May 9, 2012 by Vilas County News-Review

Judged as Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Newspaper Association 2012 Large Weekly Division

Section A

VILAS COUNTY

NEWS-REVIEW EAGLE RIVER, WI 54521 • (715) 479-4421 • vcnewsreview.com

VOL. 127, NO. 8

$1.25

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

Walleye bag limits adjusted on 27 lakes in four counties ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has adjusted sport angler daily walleye bag limits on 250 lakes speared by Chippewa bands in the Ceded Territory, including 27 lakes in Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties. “This year’s early spring gave us the opportunity to make final adjustments in bag limits for the first time ever before the opening of fishing season,” said DNR

Secretary Cathy Stepp. “Fishing is the cornerstone of the North’s tourism industry. People are eager to get this information as early as possible.” The DNR made the announcement for the revised bag limits last Wednesday, May 2, and the opening weekend of fishing season was May 5 and 6. The early warm spring weather followed by a cool spell led to a long spearing season. Tribal spearers harvested 32,308 walleye from 184 different lakes, through April 30. Tribal declarations

totaled 54,507 walleye. Of the roughly 900 walleye lakes in the Ceded Territory, 165 now have a daily sport angler bag limit of three, 83 have a daily bag limit of two, one has a daily bag limit of one, and one lake is catch-and-release only. All other lakes have a daily bag limit of five unless otherwise listed in the 2012-’13 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations. Ten lakes in Oneida County were revised from the twofish walleye bag limit to a three-fish limit, including six lakes on the Three Lakes

Chain: Big Stone, Fourmile, Island, Laurel, Little Fork and Long. The other lakes are Julia, Moen, Rhinelander Flowage and Sevenmile. In Vilas County, six lakes went from a two-fish limit to a three-fish walleye bag limit, including Annabelle, Black Oak, Crab, Cranberry, High and North Turtle. Big St. Germain dropped from a three-fish to a two-fish limit. In Forest County, six lakes went from a two-fish to a three-fish limit, including Crane, Howell, Mole, PickerTo SPEARING, Pg. 6A

Runners headed for the finish line at Riverview Park in last year’s Journeys Marathon. —STAFF PHOTO

Journeys set this Saturday ___________

BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

LAKES ALIVE — The lakes and rivers of the North Woods are teaming with wildlife as May brings warmer temperatures to spring, the season of new life. Above: A common loon stretches its wings after repeated dives for perch in deep water. Left: An American bald eagle dives from a white birch branch along the shores of the Three Lakes Chain. Below: Two drake mallards hang out near nest sites. —Staff Photos By KURT KRUEGER

Nearly 800 runners from across the Midwest have already registered for the 16th annual Journeys Marathon on a scenic racecourse through Vilas County this Saturday, May 12. “We are at 790 runners right now, which is up probably by more than 50 from last year,” said Kim Emerson, events coordinator for the sponsoring Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Vistors Center. Last year’s Journeys — including the marathon, halfmarathon, power walk and 5kilometer (5K) events — attracted 907 participants. Emerson said event volun-

teers still are needed for setup Friday and Saturday mornings; at the registration tent at Northland Pines High School Saturday morning; at the finish line Saturday afternoon from 12:30 to 4 p.m. to hand out medals and blankets to runners; and for cleanup from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. “It’s the volunteers that help make this event a success,” said Emerson. “This event takes over 250 volunteers to get it to go. Hopefully, there are still a few people out there who would give me a call at the chamber who are To JOURNEYS, Pg. 2A

Dr. Moe reinstated following suspension ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

An Eagle River doctor who was suspended by the state’s Medical Examining Board April 18 has been reinstated, though he is restricted on medications he can prescribe. Dr. Terrence Moe, who saw his license suspended by the board less than a month ago for keeping insufficient physical examination documents and continuing to prescribe opiate pain medications to a patient despite indications the patient was demonstrating symptoms of drug addiction, was reinstated May 1. A Medical Examining Board (MEB) investigation into Moe’s private practice began after the death of the

Eagle poisoning case at landfill is resolved An agreement has been reached between the Department of Justice and Jennifer M. Primich, 37, of Phelps, in connection with the accidental poisoning of bald eagles April 9, 2011, at a landfill near Eagle River. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin John W. Vaudreuil made the announcement Wednesday a little more than a year after the incident at the Highway

G Landfill. Seven bald eagles were found comatose and near death near the landfill April 9, 2011. An investigation conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) established that the eagles were poisoned accidentally after feeding on the remains of To EAGLES, Pg. 2A

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Lady Jays still on top of NLC n The Three Lakes girls softball team improved to 8-0 in conference play. Pg. 11A

DR. TERRENCE MOE

patient Feb. 24, 2010, from what was later determined to be a drug overdose. The suspension also came To MOE, Pg. 2A

Purple loosestrife control project to employ beetles to eat invasive ___________ SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-REVIEW

___________

A multi-partner community effort has been launched to begin controlling purple loosestrife plants in the Eagle River area. The project will employ Galerucella beetles as biological control agents to reduce the growth and reproduction of plants established in the area. An invasive wetland and shoreline plant with tall attractive flowers, purple loosestrife is a persistent perennial that crowds out native vegetation and creates monocultures in areas where it becomes established, according to Ted Ritter, Vilas County invasive species coordinator. Ritter said a single To LOOSESTRIFE, Pg. 3A

Vilas County invasive species coordinator Ted Ritter (right) and a Northland Pines student

John Timmons pull purple loosestrife roots from an area property. —Contributed Photo

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEATHER CORNER

NEWS

Note: Precipitation amounts are recorded at 8 a.m. for the previous 24 hours.

LAST SEVEN DAYS Hi Wed., May 2 ..............76 Thurs., May 3 ............74 Fri., May 4 .................70 Sat., May 5 ................68 Sun., May 6 ...............48 Mon., May 7 ..............67 Tues., May 8 ..............57

ONE YEAR AGO

Lo Prec. 45 .35R 52 .39R 44 .05R 42 .03R 46 .50R 41 1.21R 43 None

Hi Mon., May 2 ..............36 Tues., May 3 ..............51 Wed., May 4 ..............62 Thurs., May 5 ............52 Fri., May 6 .................55 Sat., May 7 ................71 Sun., May 8 ...............65

Lo 29 24 22 26 38 25 25

Prec. .04R Tr.S None None None None None

LAST YEAR

The average daily high at this time last year for the next seven days was 60, while the average overnight low was 42. There was rain on five days totaling 1.75 inches.

COMPARISON

Days precipitation recorded since April 1, 2012, 17 days; 2011, 17 days. Average high of past 30 days, 2012, 57; 2011, 50. Average low of past 30 days, 2012, 32; 2011, 27.

