from the regular cellblock and questioned, said Hillstead. “We did a series of interviews with her,” the sheriff said. Based on her statements, Hyland was suspended and Polk County authorities were asked to investigate. A few days later, Hyland, 28, who had been a St. Croix jailer for about 18 months shot himself. “We have only one side of it,” said Hillstead because it was too late to interview Hyland. Hillstead said administrators later heard that a relationship had developed between Hyland and Peterson when she was in jail earlier and the two had “dated a couple of times” between her incarceration but had broken up.

First baby of 2010 born at Baldwin Area Medical Center

            Paiton Bowen, daughter of Marcus and Sarah Bowen of Baldwin, is the first baby born at Baldwin Area Medical Center in 2010.

            Paiton was born at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Janaury 1. She weighed in at seven pounds, 3.3 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. Dr. Klingler was the attending physican. Older brother Robert Gausmann, 7, will welcome Paiton home.

            In recognition of being the first baby born at BAMC in 2010, Paiton received a savings bond from the Baldwin Area Medical Center Auxiliary.

 St. Croix County makes probable cause finding in Rassbach prosecution

            Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced that John Rassbach of Glenwood City, was bound over for trial following a preliminary hearing on December 30, 2009. Rassbach is accused of defrauding customers of his business, Rassbach Oil Company, which contracts to sell fuel products to Wisconsin home owners and farmers.

             The charges, which include multiple felony and misdemeanor counts, arose out of an investigation conducted by agents of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Division of Weights and Measures in conjunction with the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department.

             Rassbach, age 53, is charged with five felony counts of theft, six counts of misdemeanor theft and three counts of attempted misdemeanor theft for intentionally deceiving customers or attempting to deceive customers that he contracted to sell fuel products including LP gas, gasoline, and diesel/fuel oil in three general ways: (1) physically “shorting” the customer by pumping a portion of the fuel back into his delivery truck, (2) the use of fraudulent propane delivery invoices, and (3) the issuance of duplicate and triplicate fuel delivery tickets by presenting the same ticket to multiple customers for a single fuel delivery.

             Rassbach faces maximum penalties of: three years and six months in jail and a $10,000 fine or both on four felony counts and six years in prison and a $10,000 fine, or both on one felony count, and nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine or both on six counts of misdemeanor theft, and four and one-half months in jail and a $5,000 fine or both on three counts of attempted misdemeanor theft.  The charges are merely accusations.  Rassbach is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

             The arraignment has been scheduled for January 13, 2010 at 10:45 a.m. Assistant Attorney General David Wambach represents the state in this case. 

 Community Foundation to host comedy fundraiser

            The Baldwin-Woodville Area Community Foundation continues to work for you. At their recent meeting the foundation invited a guest, Jane Hetland Stevenson, the president of the St. Croix Valley Foundation, to inform the group about options that the foundation could use to increase its assistance in the community.

            Other items on the agenda include the spring comedy fundraiser. Trevor Anderson will be the featured MC for the event on March 25. The Orchard has joined forces with the foundation so the event will include a social hour (5:00), dinner (6:00), and program (7:00). Mark your calendars for the event scheduled to help our community.

            Scholarship and Grant applications will be available online (http://www.baldwinareafoundation.com/ ) beginning January 15, 2010. The Baldwin-Woodville Area Community Foundation will accept completed forms postmarked by March 1, 2010. Grant/scholarship award decisions will be made at the Board’s regular March meeting and will be announced later in the month.

            For more information on the BWACF, contact the Baldwin-Woodville Area Community Foundation at PO Box 352, Baldwin, WI 54002.

From the Exchanges

   Interesting items from

      surrounding communities

 HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER: A North Hudson neighborhood was cordoned off for three hours on Tuesday, December 22 while police waited for the surrender of a man who had fled to a residence at 658 Galahad Road N. James Lindsey Hart, 43, was wanted for allegedly threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, police officers and himself. He came out of the house and surrendered to police without incident at just after 2 p.m. North Hudson police had been attempting to locate Hart since 7:30 a.m. that day when the Washington County  Minn., Sheriff’s Department sent out a notice asking any law enforcement officer who came in contact with Hart to arrest him.

NEW RICHMOND NEWS: State reports indicated that the School District of New Richmond will get $9.7 million in federal stimulus money, but according to Morrie Veilleux, district administrator, that figure might be a little misleading. As of Nov. 16, $7.6 billion has been allocated to Wisconsin municipalities, school districts, transpiration projects and government agencies. The breakdown shows the School District of New Richmond getting $7.2 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds, $1.9 million in state fiscal stabilization funds, $589,982 in IDEA Part B Grants and $27,896 in IDEA Part B Preschool Grants. The problem, Veilleux said, is it’s not all free money to be used however the district likes.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): Osceola’s seasonal ice-skating pond has found a new home. Village parks officials have set up the seasonal ice rink this year in Oakley Park off Sixth Ave, east of Chieftain Street on the former bus garage site. The rink was formerly located in the park uphill from the fair building, near Summit Street and Seventh Avenue. Village Administrator Neil Soltis said the Village’s Public Service Committee felt moving the rink would allow it to be larger and more accessible to the public. “There’s more room there and we can have things a little bit bigger,” said Soltis.

CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS (HAMMOND AND ROBERTS): Years of making YouTube videos paid off in a big way for two Central St. Croix area teens – although not as big as they were hoping. Elling Hofland and Adam Calcagno, both juniors at St. Croix Central High School and employees at the Best Buy store in Woodbury, teamed together for – literally – about the 100th time to make their latest YouTube video: “Billy Mays and Kodak.” The two-minute video was part of Kodak’s “Print and Prosper Playback” contest open to Best Buy employees nationwide. The boys’ video was one of ten chosen from all entries to be posted on YouTube for ten days. The video with the most views won $10,000 Hofland and Calcagno’s work came in second, earning them a home entertainment center valued at $3,500. “Now we just have to figure out how to split it up,” 16-year-old Hofland said. “I’m disappointed we didn’t win the $10,000. It’s undeniable that we had the better video.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: The amount is nothing to shrug off but it could have been much worse. At last week’s regular meeting the school board approved a $365,340 budget reduction for the 2010-11 school year. Now district administrators led by Superintendent Tom Westerhous, must hash out details of what gets cut. After a public hearing in March the school board will get its recommendation and vote on it. The reason for the cuts is a projected $1-plus-million shortfall in next year’s school district budget. If you think you’ve heard this before, you have. With the recession in full swing, the state hacked school aid to Wisconsin districts late last summer. River Falls suddenly lost $1.5 million which created a financial sinkhole. As a result, the property tax mill rate was increased by an average of 15% and $800,000 was tapped from the district’s Reserve Fund to cover the shortfall. And before that, in March, the school board ok’d a $381,000 budget reduction to prepare for the 2009-10 year and also tapped more than $300,000 from the Reserve Fund. Declining enrollment and state aid were cited as key factors.

