Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New staff at B-W introduced



At the “All Staff” meeting held Monday morning at B-W High School, new staff for the 2009-10 school year were introduced. They are pictured above, front row, left to right: Kelly Bugni, Title I teacher; Nicole Kriener, elementary librarian; Darcy Rachow, H.S. speech/drama; Gail Weninger, kindergarten aide; Kelli Larson, Middle School guidance; Stephanie Klein, kindergarten teacher; JR Dachel, athletic director/transportation director/dean of students; and Michelle Kamm, ag teacher.
In the back row, from left, are: Jon Hinzman, Middle School principal; Laura Hanson, High School office clerk; Lancer Lumby, Middle School phy ed; Megan Martinson, K-2 special ed; and Jacob Kusilek, H.S. tech ed.
Those who assumed new positions are not pictured. They include: Peg Helland who has moved to elementary phy ed and Duane Jourdeans who moved to High School English.

Proposal to re-write village ordinances and put them on-line

The Baldwin Village Board at a special meeting last Wednesday heard a proposal by Marcia Clifford, a representative of General Code of Rochester, New York, to rewrite Baldwin’s ordinances. The proposal would include putting the ordinances on the internet.
Cost of the ordinance rewrite, including putting it on the internet, was set at $17,000.
The Village has another proposal from a different company for the same work at substantially the same cost, but no presentation has been scheduled by that company.
According to Clifford, General Code has updated the ordinances of 95 communities in Wisconsin. She said the General Code’s services include:
-making sure ordinances are consistent with Wisconsin Statutes;
-checking for conflicts and consistency within Baldwin’s ordinances;
-pointing out examples of what other communities in Wisconsin are doing.
After that work is accomplished, the company’s findings are prepared in a workbook form which gives the village choices about how to proceed. After the Village Board reviews the workbook and decides how to proceed, a draft of the ordinances is prepared. After review of the draft the final code book is prepared for adoption.
The final code book will include a table of contents and histories of ordinances. Clifford said each section of the code book will contain gaps in numbering to allow for later additions. A detailed index will also be included. After the ordinances are adopted they will be available over the internet.
The entire project will take between 12 and 18 months to complete, said Clifford, so the cost typically “falls over two budget years.” Additionally, the ordinance update can be paid in five installments, said Clifford.
Clifford said she is a Wisconsin attorney and is available for consultations and meetings at no additional charge. She works out of Kenosha for General Code.
Clifford said Woodville has signed a contract with the company for updating their ordinances. The company has updated Hudson’s ordinances.
Near the conclusion of the meeting Village Administrator Cindy Deringer said the code update with ordinances on the internet would save much copying time each year by her office. Village Attorney Tom Schumacher said he has used ordinances on the internet prepared by General Code and “they’re really handy.”
There was no decision on whether to proceed at the meeting but a decision is expected at an upcoming meeting.

Wes Haney won BASS Federation Nation Northern Divisional

Wes Haney of Baldwin caught 52 pounds of fish over three days to win the BASS Federation Nation Northern Divisional. The win gives him the right to compete in the BASS Federation Nation National Championship, according to a ESPN website.
“It’s just a dream come true,” Haney is quoted as saying on the website. “You know how much work it takes to get here, and then to have a chance to win is amazing. The emotions just come out.”
Haney was fishing in rough water conditions in Big Bay de Noc. The web site quotes him saying: “I knew the ride was going to be rough, and the ride back was going to be worse. I’ve been on Erie, St. Clair, Sturgeon Bay, and this is probably as rough a waves as I’ve ever been in.”
Haney said he caught his first two days’ limits primarily on Big Bay de Noc Shoal, but had to move to Garden Bluffs farther inside Big Bay de Noc to catch his 15 pound, 1 ounce limit that cinched the tournament.
Haney and seven other anglers earned berths in the BASS Federation Nation National Championship that will be held in October on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes.
The others in the top five in the individual competition were: Michigan’s Randy Wieczorek (50-10), Wisconsin’s Mike Mattis, Minnesota’s Dean Capra (48-8) and Wisconsin’s Kevin Fassbind (48-0). In team competition, where the division’s eight state teams competed for a $30,000 Skeeter/Yamaha package, Michigan won with a cumulative weight of 388 pounds.

Jessica Christner being sought for questioning

The St. Croix Count Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in locating Jessica Christner. Christner, age 29, is being sought for questioning in connection with the August 1st shooting of two people in Wilson. Christner is not a suspect at this point, but is believed to have information related to the case. She is also wanted by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Christner is believed to be in the Eau Claire area, but has ties to Dunn, Chippewa and St. Croix Counties.
Anyone with information about Jessica Christner’s whereabouts is asked to contact the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office at 715-386-4711 or your local law enforcement agency.