FOREST CONDITIONS

With warmer temperatures and more than an inch of rain Sunday and Monday, the forest floor is starting to greenup. The wildfire danger is reduced as a result.

STREAMS AND LAKES

Lakes and streams are busy now that the game fishing season has started. Anglers report some green weeds are being located in shallow water.

OUTLOOK

Wednesday will be partly cloudy, with a high of 61 and a low of 36. Thursday there could be morning frost, but then sunny and nice, with a high of 67 and a low of 30. Friday late-evening showers are predicted, with a high of 70 and a low of 43. Saturday early showers are forecast with partly cloudy skies, with a high of 64 and a low of 45. Sunday should be mostly sunny, with a high of 69 and a low of 40.

(PORTIONS OF THE WEATHER CORNER ARE THROUGH THE COURTESY OF KEVIN BREWSTER, EAGLE RIVER and NEWSWATCH 12 METEOROLOGIST.)

Relay kickoff event set The American Cancer Society (ACS) Northwoods Relay For Life will hold its 2012 kickoff Tuesday, May 8, beginning at 6 p.m. with the program to start at 6:30 p.m. at Eagle Waters Resort, located at 3958 Eagle Waters Road in Eagle River. The public is welcome to attend to learn the new ideas and innovations planned for this year's event. There will be an opportunity for participants to register their teams and sign up to serve as Relay volunteers. The 2012 Northwoods

Relay For Life will be held at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River Friday and Saturday, Aug. 3 and 4. Refreshments and prizes will be offered to give the kickoff a festive atmosphere. Highlight of the evening will be the introduction of this year's honorary survivor and caregiver, according to Relay For Life Chairwoman Kitty Sookochoff. For more information about the kickoff, to register a team or serve as a volunteer, contact Sookochoff at (715) 617-2974.

Journeys: willing to help out. We do have a T-shirt for the volunteers.” If people are interested in volunteering, they can call Emerson at the chamber office at (715) 479-6400. The event will kick off with an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner and race registration/packet pickup at Northland Pines High School Friday, May 11, from 5 to 9 p.m. Dinner will be served from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 12 and free for children 5 years old and younger. “We encourage everyone to come out to enjoy the spaghetti dinner and to welcome all the runners to the Eagle River community,” said Emerson. Runners also can register Saturday morning at the high school from 6 to 8 a.m. Buses will transport runners from the school to the starting line at 6:45 a.m. for the full marathon and at 8:30 a.m. for the half-marathon. Parking will be available at the school. The 5K will start and finish at Riverview Park with registration and packet pickup at the park between 9 and 9:45 a.m. Racing will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday with the full marathon start, followed by the half-marathon at 9:15 a.m. and the 5K at 10 a.m. A free kids fun run put on by the Vilas County Health Department and the Northwoods Children’s Museum will take place at various times between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The event is for youths 12 and younger. The racecourse The 26.2-mile full marathon will begin on Highway K near Boulder Junction at White Birch Village.

Eagles:

FROM PAGE 1A

Emerson said there are no changes in this year’s race routes. Marathon runners will follow Highway K to East Buckatabon Lake Road to Hunter Lake Road to Boot Lake Road to Highway G and into the city of Eagle River on Adams Road. The 13.1-mile halfmarathon and power walk will start on Highway K just one-half block east of East Buckatabon Lake Road. The 5K race will begin in Riverview Park in Eagle River. People can register for the 5K Friday night at the school or Saturday morning at the park. All races are open to runners and walkers. The park, just south of the bridge in Eagle River, will be full of activity Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as runners cross the finish line. There will be music, food and beverages. An awards ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the park. Last year’s winner of the 26.2-mile marathon in the men’s division was Aaron Foote of Niagara Falls, N.Y. Foote set the course record with his time of 2 hours, 37 minutes and 49 seconds. Finishing first in the female division of the full marathon was Tara Argall of Prairie du Sac in 3:16:40. The community is welcome to celebrate the successes of Journeys Marathon runners during a postrace party Saturday at Eagle River Inn & Resort, located at 5260 Highway 70 W. The evening will get started with a hot buffet from 5 to 8 p.m. ($10 for adults, $6 for children) and music from 7 to 11 p.m. Emerson said there is no charge for attending just the dance.

Moe: doctor frustrated with medical board FROM PAGE 1A more than three years after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raided the doctor’s office Oct. 31, 2008, over alleged opiate issues, confiscating his computers and interrogating him for nine hours. Criminal charges were never filed in the case. But on April 18, 2012, the MEB issued an Order of Summary Suspension, saying that the 62-year-old family practice physician had been suspended. “It is imperatively required and necessary to suspend respondent’s (Moe’s) license to practice medicine and surgery immediately to protect the public health, safety and welfare,” wrote an MEB board member in the summary. Moe, who also is an emergency room physician for Ministry Eagle River Memorial Hospital, was able to go back to work last week after an Interim Agreement and Order was signed May 1. Pending a final decision, Moe voluntarily agreed to the following: • He will not prescribe any Schedule I or II medications, as well as tramadol, buprenorphine and tapentadol. • He may continue his general office practice duties (at Country Docs) as a physician and as an emergency room physician, subject to the prescribing limitations noted above. • He is only permitted to prescribe the medications referenced above in the emergency department where it is necessary to exercise reasonable care for the patient and no other licensed prescriber is available to administer or prescribe the needed medication. • He is only permitted to prescribe the medications referenced above while on call at Ministry Eagle River Memorial Hospital where it is necessary to exercise reasonable care for the patient and no other licensed prescriber is available to administer or prescribe the needed medication. Any such prescriptions shall be co-signed by another available physician within 24 hours. Ministry Health Care made the following media statement regarding Moe’s reinstatement: “Effective May 3, 2012, Dr. Terrence Moe’s privileges to practice at Ministry Eagle River Memorial Hospital have been reinstated in accordance with the Medical Examining Board’s provisions. “Dr. Moe is an independent physician who also has staff privileges at other Ministry Health Care hospitals. He was not involved in patient care at any Ministry facility during the time his license was suspended, but has returned to practice following reinstate-

ment last week.” While Moe said he’s happy to be back to work, he is also frustrated that the DEA and MEB are not working with the medical community when it comes to pain management and the use of opiates such as morphine, Percocet and Oxycontin. “At first, I was relieved when law enforcement and the DEA turned my case over to the MEB,” said Moe. “I recall thinking that once my peers became involved, I would be expeditiously exonerated. Much to my chagrin, it appears the MEB review has little to do with my medical review; rather, their agenda is to justify their intent to prosecute. They have no medical training, yet they dissemble about poor documentation that does not meet their standard of good medical care.” According to the Order of Summary Suspension issued by the MED, Moe began prescribing Oxycontin for the patient, who had an old rib

