W A S H B U R N C O U N T Y
Register wcregist eronline.com
INSIDE
June 11, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 Vol. 125, No. 43 • Shell Lake, Wis.
We e ke nd w atch
• Benefit jazz concert @ Shell Lake • Tri-County Dairy Breakfast @ Spooner • Railroad Heritage Festival @ Spooner •Master jazz concert @ Shell Lake • See calendar on page 6
75¢
A special thank-you
Fun fest: free entertainment for families Page 11
Traveling back to the Renaissance Page 2
Cullen Jacobson didn’t know how to express his thanks to Shonda Anderson in words, so he showed how he feels with a hug at the Shell Lake Primary School 4K graduation that was held Thursday, June 5. It was as hard for Anderson to say goodbye as it was for him. She was finishing out her first year of teaching as he finished out his first year of school. More photos on page 13. – Photos by Larry Samson
A preliminary look at the 2015 budget
Danielle H. Moe | Staff writer SHELL LAKE — Washburn County staff, committee members and elected officials have begun the 2015 budgeting process. On Thursday, June 5, the county finance committee had the first of many discussions about the 2015 budget. Mike Keefe, finance director and administrative coordinator, reviewed a preliminary levy worksheet with those in attendance. County board members assigned
Summer prep sports coverage Pages 15-17
BREAKERS
to the finance committee are Thomas Mackie, chair and District 5 representative; L.H. “Skip” Fielder, vice chair and District 2; Steven Waggoner, District 3; Anthony Baier, District 18; and Michael Bobbin, District 1. “We are limited to what the net new construction percentage is, and we won’t know the new percentage for the 2015 budget until Aug. 15 of
See County budget, page 7
Spooner has new superintendent, principal Got an idea for a story? Email us @ wcregister@centurytel.net
STATEWIDE - Hundreds of same-sex couples got married in Dane and Milwaukee counties during the weekend following a federal court ruling that struck down Wisconsin’s gay marriage ban. After federal District Judge Barbara Crabb issued her ruling on Friday night, June 6, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed an emergency motion to try to stop counties from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, saying Crabb hadn’t yet officially blocked Wisconsin’s marriage ban. However, that did not stop people from lining up at Madison’s City-County Building to get married outside on the front steps. Tina Cady and Cody Houston each wore white wedding dresses when they got married on Saturday morning. Cady said she couldn’t believe it happened. “People have just come down to be part of the moment who we don’t know and who don’t know anyone here. It’s almost giddy, the atmosphere, for everyone,” Cady said. Cady said they knew they wanted to get to the county clerk’s office as soon as possible when they heard about the ruling. “We want to have a religious ceremony with our family, but in other states, it’s like somewhere usually between a day or a couple (of) days and then it gets stayed. So, we wanted to make sure we could get in while we still had the chance,” Cady said. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonnel, who made the call to start issuing marriage licenses, said he had hoped Crabb would instruct clerks on how to proceed. But McDonnel said once he read Crabb’s ruling, it was an easy call. “She left it to us to decide, and to me, it was obvious what we should do,” McDonnel said. Van Hollen had a decidedly different take on the implications the ruling as he spelled out in his emergency court motion. Whatever happens in Crabb’s courtroom, Van Hollen promised an appeal. Shawn Johnson | Wisconsin Public Radio
Find us on Facebook facebook.com/ washburncountyregister
SPOONER - The Spooner Area School District Board of Education approved the hiring of two administrative personnel during their Monday, June 9, meeting. Michelle Schwab was hired as the new superintendent of the Spooner Area School District and Brad Larrabee was hired as the new principal of the Spooner Middle School. Schwab will be stepping into the shoes of Donald Haack who has served as superintendent for the past 17 years. In other actions the board heard information and recommendations on the one-to-one technology initiative. This recommendation will be further discussed in the Act 32 discussion with
possible action at the special board meeting scheduled on Monday, June 23. The recommendation is for 400 Chromebooks to be used at the middle school and the high school. The board approved spending $11,520 for ground cover under the new playground equipment that will be going in at SES. It accepted donations of steel from T&T Tool and ice cream from McDonald’s; accepted the resignation of Matt Lucius as head baseball coach; and approved hiring Tony Bell as middle school teacher and Marly Hanson as high school social studies teacher. - Danielle H. Moe with information from SASD
City funds Monday night movies Danielle H. Moe | Staff writer SHELL LAKE - The Shell Lake City Council revisited a recommendation to reconsider the Monday night movie event for 2014 at their regular monthly meeting on Monday, June 9. An event created to bring together families and create community in the city of Shell Lake has received much scrutiny over the past four months. The event became endangered after losing its organization, having an increase in criminal activity occur in connection with the event and city departments incurring costs to host the event. Terry Leckel, council chair and Ward 2 alderperson, reported that after looking into the legalities of showing movies, he had found that the event is not in compliance with current licensing
regulations. Mike Andrews, Ward 1, stated that an attorney advised him the city council could be the party held responsible if found delinquent. Andrews also reviewed options for the city to abide by licensing regulations and estimated, on the high end, a total cost of $2,700. Ken Schultz, Ward 2, stated that $1,000 had been raised to help fund the event for this year, leaving $1,700. Council members discussed issues including the previously visited topics and funding the event for this year but being left with a bigger sum to fund when the city had other responsibilities. The council approved a motion for the cost above what can be raised for the Monday night
T h e Reg i st e r i s a co o p e rat i ve - o w n e d news pa per
See Movies, page 7