Items and cash collected for Food Pantry at B-WHS

Maddie Otis was happy for the chance to “pie” Mr. Bassak, and shows determination in placing the pie squarely on his face.
A total of $1,350 as well as 698 pounds of food and personal hygiene products were collected at B-W High School during the “Food Fight” competition among homerooms.
The top collecting homeroom was Mr. Hush’s. Students in Mr. Hush’s class collected $463 and 30 pounds of food and other needed items.
Food Pantry representative Claire Stein explained that the cash collected was especially important because it can be used at a food-buying cooperative to purchase nine times the amount collected. He said the funds collected would help stock the Food Pantry for up to two months.
As a reward to students for their efforts on behalf of the Food Pantry, students whose names were drawn had the chance to “pie” a volunteer member of the school’s staff.

Man sentenced for battery to four and one-half years prison

The Eau Claire man involved in the invasion and shooting incident on August 1 at a home in Wilson has been sentenced to four and one-half years of prison after he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and substantial battery.
Justin G. Rott, 26, was sentenced to the prison term on Friday, December 18 by Judge Ed Vlack in St. Croix County Circuit Court. As part of the sentence, Rott was also placed on five years of extended supervision and he was ordered not to use alcohol or illegal drugs, receive appropriate counseling and pay restitution. Rott was given credit for 112 days he has already served in jail.
Other felony counts, including impersonating a police officer, burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon, first-degree reckless injury and two counts of attempted armed robbery by use of force were dismissed.
According to court records and the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, a Wilson couple were asleep on Saturday, August 1 when their home was broken into by a man, later identified as Rott, wearing a t-shirt that said sheriff on it and carrying a rifle. He said he was a police officer and asked for money and drugs. When the couple was skeptical, a scuffle ensued and both the man and woman were shot but have since recovered. Their child was not hurt. Rott received a gash to his head.
According to court records, the homeowner told police he had been selling drugs from his garage and a relative of Rott’s said he bought marijuana from him the day before the shooting. Rott was arrested two days later by Menomonie police. Rott had a head wound and was wearing similar clothing and carrying a flashlight similar to that described by the victims.

DNR biologists have tracked cougar in western Wisconsin


Biologists with the state Department of Natural Resources have tracked what could be the same cougar through parts of St. Croix, Pierce and Dunn counties in western Wisconsin.
It is possible this is the cougar that was photographed and tracked Dec. 11 in Stillwater, Minnesota. That cougar was moving east, and it would have been easy for the big cat to cross the frozen St. Croix River. Tracks found in Stillwater and in St. Croix County are similar in size.
This question may be resolved as DNA samples (hair) were collected in Stillwater and in Pierce County and then again today in Dunn County. These are being sent to the Wildlife Genetics Lab in Missoula, Montana, for analysis. Results are not expected for at least two weeks.
This past Wednesday, a farmer photographed cougar tracks near Spring Valley, about 25 miles east of the St. Croix River near the border of St. Croix and Pierce counties. DNR biologist Harvey Halvorsen picked up the trail on Friday and tracked the cougar for more than a mile to the Eau Galle River.
A motion-activated trail camera took a photograph of the cougar Saturday night, south and west of Downsville in Dunn County. DNR biologist Jess Carstens verified the tracks on Monday, indicating the cougar has continued to move south and east at a rate of five to seven miles per day.
It had been expected that the cat would make a kill and Carstens found a cache Monday, a fawn deer that had been partially eaten and then covered with corn stalks from a farmer’s field. Evidence examined today shows the cat likely returned to the cache overnight.
The DNR has no immediate plans to capture the animal. Landowners in the lower Chippewa River valley are being asked to be observant for signs of the cougar.
If an individual finds what appear to be cougar tracks the best course of action is to take the highest quality photographs possible with something in the frame – a ruler is preferred but cash money will work – as a reference for measurement.
Instructions for reporting rare animal signs – and up to date information on cougar sightings in Wisconsin – can be found online at: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammals/cougar/sightings.htm. This information includes e-mail addresses for transmitting digital photographs.
This is the second time cougar signs have been found in this part of western Wisconsin. In May, confirmed cougar tracks were found on a farm in Pepin County.
A cougar first spotted near Milton, Wisconsin, in January 2008 was the first confirmed instance of a wild cougar in Wisconsin since they were extirpated from the state in the early part of the 20th Century.
Biologists suspect that the handful of sightings since then are the result of male cougars dispersing from breeding populations in the Dakotas. Parts of western and southwestern Wisconsin offer ideal habitat for cougars with heavily wooded terrain, high-ridged valleys and large deer populations. There is no evidence of breeding populations in Wisconsin.
Cougars are listed as protected in Wisconsin. It is illegal to kill a cougar except to prevent injury to a human.
Wildlife officials said there is no reason for concern as cougars typically avoid any contact with humans. While the risk of a cougar attacking a human is exceedingly small, it does exist. Officials from Arizona, which has a large population of cougars, offer this advice if you encounter a mountain lion:
Do not approach the animal. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.
Stay calm and speak loudly and firmly.
Do not run from a mountain lion. Running may stimulate a mountain lion’s instinct to chase. Stand and face the animal. Make eye contact.
Appear larger. Raise your arms. Open your jacket if you are wearing one. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly. The idea is to convince the lion that you are not easy prey and that you may be a danger to it.
Maintain eye contact and slowly back away toward a building, vehicle, or busy area.
Protect small children so they won’t panic and run.
Fight back if attacked. Many potential victims have fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools, their bare hands, and even mountain bikes. Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the animal.

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HUDSON STAR OBSERVER: One thing everyone agreed on when the Hudson Plan Commission opened discussion on revisions to the city’s sign ordinance was that the existing rules aren’t working. Community Development Director Dennis Darnold said that over the years he’s collected countless illegal garage-sale and real-estate signs left standing on street corners. “I’d like to have a dollar for every realtor sign I’ve picked up,” Darnold said. Mayor Dean Knudson at the commission’s Dec. 10 meeting identified three types of signs – directional, vinyl banner and sidewalk sandwich-board – that are frequently in violation of the city current sign ordinance. Knudson also wants new rules on electronic message board signs. He says the city’s existing regulations on message board signs are conflicting and obsolete.

PIERCE COUNTY HERALD: The events of November 15, 2008, are still having a profound effect on Nicholas Thayer to this day. On that day, the 29-year-old Ellsworth native admitted to killing a deer with a gun which was illegal at that time. For that, he was charged with hunting a deer during closed season and failure to attach ear tag to deer carcass. He pleaded guilty to the deer hunting charge and his DNR rights were suspended for three years. Wednesday, Thayer was charged in Pierce County Circuit Court with alleged perjury before a court in relation to the testimony he gave when he was a witness in the jury trial of Daniel Place, his accomplice that day. Place was acquitted of the ear tag charge. In Place’s written statement to Warden Brad Peterson on the night of the incident he said he received a call from Thayer at 8:30 a.m., met Thayer at his house between 9:30 and 10 a.m. and then drove to the area where the deer was shot near Co. Rd. A and 420th St. Place also said that during their time together Thayer told him he shot the deer with a gun, for which Place called him “a dumb ass.” Place also said how Thayer was going to stick an arrow in the buck to cover the bullet hole. During Thayer’s testimony on May 6, the complaint says Thayer denied and said he never had that conversation with Place about the details of the bullet hole or he had shot the deer with a gun instead of a bow. It was stated in the complaint “Place’s statement appears to be a factual statement of events and he would have no motive to lie to the warden when he implicated himself in being party to the crime.”

