Contour Plastics in Baldwin sold to Nolato Group

Barry Grant, owner, President and CEO of Contour Plastics, with his wife Pam, company Controller. Contour Plastics was recenlty sold to Nolato Group of Torekov, Sweden. The Grants will remain in their management positions with Contour Plastics.


On July 26th, the Nolato Group, based in Torekov, Sweden, announced the acquisition of Baldwin-based Contour Plastics. Contour’s president Barry Grant and members of Contour’s management team will remain in their positions.
“Contour Plastics is a well-managed company, and is a good fit for our growth strategy and our ambition to provide a global offering with regional medical technology production,” said Hans Porat, President and CEO of Nolato.
“This acquisition will give us a presence in the region from Minneapolis to Chicago, one of our four key American medical technology clusters,” said Christer Wahlquist, president of Nolato Medical Business Area. “It also represents a further strengthening of our overall offering, and a foundation on which to establish production in North America.”
Contour’s customers include a number of major American medical technology companies. According to reports, an estimated 80% of Contour’s business is attributable to molding parts for medical device companies. The Nolato Group supplies customers in medical technology, telecom, hygiene, automotive parts and other industrial sectors.
With the acquisition, Contour Plastics will operate as Nolato Contour. Contour was founded in 1990 and has been honored by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce as an Emerging Business of the Year and by St. Croix Economic Development Corporation as a Business of the Year in St. Croix County. Contour was awarded $250,000 in state tax credits in 2007 from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce for a major facility expansion that resulted in the creation of new jobs.

Shots fired in chase, apprehension of suspect

A man who was observed driving away from a development in Hammond that has suffered a rash of recent burglaries and later rammed St. Croix County Sheriff’s squad cars and a Sheriff’s Deputy, has been apprehended after shots were fired early Tuesday morning.
According to a news release from the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, in custody at Regions Medical Center in St. Paul for treatment of unspecified injuries is Shane Michael Kringen, 37, of Hudson, who has a previous criminal history and is a convicted felon.
The news release stated that at 2:32 a.m. a Hammond police officer saw a “suspicious vehicle leaving the Black Duck Development” in the Village of Hammond. The area has suffered from a “rash of burglaries recently,” the release said. “The Hammond officer initiated a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle for an equipment violation. The suspect vehicle fled from the Hammond officer who discontinued the pursuit a short time later.”
At 2:38 a.m. a St. Croix County deputy sheriff’s officer was driving east on CTH N when the same suspect vehicle from the Hammond incident was traveling west. “The suspect vehicle was traveling without any lights on the vehicle. The deputy was forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision with the suspect vehicle. Deputies then attempted to stop the vehicle, which fled west on CTH N with speeds reaching 80 mph. During the pursuit deputies reported the suspect throwing unknown items from the vehicle.”
The pursuit continued to the 400 block of CTH N where the suspect vehicle slammed on his brakes and then began to ram two St. Croix County squad cars. “At this point one deputy fired several shots at the suspect in defense of himself and his fellow deputy.” The suspect then drove to 644 CTH N into a yard and again rammed a St. Croix County squad car. The suspect then left the vehicle and fled on foot into a woods. He was apprehended by a Sheriff’s K-9.
“The suspect was transported to Hudson Hospital and then Regions” for treatment of his injuries, said the news release. “One deputy sustained injuries as a result of being rammed by the suspect. The deputy was treated and released from Hudson Hospital. “The second deputy was uninjured and has been placed on administrative leave (standard procedure) pending the outcome of the investigation.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting portion of the incident.
The news release says deputies are in the process of securing an arrest warrant for felony level charges against the suspect stemming from this incident.

Drowning victim in St. Croix Monday

On Monday of this week at 8:41 p.m., the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, Hudson Fire Dept., St. Croix EMS and Dive Team, Hudson Police, Wisconsin DNR and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a male who had not resurfaced after jumping off a boat in the St. Croix River. The boat was about 20 feet off shore on the west end of the Dike Road in the City of Hudson.
Before emergency personnel arrived, two bystanders jumped into the water and swam to the area where the male was last seen but they were unable to locate him. Rescue operations were started immediately once emergency personnel were on the scene. The male victim was recovered by members of the St. Croix Dive Team at 9:40 p.m. in about 10-12 feet of water.
The male was taken to the Hudson Medical Center by St. Croix EMS where he was pronounced dead.
The male victim is 38 years old and is from Richfield, Minnesota. The identity of the victim is being withheld at this time pending notification of next of kin.
This incident remains under investigation by the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Croix County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Electric outage planned for Woodville area

EAU CLAIRE, WIS. – Electric service to approximately 1,000 Xcel Energy customers in the village of Woodville will be temporarily interrupted from 2 to 4 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. In the event of inclement weather, the outage will be rescheduled for Sunday, Aug. 8, during the same timeframe.
This outage is required to improve the area’s electrical equipment, to ensure safe and reliable power. The outage time may be shorter or longer depending on working conditions.
For additional information, call Xcel Energy Customer Service at 1-800-895-4999.

News from the Exchanges
Interesting items from
surrounding communities

CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS: The mission statement of the United Methodist Churches in Hammond and New Centerville presents their desire to help their communities by “Serving God, creation, and people by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with faith, hope and love through worship, education and outreach.” With a new pastor leading them, they will continue to carry out that mission well into the future. Although Pastor Steve Rice has been leading churches for 20 years, he has only been the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Hammond and New Centerville since July1. Rice received his education at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and has led churches throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. While Rice is the new pastor of the congregations in Hammond and New Centerville, he is not new to the church. He has been playing the piano for the church in Hammond, in addition to worshipping with that congregation. Those who know him would probably not be surprised to learn that Pastor Rice is a trained musician, having received his undergraduate degree in music. “I have been playing for worship services at churches and nursing homes for many years,” Rice said recently. While he will be the pastor for both the Hammond and New Centerville congregations, Rice also holds a full-time job at a music store in the Twin Cities area. His schedule keeps him quite busy, but he still intends to fully take on the needs of both congregations.

THE COURIER-WEDGE (DURAND): The Durand school district will lose $332,000 in state funding according to estimates, said district finance manager Sharon Weisenbeck at the monthly Durand board of education meeting July 21. The four percent drop in state equalization aid comes from statewide cuts and district spending habits. Aid is cut when the district spends less than its budget, which it did last year, and when enrollment declines, Weisenbeck explained to the board. To make up for the lost aid, the district must make program cuts. The district has $311,000 to add to its fund balance, Weisenbeck reported. The money, which comes from lower than expected utilities, transportation costs, equipment purchases, overall operating expenses and surplus from last year’s budget, could be used to offset some of the lost aid, she said. Board member Katie Garrett suggested putting more than two-thirds of the money toward retirement benefits and the rest toward future operating costs. The board voted unanimously to follow Garrett’s proposal.

AMERY FREE PRESS: Tara J. Brabant, 30, Amery was arrested Sunday, July 25, after a Polk county sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to 60th St. for a who father had had been stabbed by his daughter and a verbal argument was in progress. Upon arrival, the deputy spoke with Tara Brabant who admitted stabbing her father, Mark W. Brabant, in the shoulder earlier in the afternoon after a verbal argument between the two of them. Brabant stated she and her mother were arguing about a money issue, at which point her father stepped into the conversation and began arguing. Brabant stated at this point her father grabbed a knife out of a drawer and lunged at her. She stated she made the comment to him, “Why don’t you kill yourself,” and he replied, “Why don’t you me kill yourself.” Mark Brabant then told Tara to stab him and she did - in the shoulder. A subsequent report showed that a Polk county sheriff’s deputy was also dispatched to the scene and Tara Brabant’s mother advised the deputy that Tara had told her father she wished he was dead and Mark had handed Tara a knife and said, “Kill me.” Mark Brabant stated that he was cut by a nail while working on the house - the deputy believed he was not being cooperative.

WOODVILLE LEADER: Sometimes if you do good things long enough, someone is going to notice, and that’s exactly what happened for Kathy Spence of Spring Valley. On May 20, Kathy learned that she was selected at the Special Olympics Wisconsin Indianhead Area Agency Manager of the Year. According to a press release from Special Olympics - Wisconsin, “This award is given each year to an Agency Manager who best displays the leadership and organizational skills needed to manage a well run special Olympics Program.” Kathy was nominated by Andrea Sullivan and Patti Knez who are the Regional Directors of northwestern Wisconsin. “Kathy is great at making sure her athletes have a wonderful experience when they compete. They are well trained, placed in divisions where they belong, and are always eager to participate,” said Knez.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: A 20-year-old River Falls man is jailed and charged with setting fire to rolls of hay inside a 3,200 square-foot storage shed at the UW-River Falls Lab Farm No. 1 after midnight on Friday. The blaze destroyed the shed and 312 hay rolls. Each roll weighs 800-900 pounds. Thirty-two of those rolls were described as “research hay’ belonging to the University of Minnesota. UW-RF officials put the total loss - hay and shed at $85,000. Christopher D. Pixley, faces a Class C felony charge for arson of a building. He appeared in Pierce County Court Monday and was ordered held on $1,000 cash bond.

Knapp House destroyed by fire

The devastating fire that destroyed the Knapp House early Wednesday morning could have been worse, much worse.
Two people on their way to work Wednesday morning stopped when they noticed smoke coming from the landmark Knapp structure and awoke owner Rick Bloomfield, who lives in the structure. The two people knew Bloomfield lived there and entered the building to wake him.
Bloomfield escaped the building unhurt. But the building was a different story.
In the above picture members of the Menomonie Fire Department were still on the scene about 11:00 a.m. Wednesday. United Fire and Rescue was called to the scene to help haul water, as were other area fire departments.

