Students help feed hungry children
School holiday concerts
See Currents, page 15
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WED., DECEMBER 26, 2012 VOL. 80 • NO. 19 • 2 SECTIONS • $1
A weekly newspaper serving Northwest Wisconsin since 1933
Burnett supervisors have another option on the table in ongoing search for best way to handle emergency dispatch PAGE 5
Chemical spill
Toxic cloud mixture at Sanmina in Turtle Lake leads to local evacuation and injuries PAGE 3
Caucuses set
Most villages hold caucuses in January; all village presidents elected next April PAGE 3
Grinch strikes
HFH’s tool trailer stolen from build site in Grantsburg PAGE 2
Restructuring?
Plan for Polk County committee restructuring goes before county board in January PAGE 6
Blizz girls go big over Chippewa Falls INSIDE THIS SECTION
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SPORTS
20 12 moments
One more look
A review of the bigger stories and trends of the past year
by Greg Marsten Leader staff writer LEADER LAND — The first half of 2012 saw lots of unexpected happenings locally, as well as some interesting and unusual trends, from elections to law enforcement changes to the drama and heartbreaking tragedy of fires. The year 2012 sadly proved to be one to remember when it came to blazes.
Flames of change
2012
Notables
e
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Part I: January to June See Currents for 2012 Moments; a summary in words and photos and her mother, Shelli Maier, a returning Iraq military veteran. The tragedy drew a wellspring of sympathy and was among the most covered stories in the region, for good reason.
The elements and Mother Nature were no match for several dramatic blazes and fires, especially the Siren School District, which not only ended the school year early, it Police chiefs, postmaster shuffles forced dramatic rehab and cleaning efforts There was a literal changing of the guard to allow the school to open in time this fall. in many local comAlthough reconstrucmunities, both in the tion continues still on post offices and in the old gymnasium, quite a few police forcing some sports stations. to play at Webster. The past year saw In February, firenew police chiefs in fighters from several Frederic, Luck, Cendepartments fought a turia, Balsam Lake large fire at the Docks and soon in St. Croix Unlimited building Falls, with the recent on Hwy. 70 in Siren. retirement of Jack Another notable Rydeen. blaze was a June fire In a pleasant trend in downtown St. that also proves how Croix Falls, where a well-managed even vintage, gingerbreadthe smallest of deladen Victorian home partments can be, alwas dramatically lost most all of the new in a midday fire chiefs were proacross the street from moted from within: a hospital and EMT Dale Johnson, Fredoffice. The blaze eric; Monty Tretsven, brought attention to Luck; and John an exceedingly comDuBois, Centuria. mon issue in rural Balsam Lake’s new Wisconsin: firefight- No fires in 2012 were more tragic than the chief, Tommy ers who commute March house fire between Dresser and Osceola Thompson, was the during the day, leav- that claimed the lives of Osceola High School lone exception but ing some fire corps sophomore Makayla Corbin and her mother, has a caveat, as he with just a handful of Shelli Maier, a returning Iraq military veteran. was hired late last daytime members. year. He was the first Mutual aid from sev- Capt. Steve Smith of the Polk County Sheriff’s hire in a department eral local depart- Department is shown answering questions of a that had been comTwin Cities TV reporter at the scene. Photo by ments helped keep pletely dismantled in Greg Marsten the fire from spreadthe months prior, ing to other homes, due to a pile of conbut the reality of emergencies occurring troversies and infighting. during work hours became a recruiting Red ink at the U.S. Postal Service and a drive for the city of St. Croix Falls. growing appetite for e-mail, texting and onThe blaze indirectly led to the city adline activity meant the agency gave use-itdressing their growing fleet of vehicles or-lose-it early retirement incentives to without drivers or firefighters, and the high-ranking local postmasters, but the blaze led to a restructuring of long-range agency created a drop-dead date this sumplans for the department, with a long-term mer that meant there was a flurry of retirevision of a multifunction primary fire truck ments over a several-week period. The that requires less manpower. story drew little attention, compared to the Several fundraising efforts were held by overall deficit and restructuring of the valley organizations for the family, but the USPS, which required congressional attenhome remains a vacant lot still. tion several times. But no blazes were more tragic than the While the postmasters may have March house fire between Dresser and changed, several small local post offices Osceola that claimed the lives of Osceola High School sophomore Makayla Corbin See Notables of 2012, page 4
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Deaths
Irene Daisy Rasmussen Walter E. Andren Harold A. Hokanson Gary Allen Sederlund Patricia June Duncan Route Obituaries 15B
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INSIDE Letters to the editor 9A Sports 11-17A Outdoors 18A Town Talk 6-7B Coming events Back of B Letters from home 3B Cold turkey 3B Just for laughs 3B Assorted chocolates 4B Copyright © 2012
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