injury, June 20, 2005. The MEB noted that during the course of treatment for the patient, Moe’s medical charting was incomplete, including documentation of physical examinations. The MEB noted treatment of the patient for rib and back pain continued from 2006 through 2010. According to the summary, Feb. 19, 2010, the 46-year-old patient telephoned Moe’s office and advised the doctor that he would be leaving the state for a month and that the 80 mg of Oxycontin was working “perfect.” Moe did not see the patient on that date, but gave him two prescriptions for Oxycontin, with one of them to be filled in March 2010. On Feb. 24, 2010, the patient died from a drug overdose. Moe said the question remains: “Why are the DEA and MEB reticent in working with the medical community? “I suspect that they would have perceived it is impolitic to take a stand against the use

of long-term opiates, in direct opposition to progressive efforts at increasing awareness of pain,” said Moe. “By pursuing high-volume prescribers, they appear to be culling the herd of undesirables, without consideration of whether the prescribers are providing a legitimate service; furthermore, they have the audacity to deny that their actions have a ‘chilling effect’ on the willingness of other physicians to prescribe opiates.” Moe is also frustrated with how the MEB handled the situation. “I feel the board’s original offer of a reprimand and court costs, by itself unacceptable, followed by a request for summary judgment to suspend is utterly outrageous,” said Moe. “I do not acknowledge any wrongdoing. I do admit to a level of naiveté and ignorance and would appreciate further direction as it pertains to continuing medication education.”

Pines plans mock crash Northland Pines High School, along with area emergency agencies, will conduct a mock car crash starting at 12:45 p.m. Friday, May 11, on Pleasure Island Road at the south entrance of the parking lot in front of the high school.

CONDOS FOR SALE AT NORTHERNAIRE RESORT & SPA Owner Financing Available

(on some units)

FROM PAGE 1A

euthanized animals. Primich had sent the remains to the landfill on behalf of the Vilas County Humane Society. On June 1, 2011, after weeks of intensive care, the eagles, three adults and four juveniles, all recovered from the euthanasia toxin and were successfully released back to the wild at Antigo by Marge Gibson and her staff at the Raptor Education Group. Given the serious, but accidental, poisoning of the eagles, the Department of Justice

agreed that an appropriate resolution of this case was for Primich to complete one hour of community outreach per month over the next 12 months. The outreach will be performed at county humane societies and will address the secondary mortality effects of using euthanasia drugs. Vaudreuil stated that the resolution of the incident was the result of a joint investigation between the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Great views! Great prices! Great times!

For additional information, contact David Jensen (715) 848-8009. whitewaterwausau@yahoo.com

OF WAUSAU

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

NEWS

It’s almost time to play ball at Oldenburg ___________ BY KEN ANDERSON NEWS CORRESPONDENT

___________

Northland Pines students planted purple loosestrife roots in pots, wrapped them with mesh nets and placed them in shallow pools where they will grow to large plants. It is hoped that the bio-con-

trol project will raise approximately 50,000 Galerucella beetles that can be used to feed on other invasive purple loosestrife plants in the area. —Contributed Photos

Loosestrife: beetles will be used in project FROM PAGE 1A mature plant can produce millions of seeds annually which may lay dormant for several years, then germinate rather suddenly resulting in large populations. “Not only are native plants lost, so are the birds, insects, reptiles, fur-bearing animals and whatever other life depends on native wetland plants for food and shelter,” said Ritter. The community project involves the partnership of the Eagle River Chain of Lakes Association (ERCLA), students from Northland Pines High School (NPHS), and the Vilas County Land and Water Conservation, Mapping, Forestry and Highway departments. During late summer of 2011, Ritter solicited the help of the ERCLA to search the 70 shoreline miles of the Chain of Lakes for plants while they were in bloom. The Vilas County Mapping Department used the data to create a map identifying areas with high concentration of plants on portions of Voyageur and Catfish lakes, the thoroughfare between them and two islands in Catfish Lake. Other scattered sites in roadside ditches and lowlands throughout the Eagle River area are also known to contain purple loosestrife. Sixteen NPHS students dug purple loosestrife roots last Wednesday as part of the school’s Earth Day recognition. The roots were then taken to the Vilas County Forestry and Highway departments grounds on Highway 45 North where the students planted them in 50 pots. They also were fertilized, wrapped with fine mesh nets and placed in shallow pools of water where they will grow to large plants. Volunteers will collect 500

Softball will be played at Oldenburg Sports Park on Highway G this summer after lease agreements between the softball association and the county Forestry & Land Committee were approved last week. Softball spokesperson Pat Weber said there were only a few questions that needed to be discussed, including alcohol consumption by adult softball players. “Players bring coolers of beer and I see it as being no different than a picnic at Eagle Lake Park,” Weber told the committee. “We’re not selling it, but if we had a tournament and wanted to sell beer, we would have to get the proper license.” Mike Keiffer, representing the youth soccer association, was concerned about alcohol consumption at the park. “Drinking was my concern,” he told the committee. “We have 180 soccer kids running around out there.” But Weber said he felt there wouldn’t be a big problem since most softball games don’t start until the evening, usually around 7 p.m. County Corporation Counsel Martha Milanowski said she felt both groups could work it out. “I don’t want to see the county enforce alcohol time limits, but if it becomes an issue, I’m sure we’ll hear about it,” she told the committee. “On the issue of concealed carry, we’ll need to post the building, but we can’t prohibit concealed carry on the grounds.” Weber suggested the county keep the Little League baseball field at the fairgrounds for a while since there are a number of young teams with limited fields. Leases will be presented to the county board for approval in June and, with the lights for the ball field set to be placed, it will be “Play ball” at Oldenburg Sports Park yet this summer. ATV meeting The committee set a tentative date of Friday, May 18, for a joint meeting of the county Highway and Forestry committees, along with representatives of the Phelps Town Board, to act on a request to establish an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) route on Highway A to the Forest County line. The meeting will be at the courthouse at 9 a.m. Supervisor Ron DeBruyne