Storms wreak havoc to homes, motorists


Baldwin and the surrounding areas were hit by three storms Wednesday. First was a storm late morning. Another came in the afternoon and a final storm passed by early evening.
The three separate storm occurrences dropped a total of 2.11 inches of rain at the official Baldwin measuring station that reports to the National Weather Service.
Two semi-trucks were blown off I-94, pictured above, at approximately mile post 18 Wednesday. According to emergency workers who responded to the scene, the two trucks were both empty and a strong gust of wind picked both up and deposited them on their sides off the road. The west-bound truck was deposited north of I-94 and the east-bound truck wound up on its side in the median.
The driver of one truck was apparently unhurt and the other suffered injuries not believed to be serious. Traffic was slowed while the two trucks were uprighted and removed from the scene.
Probably the storm that hit in the morning was the most severe. There were a number of houses damaged west of Hammond in that storm. According to St. Croix County Sheriff there were about 30 homes that suffered some degree of damage, from substantial, such as the one pictured at left which lost a wall of its garage, to relatively minor such as shingles missing or some siding damaged.
Sheriff Hillstead said three homes were significantly damaged, including another that also lost a garage wall and another with roof damage to cosmetic and minor damage.
According to United Fire and Rescue Baldwin Station Chief Gary Newton, last week was one of the busiest weeks United Fire has ever had. In addition to responding to the two semis that were upended in Wednesday’s storm, the Department was called to a report of a parachute that didn’t open, which turned out not to be true; to a gas leak near B-W High School; to the mini-bike rider who was hit by a vehicle Tuesday norning; to haul water to combat the fire at the Knapp House Wednesday; and to a motorcycle-car accident near the I-94/USH 63 interchange Sunday in which a vehicle pulled out in front of the motorcycle but luckily the motorcycle driver was able to walk away from the scene despite some injuries.

14 year old recovering after crash

A 14 year old boy who ran a stop sign on a mini-bike on 250th Street on Woodville’s northwest side and crashed into the side of pickup truck traveling on USH 12 is recovering from injuries he received according to St. Croix County Sheriff Dennis Hillstead. “He’s a very lucky young man,” Sheriff Hillstead commented.
According to Sheriff Hillstead, the boy from Baldwin operating a mini-bike was traveling north on 250th Street and did not stop at the USH 12 stop sign. His vehicle crashed into the passengers side of a east-bound pickup on USH 12 driven by Amy Haney of Baldwin.
At the scene Sheriff Hillstead said the boy was “alert and seemed okay,” but was transported to Baldwin Area Medical Center where it was determined that he may have suffered serious internal injuries and was transferred to Regions Medical Center in St. Paul. However, when he was further examined at Regions it was determined that his injuries were not of the seriousness once thought. He was then listed in stable condition.
The driver of the mini-bike was not wearing a helmet or any other type of protective clothing.
Haney was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and her juvenile passenger was in a child safety seat and neither were injured. The truck suffered moderate damage.
Assisting the Sheriff’s Department at the scene of the accident were United Fire and Rescue and Baldwin EMS.

Village Board approves certified survey for First Bank

The Baldwin Village Board at their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, July 14 approved a certified survey map that splits off several acres from the parcel on which the former Jonquist Kitchens sat, which is now owned by the bank.
In a related measure, Village engineer Mike Stoffel presented bids for the well abandonment project at the bank-owned property. Stoffel said there were three bids for abandoning the well with the lowest only a third the bid of the highest. The Board accepted the bid of Keys Well Drilling which was the low bid. Stoffel said the Keys bid was much lower than the others because the company had worked on the well and was therefore familiar with it. In addition, the Board accepted a bid for removing the ammonia from the cooling system in the building. The bid was quite low because there was not much ammonia left in the system.
In other action at the meeting, the Board heard from Chris Klinkhammer, owner of Klinkers Korner, about plans for an outdoor fenced area in a portion of her parking lot that could be used by smokers. She said the state-wide smoking ban has “put a damper on business.” She said the area would be 24 feet by 24 feet, or enough to hold a couple picnic tables and stools around the perimeter. There would be a door opening from the bar. Klinkhammer was told she needed to file an application for a beer garden and the board seemed receptive to the idea.
The Board also approved a change order for the UV disinfection building at the wastewater treatment plant for additional paving and a sidewalk that adds $4,572 to the cost. The board also discussed a water leak at the plant that is being investigated to determine responsibility. Also, the board approved a pay request for $106,889 for street projects which included a $3,969 change order.
Engineer Stoffel told the board that plans were to pour the curb and gutter for the Curtis Street project as well as at the Baldwin EMS building on Thursday. He noted that Curtis Street held up “very well” in the earlier rain storm that day.
The Board approved a temporary liquor license and operators’ licenses and Mill Pond Park reservation for Bol’s Lanes for a fast pitch tournament.
The Board heard from Jeff Schneider about runoff from the holding pond behind a townhome he owns in Creekview Meadows. He said the runoff caused damage to a retaining wall behind the townhome. Attorney Gary Bakke of the Bakke, Norman SC law firm, told the board that the first question for them is whether dealing with the runoff problem is a legal obligation of the village and the second question is whether as a political consideration the board may still want to deal with the problem. No action was taken.
The Board also discussed the sanitary sewer back up into homes during the torrential rain of Tuesday, June 15 but no action was taken on that problem either.
The Board approved a grant application by Stoffel for the Main Street project. He noted the meeting that was held downtown to seek comments regarding the project and what amenities should be included. Trustee Claire Stein commended village staff for the meeting and presentation as well as the lunch served.

News from the Exchanges
Interesting items from
surrounding communities

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): A former Polk County Treasurer’s Office employee has been charged with embezzlement. Heather Culver, 33, of Webster, has been accused of stealing several hundred dollars worth of cash reserves, after Polk county Treasurer Amanda Nissen asked the sheriff’s office to initiate an investigation into the missing funds three months ago. Through the use of electronic surveillance equipment, the sheriff’s office has determined that Culver is believed to have taken small amounts of cash from a cash drawer sporadically over the course of several months. About $100 in small bills went missing between June 18 and July 2, the sheriff’s department alleged. Culver was charged and faces six misdemeanor counts of theft from a business setting, according to online court records. She was not taken into custody. Culver, who resigned recently, had been employed with the treasurer’s office for 16 months, working as a real property lister for the past eight months.

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (GLENWOOD CITY): A Dunn County jury has found a Boyceville school board member charged with battery and disorderly conduct not guilty. Harry Joles was charged in connection with an incident that occurred at a Boyceville youth football event last September when he was accused of punching Drew Anderson, an assistant youth football coach and causing a disturbance by yelling obscenities. A 12-member jury of nine women and three men found Joles not guilty following a one-day trial in Dunn County Circuit Court on July 6. After hearing testimony for part of the morning and all afternoon, the jury went out to deliberate at about 6:30 p.m. and returned with the not guilty verdict at 7:15 p.m. Joles took the witness stand in his own defense, noting that he is a lifelong Boyceville resident of Boyceville, that his father and grandfather were also named Harry Joles and that he has been in the painting business for 47 years. “I was not arguing. I was debating…I was pleading because I did not want my son to get hurt,” Joles said. Joles testified that he pushed Anderson and that he clenches his teeth when he is angry. “I said, ‘Keep that f--er away from me.’ With clenched teeth I can’t say that loud,” he said. Jules said that he intended to get Anderson away from him, that he did not intent to cause bodily harm and that he never threw a punch at Anderson.

AMERY FREE PRESS: Big Butternut beach in Luck and Half Moon beach in Milltown have been closed by the Polk County Heath Department. High levels of Fecal Coliform Bacteria have been detected at those sites. Those beaches will be closed until two consecutive tests result in acceptable levels. The Polk County Health Department is currently testing the public beaches in Balsam Lake, Big Butternut, Half Moon and South Twin weekly. Bacteria levels that closed the two beaches are an indicator of human or animal waste contamination. Swimming in unsafe water may result in minor illnesses, such as eye, ear, nose and throat infections and the most common being gastroenteritis. Heavy rains can cause elevated bacteria counts.

NEW RICHMOND NEWS: What you don’t know can hurt you. Konnie Jerabeck knows this well. Wild parsnip, also known as cow parsnip, is a herbaceous plant whose sap, when exposed to UV rays, becomes an acid that burns the skin. “My daughter encountered it while playing by a river bank,” said Jerabeck, a Department of Agriculture Nursery Inspector. They were left with long water blisters on their backs. After the blisters disappeared, brown scars took their place and didn’t fully go away until two years later. Jerabeck is concerned that not enough people are aware of wild parsnip and its harmful effects. The parsnip is a Queen Anne’s lace look alike with yellow flowers instead of white. One flowerhead can hold up to 1,000 seeds, Jerabeck said. The danger isn’t in the outside of the flower; it’s the sap and the seeds that cause the blisters. It also doesn’t affect the skin right away. Blisters begin to appear about 24 hours after exposure to the sap and the sun. Once the blisters emerge, they cannot be spread like poison ivy. Removal of the weed is tricky. Be sure to wear protective clothing and try to work after dark to avoid the UV rays activating any sap you might get on you. The weed grows in undisclosed areas and needs sunlight to thrive. It also performs better in wet places, where it can grow up to five feet tall. Wild parsnip is fairly new to St. Croix County. To get a better idea of what it looks like, drive along 170th St. in the Town of Stanton and on Co. Rd. T the weed grows in the ditches along these roads.

Crash closed west-bound I-94 Monday afternoon

A five vehicle crash along a stretch of west-bound I-94 that was one-lane due to road construction resulted in closure of the stretch of interstate and re-routing traffic through Baldwin and on USH 12.
According to emergency personnel on the scene, the crash happened near mile-post 17, just east of the Hammond/CTH T exit and involved five vehicles, including a semi-truck. One of the vehicles involved flipped and another rolled over.
Emergency personnel said a woman in one of the vehicles was transported directly to Regions Medical Center in St. Paul with injuries that didn’t appear to be life-threatening.
East-bound traffic on I-94 was not affected by the accident. The scene took about an hour to clear. Agencies responding to the crash included the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Baldwin Police Department, United Fire and Rescue, Baldwin EMS and River Falls Ambulance Service.