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): Polk County’s Land Information committee wants one more month to chew on it. After giving Kraemer Mining and Materials more than a month to prepare before formal rebutting more than nine hours of public testimony and comment taken at a hearing in October, the Land Information Committee heard Kraemer’s rebuttal, then voted to table the issue one more time last Wednesday. Kraemer and a group of area landowners are seeking a Special Exception Permit from the county that will allow them to open a 61-acre trap rock quarry in Osceola township. During last Wednesday’s hearing, Kris Anderson, Kraemer’s business development manager, refuted many of the suggestions and accusations made during the public comment period, including that Kraemer had exaggerated its estimates of job creation and tax revenue generation.

AMERY FREE PRESS: The Polk County Health Department said that the first H1N1 related death has occurred here. It was an adult with underlying health conditions. Gretchen Sampson, RN, MPH department director, announced that no information about the patient’s age, sex, race, or residence out of respect for the family and patient confidentiality laws. “For most people, the 2009 H1N1 flu is not severe. However, the risk of hospitalization death is higher in young children (six months or younger, pregnant women, parents, siblings and healthcare workers, emergency medical services, personnel and persons with compromised immune systems).

National Honor Society members inducted at B-W

New National Honor Society members were inducted at a ceremony recently at Baldwin-Woodville High School. The new members are pictured above. In the front row, left to right, are: Shauna Basques, Erin Booth, Marissa Braymen, Abby Gadbois and Ross Jennings. In the second row, from left, are: Brooke McNamara, Adam Newton, Ashley Robole, Jordan Johnson, Katie Wahlquist and Tanya LaFavor. In the third row, from left, are: Dakota Ramberg, Jordan Weyer, Emily Veenstra and Jalena Timmers.

Burglary investigation progress made

According to Baldwin Police Chief Jim Widiker, there has been progress in the past week in the investigation into recent burglaries of businesses on Baldwin’s Main Street.
Chief Widiker said there were two search warrants executed last week in Baldwin in connection with the investigation. In one of the searches illicit drugs were discovered as well as a receipt from a pawn shop that led investigators to a laptop computer stolen from PC Doctor.
Chief Widiker said his department has also received word of a personal computer discovered in a dumpster in River Falls but the PC has not yet been examined.
One person is in jail on a drug charge related to the search, said Chief Widiker. He said investigators believe the two burglaries are related.
The second search warrant executed last week turned up no evidence, Chief Widiker said.

New retail store open on Baldwin’s Main Street

Motorcycle Leathers and More is a new retail store open in Baldwin. Located at 740 Main Street, it is owned by Brad Coplan, currently a Baldwin Police Officer.
Coplan said his tentative plan is to retire from the Baldwin Police Department in March “so this is my retirement project.” He has been a officer for 22 years, including 16 in Baldwin.
Coplan said “I’ve had all kinds of bikes all my life,” so he enjoys motorcycle themed products. “I wanted the chance to get a quality product out there at a decent price,” he added. So far business has been good, he said.
The store carries brand name jewelry, wallets and purses, leather jackets, vests and chaps and some art work. “The big item obviously is leather jackets,” said Coplan, “and they’re not just for motorcycling.” He said more items are arriving and one of his goals is to get a line of kid’s clothing. Most of the products sold at the store are from Hot Leathers, which is a wholesaler in Connecticut.
An open house is being planned for this spring as the riding season gets closer, said Coplan. He hopes to have on hand a tattoo artist, someone to pinstripe motorcycles and a motorcycle wash.
The phone number of Motorcycle Leathers and More is 688-3075.

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   Interesting Items from the
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THE SUN (OSCEOLA): The St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office has determined that a Polk County officer’s use of force in the shooting of a Clam Falls area man was justified. Polk County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Michael Stoffel returned to work December 4 after a shooting review panel unanimously determined that Stoffel acted appropriately when he shot and wounded Jason King, 31, in the chest after midnight on November 15 in the driveway of King’s family home. The St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and a seven-member shooting panel reviewed the information on December 3. Stoffel has been with Polk County since 1993 and was promoted to patrol sergeant in 2001.

PIERCE COUNTY HERALD (ELLSWORTH): A 24-year-old-man was hospitalized early Friday after being shot following a skirmish at the Harbor Bar. Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies were called just after midnight to the Harbor Bar in the Town of Trenton for reports of shots fired. Deputies said the victim was shot in the upper torso. He was transported to Fairview Red Wing Medical Center then airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Red Wing firefighters said the man was in serious condition when he was transported from the scene. A St. Mary’s spokeswoman said there was no information on the victim. The Red Wing Republican Eagle has obtained the name of the victim, but is withholding it at the request of authorities. Lt. Dennis Sorenson of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said the victim is still alive, but said his condition was unknown. “We’ve got a lot of pieces to put together,” he said. According the a press release the victim and a possible suspect identified by Red Wing police as a 25-year-old Red Wing man became involved in “some type of altercation” in the bar. Bar owner Brad Smith said the shooting stemmed from an argument that began near the pool tables.

BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL: Back on track and moving forward. That’s the status of the new Burnett Community Library in Webster following last Wednesday’s Webster Village Board meeting in which the village and Terry Larsen, who is donating his building for the new library, reached an agreement. “The second set of borings showed pretty minimal contamination so the board felt comfortable taking it over,” trustee Tim Maloney reported. The borings, ordered after the first borings conducted as part of an environmental assessment revealed some sort of petroleum spill, were not too bad. “It is now up to the Department of Natural Resources if the site needs to be cleaned up,” Malone continued. “But for the village’s part, we will take over the building from Terry by the end of the year.

Bell ringers raise funds

Ringing bells for the Salvation Army’s red kettle last week on Main Street in Baldwin were Baldwin Area Medical Center employees Barb LaVigne and Terry Rademaker.

Two stores robbed on Main Street

Two stores on Main Street in Baldwin were recent victims of robberies.
PC Doctor was broken into some time during the night time hours on Monday, December 7. The person or persons involved used a brick to break a window on the Main Street entrance, reached inside and unlocked the door.
Merchandise stolen, along with damages, totaled about $1,000.
On Sunday morning of this week, between the hours of 7:00 and 7:30 a.m., a brick was thrown through a Main Street window of Fennern Jewelers. The burgler reached in and stole six to eight pieces of diamond jewelry in a display case.
Baldwin Police suspect the two robberies were carried out by the same person or persons. No suspects have been apprehended. Both cases continue to be under investigation.

