• WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 • VOLUME 83 • NO. 29 • 2 SECTIONS
Longtime Frederic librarian stepping aside
Bringing daylight to the dark
PAGE 10
Leader
CURRENTS FEATURE
INTER-COUNTY
Legion post reaches out to younger veterans Meet and greet this Saturday PAGE 27 Readership 13,000
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SPRING BY RECYCLING
Required remediation Parents should take responsibility for their child’s lack of success PAGE 6
Fatal crash off Hwy. 46 21-year-old Boyceville man loses control at high rate of speed PAGE 3
Ten years federal prison Man who robbed banks at Danbury, two other locations, sentenced PAGE 3
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Search warrants yield four arrests A tree in Webster brings spring cheer. The homeowners are using their tree as a place to display items that had to be removed from the cemetery. – Photo by Becky Strabel
FIRST READ STATEWIDE - Poverty is on the rise in Wisconsin, according to a new analysis from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Applied Population Laboratory. In 2014, the most recent data in the study, the poverty rate reached 13 percent, the highest since 1984. The rate increased 20 percent in just five years between 2010 and 2014. Malia Jones, a social epidemiologist at the UW laboratory, said wage inequality is a likely driving force causing poverty rates to go up. “Even though we’re seeing the economy expand overall, we are not seeing big improvements in the lower end,” she said. While 13 percent of state residents live in poverty, Wisconsin’s child poverty rate grew to 18 percent. Jones said food and housing assistance are important indicators for youth living below the poverty line. “Kids who live in poverty, having that exposure early in life, it can produce changes in brain development and behavior,” she said. The data showed strong racial disparities as well. While the poverty rate for whites was 11 percent, the rate for blacks was 39 percent and 28 percent for Latinos. “In Wisconsin, the gap between blacks and whites in terms of poverty rates is the 49th worst in the nation,” Jones said. Jones said solving Wisconsin’s poverty problem will take serious economic growth, especially on the lower end of the wage spectrum. The researchers used U.S. Census data to compare five-year periods of 2005 to 2009 to 2010 to 2014. About 738,000 Wisconsinites were living in poverty in 2014 compared to 605,000 in the previous five-year period. None of the state’s 72 counties saw a significant decrease in povery. - Parth Shah | WPR News ••• GRANTSBURG - Find answers to voter questions at a voter clinic Tuesday, March 15, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Crex Convention Center in Grantsburg. County clerk Wanda Hinrichs and Grantsburg Village clerk Jennifer Zeiler will talk about the Wisconsin voter photo ID law and what documents you need to register to vote, vote at the polls and how to get a free photo ID. Watch videos on what to expect at the polls and practice voting on an electronic kiosk or on paper ballots. Burnett County residents can register to vote at the clinic by bringing a photo ID and a proof-of-residency document such as a payroll stub, bank institution statement or utility bill with their current name and address. Refreshments provided. The Crex Convention Center is located at 429 Hwy. 70, Grantsburg. This clinic was organized by the League of Women Voters Upper St. Croix Valley. For more information about the Wisconsin League of Women Voters go to lwvwi.org or find them on Facebook. – submitted
Rural Cushing sweep yields meth, weed, guns and stolen property PAGE 5
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