Ben Orr is Baldwin’s newest officer
Ben Orr, a 2004 Baldwin-Woodville High School graduate and U.S. Air Force veteran, is the Village of Baldwin’s newest police officer.
Orr started his present job at the beginning of July. Previously he worked as a police officer in Woodville. He is the replacement for Officer Brad Coplan who has announced his retirement at the end of this month.
Orr said he was a member of the Air Force security forces. He remains in the Air Force Reserve.

Mandatory 10-digit dialing procedure to debut in the 715 Area Code

Residential and business customers within the existing 715 area code should be prepared for the introduction of the 534 area code. As of July 17, 2010, all customers located in the 715 area code will be required to dial the area code + seven-digit number (10-digit dialing) when making local calls from both landline and wireless phones.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin ordered an overlay of the 715 area code to ensure that businesses and consumers continue to have access to telephone numbers from their carrier of choice. An area code overlay occurs when another area code (e.g., 534) is added to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (e.g., 715). An overlay does not require any existing customers to change their area code or telephone number. However, when two area codes serve the same region, callers are required to change the way they dial local calls.
The most important facts that consumers and businesses need to know about the upcoming 534 area code overlay are:
Beginning on July 17, 2010, customers in the 715 area code must use the new 10-digit dialing procedure for all local calls. After this date, local calls made without the area code will not complete and a recording will instruct callers to hang up and dial again.
The dialing procedure for long distance or operator assisted calls will not change.
All customers with a 715 area code telephone number today will keep the 715 area code for that number.
Phone numbers with the new 534 area code may be assigned after August 14, 2010.
The price of a call, local and long-distance calling areas and other rates and services of your provider will not change as a result of the area code overlay. What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed.
You will still dial three digits to reach 911. If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 and 811 are currently available in your community, or from your provider, you will still dial them with just three digits.
In addition to changing their local dialing procedure, customers in the 715 area code will need to reprogram their automatic dialing equipment and any other equipment that is currently programmed to dial a 7-digit local number. These devices need to be reprogrammed with the new 10-digit dialing procedure prior to July 17, 2010. Examples of programmed equipment and features include: PBX systems, life safety systems, fax machines, Internet dial-up numbers, alarm and security systems, gates, speed dialers, call-forward settings, voice mail and similar services.

News from the Exchanges
Interesting items from
surrounding communities

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): J.J. Kelley took his first strokes in a sea kayak on Balsam Lake. By this time two years ago the Taylors Falls native’s kayaking skills were well-honed enough for him and a friend to spend three months kayaking 1,300 miles from Seward, Alaska to Seattle. They followed the Pacific Ocean’s Inside Passage, which kept them within a mile or so of the coastline most of the time. Kelley, 28, and Josh Thomas filmed their adventure and compressed some 65 hours of footage into an 85-minute feature documentary called “Paddle to Seattle.” The beautifully photographed film has won 13 film festival awards and is scheduled to be aired on Wisconsin Public TV July 22. Prior to that, St. Croix Festival Theatre will show the film at the Auditorium in St. Croix Falls the evenings of July 20 and 21, with Kelley on hand for those screenings. “I think that the film really is a part of me and where I came from,” Kelley said. “My mom [Michelle] worked at the [Minnesota] Interstate Park when I grew up, and my love for the outdoors really developed in the St. Croix River Valley on canoe trips from Taylors Falls to Osceola. That, in a sense is part of the Paddle to Seattle. So I really want to share the film with folks who can relate to that.” Currently, Kelley is an associate producer with National Geographic Television, based in Washington. He and Thomas who now lives in Alaska, met while each was hiking solo on the Appalachian Trail. Later they bicycled across Alaska, from south to north, and chronicled that trek with a documentary film called, “Pedal to the Midnight Sun.” That first film also will be shown at the Auditorium Theater on July 21.

PIERCE COUNTY HERALD (ELLSWORTH): Dan Hines and Jessica Lansing were originally going to spend the night of June 25 going to River Falls for supper. Instead, it turned out to be a night the Ellsworth natives are never going to forget. “We jumped in the (Dodge) Durango about 6:30 p.m. and headed out toward River Falls on the scenic route, both because we like to take our time and to avoid the road construction and traffic of a Friday night,” Lansing said. Hines, 22, who was driving, was eastbound on 570th Ave, crossing CTH O (north of Hwy. 10) when the heavy rains let off enough to reveal a funnel cloud. “Dan put the truck in reverse in an attempt to turn around and get out of there and head home, but it was too late,” Lansing, 21, said. The next thing the couple knew, they found themselves in a ditch inside the flipped SUV. “Neither of us really felt the sensation of flying or anything until the impact of hitting the ground upside down.” Lansing said. She continued, “I can remember hitting the ground and thinking we were done moving, but then the rest of the truck rocked onto the roof so it was completely flat. The storm was so loud that we couldn’t really hear the crunching of metal or breaking of glass. When they said tornadoes sound like a freight train, they aren’t kidding.” That’s when Hines took over, his fiancée said. First he turned the Durango off, preventing a fire. Then, making sure she wasn’t hurt, he kicked the far window of the passenger side the rest of the way out and cleared the glass away so they could escape out of it. He then helped Lansing get out of her seat and led the way out of the window.

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: The yearlong $250, 000 project by the River Falls Wildcat Soccer Association to fix up the Golfview Soccer Fields is complete. Now the focus is turf care so soccer play can resume. “Our players and coaches are very excited to begin playing on the new fields,” says Jeff Bump, RFWSA president. “The fields have been designed with a sand base, which will maximize player performance and minimize potential for injury. The turf is the latest genetics, designed for high durability, low water requirements and low-vertical growth, promoting thickness without a high-mowing demand.” Bump said the soccer field renovation includes surface and turf upgrade for eight new fields, storm water control design, in-ground irrigation and a new parking lot for the east side fields. Bump said local soccer play at Golfview is just two months away.

HUDSON STAR OBSERVER: Owners of Ellie’s On Main (Sharon Horne-Ellstrom and Brian Ellstrom) have filed a lawsuit against the city of Hudson because of recent restrictions imposed on the business, including the restricted use of a deck built behind the business to allow for smoking after the recently imposed state smoking ban. According to the complaint, the business has had a Class B liquor and beer license for Ellie’s on Main since August 2007. In May 2009 when Wisconsin adopted its Clean Indoor Air act (which became effective July 5, 2010), Ellie’s petitioned the city to amend the description of its licensed premises to include a deck that would be built to the rear of the building where customers could smoke. On September 8, 2009, the city council approved the request contingent upon completion of the project and issuance of an occupancy permit. The business spent about $40,000 to build and outfit the deck. On June 9, a group of citizens and neighbors filed complaints that Ellie’s on Main was “a disorderly house.” The group complained about noise, problems with urine, vomit and beverage cups, fights and other things. The council held a hearing, received evidence, deliberated in closed session and approved in open a session a motion saying Ellie’s is not “a disorderly house.” But on June 14, when it renewed Ellie’s license, the council added these conditions: no alcohol may be served or consumed on the deck, a bouncer must be on the deck while customers use it, no live or recorded music may be played on the deck, and windows and doors must remained closed. The complaint alleges that by prohibiting drinking on the deck, the council either revoked or failed to renew Ellie’s license as it pertains to the deck. The suit says the council didn’t have the legal authority to do that. The suit alleges that conditions put Ellie’s at an unfair competitive disadvantage and impose a “significant economic burden.”

A cool spot to hang out

The Baldwin-Woodville swimming pool is a cool place to hang out this summer when the temperatures climb and the humidity makes it feel even hotter like it was on Monday of this week.

Plans for replacing Main Street pavement in tentative stage

Baldwin’s Main Street, east of USH 63, is in bad shape. It’s cracked, grooved, patched it’s rough and bumpy. Plans are being made to reconstruct the road in 2011 or 2012.

Is there anyone who thinks the pavement of the four block stretch of Baldwin’s Main Street from USH 63 to Sixth Avenue doesn’t need to be replaced? Probably not.
In fact, it was recently described by one village resident as the worst stretch of a main business street in the state of Wisconsin. That’s probably right on the mark.
So the question is: how to go about replacing Main Street’s cracked, patched, rutted, ridged and grooved surface. And the related question: what utility, sidewalk and curb and gutter work should be done as part of project?
Preliminary plans for fixing Main Street’s surface were presented at public forum last week on Tuesday to owners and occupants of buildings along the four block stretch of street, and input was sought from them.
According to an informational handout presented at the information session, tentative plans call for resurfacing Main Street with asphalt, replacing street lights, sidewalks and the water main and laterals. In addition, instead of rain water running off on the street surface, a storm sewer would be built.
The project would attempt to maintain the existing amount of parking, recognizing that diagonal parking provides space for twice as many vehicles as parallel parking. An attempt would be made to maximize the sidewalk area and also delineate crosswalks and shorten crossing distances.
Aesthetics would be improved through the use of lighting, landscaping, plantings, amenities, sidewalk aesthetics and creation of gathering spaces.
During construction of the improvements, access to businesses would be maintained by staging the construction and leaving existing sidewalks in place until it is necessary to remove them and replace as quickly as possible. While new sidewalk is being poured, pedestrian crossing bridges will be utilized to continue access to stores.
“It’s a comprehensive project,” said Village Engineer Mike Stoffel of Ayres Associates. “We’d like to do it in [the summer of] 2011.” However, he added that the village is applying for an “Enhancement Grant” from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and because that process takes more time, the project may be put off until 2012. If that grant, which would supply the most funding to the village, is not possible, a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce would be sought which would supply a smaller percentage of the project’s cost but funding could be in place from 2011.
The cost of the project “is probably just over a million dollars,” said Stoffel, probably $1.2 or $1.25 million. The primary source of funding for the project will be from the downtown TIF district, with any grants providing a secondary source of funds. “The way the TIF was set up should be able to cover” most of the cost, said Stoffel.
In the past property owners have also been assessed for the cost of new sidewalk but have sometimes been given a period of several years to pay the cost.
Also presented at last week’s information session was a description of Baldwin’s “Downtown Facade Loan Program” which provides financial assistance to encourage property owners to improve commercial buildings. Funds can be used to renovate the fronts of businesses; add lighting and graphics and new doors; and for new signs, windows and awnings.
The program, through the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, provides loans of $5,000 to $30,000 for up to 15 years with a zero percent interest rate. The loan is secured by a mortgage on the property being improved.
In addition, additional funding for building front improvement is available from Baldwin’s downtown TIF district of up to 20% of the cost of eligible work.

