W A S H B U R N C O U N T Y
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INSIDE
Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Vol. 126, No. 16 • Shell Lake, Wis.
We e ke nd w atch
Holiday bazaar @ Shell Lake Holiday Saturday @ Shell Lake Love Lite celebration @ Shell Lake Santa at LFRC @ Spooner • See calendar on page 6 for details
75¢
Fashion statement
Dec. 3, 2014
Washburn County’s lucky hunters Page 12
Thanksgiving at Lakeland Manor Page 2
Caitlyn Fielding appears to be making a fashion statement with her frosty eyelash liner at the third-annual Tozer Turkey Trot Race. The minus 7 degree weather did not keep her from running the race on Thanksgiving morning. More photos on page 10. - Photo by Larry Samson
DNR will see final round of public input on deer management plan Academic awards presented Page 9
BREAKERS
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STATEWIDE - The nine-day gun deer season that wrapped up this weekend got off to a slow start, according to preliminary figures from the Department of Natural Resources. Those figures show a total of 90,281 deer registered for this year’s opening weekend, compared to 110,797 in 2013 — a decline of 18.5 percent. The harvest of bucks was down 9 percent, and antlerless deer down 27 percent. Up north, Ashland, Forest, Iron, Price , Sawyer and Vilas counties had a decrease of more than 40 percent. In central Wisconsin, Chippewa County was down 30 percent, and Marathon County was down 26 percent. DNR Conservation Warden Chelsey Collette said that rain and dense fog played a big part in the slow start. “The weather always plays a huge role,” said Collette. “We had, obviously, some crazy weather this year in this area of the state. Rain, snow, fog — we had a little bit of everything, so that’s going to play a big role in people’s harvest success.” Harvest figures for the entire season are not yet available. - Glen Moberg | WPR News ••• SPOONER — Darkness to Light, to end child sexual abuse, training is set for Thursday, Dec. 11, 6-8:30 p.m., at the Lakeland Family Resource Center, 314 Elm St., Spooner. This training introduces adults to Darkness to Light’s five-step program concentrating on preventing, recognizing and reacting responsibly to child sexual abuse. The training brings awareness about child sexual abuse into the community and empowers adults to take action against this very serious issue. Registration is required by Monday, Dec. 8. Please call 715-6354669 to reserve a spot. This event, including training books, is free. For more information contact LFRC at lakelandfamrc@gmail.com or call 715-635-4669. — from LFRC
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Meeting next Wednesday in Spooner for Washburn County residents Rich Kremer | WPR News STATEWIDE - The Department of Natural Resources is holding a final round of Deer Advisory Council meetings this month in every county to hear how the public wants to manage their deer populations. DNR big game ecologist Kevin Wallenfang said that participation has been low, but that they hope the December meetings will pick up. “Basically, these objectives are … do they want to see more deer, fewer deer, or are they happy
with the number that are out there? And once that objective is set, it’ll be approved by the Natural Resources Board this winter and we will set quotas for the next three years based on that population objective,” said Wallenfang. Wallenfang said DNR biologists will provide data to aid the councils, which will make county recommendations. Final deer hunting quotas will still be set by the Natural Resources Board. There is an online survey state residents can take about deer populations. Editor’s note: The Washburn County meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Spooner Ag Research Station on Hwy. 70.
A decade later
Chai Vang’s shooting remains a historic tragedy Greg Marsten | Staff writer
TOWN OF METEOR, SAWYER COUNTY – Nov. 21 marked a decade since the now 46-yearold Chai Soua Vang’s rifle shots rang across the woods of the Town of Meteor, shooting and killing six men and women and injuring two more while hunting in the woods of Sawyer County. The Vang shooting remains one of the most troubling homicide cases ever to occur in the Wisconsin North Woods, as cultures and personalities collided in a barrage of gunfire, approximately 20 shots from Vang’s Saiga leading to the tragic deaths of six people and seriously injuring two more in the incident, which 10 months later led to a weeklong trial in Hayward.
The background and the victims
The entire incident took place on 400-acre plot of land in the Town of Meteor, in rural Sawyer County, at property co-owned by victims Robert Crotteau and Terry Willers, who had organized the deer gun opening weekend annual hunting event, with a group of about 15 people. While the events of that day are disputed still, it all started when Vang went hunting with two friends, wandered onto the 400-acre plot and began hunting. It ended with a volley of gunfire. When the dust settled, six men and women had died, with two more injured: Robert Crotteau, 42, died from a gunshot wound to the back. He was the owner of a Rice Lake-based concrete business. He was married with three children, including another victim, Joey Crotteau, 20, who also worked at the family business. The younger Crotteau died from four
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