Village Board approves five year extension of United Civic Center contract

The Baldwin Village Board at their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, December 9 approved a five year extension of the contract for use of United Civic Center with the Blackhawk Hockey Association.
Included in the extension is the village’s agreement to continue providing the Hockey Association with an annual payment of $20,000 from the tourism fund the village has as a result of a motel/hotel tax.
The current agreement between the village and hockey association doesn’t expire until 2012. However, Jon Zevenbergen, representing the hockey association, said that if there is no extension with the $20,000 payment, the hockey association would have to start making plans to raise revenue. He said “significant planning” would be necessary to find substitute revenue, and some of it would perhaps have to come from raising fees to those who play on teams.
Raising the cost to hockey players could result in fewer numbers of players, Zevenbergen said, so the hockey association tries to keep registration fees “as low as possible.”
Annually, about $250,000 is necessary to run United Civic Center, Zevenbergen said. One of the largest revenue sources is tournaments, he added, and all the tournaments planned for this season are full. “There’s a lot of activity that way,” he said.
Among the recent improvement at United Civic Center are a security system and remodeling of a coaches room and extra space for storage.
“You have to be impressed with the job the Hockey Association has done in the past few years,” Trustee Claire Stein said before the board voted to renew the agreement from 2012 through 2016
In other action at the meeting:
-The Board approved expending $12,070 for a 2005 Trailblazer for the Baldwin Police Department. It will be equipped with siren and lights. The amount was budgeted.
-Caucus was set for Wednesday, January 13 at 6:15 p.m., which is before the regular monthly January meeting.
-The board was told that there are 11 or 12 applicants for the position of Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer. The deadline for applying is Tuesday, December 15. After the deadline is passed a committee will meet to pare down the list of applicants.
-The board accepted the improvements in Baldwin Energy Park conditional upon erosion control and street signs that will be done in the spring when the ground thaws. The acceptance is not final, but does give the village ownership of the improvements which means the village will plow snow on the street.
-The watermain loop under I-94 is progressing said engineer Mike Stoffel. He said the pipe, originally stopped by rock, has been relocated up about two feet. A pay request for the work done was approved and an extension of time to finish the work was approved until December 31 because of the unexpected rock conditions.
-Police Chief Jim Widiker said cab driver Abdi Askar who was involved in an incident in Baldwin on December 7 in which he was critically injured, remains hospitalized at Regions Medical Center and is on life support and has no brain activity.
-Engineer Stoffel said the Thompson building has been cleared of asbestos and the company hired to demolish the building would like to start as soon as the paperwork is completed, perhaps as early as this week.

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Interesting items from
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HUDSON STAR OBSERVER: The North Hudson village board put an agenda item on the fast track last Tuesday (Dec. 1) in order to make a grant application deadline. At issue was an urban wildlife abatement control grant which, if awarded, would give the village $5,000 toward the cost of an archery deer hunting season. The urban deer season is in its final trial year under the guidance of River Valley Deer Management. President George Klein moved the item up from No. 14 on the agenda to No. 4 in order to make the Dec. 1 deadline. “We have permission to fax the application in tonight,” Klein said. Lon Feia, president of the management group, said last week that 22 deer had been bagged since the season opened September 12. Their goal is 30 to 50 deer in during the pilot program that will end when the archery season closes January 31.

THE COURIER-WEDGE (Durand): Recently the Durand Police Department has received several complaints regarding a money scam that has occurred in several churches in Durand area as well as several churches in surrounding counties. A male would contact the churches by phone and advise that a close relative had died a long distance away and he had no money for transportation to the funeral. Arrangements were made by several Churches to provide assistance. The Durand Police Department with assistance of the Pepin County Sheriff’s Department and Pierce County Sheriff’s Department apprehended 37 year old Eric Allan Kisor on November 25, 2009 in the City of Durand. When interviewed Kisor stated that he lives in Rochester, Minn., and has defrauded several churches in various locations, and sometimes used an alias name. If you have been a victim of this type of scam, please contact your local Police or Sheriff’s Department. Kisor is currently in the Pepin County Jail.

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (Glenwood City): Only seven Glenwood City firefighters were on hand to fight the Emerald Dairy fire a little more than a week ago, and that has Carlton DeWitt worried. DeWitt, owner, editor and publisher of the Glenwood City Tribune, appeared before the Glenwood City Council Monday night to discuss the issue and to urge council members to encourage city employees – and their own employees – to volunteer for the fire department and the ambulance service. DeWitt currently is a member of the fire department and in the past served the community as fire chief for 25 years. “City business must be done at this table, not down the street and especially not on the apparatus floor of the fire station. Because some members of the council engaged in a discussion about the ambulance outside of this table were overheard, someone was offended. Because of this we have lost two members off the ambulance service and one off the fire department. If you have problems with city business, it belongs at this table,” DeWitt said, reading from a letter he had written to the city council. Part of DeWitt’s letter stated: “The fire department is in worse shape for personnel. At the structure fire last week, only seven members of the department responded. Thank GOD for the mutual aid agreement. Our neighbors covered our butts.”

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): F&A Dairy Products in Dresser wants to further clean up its act. The 40-year-old commercial dairy, which makes mozzarella and other cheeses, is planning to install a new $500,000 aerobic digester that will decrease the amount of solids and other pollutants leaving its wastewater treatment system. The dairy submitted plans to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for approval last month, but could take up to 90 days to gain approval. If approved, the project is scheduled to be installed and operational by April 2010. Mike Breault, vice president operations at the dairy, said the new digester will produce a “fine bubble” aeration that will “get more air in there and treat things better.” “It should be cleaner and smell better” for residents near the treatment facility west of Highway 35 in Dresser Breault said. Breault said the new system is being installed in response to increased production at the dairy, not because of any permit violations. The dairy is currently processing more than 1 million pounds of milk every day, up from 900,000 a few years ago. The dairy employs about 50 people and currently is producing about 2 million pounds of cheese every month, Breault said.

MONDOVI HERALD-NEWS: The Mondovi School Board discussed changing the early admittance policy currently in place for four-year-old kindergartners at the board meeting held Wednesday, December 2. The discussion stemmed from many requests for early admittance that have come forward. The policy currently states that a child to be placed in four-year-old kindergarten who will not yet be four years old by September 1 needs to be evaluated through testing. If the child does not pass the test, and appeal can be made to the principal and then to the school board. Elementary principal Paul Franzwa said three or four requests have come to his level in the past five years. He said he recommends children entering four-year-old kindergarten should be at least four years old by September 1 and no early admissions should be allowed. He said some of the four-year-old kindergartners turn five soon after starting school and he emphasized that the needs of three-year-olds and five-year-olds are different.

Santa visits Baldwin

Ashley Jones, daughter of Loretta Lindsey, was a bit shy but Santa made her smile during their visit on Sunday, December 6 at the Windmill in Baldwin. The event was sponsored by the Baldwin and Woodville Chamber of Commerce.

Rick Walton killed in farm accident

Well-known local farmer and entrepreneur Richard “Rick” Walton, Jr., age 50, was killed in a farm accident on Saturday evening, December 10.
According to emergency workers who were called to the scene of Walton’s farm in the Town of Rush River, south of Baldwin, about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. Walton had been discovered on the ground next to a grain bin/dryer. It appeared he had slipped and fallen from the bin and the fall could have been from as high as 40 or 50 feet. Walton appeared to have suffered considerable trauma to his head and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Emergency workers said it appeared Walton had fallen a considerable amount of time prior to when he was discovered and emergency personnel were summoned.
Walton is best know as the owner of Rush River Meats, a direct sales meat market. Walton also had a large cash crop operation.
Funeral services for Walton have been set for Thursday, December 10 at 10:00 a.m. at Peace Lutheran Church, south of Baldwin on CTH N.