Independence Day traffic fatality is third in SCC for 2010

A Burnsville, Minn. youth was killed in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 4 as the result of a one vehicle crash on County Trunk Highway CC in the Town of Star Prairie. The death is the third traffic fatality in St. Croix County in 2010.
According to the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, at 1:38 a.m. a 1999 Toyota Camry, driven by Alexander Daniel Maslow, 16, was northbound on CTH CC. The vehicle failed to negotiate the curve on CTH CC, just south of CTH H. The vehicle left the roadway and entered the ditch, striking an embankment and going airborne. The vehicle was overturned as it came to rest in the ditch. The scene is near Cedar Lake and west of the village of Star Prairie.
Although Maslow was wearing a seatbelt, he was nevertheless partially ejected from the vehicle. He was transported from the scene by Lifelink helicopter to Regions Medical Center in St. Paul. He died later Sunday.
Along with the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department, assisting at the scene were New Richmond Fire Department, New Richmond EMS and Star Prairie First Responders.
The Sheriff’s Department report said the crash remains under investigation.

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PIERCE COUNTY HERALD (ELLSWORTH): A dispute over a foreclosure is headed for trial. A jury trial is set for March 16-17, 2011, in a case brought by Wells Fargo Bank against Deborah and John Sherman, II, 434 Court St. North, Prescott. The bank claims the Shermans failed to make payments and now owe $384,236. According to the Shermans, they had a 10-year draw period on a line of credit but when they went to withdraw funds, they found the bank had reduced the credit limit based on a “substantial decline” in the value of their property. “The Shermans have never been behind on a payment and use the line of credit in the running of their business,” wrote their attorney as he challenged the foreclosure action. “Wells Fargo’s actions have caused my clients to be unable to run their business. Without the ability to run the business, payments on the first mortgage held by Wells Fargo and the payment on the line of credit is nearly impossible,” wrote attorney Philip Helgeson. “Wells Fargo has created this hardship.” The lawyer argued the bank isn’t entitled to foreclosure because it “created the reason for the foreclosure.”

HUDSON STAR~OBSERVER: After 25 years serving as a bailiff in St. Croix County Circuit Court, Richard “Dick” Kinney is retiring. The 78-year-old Kinney is finishing up his fourth career and figures it’s time to throttle back. “I though about going on until I was 80,” he said in a recent conversation in his Town of Hudson home, “but I’m going to hang it up now.” A factor in the decision is recent surgery to remove a lesion in his throat that may render his voice with permanent hoarseness. By and large, he has enjoyed his stint as one of the courthouse bailiffs. “Sometimes it’s boring because of the repetition, but most of the time it is interesting,” he said.

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (GLENWOOD CITY): The school board spent considerable time discussing the new athletic codes at its meeting on June 22. It also found out that the work on the new high school track will cost more and the board also gave its approval for a budget for the next school year that shows a quarter million dollar deficit. At question with the new athletic codes was an item that was brought up by member Harry Joles. Joles stated that part of the codes indicated that violations are cumulative for students from grades seven through 12. Joles noted that if a seventh grader violates the codes, that violation passes with that student into high school. “I would like to see codes from other schools in our conference,” Joles told other members of the board. “Our codes should mirror the WIAA codes and there are no WIAA codes for seventh or eighth grades,” Joles said. He continued, “I don’t see that as a level playing field. We need a lot of fairness in this and be comparable to other schools,” Joles concluded. High/Middle School Principal Kevin Sipple spoke about the committee that brought the codes to the board. “When we went into this we did not vision a code for middle school students. But the committee felt middle school students should be part of the code.” He went on to say to the board that an eighth grader in the second semester is much more responsible than a seventh grader in the fist semester. On a three to one vote, the board approved removing the cumulative lines from the athletic codes for the middle school students.

SUN-ARGUS (SPRING VALLEY): The Spring Valley, River Falls and Ellsworth Medical Clinics, a division of Western Wisconsin Medical Associates (WWMA), replaced its paper medical record with a new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to further enhance the quality and safety of the care of their patients receive. Going to an EMR doesn’t mean 100 percent of the paperwork has been eliminated, but many forms and documentation will be stored in a secure software program. “The Clinic will primarily use the EMR, but will have access to the paper chart for additional patient visits as needed,” said Julie Ducklow, Health Information and Ancillary Services Manager and project lead on the EMR. “Data from each record will be extracted and imported into the patient file so health history is preserved and maintained.” The launch of the EMR was official on April 19 but the planning and preparation has been ongoing for nearly eight years. Ducklow noted a memo from Chris Tashjian, MD and Group President dated April 20, 2002 when the discussion to move to an electronic medical record began. The memo stated that the “Physician leadership was adamant about the EMR workgroup proceeding cautiously.”

Storm dropped up to five inches of rain on Baldwin

The intersection of Newton Street and USH 6 was one area inundated by the heavy rainfall that took place Tuesday, June 15. Motorists had to carefully travel though the intersection where water was well over one foot deep.

An afternoon storm that hovered over Baldwin for more than an hour on Tuesday, June 15 dropped various amounts of rain on the village that may have ranged up to five inches.
The heaviest rainfall reports came from the northeast side of the Village, causing huge rushing rivers of water on streets and over grass ways that overwhelmed in some cases the Village’s storm sewers.
The huge amount of water also created havoc with some basements, as both rainwater came into houses through window wells and the failure of sump pumps to keep pace with seeping groundwater, and in some cases through sanitary sewer backups.
Amounts of rain varied greatly, even over short distances. From reports of up to five inches in Baldwin, mostly in the northeast and east side, other reports were up to four inches, three inches and at the village’s wastewater treatment plant, 2.85 inches.
Regardless of location in the village and the rainfall total, “that was a lot of rain at one time,” said Gary Newton, operator of Baldwin’s wastewater treatment plant, “and the most flooding.” He recalled a rainfall of six inches years before, but it was over a longer period of time and didn’t cause as much flooding.
Although there were areas flooded, the damage would have been worse in past years before completion of the major storm sewer pipe that diverts rainwater from the east and north side of town west of town along a large cement pipe along the railroad tracks. That project took place in 2002 and was funded with a Community Development Block Grant.

School board discusses senior volunteer program

Senior citizens have the opportunity to reduce their state tax obligations by volunteering at school districts, according to Superintendent Rusty Helland during the regular monthly meeting of the Baldwin-Woodville Board of Education Monday night.
The STEP Program (Senior Tax Exempt Program) was brought to the attention of Helland by district resident Carolyn Krieger, who requested that the school board consider offering the program at Baldwin-Woodville. Senior citizens who volunteer at the local schools earn five dollars of credit an hour toward tax reductions. An individual can earn up to $400 per year in tax reductions, according to Helland.
“I’ve spoken to a couple of districts that offer STEP,” commented Helland, “and they are positive about the program. Rice Lake has 60 volunteers who earn about $25,000 in tax reductions a year,” he added.
Currently at Baldwin-Woodville there are volunteers at Greenfield Elementary in the mentoring program, according to Principal Gary Hoffman.
Helland said that administrative costs would be funded through the community service fund.
The board decided to place STEP on the July agenda.
Supt. Helland informed the board that board policy requires that credits must be completed at Baldwin-Woodville in order for a student to be awarded a B-W diploma. He said that the State indicates that a school district can chose to a award diploma for an alternative program. The discussion came on the heels of last month’s denial of a request by a student to be awarded a B-W diploma for course work completed through an HSCD program at WITC. Students completing such a program are awarded high school diplomas upon completion of exams.
“I think a Baldwin-Woodville diploma should be earned by attending class at our school,” commented Board President Jeff Campbell.
The diploma policy was sent to the Policy Committee for review.
There was the first reading of three policies regarding student bullying or harassment.
Board member Jody Lindquist informed the board that one teacher has been hired for four-year-old kindergarten, which will begin September 1. More candidates are scheduled for interviews, she said. An open house will be held in the fall.
Principal Gary Hoffman said that 346 students are currently enrolled in Summer School with 21 teachers.
Athletic Director J.R. Dachel announced the Annual Athletic Fund Raiser which will be a golf tournament at Pheasant Hills on July 23. More teams are welcome.

Poetry Group meets every month

Members of the Poetry Group met on Tuesday evening, June 15. From left are Marilyn Lear, Pastor Carmen Peterson, Marie Bosman and Nancy Hable.

