Wcr | oct 1 | 2014

Page 1

W A S H B U R N   C O U N T Y

Wednesday, October 1, 2014 Vol. 126, No. 7 • Shell Lake, Wis.

Register

We e ke nd w atch • Oktoberfest @ Shell Lake • Cranberry Fest @ Stone Lake See calendar on page 6 for details

wcregist eronline.co m

INSIDE

Oct. 1, 2014

75¢

The main attraction

October is National Co-op Month Page 2

A send-off for the National Guard’s 950th Pages 2 and 11

Soccer, volleyball and football wrap-up Pages 13-16

BREAKERS

Got an idea for a story? Email us @ news@wcregisteronline.com

SHELL LAKE — The third-annual Oktoberfest will be held Saturday, Oct. 4, 6-11 p.m., in the Shell Lake Arts Center Darrell Aderman Auditorium. This fall event will provide sights, smells and sounds of autumn. Area businesses planning to participate are Bashaw Valley Greenhouse, Becky’s Food and Spirits, Clover Meadow Winery/White Wolf Distillery, Gordy’s, G B Sales – Leinenkugel’s, Klopps 5th Ave. Bar, Leamon Mercantile, Lee’s Beverage, Organized Chaos/Candy Corner, Preferred Distributors LLC, Scoop ‘N’ Brew, Shell Lake State Bank, Superior Beverages, Thru the Woods Cafe’, Vitality Village: BeautiControl Spa, Helping Hands and Sole Reflexology, and Yoder Amish Style Bakery. Sponsors of the Tommy Bentz Rock Band are CenturyLink, Shell Lake State Bank, Indianhead Medical Center and Skinner Funeral Home. The arts center is located at 802 First St., Shell Lake. — from SLAC/SLCC ••• October 5-11 is National Newspaper Week, with the theme The Foundation of Vibrant Communities. The Inter-County Cooperative Publishing Association publishes two weekly newspapers, the Washburn County Register and the Inter-County Leader, the only weekly, cooperative-owned newspapers in the United States. See story on page 2.

Luther is a registered golden Lab that is going be a main attraction at the Whitetails Unlimited Banquet held by the Northern Wisconsin Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited on Thursday, Oct. 9, at the Shell Lake Arts Center. Luther comes from the Gary Nelson Kennels in St. Croix Falls and comes with a $200 veterinary package. — Photo by Larry Samson

Operating deficit on the clock

Days of Spooner School operating in red are numbered

Danielle H. Moe | Staff writer SPOONER — The Spooner Area School District’s annual meeting on Monday, Sept. 22, took an interesting turn when school board President Robert Hoellen was named meeting chair, against the majority vote of district members present. It was not until after Shannon Grindell, business manager, finished the auditor’s and treasurer’s reports that several community members spoke out about their vote not being accounted for. Michelle Schwab, superintendent, and Hoellen referenced the rule book and acknowledged the mistake. Nominations for meeting chair were recalled with Hoellen and Bill Stewart, a district resident, named. A roll-call vote was taken that resulted in Stewart being elected to chair the meeting, 40 to 12.

The budget “We’re looking at approximately a $1.3 million deficit. Our fund balance is still healthy, our fund balance is at 33 percent for the year,” said Grindell. Grindell believes the district has been operating on a negative spending deficit for the last two years but the district’s days of operating deficit are numbered. According to Grindell board policy states the district can only spend the fund balance down to $3 million and the district’s fund balance is at $5.2 million, leaving about $2.2 million to go. “Once that threshold is hit, a decision would have to be made about going to referendum or review of spending habits as a district,” said Grindell. The 2014-15 total levy was approved at $14.467 million, a .065-percent increase from last year. “I would just clarify that putting this amount (levy amount) on there (the budget) does not change the operating deficit that’s happening,” said Schwab. School districts are limited on See Deficit, page 4

County’s unemployment hits prerecession lows

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/ washburncountyregister

Danielle H. Moe | Staff writer SHELL LAKE – The unemployment rate in Washburn County hit its lowest last month since 2008. According to data released by the Department of Workforce Development on Wednesday, Sept. 24, the county’s unemployment rate in Aug. was down to 5.5-percent a decrease from July’s 6.2 percent. The rate ws also 6.2 percent in August 2013. Burnett County’s rate didn’t budge from last August to this August, at 6.3, the only county

to do so. The unemployment rate in Douglas County moved by fractions from last year, down to 5.6 percent this August. Washburn County’s unemployment rate is ranked at No. 27 of the 72 counties. Neighboring Douglas County came in close behind at 26 while Sawyer County, at 6, has one of the highest unemployment rates. DWD data for August shows all counties, except Burnett, with decreasing unemployment rates.

T h e Regi st e r i s a co o p e rat i ve - o w n e d news pa per


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.