Galerucella beetles in early June from plants where a biocontrol project has been under way the past several years. Ten beetles will be released in each netted pot and are expected to reproduce to approximately 50,000 beetles in six weeks. “The beetle depends entirely on purple loosestrife plants for survival and reproduction,” explained Ritter. “Having the ability to fly only short distances to other nearby host plants, the insects have proven not to be pests to other plants, animals or humans.” The beetles will have eaten most of the potted loose-

strife plants by mid-July, according to Ritter. Volunteers will then transport the netted pots and beetles to sites where the beetles will be released to control populations of purple loosestrife. The beetles are expected to burrow into the root crowns of the plants during fall, according to Ritter, then awaken next spring to continue reproducing and eating the leaves of their host plants. “The damage caused to the plants by both larval stage and adult beetles prevent flowering and seed production,” said Ritter. “It also reduces the ability of the

distributed the results of a yearlong study of ATV use and spending done by UW-Extension in Green Lake County using a former railroad grade in Green, Lafayette and Iowa counties. “A railroad in Monroe wanted to again use part of the grade to operate trains, putting tracks back on the grade of this 60-mile-long trail,” DeBruyne said. “They did 730 face-to-face interviews with actual trail users. Average age of users was mid-40s, so we’re not talking about kids.” The study found individual nonlocal trail users spent between $175 and $220 per trip, with spending exceeding $13 million into the local economy over 12 months, supporting almost 190 local jobs and contributing almost $3 million in employee compensation for local residents. “Phelps and every community need help in these economic times,” said DeBruyne. Timber sales Timber sale bids were opened for 16 tracts of county forestland, with the committee accepting the high bids for each tract. The sale with the highest bid was a large aspen sale in the Pickerel Creek area. Futurewood, a Hayward firm, submitted a bid of $60,258. The total value of the sales was $332,776. Successful bidders have two years to complete the cutting after a sale contract is approved by the Forestry Department staff. April revenue from harvesting was $24,120, bringing the total revenue for the year to $73,528. VILAS COUNTY

NEWS-REVIEW Published weekly by Eagle River Publications Inc. Eagle River, WI 54521 vcnewsreview.com Consolidation of the Vilas County News, the Eagle River Review and The Three Lakes News Publication #659480 Member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the National Newspaper Association

Entered as periodical mail matter at the post office, Eagle River, WI 54521, under an act of March 3, 1879. Published every Wednesday. Subscription price for a year: Vilas and Oneida counties only, $50; rest of Wisconsin, $57; out of state, $68. Mail subscription to Vilas County NewsReview, P.O. Box 1929, Eagle River, WI 54521. Payable in advance. POSTMASTER: Send address changes, form 3579, to Vilas County News-Review, P.O. Box 1929, Eagle River, WI 54521, phone (715) 479-4421, fax (715) 479-6242.

plants to photosynthesize, further weakening the plants. Without purple loosestrife plants to live on, the insects die.” This method of loosestrife biocontrol has been employed in Wisconsin for more than 10 years without adverse affects, according to Ritter. Others contributing to the project include Boat Sport Marina, Nelson’s Ace Hardware, Horant’s Gardener’s Gate, Hanson’s Garden Village and Lorin Johnson. For more information on purple loosestrife or the project, contact Ritter at the Vilas County Courthouse at (715) 479-3738.

GE® Tall Tub Built-In Dishwasher

"GE® 30" " Free-Standing Electric Range"

• 5-stage filtration with Piranha™ hard food disposer • Dedicated silverware jets • Steam PreWash

• Self-clean with Steam Clean option • Super-large oven capacity • 9”/12” Dual element

GLD7708VBB

JB655DTWW

$549

$849 Over 62 Years of Sales and Service

WOODRUFF APPLIANCE & TV Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sat., 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Participating in the bio-control project were, front row from left, Stephanie Krus, Elizabeth Krueger, Adrian Adams, Cassie Dehn, Kali Ebert, Brittany Schelk, Samantha Caramanidis, Jordan Wel-

netz, Amy Price and Deb Obrodovich; back row, Ted Ritter, Alex Ruetz, Trey Warwick, Taylor Pepper, Devin Dotson, Cooper Anderson, Joseph Goodrum, Shawn Simonis and John Timmons.

905 Hwy. 47, Woodruff 715-356-2107 www.woodruffappliance.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

NEWS

OBITUARIES River, Wis.; brother, Paul Freund of Rudolph, Wis.; sisters, Kathleen Popp of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., Joanne Chmieleski of Salem, N.H., and Geneva Ratlinger of Wisconsin Rapids; and her grandchildren, Amanda, Courtney, Gene and Nathan. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Gene; and brother, John. Funeral services will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at the GaffneyBusha Funeral Home in Eagle River. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. until the time of service. PAID OBITUARY

6239

Fern O. Chiochios Fern O. Chiochios of Watersmeet, Mich., died Monday, April 30, 2012. She was 80. Mrs. Chiochios was born July 29, 1930, the daughter of Wiley and Myrtle Sparks. She attended local schools and married Sam Chiochios Oct. 11, 1948. The couple resided in Watersmeet. Mrs. Chiochios was employed as a manager for several banks and her hobbies included crocheting, knitting and playing disc. She was preceded in

death by her husband; six sisters; three brothers; and a grandson, Blake. Survivors include one son, Richard of Watersmeet; one daughter, Connie (Terry) Lindholm of Iron Mountain, Mich.; a sister, Charlotte Jenkins; four grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. A funeral service was held May 3 at Watersmeet Bible Church with the Rev. Skip Pullen officiating. Burial was in the family plot in Watersmeet.

Shirley Mae Erickson Shirley Mae Erickson of St. Germain died Saturday, April 28, 2012, in her home after a long battle with cancer. ERICKSON She was 79. Mrs. Erickson was born

Nov. 26, 1932, in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of Carl and Gladys (nee Hultquist) Pearson. Survivors include her husband, Ernest; a son, Ernest A. (Sherri); and one grandson. A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

Betty Lou Fredrickson Betty Lou Fredrickson of Watersmeet, Mich., died Sunday, May 6, 2012, at Iron County Medical Facility in Crystal Falls, Mich. She was 81. Mrs. Fredrickson was born Dec. 5, 1930, in Mason City, Iowa, the daughter of Harry and Mabel (nee Olson) Fredrickson. Raised in Watersmeet, she married Ernest Fredrickson Oct. 31, 1962. She attended Nicolet College in Rhinelander where she earned a degree as a certified nursing assistant. She was employed as a nursing assistant at Eagle River Nursing Home for five years and then at Lillian Kerr Healthcare Center in Phelps for 17 years. Her hobbies included

cooking, gardening and feeding wildlife. She was preceded in death by her husband; an infant daughter, Connie Lou; three brothers, Garvin, Virgil and Harold; and six sisters, Eugenea, Elaine, Joyce, Audrey, Barbara and Dolores. Survivors include one daughter, Rose Casarez (Mark Doleshal) of Watersmeet; two sons, Ernest (Cindy) of Nekoosa and Roger of Watersmeet; one brother, Russell Gilbertson of Watersmeet; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held Monday, May 14, at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Watersmeet.