A local group of poetry lovers and poets meets every month under the auspices of Baldwin-Woodville Community Education.
Most of the regular members of the group come equipped with a poem or poems they enjoy sharing with other members of the group. But one member doesn’t bring poems written by others. She is a poet who has written poetry for decades and has volumes of poetry she has bound up in scrapbooks along with illustrations that match the poem’s topics.
The poet is Marie Bosman of Baldwin. She said of her poems: “Some of them are good and some are not. I’ve written a lot of them.”
On Tuesday, June 15—meeting at a private residence to benefit from air conditioning—instead of at B-W High School as is normal for the rest of the year, the topic for the poets was “animals.” Other members of the group brought with them poems by authors they enjoy and admire. Marie brought poems to read that she had written over the years. One was called “Kleptomania” and was about a bluebird. Another was “Then I Saw Jesus.”
Mrs. Bosman said she believes that she has a gift of writing poetry, that was given to her by God. “I try to write them with a meaning that represents something,” she said. Many of her poems have a religious theme. Mrs. Bosman also is part of a prison ministry and uses her poetry to communicate with prisoners. Prisoners also take lessons from her, and they send her their work which she then corrects.
Another member of the poetry group is Pastor Carmen Peterson who said Mrs. Bosman “has the ability to describe a feeling, a mood. She has the gift.”
Nancy Hable, another member of the group and a neighbor and friend of Mrs. Bosman’s, said she underwent surgery three years ago and Marie “brought me a poem. It was one of the nicest gifts—very special.”
And Nancy, a member of the Baldwin-Woodville Community Education Advisory Council, and Pastor Peterson, another member, believed a poetry group would have an appeal to some members of the community and would be a vehicle for Mrs. Bosman to showcase some of her poetry.
Mrs. Bosman has had a number of her poems published, some of them in her church denomination’s newspaper, “The Banner.”
Marie grew up north of Baldwin near Pine Lake. She was the daughter of Chris and Angeline TeGrootenhuis. She started writing poetry when she was a teenager and has continued over the decades.
Typically, there are six or seven members of the poetry group who are present. But on Tuesday, June 15 only four showed up, perhaps because of the big rain earlier in the day or just as likely because there are many opportunities for activities during the summer.
In addition to Pastor Peterson, Nancy Hable and Marie Bosman, other members of the group include Marilyn Lear, who was present Tuesday evening, as well as Mark Roycraft, Director of Community Education Jill Goodrich and a UW-River Falls student.

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Interesting items from
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PIERCE COUNTY HERALD: A River Falls teenager was charged earlier this month in Pierce County Circuit Court with felony second-degree reckless endangerment. Joseph T. Kobs, 17, is looking at a maximum penalty of $25,000 and/or ten years prison if found guilty. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance on the charge Monday of this week. According to court records, River Falls police and a Pierce County child protection worker went to interview the victim, a 13-year-old girl, in March. The victim explained that, three days earlier, she smelled marijuana coming from his room. She knew Kobs, who was 16 at the time, wasn’t supposed to be smoking pot and confronted him about it. She said Kobs became angry and threw a butcher knife at her. The knife flew past her head and hit the recliner behind her. She also said he was holding another knife with a shorter blade. The victim also said that, last November, Kobs became angry at her and held a knife approximately one inch from her neck. When police interviewed Kobs, he admitted to having an altercation with the victim and grabbing some knives. He said one of the knives slipped out of his hand and accidentally flew in the direction of the victim.

THE COURIER-WEDGE (DURAND): The Durand Junior and Senior High School were among the 145 Wisconsin schools that failed to show progress in reading in the 2009-10 school year. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools that receive Title 1 funding are evaluated on test results, graduation rates, test participation rates. The School must make yearly progress toward the government’s goal or face punishments that include letting parents transfer their children to another school district that has better performance, offer tutoring for students from low-income families and restructuring the way the schools operate. Schools that miss the bar face increasing stiff sanctions, including the potential loss of federal money. But due to the fact that this is the first year Durand has appeared on the list, they will not face any federal funding cutbacks. Even though Durand will not be facing cutbacks for not meeting standards, 89 Wisconsin schools were unable to make progress. 71 of those schools receive federal funding for students in poverty and makes them eligible for sanctions.

BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL: “Rural Development (USDA) has indicated they could fill the $300,000 gap in financing for the library,” MSA engineer Dave Rasmussen told the Webster Village Board at its meeting last week. Between grants, donations and the donation of the building, the village is about $300,000 short on funding for the projected cost of the library renovation. That’s where the USDA comes in. “It was a very positive meeting,” Rasmussen indicated. “With a $150,000 loan and a $150,000 grant, it fills that gap,” he said. “I’m fairly confident, through our fundraising efforts, we aren’t going to need that $150,000 loan.” Trustee Tim Malone said. “But perhaps we could use it as a ‘bridge’ loan until the dedicated donations come in.” Rasmussen said bidding could take place in July with bids to be opened in early August.

Kylee Kulow crowned new “Miss Baldwin”

Pictured above is the new Court for the Miss Baldwin Royalty. Queen Kylee Kulow is seated, center, standing from left to right are Gabby Liston, 4th Princess and Miss Congeniality; Tiana Ferrick, 2nd Princess; Zyanya Arce, 3rd Princess; and Tori Klingler, 1st Princess.

Good news, bad news at board meeting

The good news is that Baldwin’s wastewater treatment plant is operating as efficiently as possible.
In his annual report to the Village Board, Baldwin’s Plant Operator Gary Newton said the compliance/maintenance report of the plant got all As. “The plant’s working very well,” said Newton. “Everything is okay. It got straight As—the best grades possible.”
Newton gave his report at the monthly Village of Baldwin trustee meeting last Wednesday, June 9.
The bad news is that the Wisconsin DNR is proposing new rules for phosphorus discharge from municipal treatment plants, Newton said. The proposed rules, if adopted, “could cost Baldwin $3,000,000. It’s a hot discussion out there. All towns and villages are opposed to the rule.”
In addition, Newton said another proposed new rule would require chlorination of all municipal water sources. “It’s expensive and would take a new well house. Daily testing would also be necessary,” Newton said.
After the meeting Newton provided additional information. He said the west central area of Wisconsin generally has good water quality. So a general rule regarding chlorination that may be necessary in other parts of the state is not necessarily applicable here.
Newton also noted that there are trade-offs with chlorinating the water because although it may be necessary in some places where water quality is less than pristine, chlorine is also a known carcinogen which should be avoided if possible. Since our water quality is good it would be easy to avoid chlorinating water unless it is mandated by the state.
Also after the meeting, Newton said a new phosphorus rule would be expensive and “it would change the whole way we would run the [wastewater treatment] plant. Already the state has spent billions on phosphorus removal and it hasn’t changed anything.” Effluent from wastewater treatment plants is only a tiny part of the phosphorus problem and “until they go after every entity that emits phosphorus it won’t make a difference,” because treatment plant effluent is such a small part of the problem. At the state level “it’s a very big issue.”
In other action at the meeting:
—The board accepted the retirement of police officer Brad Copland with regret and thanks for his years of service to Baldwin.
—The board approved the purchase agreement for 3.517 acres of land in the village’s I-94 industrial park to J and C Trucking with closing on or before July 15. The board also approved a developer’s agreement that called for J and C Trucking to erect a building with an assessed value of at least $430,000 which will generate the taxes necessary to fund the tax incremental financing that generated the credits for the land purchase.
—The board approved annual liquor license renewals in the village.
—Village engineer Mike Stoffel reported that work on the two block stretch of Curtis Street from USH 63 to 12th Avenue begins Monday (June 14). He said boulevard trees had been cut down in anticipation of the work.

Fire destroyed shed, barn saved

Firefighters from United Fire and Rescue were called out about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to a fire on a farm is Hersey. The fire destroyed a shed containing baled hay and another shed attached to the barn will have to razed. However, the barn was saved and no animals were lost in the blaze.
The farm is owned by Bradley and Tina Midtling. Brad’s grandfather, Duane Midtling who was at the farm at the time, said a passerby spotted the fire and pounded on the door about 11:20 Saturday evening. Midtling then called the fire department.
Mutual aid was provided by Glenwood City and Spring Valley departments for both manpower and hauling water. The Menomonie Fire Department also provided manpower.
Firefighters were on the scene until about 6:00 a.m. Sunday.
Midtling said the suspected cause of the fire is spontaneous combustion in the stored hay. He added the shed had been rebuilt after being destroyed in a storm three years ago.

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CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS: Doug Doll recently did something he hadn’t done in nearly 30 years - and was hoping never to do again. He filled out an employment application. It’s been four weeks now since the final customer was served at the Doll House in Hammond under its namesake’s watch. Tuesday, May 11 was his final day running the bar and grill he’d owned for more than 20 years. Ten years ago business was good and the economy - both local and national - was strong. Doll then completed his dream - he quadrupled the size of his building, taking it from 1,000 square feet to the 50x80 feet it is now. During the days of Hammond’s housing boom, Doll served up to 40 lunches a day, many to construction workers in town for jobs. Happy Hour business was strong and both them and locals and the Doll House often featured live entertainment on the stage built for that purpose. When the recession hit, it hit Doll hard. “There’s been a lot of great years,” said Doll, who celebrated his 52nd birthday May 14. “Everybody knows what the recession has done. That’s killed a lot of things. That’s pretty much put me down. When Doll first bought the bar in 1990 (then called Norma’s) he was working at Andersen Windows. He held on to that job for two years before committing to the bar full-time. He also did snowplowing during the winter and at some point over the years acquired some tents he now rents out to others - both jobs he plans to continue. “I want to say thanks to all the community and all the customers over the years. The people in the community are wonderful. The schools have been great. They’ve helped out on different things."

RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: Rescuers used kayaks and a helicopter to find a 16-year-old kayaker, missing on the Kinnickinnic River for several hours overnight. Searchers reached Corey Pottebaum shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday morning after Minnesota State Patrol officers in a helicopter spotted a campfire along the river southwest of River Falls at about 2:40 a.m. About half an hour later members of the River Falls Fire Department walked in and found the missing teen. Pottebaum was uninjured and was reunited with his parents, according to a press release from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. “We had four people floating the river,” said River Falls Fire Chief Chris Cernohous. He said firefighters went out in four privately owned kayaks while other teams walked both sides of the river. At 11:26 p.m. Monday the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department received a call from the father of the 16-year-old Robert boy who had left Glen Park in a kayak, planning to travel the Kinnickinnic. The father had last spoken to his son shortly after 6 p.m. The boy intended to kayak for a while, then get off the river and call his dad for a ride home but the teen never called.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): A 64-year-old man who allegedly exposed himself to a teenaged girl during a busy night in downtown Osceola has been arrested for misdemeanor lewd and lascivious behavior and indecent exposure. Thomas William Ledo of Lake Elmo, Minn., is accused of standing naked in front of an office window at the corner of First Ave. and Cascade St./Hwy. 35. On Friday night while Osceola’s Mill Pond Park was populated by the Movies Under the Stars event and downtown bars and streets were busy with foot and vehicle traffic According to the probable cause arrest report, the juvenile girl who saw Ledo told police officers that he was completely naked and was masturbating. She described Ledo to police officers and told them he was looking back and forth, left to right, out the street level windows. She was fearful that he “saw her and would exit the building to ‘get her,’” the arrest report stated.

Richard and Genny Range are Parade Marshals

When you see Richard and Genny Range in Saturday’s June Bug Days parade, be sure to give them a vigorous wave. You see, after they told their children they were the Parade Marshals for this year’s parade, their children made them practice “wrist, wrist, elbow, elbow, pearls.” So you’ll be able to see if practice helps.
Richard and Genny are not native Baldwinites. But they have made the village their home for the past 21 years and have made important contributions to our community.
Richard was the administrator at the Madison, Minnesota Hospital in 1989 when the Hospital and nursing home there decided to consolidate and at the same time have only one administrator serve both institutions. So he interviewed for the Baldwin Community Memorial Hospital job and was hired here. Genny had worked at the Madison Hospital at the time too, and after the couple relocated to Baldwin she worked first at the Spring Valley Care Center and later as a surgical nurse at Baldwin Area Medical Center as our hospital was later named.
Richard related that it was a good move for them. Madison, Minnesota was shrinking in population, but Baldwin, as part of the Twin Cities metropolitian area, was a growing area.
Genny was born and raised in Story City, Iowa and lived there until the third grade when her family relocated to Fairmont, Minn. where she graduated from high school. She attended nursing school at Abbott Hospital in Minneapolis and worked there for a year after she received her RN degree.
Richard was raised in Fairmont, and then attended Augustana College, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he received his teaching degree. The two were married after Genny graduated from nursing school and moved to Madison where Richard got a job teaching seventh grade life sciences, seventh, eighth and ninth grade phy ed and ninth grade health. Genny worked first at Madison Lutheran Home and then at Madison Hospital from 1966 to 1989.
While Richard was teaching, the administrator at Madison Hospital told him that he should take up hospital administration and he went to graduate school at the University of Minnesota where he received his degree in 1971. He was at the Madison Hospital until he came to Baldwin in 1989.
While the administrator of BAMC, there were two additions to the facility. The clinic-hospital relationship was changed. Originally, the clinic was run by Ramsey Medical Center, now Regions Medical Center. Now Regions doesn’t run the clinic but many of the same providers are still present.
The Ranges both retired from Baldwin Area Medical Center in 2007 and since then have spent three to four months each winter in Arizona with seven or eight other couples they knew in Madison and not far from where a number of Baldwin couples spend the winter.
In the summertime the Ranges enjoy spending time in their motorhome at a campground at Clear Lake, Minnesota.
Genny enjoys reading, antiquing and going to garage sales, quilting and of course seeing her grandchildren. Richard likes to tinker in his shop with wood projects but says he needs more equipment for serious work. He refinishes furniture, assembles model planes and boats and likes to travel. He also enjoys attending athletic events. Richard also serves as the Economic Development Director for Baldwin.
The Ranges have three children, only one of which, their youngest, Pete went to school at B-W. He graduated with the class of 1991. He is married to Sara and lives at St. Michael, Minn. where he is a stay at home dad to their twin boys Jacob and Jackson, four, and daughter Madison, three. Sara is employed by Travelers Insurance.
Dawn is their eldest child. She is married to Claire Austin and they live in Red Wing, Minn. and both teach. They have three children: Daniel 20, Mike 18 and Aaron 12.
Daughter Pamela is married to Paul Traina who is a lawyer. They live in Stevenson Ranch, Calif. and enjoy following their daughters in their gymnastic pursuits. Their daughters are Morgan 17, Kacie 15 and Samantha 11. Morgan participated in the National Junior Olympics competition in Texas.
Richard’s parents Melvin and Rosemary Range live in Burnsville, Minn. Genny’s mother Ethel Omvig, who is 94, lives in Fairmont.
So loosen up those elbows and practice your wave and join with Richard and Genny’s relatives in giving them a hearty wave on Saturday.

June Bug Days celebration is June 10 - 13

June Bug Days is here! The festivities start off Thursday when the Blackhawk Hockey Brat Stand opens at 10 a.m. each day Thursday through Sunday. Spectrum Carnival opens at 5 p.m. as well as a Community BBQ at the American Legion (free will donations will be accepted). The Fire Departments Kickball tournament starts at 6. Tokyo Bushmen play from 5 to 6 and TC Cats from 7 to 10:30.
Friday is full of events. Pick up some bargains at the community garage sales from 8 to 4 p.m. The BAMC Hospital Auxiliary Luncheon is 11 to 1 at the American Legion. The carnival opens at 3 p.m. Baldwin Ambulance will host a Spaghetti Feed at the American Legion from 4 to 7 (free will donation). The Chamber Burger stand is open 4 to 8 p.m. and throughout the weekend. Kid’s Night by Pure Energy Entertainment begins at 5 p.m. at Mill Pond Park. There will also be pony and train rides. The Tractor Pull starts at 5:30 p.m. Business Team Dodgeball is 6 to 9 at the United Civic Center. Sweet Siren will play from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Saturday’s events start early with the 10K run at 7 a.m. and the 5K run/walk at 8:15 and the slow pitch softball tournament begins. The carnival opens at 11 a.m. Fantasy Coral Petting Zoo and Pony Rides will run from noon to 5 p.m. The ATV/Mini Rod Pull starts at 5.
The Miss Baldwin Queen’s Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. at the High School Auditorium Fireworks start at dusk, sponsored and displayed by Fireworks Outlet, Fireworks City and the Village of Baldwin, and Pop Rocks will perform from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Sunday features a Pancake Breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. at the American Legion (Free will offering). The Slow Pitch tournament continues. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wynveen Auto Body is sponsoring at Car Show as well as Rockman DJ Music.

June Bibeau to retire

After a total of 34 years working at First Bank of Baldwin (formerly First National Bank of Baldwin) June Bibeau is calling it quits and is planning to retire.
In her 32 years of full time employment and two years of part time work at the bank, “I worked for Louie, I worked for Dale and I worked for Jon,” said Bibeau. “That’s a really long time.”
In her retirement, she said “I get to quilt, I get to volunteer and work in the church up there.” The Bibeaus have moved to Birchwood and she has been communting to work recently. She added that she hopes to stay involved with some aspects of the Bank.
“We didn’t have computers when I started,” said June. “We had to balance the bank by hand. We still do somewhat but it’s easier now.”
Bibeau is a personal banker which involves consumer loans, student loans, opening accounts and planning trips. “Pretty much anything for individual customers,” she said . Prior to being a personal banker she did consumer lending and marketing for about 20 years. She started her bank career in bookkeeping and even did a stint as a teller for awhile.
“I like my job,” said June. “I enjoy people. That’s why I’ll stay involved.”
She will be honored for her years of service on Thursday, June 10 with an open house including refreshments at the Bank.

St. Croix Valley PRCA Rodeo June 18-19

The 2010 St. Croix Valley PRCA Rodeo will be held June 18 and 19.
The Rodeo will be held at the Fairplex in Glenwood City, home of the St. Croix County Fair. Bob Barnes, a member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, and the Barnes family are the rodeo producers. They have been entertaining Rodeo fans across America for 60 years. Many of their broncs and bulls have competed at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Professional cowboys and cowgirls will compete in seven timed and rough stock rodeo events including tiedown roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, bareback bronc riding, bull riding, barrel racing and team roping.
As one of the earliest sports in America, Rodeo relies on a person’s athletic ability to ride a bucking animal as well as roping and horsemanship skills. Local professional bull riders, Dean “Brunky” Brunkhorst and Jesse Krier sum up Rodeo as a great way for people to experience western lifestyle, and a unique sport that has remained unchanged for generations. For these two experienced cowboys the Rodeo has given them the opportunity to pursue their dream.
Meet the 2010 St. Croix Valley Rodeo Queen, Alexa Hoffman who along with Amanda Breitenfeldt, Miss Rodeo Wisconsin, will be attending both Friday and Saturday performances. These young women have a passion for Rodeo, and are dedicated to promoting and representing the sport. According to Alexa “ watching top caliber cowboys and cow girls compete on high quality stock makes Rodeo an exciting sport for spectators and contenders alike”.
Sign your junior wrangler up for Muttin Bustin’ both Friday and Saturday evenings. Children age 5 as of January 1st, and weighing less than 55 pounds can sign up at the rodeo, entries close at 6:30 p.m. Ten lucky riders will be drawn by lot to get the opportunity to ride sheep as part of the Rodeo. According to Rebecca Peterson, Glenwood City & Nicolas Cork New Richmond, 2009 winners, “Muttin Bustin is an awesome experience” – Becca summed up her ride “the sheep bucked and I stayed on” as being a truly memorable experience! Thanks to Bernard’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep and other local sponsors, all participants are winners!!
New this year, try your luck riding Cletus the Mechanical Bull and sign up to win a fabulous hand made, rodeo theme quilt, one to be given away each evening.
Friday, June 18 is Military Night as we recognize all past and present members of the armed forces. Individuals with a military ID or a membership card from the American Legion or VFW will receive a $2.00 discount on gate admission. Friday at 7 p.m., American Legion Post 80 Honor Guard of New Richmond Wisconsin will open the Rodeo in an Honor Ceremony that includes presenting and posting the colors, paying tribute to fallen soldiers, and acknowledging veterans from each branch of the military. Stay for the Hillbilly Mafia band immediately following Friday’s rodeo, and dance to your favorite classic and current county music. The Hillbilly Mafia is an experienced five-member band that has performed with national acts across the United States and abroad.
Saturday, June 19 is Family Night with activities beginning at 4 p.m. Attractions include Fantasy Corral along with Nickel, Boot & Calf Scrambles. The Corral will be an educational and engaging experience featuring a petting zoo of 15 different species of exotic animals ranging from buffaloes to camels depending on availability as well as pony rides provided for a charge. The Scrambles, great fun for junior wranglers, start at 4:30 p.m. Be sure to stay for the awesome professional fireworks display at 10 p.m., immediately following the rodeo performance.
Save $3 per rodeo ticket by purchasing in advance at Ormson’s Super Valu, Countryside Cooperative, and Hiawatha National Bank in Glenwood City, Angel’s Pet World in Hudson, Herdsman Feeds in Connorsville, Farm and Home in New Richmond, Mix 105 in Amery and at your local Dodge Chrysler Jeep Dealers: Bernards – New Richmond, Gilberts – Sand Creek: Luther – Hudson, Trail -Menomonie, or online at www.stcroixcofair.com. Adult admission at the gate is $13.00, $9.00 for children (5-12) and free for children under five years of age.