Charges dropped in car slashing; may be re-filed

The charges of first degree reckless endangerment for causing injuries to the driver of a cab that crashed into Greenfield Elementary on Monday, November 23 have been dismissed against a man who was a passenger in the cab.
After a preliminary hearing in the case on Wednesday, December 2, the reckless endangerment charge was dismissed but Cordaro D. Little, age 22, of Minneapolis, was instead charged with a felony count of possession marijuana. A preliminary hearing on that charge has been scheduled for Thursday, December 17.
The driver of the cab that crashed into the school, Abdi ASkar, 38, also of Minneapolis, has not been interviewed and remains in critical condition in Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He suffered internal injuries and slash and puncture wounds to his neck in the incident. He is still in Regions in critical condition and law enforcement officials have not yet been able to interview him.
According to Sheriff Hillstead, investigators are waiting for crime lab reports, including DNA testing, from the scene. He said although the initial reckless endangerment charge was dropped, as more pieces of the puzzle are put together, the charges “most probably will be re-filed.”
According to authorities, when police first found the cab crashed into Greenfield, neither man was inside it. Investigators believe the driver, Askar, jumped from the moving cab. He was found unconsious about 30 feet away from the cab on a sidewalk and was taken by ambulance to Baldwin Area Medical Center and then transferred to Regions in St. Paul.
The cab was totaled in the crash and first hit a garbage bin and then a parked vehicle before striking the school. Conditions at the site suggest that it crashed at a high rate of speed.
Little was seen running from the scene and was caught by an off-duty Roseville, Minn. police officer who had heard the car crash and was arrested about two blocks away from the crash site. A bloody knife was found along the route he took when he ran from the cab.
Little told investigators that he and the cab driver Askar argued over the fare from Minneapolis to Baldwin. Little said Askar increased the speed of the cab, locked the doors and pulled a knife wrapped in some sort of cloth. Little said he pushed the knife away from himself in self defense and that’s when the knife cut Askar’s neck, after which Askar apparently fell from the cab.
According to the original complaint, Little said that after the crash he ran away from the scene and as he was running he found the knife entwined in his clothing and threw it away.
Sheriff Hillstead said investigators are still trying to get a firm grasp on why the two in the cab were in Baldwin. He said information suggests that Little knew someone in the Baldwin area but “that person has not spoken with us and we’re having some difficulty making contact” and both Sheriff’s Department investigators and Baldwin Police Department officers are continuning to follow up on that aspect of the case.
In addition, Sheriff Hillstead said the cab lost contact with the company’s dispatchers about half an hour prior to the crash into Greenfield and investigators are trying to determine why that happened.

VIPs of Teaching recognized by MSOE

Former Good Shepherd Christian Academy teacher Jennifer Beierman, of Baldwin, now teaching at Red Wing High School, received the VIP Excellence in High School Teaching Award from Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 21. Beierman was nominated by her former student Emily Knowlen, who graduated with high honors from MSOE with bachelor’s degrees in architectural engineering and construction management.
Each academic quarter, graduating students at MSOE are invited to nominate an individual from their own secondary school experience or their working experience -- someone who not only “knew her/his stuff,” but could communicate it, and whose commitment to others included encouragement of further educational and career goals. In more than a small way, these individuals had a positive and significant influence on the life of one or more students.
At a time of much concern over the educational skills and competencies of our nation’s young people, MSOE recognizes those who have had a significant influence on their students’ future educational achievement and career goals. Not only does MSOE shine a spotlight on its graduates, but also recognize and thank those, who in some important way, motivated them, inspired them and helped make it happen for them.

 In nominating Beierman for the award, Knowlen said, “Mrs. Beierman is an inspiration to me. I remember how she would answer any of our questions and do her best to ensure we really understood the subject matter. She instilled and nurtured in me an excitement for science and math and how they describe the world. Mrs. Beierman went beyond teaching me the academics I needed to know to set up a strong base for me to build on in college.”
MSOE is an independent university with 2,600 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor’s degrees and nine master’s degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business, nursing and health-related fields. The university has a national academic reputation; longstanding ties to business and industry; dedicated professors with real-world experience; and extremely high placement rates and starting salaries. MSOE graduates are well-rounded, technologically experienced and highly productive professionals and leaders.

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   Interesting new items from
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HUDSON STAR OBSERVER: A company that was contracted to collect bills owed to St. Croix Emergency Medical Services has sued the city of Hudson, claiming the city breached the contract. Lifeline Systems of Wautoma, which did business for Hudson as LifeQuest, is asking for up to $465,296 in compensatory damages, plus reimbursement for court costs and attorney’s fees. The complaint filed November 20 in St. Croix County Circuit Court alleges that the city didn’t notify LifeQuest soon enough that it intended to terminate its agreement with the company at the end of the three-year contract. According to the complaint, Hudson entered into an agreement with LifeQuest on April 1, 2006 to have the company provide a customized billing, collection and data management system that the city used to collect receivables for ambulance service. The contract required either party to give notice at least 180 days before the end of the term if it didn’t want it to renew for another three-year period, the complaint says. LifeQuest alleges that it wasn’t notified until March 20, 2008 that the city wanted to end the contract on April 8.

SUN-ARGUS (THE GATEWAY TO PIERCE COUNTY): One thousand pounds of produce? This is the amount of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, beets, squash and green beans, added to the plates of our friends, neighbors and families grown in the Plum City Community Garden. Our first year has been a great success. The plan, from our early spring meetings, was to go small and do well. It worked! There has been very little cost for the garden this year with all volunteer labor, most Wednesday evenings all summer, plus other days. The plowing and fertilizer, the tilling, mowing and trimming, the seeds and plants, the fencing and gates, the signage, the flower containers, were all donated and put to use. The Village of Plum City helped with the location and water tank, keeping it filled. People have stepped up to maintain, pick and transport produce and help with taking the material at the end of the season for compost. The produce was distributed through the Plum City Food Pantry, and surplus was delivered to the Food Shelf in Ellsworth. The Community Garden idea is a very old and historic way to grow food for your area. Many local communities are organizing to have a community garden of their own. A surprise benefit of the garden has been sharing garden tricks and tips and conversation.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): A 62-year-old Luck man has been charged with murder in the apparent stabbing death of a former Edina, Minn., man last Saturday evening around 9:45 p.m. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Wayne Rouillard at his Bone Lake township home after a third party reported that there had been a stabbing. According to the sheriff’s office, the apparent victim, Stephen Dahlstrom, 61, of Bogota, Columbia, was found in the garage area of Rouillard’s residence. Dahlstrom suffered “severe blunt force trauma and at least one fatal stab wound,” the sheriff’s office reported. Polk County Sheriff Tim Moore said the department recovered a number of weapons all of which may have played a role in the incident, including a hammer, a large knife that was found still in the deceased’s body, and a splitting maul. “This is one of the more graphic scenes I’ve been on,” Moore said.