Donald S. Myers

6238

PUBLIC MEETINGS Oneida County Labor Relations and Employee Services Committee — Wednesday, May 9, 9 a.m., courthouse. Agenda: Mechanic vacancy review and discuss suspension of County Code 4.371. Vilas County UWExtension Education and Community Development Committee — Thursday, May 10, 9 a.m., courthouse. Agenda: Update on community resource educator position and budget update. Vilas County Board Communications Committee — Thursday, May 10, 1 p.m., Vilas County Justic Center. Agenda: Discuss current fire/emergency medical system simulcast proposal estimated payment schedule and create budget.

Antique snowmobiles will be on display during the Classic Sled Roundup in St. Germain. —Contributed Photo

Food will be served all day by the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club of St. Germain. Brats and hot dogs will be donated by Old Wisconsin through Camp’s Northwoods SuperValu in St. Germain. Other food and sandwich items also will be available. Arctic Cat products will be on display courtesy of R&R Motorsports of Hazelhurst. There also will be a silent auction of donated items to benefit the SHOF, a 501(c)(3) organization which operates the Hall of Fame and Musuem on Highway 70 in St. Germain.

At 3 p.m., a drawing will take place for a 1978 Arctic Cat Cross Country factory race sled restored by Brian Nelson, the original builder of the racer. Raffle tickets are available on the SHOF website or at the roundup at a cost of $10 or three for $20. The secondplace drawing will be for a vacation package at Black Bear Lodge on Little St. Germain Lake in St. Germain. For more information, contact the SHOF at (715) 5424HOF (4463), info@snowmobilehalloffame.com or snowmobilehalloffame.com.

Eagle River Light & Water to flush system next week The Eagle River Light & Water utility recently announced it will perform an aggressive flushing of the water system beginning Wednesday, May 16, at 4 a.m.

high quality of water that we provide to our customers and to ensure the proper operation of the hydrants for fire protection,” said Weber.

For more information, contact Eagle River Light & Water between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at (715) 479-8121.

This first flushing will take place for customers on the south side of the bridge, while customers north of the bridge will have water flushed beginning Thursday, may 17, at 4 a.m. During the flushing, homeowners may find the water somewhat discolored or cloudy. It also may have a strong smell of chlorine. “We would like to assure our customers that at all times their water will be safe to drink,” said utility manager Pat Weber. “Water customers may want to fill some containers for drinking water before we start flushing.” The water department has worked with the Department of Natural Resources on the most convenient ways to do this to cause the least amount of interruption to customers. “This work is being done to continue to maintain the

ANTIQUES WANTED PAYING CASH FOR THE FOLLOWING: Crocks, jugs, earthenware bowls & pitchers; art pottery, Roseville, Hull, etc.; cookie jars; hand-decorated china; glassware before WWII; patchwork quilts & fancywork; Oriental rugs; picture frames; clocks, watches & fobs; jewelry; oil lamps; elec. lamps w/glass shades; old advertising items, signs, posters, containers, boxes, mixing bowls, etc., especially from Eagle River; coin-operated machines, slots, peanut, etc.; shotguns, rifles & handguns; hunting knives; wooden duck & fish decoys; old tackle boxes & lures; rods, reels & creels; glass minnow traps; old tools; toys of all kinds, trains, trucks, tractors, tin wind-ups, games, dolls, etc.; enamelware, especially bright colors; old photos of interiors & outdoor activities; all magazines before WWII; postcards (pre-1920); coin & stamp collections; old wood carvings of animals, etc. Check with me before you sell.

Where Do You Find Service Like This Anymore? • 60' Bucket Truck 60’ Bucket Truck • Stump removal • Tree removal • Complete cleanup • Whole tree chipper • Fully insured • Guaranteed satisfaction • Storm damage cleanup DOUBLE SAVINGS! Look for our yellow flyer inserted in April 14’s Trader, receive double the savings with that coupon until May 15.

!COUPON

COUPON

Quality Tree Service ACCREDITED BUSINESS

A+ Rating

Double Coupon Value Tree Trimming or Removal No cash value. Limit one per customer. Offer expires 5/15/2012 • Call 715-369-3430

COUPON

PAID OBITUARY

Crews plan to begin work on six miles of state Highway 17 between Highway A and the Michigan state line Monday, May 14, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT). Northeast Asphalt Inc. is the prime contractor for the $1.1 million project, which will resurface the highway with new asphalt, replace three culverts and install new signing and beam guards. During construction, Highway 17 will remain open to traffic. Motorists can expect to encounter singlelane closures and flagging operations, said DOT officials. Work is scheduled for completion in late June. Eighty percent of the project will be paid with federal transportation funds, while the remaining 20% will be paid with state transportation funds.

ST. GERMAIN — The annual Snowmobile Hall of Fame (SHOF) Classic Sled Roundup, sponsored by Arctic Cat, will take place Sunday, May 27, in the community park located on Highway 70 West in St. Germain. The event is one of two major fundraisers for the SHOF, along with Ride With the Champs in February. The vintage show and swap meet will begin with registration at 7 a.m. The swap area will open at 6:30 a.m. for early arrivers. Swap spots cost $20, $30 and $40 depending on the size of vehicle and trailer. Sled judging will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. All classes will be judged and awards given to firstplace and runner-up positions. Award presentation is set for 3 p.m. Show sled registration will cost $5 per sled. An additional $20 donation to the SHOF will allow display under the pavilion roof. The public is welcome to view the displays and walk through the swap areas at no admission cost. More than 100 classic and antique sleds are expected along with hundreds of swap spaces, according to SHOF contact Loren Anderson. “The event has grown in size every year since its beginning nine years ago,” he said.

COUPON

his daughters, Margaret (Lynn Schreiner) Gramley of Elgin, Ill., and Elizabeth (Bill) Chalberg of Downers Grove, Ill.; his grandchildren, Philip (Christine) Gramley, Steven (Leanne) Gramley, Jack Chalberg, Cassie Chalberg, George (Audrey) Chalberg and Bill (Sarah) Chalberg Jr.; his great-grandchildren, Robert Gramley, Lillian Gramley, Keegan Chalberg, Connor Chalberg and Grace Chalberg; and his sister, Phyllis Leighton of Tempe, Ariz. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Alice Goodfellow. A Memorial service will be held June 2, 2012, at 2 p.m. from Sugar Grove United Methodist Church, 176 Main St., Sugar Grove, Ill. Visitation will take place from 1 p.m. at the church until the time of service. Interment will take place at Sugar Grove Cemetery. For further information, please call (630) 466-1330 or visit our website at www.healychapel.com to sign the online guest book.