June Bug Days June 10-13

WOW! What a creation. The June Bug Jammer. Pictured is the new advertising vehicle of Baldwin June Bug Days. Now, before we get carried away - a little background information. Ronald Husby, in an effort to clean up around his property, spoke to Randy Myer about a camper he had on his property that he was looking to get rid of. Randy, in a fun sort of way, joked about it at last year’s wrap up meeting after June Bug Days - "Hey, we could drive it thru the parades."
The June Bug committee agreed it would be fun, but must be refurbished at no cost to the event. Randy and Jake, his son, went out with fellow committee member Rick Coltrain to investigate further. They installed a new battery, got it started, and brought it back to Value Implement. It sat there until this spring. The next stop of the Jammer was to Dan's Auto. The shop performed a tune up, fully donated. Next up, Wynveen Auto.
Randy and Rick gave Jeff full authority to do whatever he could create. As you can see - he did an awesome job. Amazing really. Again at no cost to the event.
So what will it be used for? It will be used to advertise the event - anything to keep everyone talking about our town celebration. It will be driven through the local parades for this purpose as well. Randy is looking forward to going through Roberts next month. During the event it will be a meeting place for the committee, a drop off point for all information as needed.
A couple big THANK YOUs need to go out to the following people: Ronald Husby for the Jammer - one man’s castoff is another man’s treasure! Dans Auto - making it run the way it should. Wynveen Auto - your imagination ran wild - it turned out AWESOME!
Look for the Jammer around town over the coming weeks. The posters should be out around town as well. Check out the candidates for this year’s Miss Baldwin. Fifteen are running, the largest group ever.
Lots of preparation for Baldwin’s big weekend. Watch here for more information.

Sauve fired for “gross misconduct”

Long-time Spring Valley school District educator, coach and athletic director Brad Sauve was fired in April from his positions for what the district in a report labeled “gross misconduct.”
A report prepared by the district, which was released on Friday, May 21 in response to an open records request by the Eau Claire-based Leader-Telegram, said Sauve and school nurse Traci Lien engaged in sexual relations in Sauve’s office in the summe rof 2009, according to the report.
The Leader-Telegram reported that Sauve was placed on suspension earlier this year and then fired in April. Lien resigned from her position on March 8.
According to the records prepared by the district, Sauve and Lien met with Middle and High School Principal Gretchen Cipriano on January 18 and told her of their affair. They provided more information in a later meeting.
Sauve said he disarmed the security codes at the Middle/High School and met with Lien two times in the summer of 2009. According to the report, school was not in session at the time and school officials believe the two were the only ones in the building at the time.
Sauve had been employed by the district since 1980. Lien since 2006.

Friday morning crash kills one in Pierce County

A 24 year old man was killed in a two vehicle crash in Pierce County early Friday Morning, May 21.
Andrew J. Lindberg, of River Falls, was driving north on STH 65 between Ellsworth and River Falls when the 1998 Plymouth Neon he was driving crossed the center line and struck an on-coming vehicle. The crash happened just past 4:00 a.m. Lindberg was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other persons were transported from the scene by ambulance with injuries: Kimberly G. Lindberg, 24, of River Falls, was a passenger in the Neon; Gretchen J. Lange, 44, of Ellsworth was the driver of the second vehicle involved in the crash.

Memorial Day Program

~ May 31~

9 a.m. Short Service, Rifle Salute, and Taps at Woodside Cemetery
9:15 a.m. Short Service, Rifle Salute, and Taps at Peace Lutheran Cemetery
9:30 a.m. Memorial Day Service at Baldwin Cemetery
• Posting of the Colors
• Commander Scott Husby Opening Remarks
• Chaplain’s Prayer by Aage Duch
• National Anthem sung by Kris Hoffman and daughter Aaby Wellens
• History of Memorial Day - Jodi Wolski
• Poem “Freedoms Colors” by the Jr. Auxiliary
• Laying of the Wreath, Legion Auxiliary
• Guest Speaker, Milford Simonds, Vietnam Veteran
• Poem “In Flanders Field” - Mary Simonds
• “God Bless America” sung by Kris and Aaby
• Salute to the Dead by Post 240 Honor Guard
• Taps by Greg Loock
Refreshments will be served at the Legion Hall afterward along with Military Displays by Tom Vandeberg, D-day dioramas by Don Nelson and Gary Hoffman.

News from the Exchanges
Interesting items from
surrounding communities

MONDOVI HERALD-NEWS: A Mondovi Middle School student has been named one of the best wheelchair basketball athletes in his age group in the nation. Mondovi sixth grader Collin Evans was recently named a First Team All-Tournament player on his wheelchair basketball team after the team competed in Denver, Colo., last month. This marks the fourth year Evans has played on the team. Evans is the son of Rob and Dawn Evans of Mondovi, is a member of the Courage Center’s 2009-2010 Rolling Rowdie’s Wheelchair basketball team that participated in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s (NWBA) annual basketball tournament April 10-11.

BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL: Burnett County Sheriff Dean Roland traveled to Washington last week to ask Congress to increase investments in early childhood care and education as an effective approach to reducing crime. Sheriff Roland testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, the panel with spending authority over the major federally-funded early childhood development programs. Wisconsin Congressman David Obey chairs the committee. “Working in the criminal justice profession has taught me that it’s much easier to teach a boy than to change a man,” Sheriff Roland said. “The research shows that getting kids involved in early learning can cut the risk that they’ll commit crimes as adults and make our communities safer in the long run.”

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (GLENWOOD CITY): One 18-year-old and one 17-year-old accused of shooting and killing three horses in Dunn County last November have waived their right to a preliminary hearing. Brock Flatland, Wheeler, and Trenton Hollister, Dallas, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court May 11. Judge Rod Smeltzer questioned both young men individually about their desire to waive the preliminary hearing. When Flatland and Hollister said they were willing to do so, Judge Smeltzer said he would use the facts from the criminal complaint to establish probable cause and scheduled an arraignment in the matter on June 29. Both young men face three felony counts of mistreatment of animals and causing death along with one misdemeanor count of intentional mistreating animals. Flatland and Hollister also were charged with five misdemeanor counts of mistreating animals in Barron County in connection with the same incident when five cows were shot.

THE SUN (OSCEOLA): If One Companies developer Scott Goltz has his way, a 10,000 square foot public library will be the centerpiece of a fully reinvigorated block of commercial properties on River Street. In recent months, Goltz and his company, which is currently negotiating with the Osceola Medical Center on a potential purchase of the 70,000 square foot former hospital and L.O. Simenstand Nursing Care Unit building, has met with Osceola Public Library officials to try to entice the library to relocate into the facility. To make that happen, Goltz has floated the idea of selling the easternmost 10,000 square feet of space to the Osceola Public Library for $1. Goltz said the library would be an excellent fit for the type of businesses the company is hoping to attract as tenants in the refurbished building.

Schumacher elected president of EDC

Patti Robertson received a memento from Tom Schumacher for her service as president of St. Croix EDC from May 2009 to May 2010. She also served on t he board of directors from 2004 – 2010.

St. Croix Economic Development Corporation (EDC) held its annual meeting on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. Baldwin resident Tom Schumacher was elected to a one-year term as president. Schumacher is a business attorney with Bakke Norman S.C. He replaces Patti Robertson who completed her term as president. She will continue to serve on the executive committee.
Ryan Sicard (Somerset) was elected first vice president. He is employed by the Somerset School District and serves on the Somerset village board and the St. Croix County board of supervisors.
Roger Humphrey was elected second vice president. He resides in Woodville and owns Humphrey Engineering and MarketGraphics, both located in Hudson.
Marian Furlong was elected corporate secretary-treasurer. She is the president and chief operating officer of Hudson Hospital and Clinics.
Three directors completed their final terms on the board – Patti Robertson, Willard Moeri, and Jerry Brown.
Three incumbent directors were re-elected – Dawn Hukai, Ryan Sicard, and Tom Schumacher. All will serve a 3-year term. Hukai is an Associate Dean of the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at UW-River Falls. She is also an accounting professor at CBE.
Four new directors were elected to the board. They include Michelle Erdman, Greg Gerard, Paul Schwebach, and Scott Wagner. Michelle resides in Baldwin and is a paralegal at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. Gerard is a business consultant. Both Schwebach and Wagner are bankers – Paul is employed as the branch manager at AnchorBank in River Falls and Scott is a business banking manager with Bremer Bank.
At the conclusion of the annual meeting the departing directors were presented with plaques as a token of appreciation for their service to St. Croix EDC. Patti Robertson also received a memento for her service as EDC president from May 2009 to May 2010.