RIVER FALL JOURNAL: Hailed as a “significant partnership,” UW-River Falls officials are expected to announce a joint deal with Racine-based Case IH and Value Implement of Menomonie/Osseo this Wednesday morning, December 2. The deal is predicted to greatly benefit students in the university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Services (CAFES). “We are grateful for this partnership which will provide (CAFES) with access to state-of-the-art equipment and will help prepare our students well for careers in agribusiness,” said UW-RF Chancellor Dean Van Galen. “This equipment will be technologically advanced and more efficient and ‘green’ than what our students currently have access to. These hand-on experiences will enhance the education of our students, which will also result in a brighter economic future for our region and state.” CASE IH is a global production of farm equipment – from tractors and combines to harvesters and tillage tools. Value Implement is a farm equipment distributor and CASE IH dealer in western Wisconsin.

DNR purchases 155 acres adjoining Casey Lake State Wildlife area

Left to right are Harvey Halvorsen, Mike Soergel, Brett Olson and Ryan Brathal, all with the Wildlife area at the DNR office in Baldwin, standing near the new signs at the 155 acre addition in public land next to Casey Lake State Wildlife Management Area. The state-owned area is available for public use for hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking and cross-country skiing.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has purchased a 155 acre tract of land adjoining the 210 acre Casey Lake State Wildlife Management Area. The property is at the corner of 200th Street and 130th Avenue north of Baldwin in the Town of Erin Prairie.
The property was purchased from a pair of Minnesota men for a price of $465,000, or $3,000 per acre.
According to the information used to review the proposal to purchase the parcel, the 155 acres “will consolidate state ownership, provide addtional recreational opportunities, and allow habitat restoration and management of the area for wildlife in conjunction with the Western Prairie Habitate Restoration Area project.”
The sellers are Lowell Bliss and William Potts, of Burnsville, Minn.
According to Wildlife Biologist Harvey Halversen of the Baldwin DNR office, “I was really happy that we were able to make the acquisition.” He said the land is an important part of the Western Prairie Habitat Restoration Project [WPHRA] in western Wisconsin that spans an area from River Falls to Osceola and points east, including all or parts of 15 towns in St. Croix and Polk counties.
Within the Western Prairie Habitat Restoration Project area of about 350,000 acres that was started in 1999, the goal is to eventually acquire 20,000 acres of land and restore it to pre-settlement condition. The project is a collaboration of the Department of Natural Resources, local governments and non-profit conservation organizations. The goal of 20,000 acres will protect approximately 10% of the landscape of the original prairie from pre-1850. In addition to prairies, the project will protect pothole lake areas and marshes. Those areas are important for pheasant and waterfowl production. Currently about 5,000 acres are owned by the state, local government and non-profits as part of the project.
The impetus for the WPHRA was “based upon comprehensive research of biodiversity and ecosystem management practices. Restoration of viable grasslands and wetlands to provide habitat for waterfowl, pheasants and grassland birds is the primary objective of the WPHRA project. The intent is to widely scatter suitable habitat throughout the area, rather than concentrating the habitat in one place. Reductions in habitat quality and quantity because of land use changes have contributed to the decline of grassland nesting wildlife populations. In addition, wetland loss or degradation has been an important factor in the decline of many wetland wildlife species. Ten species of birds known to occur in this area are state-listed as endangered or threatened and 19 species are listed as special concern.”
Casey Lake State Wildlife Managment Area contains the headwaters of the Kinnickinnic River and contains an important Great Blue Heron rookery. Acquistion of the Bliss/Potts property connects “Casey Lake to the subject’s uplands, thus increasing the brood and nesting success of the birds. Along the east side of the property is a complex of forested wetlands. Further to the east is Pine Lake. Pine Lake has protected shoreland via easement through the West Wisconsin Land Trust. The lake offers good brood-rearing habitat for waterfowl. The connected complex of wetlands and uplands of Casey Lake, the Bliss/Potts property, the forested wetlands and Pine Lake creates a vital association of nesting areas in this area.”
According to the proposal review material, of the 155 acres of the Bliss/Potts property acquired by the DNR, 110 acres is in grassland and 45 acres is “lowland woodland.” Prior to public ownership, the land had been in the Conservation Reserve Program [CRP], said Halvorsen, with much of it planted in native grasses. It will be burned next spring if the weather cooperates, said Mike Soergel, Wildlife Management, of the Baldwin DNR office. Plans for the lower areas of the property, on the south side, may include a dike to create a pond.
“The property will be open to the public for all nature-based outdoor recreational activities to include hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking and cross-country skiing.”
Halversen said another 240 acre parcel in the vicinity is in the process of being purchased.

Fire destroyed building at Emerald Dairy

A Sunday morning fire at Emerald Dairy about seven miles north of Baldwin on CTH G destroyed a building that housed the manure digester for the large dairy.
John Vrieze, owner of Emerald Dairy, said the cause of the fire appeared to be a fan malfunction in the distiller in the building. No one was injured and no animals were lost as a result of the fire. However, the building appeared to be a total loss.
The manure digester produces natural gas from manure produced on the dairy.
Called to the scene was the Glenwood City Fire Department. United Fire and Rescue Department of Woodville, Baldwin and Hammond were called for mutual aid to protect buildings on the south end of the digester building.
Vrieze said he has insurance for the loss.

Christmas kick-off in Baldwin this weekend
Horse parade is Saturday; Santa visit, lighting is Sunday

As is traditional, the kickoff to the Christmas season in Baldwin will be this coming weekend.
The Baldwin-Woodville Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a visit by Santa Claus and Festival of Lights on Sunday, December 6.
The events will be held at Windmill Park. Santa’s visit will begin at 5:30 p.m., and he will continue chatting with children until 7:00 p.m. A warming tent will be set up and there will be refreshments for children and adults.
The Festival of Lights will also be at Windmill Park. The Windmill and the Christmas Tree at Windmill Park will be lighted at 6:00 p.m.
The 20th Annual Christmas Spirit Horse and Wagon Parade will be held Saturday afternoon. The horses and wagons festooned for Christmas are expected to parade down Main Street at 1:00 p.m. The Christmas Spirit Horse and Wagon Parade is sponsored by local merchants. Contact person is Mike Smith.
A number of additional Christmas sales and events are also planned in the area.