Improvements slated for state Highway 17

Classic Sled Roundup set in St. Germain May 27

COUPON

Donald S. Myers, 94, formerly of Sugar Grove, passed away April 30, 2012, at The Birches in Clarendon Hills, Ill. He was born Sept. 18, 1917, in Sugar Grove, the son of the late Nelson and Stella (Seavey) Myers. Don served his country during World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flight instructor. Don earned his Master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and was employed with Kaneland School District before moving on to teach at McCleery Elementary School, where he retired in 1970. He also enjoyed working at Sugar Grove United Methodist Church, Wesley United Methodist Church and First United Methodist Church as choir director over the years. After retirement, Don worked as a woodworker and weaver at Hackley House Antiques in Phelps, Wis., a shop he owned and ran with his wife of nearly 71 years, Mary Jean Stanton. He is survived by his loving wife, Mary Jean Myers;

Scott L. Staege of Wisconsin Rapids died unexpectedly at his home Friday, May 4, 2012. He was 51. Mr. Staege was born STAEGE Aug. 16, 1960, in Wisconsin Rapids, the son of Earl L. and Phyllis A. (nee Benke) Staege. He attended St. Vincent de Paul School and was a 1978 graduate of Lincoln High School. He was a member of the 1976 state high school curling champions. After a year in California, he returned to attend MidState Technical College where he earned an associate degree as an auto technician and a Doctor of Motors certificate. For a number of years he was employed by local auto dealerships and he was selfemployed for the last several years. His work included building racing engines for automobile and snowmobile drag racers. He also worked with electronics. He was preceded in death by his mother Jan. 24, 2005. In addition to his father, survivors include a sister, Gaye Staege of Wisconsin Rapids; a brother, Todd (Wendy) of Eagle River; and other relatives. No funeral service is planned.

COUPON

Margaret “Marge” M. Bodamer, age 70, of Land O’ Lakes, Wis., died on Friday, May 4, 2012, at her home. She was born on Sept. BODAMER 21, 1941, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., the daughter of Arthur and Marie (Krzykowski) Freund. Marge is survived by her partner, Vic Kowalski of Land O’ Lakes; daughter, Lisa Bodamer, and sons, Kevin and Victor Bodamer, all of Eagle

Scott L. Staege

COUPON

Margaret “Marge” M. Bodamer

COUPON

715-369-3430 Rhinelander, Wis.

Call Jim at (715) 479-1459 4946

Gaffney-Busha Funeral Home Alpha Crematory & Chapel Tom & Joe Busha, Barry Wallis, Funeral Directors www.gaffney-busha.com 715-479-4777 Locally owned and operated since 1908

NOTICE Obituary policy Death notices that appear in this space weekly are written and/or edited for content and consistency by assistant editors of the Vilas County News-Review and The Three Lakes News. Obituaries written in the paper’s standard format are printed at no charge. Unedited obituaries written by the family may be printed for a fee, either in the obituary column or in smaller type with a border. For more information, call (715) 479-4421.

VILAS COUNTY’S ONLY CREMATORY Traditional Services • Prearrangements • Cremation • Monuments

715-479-3901

Woodruff/Minocqua, WI 715-358-2510

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

NEWS

NEW DMV CENTER — The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has opened a service center in Eagle River at 302 West Pine St. The center is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. DMV staff at the walk-in center offer road tests,

POLICE REPORT

written tests, driver’s license renewals and disabled driver ID tags. Driving tests can be scheduled online through the DMV. The center does not offer license plates, stickers or vehicle titles. —Staff Photos By GARY RIDDERBUSCH

Vilas County Court report

Deferred entry of judgment OK’d for woman involved in hit and run A 42-year-old Eagle River woman, who pleaded guilty to an amended charge of hit and run of an occupied vehicle, accepted a deferred entry of judgment in Vilas County Circuit Court last week. Kimberly A. Klessig was originally charged with three counts of hit and run causing injury, and hit and run of an attended vehicle, following the Sept. 10, 2010, incident in the town of Lincoln. Vilas County Circuit Judge Neal A. Nielsen dismissed two of the hit and run causing injury charges, but they were read in for sentencing and restitution. The hit and run of an attended vehicle charge was amended to inattentive driving. She was fined $641.50 for that conviction. In addition, a traffic citation was dismissed. Conditions of the 36month deferred entry of judgment (DEJ) include: no violations with a jail sentence or involving alcohol, medications or controlled substances; no motor vehicle violations of any restrictions on her license; she must undergo a Department of Transportation medically impaired driver’s evaluation and comply with the recommendations by June 30; and she must pay restitution in full, personally or through her insurance company. Upon successful completion of the DEJ, the district attorney may choose to either dismiss the charge or amend the charge. According to court records, Klessig was travelling westbound on Highway 70 .2 miles east of Highway 17 when she collided into the rear of another westbound vehicle, veered to the right of the vehicle and continued on until she was arrested at the intersection of Highway 70 and Holiday Driver east of St. Germain. Klessig told the officer she was taking medications for anxiety and depression, but she didn’t think she rear-ended another vehicle. Officers noted damage to the front of her vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle, a 43-year-old Mercer woman, complained of back and neck injuries, but did not require ambulance transportation. The Mercer woman also had five daughters in the vehicle. In other felony cases, Victory P. Perotto, 19, of Eagle River, charged with burglary of a building or dwelling, party to a crime, misdemeanor theft, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, had a preliminary hearing adjourned until pleas can be set by Assistant District Attorney David Breedlove and Perotto’s attorney, Steven Lucarelli. According to the complaint, Perotto was allegedly involved in the theft of money, beer, candy and a Zamboni key from the Eagle River Recreation Association (ERRA) Sports Arena sometime between March 3 and 4.