$30,000 donated to band programs
Community Ed going strong since 1995

The Baldwin-Woodville School District is the beneficiary of a $30,000 anonymous donation, which was announced at the board meeting Monday night. Viking Middle School Principal Jon Hinzman said the donation is in memory of Clifford Solstad. $15,000 of the donation is designated for the middle school band and another $15,000 is for the high school band, he said.
Community Education
For the past fifteen years, community education has been a partnership between the Baldwin-Woodville school district and the community it serves. Since 1995 the advisory council of Community Education has been offering a wide variety of classes for everyone in the district, according to Jill Goodrich in her report to the school board. Goodrich has been the director of Community Ed for the past four years.
The mission of Community Ed states in part, “A community school is a place used freely and informally for all aspects of living and learning, maximizing the use of publicly owned facilities.”
“We view community ed as a bridge between the community and the schools,” she said. “The programs allow for residents of all ages to utilize the school facilities.”
Goodrich explained that she puts together the class listing booklet each fall and spring. Typically there are 40 to 50 classes offered each session, she said.
“My rough formula for each session is one-third new classes, one-third requests from past sessions, and one-third on-going classes,” said Goodrich.
For the summer session, classes are listed on the new Community Ed web site, which can be accessed through the district’s web site she said. “That’s something new for us,” Goodrich added.
Some businesses and organizations run classes through the program, according to Goodrich. For instance, the EMT classes and Happy Feet Dance Studio classes are offered through Community Ed. Community Ed is a non-profit organization according to the mission statement.
All contracts were approved at the meeting. Administrative contracts increased 3.8 percent total package, teacher contracts increased 3.9 percent total package for 2009-2010 and 4 percent for 2010-2011 school year, and support contracts for 2010-2011 were approved.
Superintendent Rusty Helland explained that all employees are now on the same health insurance. As part of the administrative contract, all insurance costs are paid by the district. For the teacher and support staff, 93 percent of the insurance costs are paid by the district and the employee pays seven percent.
Board President Jeff Campbell said that the negotiations committee tried to take into account the increase in health insurance costs for support staff and adjust wages accordingly.
Campbell commented that a goal of the board to include Health Reimbursement Accounts in the teacher contracts was achieved. Helland agreed, explaining that all teachers hired after July 1, 2010 will be included in this benefit and any hired since 2006 may opt in at this time. Currently, teachers have two options: an annual stipend or regular health insurance. The new employee benefit is $2,000 annually toward the HRA for the first 15 years of service and $2,500 a year after that. The HRA will phase in over time to cover all teachers. The fixed cost of long-term debt to the district is beneficial and decreases its post-employment liability by nearly one-third, said Campbell.
Following a closed session the board approved an agreement with the teachers’ union regarding the new 4-year-old kindergarten program. Helland explained that due to the high numbers of students and only two community sites, part of the Jr. Hawks facility located at Greenfield Elementary may be used for 4-K. The agreement stipulates that a certified 4-K teacher at the Jr. Hawks facility would not be included in the BW teacher master contract. That teacher would be considered part of the community-based program and compensated as such, Helland said.
A motion to approve courses in agriculture which would qualify as science credits was approved.
A motion to increase school breakfast by ten cents and lunch by fifteen cents was approved.
High School Principal Eric Russell announced that scholarships to seniors were awarded last week. $30,000 of local money and $120,000 in national money was awarded to Baldwin-Woodville seniors.
Russell also announced that Adam Christianson and Evan Lebo won Exemplary Solo at state competition, which is the highest award at the state level.

Village Board approves contract for trash pick-up with Murtha Sanitation

The Baldwin Village Board at their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 12 approved a five year contract for residential refuse and recycling with Murtha Sanitation.
Two other bidders for the contract were Waste Management, which has had the contract for the previous five years, and Veolia, which services some commercial accounts locally.
The Board reviewed a comparison sheet prepared by a review team that looked at the three bids. There were point totals listed, with Veolia scoring 59 points, Waste Management 58 and Murtha Sanitation 42. However, John Murtha of Murtha Sanitation noted that although his firm received less points in several areas it was only because he assumed the village would be familiar with his company and he didn’t go into detail. For instance, the bid asked for a contact person and Murtha said he or his son are the contact persons.
After Murtha’s presentation and discussion, Village President Don McGee commented that “they’re all really comparable.” He added that the village hasn’t had any problems with Waste Management and “it’s not an easy decision.” The prices are nearly identical, within a couple dollars per quarter.
A motion was made and seconded to award the contract to Murtha Sanitation and that passed. Trustee Claire Stein voted no because, he said, Waste Management did a good job and he was concerned about problems during the change over.

Laura Kerr is new Syttende Mai Queen

Laura Kerr was crowned Syttende Mai Queen at the Queen’s Coronation held Saturday night in Woodville. She is the daughter of Carey and Brenda Kerr. Samantha Albrightson, daughter of Doug and Andrea Albrightson, was crowned 1st Princess. Princesses were Brandi Escoe, daughter of Joseph and Theresa Escoe; Maggie Gadbois, daughter of Greg and Liz Gadbois; and Kelsey Lyons, daughter of Ed and Barb Lyons.

Restaurant adds Indian cuisine to menu

Surinder Manak displays a plate of Indian food, Tandoor Murg, which is a spring chicken marinated in a special sauce, blended with garlic and herbs.

It’s still known as Ray’s and retains a truck stop atmosphere, but since April of this year, the restaurant now offers a variety of Indian foods.
Owners Surinder and Parminder Manak bought Ray’s Southside Restaurant and service station in October 2004. Originally the Manaks leased the the restaurant while operating the service station. In October of 2009 the Manaks also took over operation of the restaurant.
Surinder is originally from Punjab State in northern India. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1981 and moved to Minneapolis in 1982, where he worked as a chef. He eventually opened three different restaurants in Minneapolis, Fair Oaks in 1990, Bombay Palace in 1992 and Sher-e-Punjab in 1995.
In October of 2004 the Manaks sold the restaurants and moved to New Richmond and purchased Rays.
“We have a variety of American and Indian food,” Surinder noted. “The American food is most popular. We do serve 10-12 orders of Indian food each day. Indian vegetarian is our specialty.”
Ray’s Indian Mini Restaurant is located at 501 Highway 63, at the southeast intersection with I-94.

News from the Exchanges

Interesting items from

surrounding communities

AMERY FREE PRESS: Polk County Sheriff Tim Moore shocked his weekly press conference on Monday, May 10 by announcing that he would not seek re-election to the post of sheriff of Polk County. In making the announcement Moore’s press release states, “I announce today that I will not seek re-election for the Office of Sheriff of Polk County. I have enjoyed serving the citizens of Polk county for the last five years as Sheriff and have spent the last 29 years in the law enforcement field in many different capacities. It has been said that if you love what you do, it is never really a job. I agree with that.” The sheriff went on to say, “While I have enjoyed this position I have never liked the political side or the negativity of campaigns. Everything is considered fair in political races and that is unfortunate. Campaigns should focus on a candidate’s qualifications and professional achievements in their career, not on unconfirmed accusations, mistruths, rumors and blatant lies. In these difficult economic times, much scrutiny has been placed on budgets and financial stability of departments and offices. I am proud to say that the Polk County sheriff’s office has always respected the budget process and the fundamental concept that we operate with your money and I have been under-budgeted expenses for the past four years to a combined total of $1.2 million.” In speaking with Moore informally, the sheriff told reporters that personal health played a part in his decision noting that the job is at least a 60 hour a week job and over.

TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER (GLENWOOD CITY): At the Village Board Monday Police Chief Dan Wellumson informed the board that another couple from Boyceville lost money to internet forgery. The couple, whom he did not identify, lost $4,270 by sending money grams to a Las Vegas address. Wellumson said that the couple did receive checks from whoever got the money but, as he said before, the checks were no good. Wellumson told the village board that the couple had to take money from their retirement fund to cover the loss. Wellumson noted that this is not the first time local residents have been swindled and said that Boyceville residents have lost $15,000 in fraud. “We have been warning people about this type of thing,” Wellumson told the board. Board member Bill Sempf indicated to the meeting that he had heard about a scam that is going around where a person receives a call that they have an arrest warrant out on them because they did not appear for jury duty. The call then requests personal information about the person.

NEW RICHMOND NEWS: A New Richmond High School graduate is working to clean up the Gulf of Mexico after the recent oil spill disaster. Patrick Keilen who graduated in 1987, is part of the crew on an anti-pollution ship which is dispatched to environmental disasters in the region. According to Keilen’s father Don Keilen, of rural Deer Park, the environmental responder has been stationed along the California coast for years. “He’s been on the water all his life,” Don Keilen said noting that his son worked on Mississippi River barges for a number of years prior to getting into the environmental responder business. Keilen, who lives on a sailboat in California, was dispatched to the Gulf on Sunday, May 2, to help deal with the British Petroleum leak that threatens to wreak havoc on the region for months and years to come. Keilen’s brother Dan said Patrick is the captain of a smaller boat that is launched off a larger ship. The smaller vessel helps to lay oil clean-up booms in the water.

BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL: A committee organized last October to raise funds to keep the Grantsburg swimming pool operating has raised more than $25,000 to pay for current repairs and help fund maintenance. Grantsburg area individuals and businesses have provided more than $20,000 in donations and pledges. Adding the approximately $8,000 in labor donated by an anonymous Grantsburg contractor, and the first donation of $5,00 from the Grantsburg School District brings total contributions in cash, pledges and labor to $33,000. The school uses the pool and lifeguards to teach swimming lessons during its annual summer school program.