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   Interesting items from the
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PIERCE COUNTY HERALD (ELLSWORTH): A Spring Valley man was charged earlier this month in Pierce County Circuit Court with intentionally abandoning animals. William Gokey, 53, is looking at misdemeanor charges carrying a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or nine months in jail if found guilty. According to court records: Pierce county sheriff’s deputies were called to an animal complaint on September 26 near N48870 410th St. in Spring Valley. The homeowners were alleging they saw a truck stop, drop its tailgate and dump a dog. They were able to track the truck into the Village of Spring Valley where the police were notified. After a few minutes, they saw a male walking to the truck, where he was identified as Gokey. Deputies asked him if he had been in the Town of Gilman earlier that day and was the driver of the pickup. He said yes to both. He was then asked about being involved in the alleged dumping incident, a charge he denied saying, “I would never do that. I would shoot a dog before I dumped it in the middle of nowhere.” He also denied seeing a stray dog on his route to Spring Valley or that he would pick up a stray and drop it off again. Four days later, sheriff’s deputies got a call from an anonymous tipster who said she heard Gokey talking at a bar and saying his son called him four days ago, told him there was a stray dog on his property and asked his father “to get rid of it.” The caller then said Gokey was bragging about dumping the dog in the middle of nowhere and getting away with it. Law enforcement went to Gokey’s residence where he initially denied knowing anything about the incident. Gokey the admitted to picking up the stray dog from his son’s home and taking it to the place where he dropped it off. He kept denying the charge because he thought they were only asking about dogs he owned. A few hours later, sheriff’s deputies were notified the stray dog had returned to Gokey’s son’s home.

HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER: Zachary Wiegand was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday morning for the Wisconsin portion of a crime spree he went on six years ago. The sentence will be served in addition to more than 12 years in prison that he was given in Minnesota for convictions on charges of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric J. Lundell handed down the Wisconsin sentence after the 32-year-old Wiegand, a 1995 Hudson High School graduate, pleaded guilty to armed robbery five days earlier. Wiegland’s robbery of an armored car outside of Citizens State Bank in Hudson on the morning of May 29, 2003, came near the end of an episode that had started the previous evening in Lake Elmo, Minn. A 42-year-old Lake Elmo woman was shot four times by Wiegand in that attempted car-jacking. When another woman stopped to help the shooting victim, Wiegand stole her van at gunpoint. Judge Lundell also sentenced Wiegand to one and a half years in prison for an arson charge that resulted from him setting fire to the stolen van that he used as a get-away vehicle in the armored-car robbery. The arson sentence will be served concurrent with the other sentences.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: Police continue to look for an armed man who held up a female Schwan’s truck driver around 8 p.m. Friday, November 20 in the city’s industrial park. The woman had returned from her route to the Schwan’s depot, 1050 Benson St. About to plug her refrigerated truck, she was confronted by a man holding what police describe as a “steel rod.” River Falls Police Sgt. Jon Aubard said the man demanded money. The driver tried to give him her business wallet, but he told her not to look at him and to remove the cash from the wallet and hand it over.

Crash into Greenfield remains under investigation

A Blue and White cab was crashed into a parked vehicle at Greenfield Elementary Tuesday night. Law enforcement has an individual in custody and another man is hospitalized at Regions Medical Center in St. Paul as a result of the incident.

A crash of Minneapolis cab at Greenfield Elementary School took place Monday night, November 23.
According to a press release from Baldwin Police Chief Jim Widiker, the Baldwin Police Department was notified at 6:40 p.m. of a one-vehicle accident on Maple Street at 14th Avenue at the Greenfield Elementary parking lot. When Baldwin officers arrived they discovered a man identified as Abdi Mohamed Askar, age 38 of 211 W. 28th Street, of Minneapolis, Minn. lying on the sidewalk on the north end of the Greenfield Elementary parking lot. Askar was identified as the cab driver and had picked up a fare in Minneapolis and had driven him to Baldwin.
It was then discovered that a Blue and White Minneapolis cab had crashed into a street light pole, then struck a parked vehicle near the receiving entry at Greenfield, near the gym.
Baldwin officers were notified that a second individual was seen fleeing from the accident scene and was being followed by two citizens. Officers found the fleeing individual approximately two blocks from the scene of the accident.
The investigation at the scene indicated that the cab had been traveling above the posted speed limit and that Askar had jumped out of the cab prior to it striking the light pole.
Askar had numerous injuries and was transported to Baldwin Area Medical Center and from there transferred to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
The passenger of the cab, who is not being identified by law enforcement at this time, is also a resident of Minneapolis. He being held in custody pending further investigation by the Baldwin Police Department and St. Croix County Sheriff’s office.
Police Chief Widiker indicated that an intense search of the area was conducted in an effort to gather evidence. He did not reveal what evidence was being sought or whether any was found.
Observations at the scene revealed that St. Croix County K-9 units and then later dozens of United Fire and Rescue volunteers participated in the search.
Several areas were cordoned off with yellow police tape during the search and the Greenfield bus driveway remained off-limits due to police tape on Tuesday morning. However, the tape was removed shortly after 8:00 a.m. Police tape remained in the front yard at a residence on the south side of Maple Street, south of Baldwin-Woodville High School.
Chief Widiker said there appeared to have been some sort of verbal altercation that led to the incident.
Those with inquiries about the incident are directed to call the Baldwin Police Department at 715-684-3856.

Area Boy Scouts to receive highest award


Pictured from left to right, Zac Humphrey, Nick Huston and Mark Serier will receive the Eagle Scout Award on Sunday, November 29 at Peace Lutheran Church.

On Sunday, November 29, Boy Scout Troop 110 of Baldwin and Woodville will present the Eagle Scout award to three area Scouts.
Zach Humprey, Nick Huston, and Mark Serier have earned the rank of Eagle, Boy Scouting’s highest award. Each Scout enters at the rank of Scout and progresses through the ranks of: Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and finally Eagle.
A variety of requirements must be fulfilled including 21 Merit Badges which provide more in depth study in a variety of skill and interest areas. Each Scout also provides service to the community, learns outdoor camping, cooking and survival skills, studies citizenship and strives to work together in leadership building activities.
Service projects for the community have included: highway cleanup, Baldwin American Legion Chicken dinners, Woodville American Legion Flag burning ceremony, cleanup for community Christmas and Halloween parties, Woodville Lion’s Pancake breakfast, and Salvation Army bell ringing.
A major portion of the Eagle award involves coordinating a project that benefits the community. The Scout needs to develop the plan, arrange for needed funding, and coordinate volunteer workers to complete the project.
Zach Humphrey’s Eagle project was to build an outdoor worship area for Peace Lutheran Church.
Nick Huston’s Eagle project was to install permanent benches and trash receptacle holders throughout the parks in Woodville.
Mark Serier’s Eagle project was to clean up the 10 acres surrounding the Rush River recycling center.
The community is welcome to attend the Eagle Ceremony on November 29 at 3:00 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Baldwin. A special invitation is extended to any Eagle Scouts living in the area to attend this ceremony. Refreshments will follow.
Cave Dahl American Legion Post 240 in Baldwin charters Troop 110.