From the Exchanges
   Interesting News Items from
      Surrounding Communities


THE SUN (OSCEOLA): How far can the St. Croix Falls area feasibly take its growing local foods movement? The city council last week authorized the spending of $5,000 to gather information that will help answer that question. St. Croix Falls will be one of three communities Barron County resident Tresa Mofle will study for a graduate thesis designed to develop a “food security assessment” for the buy fresh/buy local movement. Mofle also will look at Barron County and the St. Croix Tribal Community. “A study like this would allow you to kind of build on what you have going so far,” Mofle said. “It would allow you to create some baseline data that could be used as a community for future grant applications and for getting investors to invest in additional infrastructure that you would need to re-localize your food economy.” Mofle, who works as the local foods program manager for WestCAP, a community action program serving a six-county area, believes that business owners or prospective business owners also could make use of the collected data. “As the localization process continues I think there are going to be lots of new business opportunities and new opportunities for employing people locally,” she said.

MONDOVI HERALD-NEWS: A local auctioneer was named the 2009 Wisconsin State Champion Auctioneer at the Wisconsin State Fair held in West Allis. Scott Werlein of Mondovi won the title after competing against 20 contestants from across the state in the Wisconsin Auctioneers Association, Inc. Auctioneer Championship. The contest took place August 12. The competition consisted of an interview in front of a panel of judges and a live auction portion that required each contestant to sell two items. The group consisted of 20 contestants and was then narrowed down to six finalists who were asked to sell two additional auction items. As the winner of the contest, Werlein sold the state champion market animals later that day at the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction. He also received a cash prize, championship ring, trophy and other prizes. Next summer, Werlein will represent the state of Wisconsin at the International Auctioneering Championship in Greensboro, N.C.

HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER: Two Hudson teenagers who caused extensive fire damage to a Trout Brook Road home last spring have been convicted and sentenced in St. Croix County Circuit Court. Charles M. Burns, 18, 895 Trout Brook Rd. and Thomas C. Quasius, 17, 966 Priester Lane, were each convicted of theft and trespassing last week. Burns and Quasius were each sentenced to 100 hours of community service, two years’ probation, fined $570 and ordered to pay $3,023.77 at the August 7 hearing. Felony charges for both were read-in and dismissed, and jail sentences were imposed and stayed. The criminal complaint said that on March 13, Burns and Quasius broke into a cabin at 977 Trout Brook Rd., found fireworks and ignited them inside the house, which caused a fire that destroyed the building. The cabin was located in a heavily wooded area on the south bank of the Willow River in the Town of Hudson.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: A trespassing complaint led to a prolonged scuffle between a combative suspect and two patrol officers last week Thursday just after dark at South Main and Park Streets. The two officers, Jennifer Knutson and Ryan Miller, later went to the hospital to have their injuries checked. Miller has since returned to duty and Knutson is expected back this week. The two male suspects who were finally jailed are both from Minnesota and were new residents of the Kinnic Falls Halfway House, 900 Orange St. The long-established local facility offers treatment programs for drug and alcohol abusers. The officers responded to a 911 intruder call from a woman alone at home with her small children in the 200 block of Vine Street at 9:15 p.m. The woman was watching TV in her kitchen when she heard her patio screen door slam. She switched on a light and saw two men standing on the patio. One asked if he could “use the facilities.” The woman said, “You have the wrong place” and told them to leave. The man repeated his request but the woman said no and that she would call the police. She did so after the left, saying she was “very frightened” by the experience. The two men were soon spotted by the officers walking south on Main Street on the bridge over the South Fork. They were identified at Ryan A. Kryzer, 34, Forest Lake, Minn., and Adam J. Kapphahn, 26, Fergus Falls, Minn.

AMERY FREE PRESS: Katherine M. Bocock, Amery, faces physical abuse of a child charges. An Amery officer was sent to Amery Regional Medical Center to follow up on suspicious injuries on a five-month-old baby. Parents told the officer that when they picked up their child from the babysitters it had swelling on the face and bruised arms. Bocock told the officer that the only other person in her apartment was her 1-1/2 year-old son and that when she turned her back, he struck the baby with a fly swatter. The doctor said that in his opinion the injuries were not from a fly swatter but from being hit. There was also a red spot in the white of one eye indicating the baby had been struck in the head. The baby was evaluated at St. Paul Children’s Hospital with a follow up at Midwest Children’s Resource Center. Their conclusions were that the injuries were not caused by a fly swatter.