Leader
W E D N E S D AY M AY 5 , 2 0 1 0 • V O L U M E 7 7 • N O . 3 7 • 2 S E C T I O N S • S E C T I O N A
INTER-COUNTY
WE EKEN D WA TCH • Cancer walks @ Frederic, Luck • Shanty Town fundraiser @ Balsam Lake • Benefit concert @ Luck • Bird walk @ SCFalls • Trail work with Scouts @ Luck • “Magic of Broadway” @ Centuria See Coming events, stories
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Obey will not run again After 40 years as U.S. Congressman representing District 7
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a press conference today (Wednesday) Congressman Dave Obey announced he will not seek another term. See the Leader’s Web site for full story: www.the-leader.net
Local officers to attend funeral
Maplewood Officer Joe Bergeron loses life in line of duty Page 2
Hubler will not run
After 26 years in state Legislature, she chooses to step down Page 3
Vigil brings awareness to child abuse issue Page 36
Knife used in robbery Dick’s Fresh Market in Amery held up; robber Tasered Page 3
Conrow sentenced
Siren man receives one year in prison for attempted sexual assault of child Page 3
Jim Olson is Citizen of the Year Currents, page 2
BL board examines waterfront zoning
Taser purchase on hold Page 5
Senator here Monday U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold to hold area listening sessions Page 2
Dresser signs court agreement with Osceola
Adopts statute for no-smoking law Page 13
Grantsburg Village approves move for newly formed church Brodie gets his bird back
OUTDOORS Page 25
Harmon commercial building on Hwy. 70 will house the New Hope Lutheran Church Page 4 www.the-leader.net
Todd Schweim of St. Croix Falls holds up an S6 streamer rocket that is similar to the ones he’ll be using at the 2010 World Spacemodeling Championships in Irig, Serbia, Aug. 21-28. The rocket, called Big Red, is one Schweim launches just for fun. A fundraiser is planned at the Chateaux St. Croix Winery on Sunday, May 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. – Photo by Marty Seeger
Rocket man
St. Croix Falls resident taking rocketry to new heights as he heads to world competition by Marty Seeger ST. CROIX FALLS – Since the age of 15, St. Croix Falls resident, Todd Schweim has been fascinated with rocketry. “The first rocket launch I saw was at a demo launch at a local shopping mall. I walked out of the mall and my mouth fell open as I watched model after model launch, arc over and eject a parachute. I was hooked!” he said. His love of math and science grew as well, and Schweim suddenly found interest in a school subject he really had no interest in at all. “The only way I learned anything about math and science is that I found something that I wanted to do with it, and I still remember sitting there thinking ‘wow, how high did that go, and going to my teacher, and my teacher going, ‘that’s trigonometry,’” Schweim said. Through basic trigonometry, you can find out exactly how high a rocket will go, and through his teens and twenties,
Schweim experimented for fun with different types of rockets, and learned some of the science behind it. But after getting married and spending much of his time with family and raising children, he let rocketry go for a while. It wasn’t until about six years ago, when his kids went off to college that he started getting serious again about launching rockets. “I began to fly more and more rockets and to look for people who were also interested in the hobby. I found an organization called the National Association of Rocketry. The NAR promotes rocketry as a safe, fun, educational hobby. Within the NAR, I found a local club to build and fly with,” Schweim said. In 2006, Schweim started working toward a goal of earning a spot on the U.S. Spacemodeling Team, and after a solid year of engineering, modeling and practice, his goal became a reality. In 2009 Schweim
See Rocketry, page 36
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