When he was arrested March 6, officers found marijuana, pipes, bongs and rolling papers in his bedroom at a residence at 1475 Oak Lane in the town of Washington. Perotto signed a $2,500 signature bond March 7, with the following conditions: no contact with the ERRA; no contact with the other accused defendant, Lucas Johnston-Burnett, and a minor allegedly involved in the incident; curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.; not to possess or consume intoxicants; and made arrangements for alcohol and other drug abuse counseling and treatment. Keith T. Breneman, 41, of Arbor Vitae, charged with sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age, waived his preliminary hearing and was bound over for arraignment, which is set for May 21 at 10 a.m. According to the complaint, Breneman is alleged to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl in the summer of 2005. The female is now 21. His bond, set at $3,000 cash April 23, was modified to $1,000 cash April 25. Conditions include no contact with the victim, no contact with any minor, not to possess or consume intoxicants and not to reside where any minors are living. Margaret M. Gomez, 20, of Lac du Flambeau, convicted of felony bail jumping, misdemeanor bail jumping and criminal damage to property, was sentenced to eight months in the county jail on the property damage charge and eight months in the county jail on the felony bail jumping charge, with the sec-

ond to run concurrent. Gomez will receive credit for 195 days, including 116 in incarceration, 34 in a bracelet and 45 days in treatment. She also must pay $1,266 in restitution in a Lac du Flambeau civil judgment for her involvement in busting windows with a baseball bat in the Lac du Flambeau Pole Department July 30, 2009. The felony conviction stemmed from her consuming alcohol Nov. 20, 2009, and the misdemeanor bail jumping stemmed from her violating her court-imposed curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nov. 20, 2009. Patricia L. Roche, 42, of Lac du Flambeau, charged with delivery of a schedule III substance in August of 2011 in Lac du Flambeau, had a preliminary hearing adjourned to May 30 at 3 p.m. because a witness to the incident is in the Oneida County Jail. Roche is alleged to have sold seven hydrocodone tablets for $35 in a controlled purchase at her residence. Kami L. Beighley, 22, of Lac du Flambeau, charged with physical abuse of a child/intentionally causing bodily harm Dec. 1, 2011, was not present for an initial appearance in court last Monday. According to the complaint, Beighley allegedly struck a 5-month-old boy in the face with an open hand because he was crying, leaving red finger marks on the child’s face. She stated she accidently slapped the child in the face while trying to slap a teddy bear away from him. Jedediah G. Maulson, 20,

of Lac du Flambeau, charged with felony bail jumping and obstructing an officer Jan. 1, had a pretrial conference set for May 29 at 9:15 a.m. Maulson was arrested for allegedly being intoxicated. According to a July 25, 2011, signature bond for another incident, he was not to possess or consume intoxicants. Ramon L. Schriner, 63, of Arbor Vitae, charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, had a preliminary hearing set for May 30 at 9 a.m. According to the complaint, a woman called law enforcement stating that Schriner was keeping a gun at her father’s house and he was a convicted felon. A 10gauge single-shot shotgun was found in the Arbor Vitae home April 2 in an airgun box. He also was arrested for being intoxicated at .45%, violating his probation. Melissa M. Christensen, 34, of Lac du Flambeau, was fined $883, plus $472.60 for the drug abuse program, after a charge of thirdoffense possession of marijuana was amended to possession of marijuana, first offense, which is a misdemeanor. She must pay $100 a month starting May 15. According to the complaint, Christensen was arrested after she was stopped by law enforcement for having an expired vehicle registration. A drug-sniffing dog positively alerted at the vehicle and a K-9 officer located a green leafy plant-like substance on the driver’s side floor mat, roll papers in her front jacket pocket and burnt marijuana cigarettes in her purse.

Vilas County Sheriff A total of 249 complaints were entered by Vilas County Sheriff’s Department dispatchers last week. In addition to those with sufficient detail to report below, a review shows at least seven vehicle accidents, one request for agency assistance, four ambulance requests, four attempts to locate, six burglar alarms, seven requests for citizen assistance, four reports of criminal damage to property, eight disturbances, two reports of harassment, two reports of hazardous conditions, three juvenile problems/runaways, two reports of lost property, six reports of suspicious circumstances, three thefts, 10 traffic violations, three vacation checks, four welfare checks, three drug problems, one report of child abuse, two reports of animal cruelty and one ATV problem. At least 10 calls were referred to the Eagle River Police Department and there were at least 14 informational or procedural entries. In the past week, at least 18 people were booked at the Vilas County Jail, including one for probation revocation, three for operating while intoxicated, eight for probation violations, one for resisting arrest, one for possession of THC, one for battery, one for disorderly conduct, one for sexual assault of a child and one for theft. During the week, the inmate population ranged from 70 to 72. As of May 7, there were 72 inmates. Tuesday, May 2 - 6:30 p.m. - A one-vehicle accident was reported on Barrish Road near Evergreen Road in the town of Lincoln. Brendan M. Stoehr

of Rhinelander lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. No alcohol test was given. Tuesday, May 1 - 7:57 p.m. - A car/deer accident was reported in the town of Lincoln on Highway 45 near Oneida Farms Road involving Mark D. Hurst of Green Bay. Tuesday, May 1 - 8:38 p.m. - A car/deer accident was reported in the town of Lincoln on Highway 45 near Briarwood Drive involving Duane A. Rogers of Watersmeet, Mich. Eagle River Police Among the calls received by Vilas County dispatchers were at least 20 calls for the Eagle River Police. These included one 911 hang-up, two reports of animal cruelty, two animal problems, two requests for citizen assistance, one complaint of criminal damage to property, one complaint of harassment, one restraining violation, one juvenile problem, one Lifeline alarm, one request for officer assistance, one suicide attempt, four reports of suspicious circumstances, one theft and one traffic violation. Three Lakes Police This police department reported two 911 hang-ups, two vehicle accidents, three car/deer accidents, one animal bite, three reports of animals at large, one apprehension request, one disturbance, one fire, one report of gunshots, three harassment complaints, one informational report, one canine dispatch, three services, one report of suspicious circumstances, one theft and five traffic stops.

Lloyd to serve 15 years for firearms possession Jay W. Lloyd, 27, of Rhinelander was sentenced last week by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole, for unlawfully possessing firearms as a convicted felon, according to John W. Vaudreuil, U.S. Attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District. Lloyd pleaded guilty to the charge March 7. He and others stole numerous firearms and other items when they burglarized a home in Rhinelander Sept. 24, 2011. An Eagle River pawn shop owner reported to the police what appeared to be stolen firearms Sept. 28, 2011. Lloyd, who had pawned the

guns, fled from police but was arrested several days later. The remaining firearms were recovered from various locations. Lloyd subsequently confessed to committing the burglary. The 15-year sentence was handed down due to Lloyd’s three prior violent felony convictions which classify him as an armed career criminal under federal law. The charges against Lloyd are the result of an investigation by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution of this case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Rita M. Rumbelow.

Now Delivering In Your Area

PROPANE, OIL & GAS CO.

PROPANE NOW DELIVERING FUEL OIL & BULK GAS. CALL FOR PRICING. WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD! ALL ORDERS C.O.D.

1.79/GAL.