Cindy Deringer to retire from Village’s administrator’s post

At last Wednesday’s Baldwin Village Board special meeting, the board heard not only about the budget for 2010. Village Administrator/Clerk-Treasurer Cindy Deringer also made the announcement that she will be retiring from the post she has held for nearly 13 years.
Deringer told board members that she will retire effective January 5, 2010. She started in the position in April of 1997.
When Mrs. Deringer started work for the village the office was located downtown in what is now the west portion of the Baldwin Telecom office. Baldwin’s population was hovering around 2,200.
Now the village offices, library, senior center and police offices are located in a new building on Cedar Street and the population of the village had grown by more than a third to about 3,560.
The village office had computers when Mrs. Deringer started work for the village, but now the internet is used extensively and electronic filing of reports on-line is commonplace.
Mrs. Deringer said she will use her retirement to do what she finds she enjoys the most—and some of that may be up in the air. What she does know is that she will be able to spend more time with her children and grandchildren. Other possibilities to take up her time include more time at the lake, traveling and hobbies that have been on hold for years. She also said she may attend graduate school; she is just short of the requirements for her masters in business administration. Her undergraduate degree is in broad area accounting.
Cindy said the village is in good shape fiscally. She added that long-term “I think we have a great location with the interchange and I-94 and USH 63.”

News from the exchanges
   Interesting items from
      surrounding communities

THE COURIER-WEDGE (DURAND) – Dunn County Sheriff Dennis Smith reported to a Rock Falls area home at approximately 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, November 4 after a shooting incident was reported. Allegedly an argument over the sale of some marijuana or a disagreement about a comment made about a girlfriend may have been the catalyst for the drive-by shooting, authorities said. According to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, the suspects wanted for the shooting have been arrested and face felony charges in Dunn County for being part of first degree reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. Brent Skinner, a Dunn County reserve judge, set bond and also ordered the men not to have any contact with the family that lives in the home or go within a mile of the house. They also cannot possess any dangerous weapons. The Leader-Telegram also reported that deputies also found eight .22 caliber shell casings near the end of the driveway. A deputy also found a .22 caliber bullet on the floor of the kitchen.

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (GLENWOOD CITY) – A 57-year-old North Dakota man pleaded no contest in Dunn County Circuit Court November 13 for possessing an untagged bear and was fined $4,140. Michael C. Graff of West Fargo, North Dakota, was originally charged with harming a bear in its den, shooting and killing a bear without a license and hunting bear during closed season. Graff was accused of shooting the bear on the Neil Schlough farm in a corn field near County Highway VV in the Town of Sheridan on November 25, 2008. Prior to the plea hearing, a November 24 trail had been scheduled in Dunn County Circuit Court. The charge of hunting or harming a bear in its den was dismissed and Graff was found guilty of possessing an untagged bear. Schlough initially assumed he had struck the bear and killed it with his combine while harvesting corn. In addition to the $4,140 fine, Graff’s hunting privileges were revoked for three years. Dunn county Circuit Court Judge William Stewart, Jr., ordered Graff to pay $100 per month toward the fine until the fine has been paid in full. According to a statement Graff gave to a North Dakota game warden in early January, Graff said he had been hunting by himself on November 25 last year when he saw something that looked like fur lying on the ground. Graff said he thought it was a big buck and shot it twice to make sure it was dead. When he found out it was a bear, Graff told his father about it, and Harold Graff recommended they get a license. The two men drove to Ridgeland but found out that bear season was closed.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL - Accused of the Nov. 2 armed robbery at Dick’s Hometown Liquor, 17-year-old Blake Halverson has since been charged with two more felonies: Intimidation of a witness and bail jumping. Last Thursday night Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him at his rural River Falls home at N7923 870th St. and took him to jail. Halverson was to appear in circuit court for a preliminary hearing on the armed robbery charge Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 18. According to River Falls police investigator John Wilson, the latest felony charges against Halverson relates to his return to classes at the high school last week Tuesday. After paying a $2,000 cash bond, Halverson bailed out of jail the day before and then went to school the next day. He’s a high school junior. At school, he allegedly “verbally intimidated” a witness in the robbery case, a high school female student. Wilson said this violated conditions of Halverson’s bail. Both the witness intimidation and bail jumping, felonies, were added to the felony armed robbery charge and a misdemeanor charge for receiving stolen property. Halverson was only in school last week one day before being suspended.

HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER – A young Stillwater, Minn., woman whose small pickup lunged over the side of a freeway overpass in Hudson last January has died. Marissa Anne Saad, 21, passed away on Tuesday, November 10, following a decision by her family to take her off the live support systems that had been keeping her alive. In a post on Saad’s www.caringbridge.org website, her mother, Lori Babcock of Stillwater, said Saad died in her arms. “It is with unbelievable sadness, sorrow and grief that we have decided to let Marissa Anne go,” her parents and siblings said in a statement on the CaringBridge site a few days before she was taken off life support. Saad was on her way to work at the Freedom Valu Center on Coulee Road in Hudson on the morning of Jan. 28 when she came upon an accident and lost control of her 2000 Ford Ranger as she was attempting to avoid that crash. Her truck vaulted over a guardrail, went airborne and plunged nose-first into Front Street, which passes beneath I-94.

BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL – Everyone knows the new Burnett Community Library in Webster is a work-in-progress but that work ran into a road block last Wednesday night. “I don’t have anything in writing and I just want it all to be legal but I don’t know how to go about doing that,” Terry Larsen told the Webster Village Board. At issue was Larsen’s donation of his former car dealership for the village’s new library and the fact he needs an appraisal for the write-off he plans to submit to the Internal Revenue Service. “I’ll retract the offer,” he threatened. “I have nothing to gain and everything to lose – there are a lot of IRS rules here and I need an appraisal which will stand up to the IRS. Part of the deal from the beginning was that I would get a tax credit for donating my building.” Larsen explained. That credit amount was called into question when village trustees talked about performing a “friendly” condemnation of Larsen’s building in order to obtain a liability exemption for the village. The liability exemption allows the village not to be liable for any site cleanup. The concern was raised after an environment site assessment of the Larsen property revealed a petroleum spill of some sort and questions who would be responsible for any clean-up efforts. Dave Rasmussen said the building owner can still apply for cleanup funds to get the site cleaned. Rasmussen is the engineer with MSA Professional Services, the company the village has been working with on the project. “How will the clean-up affect my donation price,” Larsen asked. “Your asking price is what the Department of Commerce is using,” trustee Tim Maloney answered. “They have already accepted the $225,000 asking price.” Because Webster has received a $360,000 grant for the library as long as the village matches that amount with local assets, the $225,000 price tag of the building can be considered matching funds.

MONDOVI HERALD-NEWS – Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced that Thomas A. Callaghan, Eau Claire, has agreed to pay fines and costs totaling $5,000 for his unlawful discharge of pollutants into the waters of the state without a permit – namely, metal shavings from Tremplo Manufacturing, Inc., into a storm sewer manhole that led directly to the Buffalo River. After the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducted an investigation and referred the matter to the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution, a criminal charge was brought against Callaghan for this 2006 violation of environmental protection laws. Callaghan pled no contest to the charge and was found guilty at a hearing on November 10, 2009. Trempealeau County Circuit Court. Judge John A. Damon approved the plea agreement entered into between Callaghan and the Wisconsin Department of Justice. In a related case, Callahan’s employer, Tremplo Manufacturing, Inc., which fabricates metal parts for industrial mixers has agreed to pay forfeitures and costs totaling $18,907 in a civil action arising out of the same discharge. Judge Damon approved this settlement on November 10, 2009.