200-gal. min. order • CASH ONLY

(888) 706-4120 (906) 265-4120 PRICES MAY CHANGE

We sell, lease & install tanks

Two drug investigations lead to nine Oneida arrests The Minocqua Fire & Rescue Department will hold the Minocqua Fire & Rescue Invitational Saturday, June 16, at the sports complex located on Highway 70 West in Minocqua. The invitational will be a timed test of skills to determine who is No. 1 when it comes to performing the tasks required of fire and rescue department personnel. This is the first time this type of contest has been held in Wisconsin, according to department personnel. Fire and rescue departments from across the state will be invited. The first 10 entries will take part in the speed competition, which will be made up of the following four events: The Tower Rescue — The object will be to rescue a simulated patient stranded at the top of a climbing tower. Rescue personnel, in teams of four, will have to climb the tower, secure the patient, low-

er him to the ground and deliver him to a simulated rescue area. Fire Hose Skills — Teams of three, dressed in full turnout gear, will be challenged to accurately fill two 50-gallon drums of water, then knock over an object by deflection using a fire hose. Obstacle Course — Teams of four will be challenged to put on their complete turnout gear and follow a marked course of the simulated entry into a burning house. Each team will perform the following tasks carrying a charged fire hose: forcing entry through a locked door, crawling down a hallway containing two turns, traveling up and down a flight of steps, extinguishing a burning barrel, and removing a simulated patient back through the course to a safe area. Vehicle Rescue — Teams of five, in full turnout gear, will rescue a simulated patient trapped in a real vehicle.

Teams will have to stabilize the vehicle by opening the hood and removing the battery, cutting off the doors, treating and removing the patient, removing the roof, rolling the dashboard and taking the patient to a safe area. The invitational will start with a meeting and social Friday, June 15, at 7 p.m. The skills events will start Saturday, June 16, at 10 a.m. Winning teams will be selected from their total times from each event. Trophies and cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams. Refreshments including beverages, brats and hamburgers will be available on the grounds. A portion of the proceeds of the Minocqua Fire & Rescue Invitational will go to the training and equipment fund of the Minocqua Fire & Rescue Department. The remainder will be donated to children’s burn centers in the state of Wisconsin.

ONE MAN’S JUNK IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE! Treasure hunters read the North Woods Trader classifieds. Call (715) 479-4421 with a classified ad for your hidden treasures.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

NEWS Van Hollen clarifies recent controversy on Public Act 283 Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has issued an informational memorandum explaining how 2011 Wisconsin Act 283 which took effect in late April, relates to the obligations of law enforcement agencies and other public entities under the Wisconsin public records law. Van Hollen’s memorandum explains that Act 283 creates new statutory provisions related to disclosure by public officials, employees or agencies of personally identifying information of crime victims or witnesses. Act 283 was intended to protect victims and witnesses from inappropriate and unauthorized use of their personal identifiers for purposes unrelated to the proper execution of official public duties, such as the “sexting” of crime victims by former Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth Kratz. However, Van Hollen’s memorandum explains, Act 283 was not intended to preclude law enforcement agencies and other agencies from performing their official duties under the Wisconsin public records law and other applicable laws. The new

statutory provisions created by Act 283 do not prohibit law enforcement agencies, prosecutors or other public agencies from disclosing all personal identifiers of crime victims and witnesses in response to public records requests. Van Hollen’s memorandum reiterates that privacy, confidentiality and safety concerns related to victims and witnesses have been and should continue to be carefully considered by records custodians responding to public records requests. These important concerns generally are addressed in case-by-case application of the public records balancing test. Finally, Van Hollen’s memorandum invites persons with questions about the Wisconsin public records law, the public records balancing test and public records requests for records containing personal identifiers of crime victims or witnesses to review the Department of Justice’s public records outline which is available to view, print or download free of charge at the following link: doj.state.wi.us.

Kohl’s regional rep to visit Boulder Jct. U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s regional representative, Bryce Luchterhand, will be in Boulder Junction Tuesday, May 15, to meet with constituents from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Boulder Junction Community Center, located at 5386 Park St. No appointment is necessary. “If you are having a problem with a federal program or agency, or have an opinion

on an issue before Congress, please let me know by meeting with my regional representative, Bryce Luchterhand,” said Kohl. Luchterhand also can be contacted at Kohl’s regional office at 402 Graham Ave., Suite 206, Eau Claire, WI 54701. His telephone number is (715) 832-8424 and email address is bryce_luchterhand@kohl.senate.gov.

BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Adjustment to walleye and muskellunge bag and size limits on waters within and bordering the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Oneida and Vilas Counties, Wisconsin. NOTICE OF FISHING REGULATION ADJUSTMENTS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to ss. NR 20.37 and in response to offreservation harvest declarations allowing a state walleye bag limit of 3 on waters declared by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa, Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp has extended adjustments to on-reservation walleye and muskellunge bag and size limits as follows: WALLEYE: A bag limit of 3 and minimum length limit of 18 inches is in effect through March 3, 2013, on the following waters: 1. Shishebogama Lake, Oneida County; 2. Big Crooked Lake (41N R5E S22), Vilas County; 3. Gunlock Lake, Vilas County; 4. Little Trout Lake, Vilas County; and 5. The Lac du Flambeau Chain of Lakes (Big Crawling Stone, Little Crawling Stone, Little Sand, Fence, Flambeau, Long-Interlaken, Moss, North Placid, Pokegama, South Placid, To-To-Tom, White Sand (T41N R5E S27) and Whitefish lakes and all connecting waters, Vilas County. A walleye bag limit of 3 and minimum length limit of 15 inches is in effect through March 3, 2013, on all other waters wholly within the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. MUSKELLUNGE: A bag limit of 1 and minimum length of 40 inches is in effect through March 3, 2013, on the following waters: 1. Shishebogama Lake, Oneida County; 2. Little Trout Lake, Vilas County; and 3. All other waters wholly within the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. Dated at Woodruff, Wisconsin, on May 2, 2012. STATE OF WISCONSIN - DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES For the Secretary /s/ John Gozdzialski, Director, Northern Region 0815

WNAXLP

Spearing: Buckskin Lake catch-and-release only FROM PAGE 1A el, Pine and Stevens. Iron County saw adjustments on three lakes, as Echo, Spider and Trude increased from two-fish to three-fish lakes. On Buckskin Lake in Oneida County, a tribal spearing violation resulted in the total safe harvest being exceeded. As a result, the lake is posted for catch-and-release fishing for walleye. Tribal courts are

expected to follow through on the tribal citations. “Though some sporadic spearing continues, primarily for muskie, walleye spawning is for all intents and purposes done. We have completed this year’s walleye population surveys and have a good handle on tribal success rates. We are comfortable setting bag limits now,” said treaty fisheries coordinator Joe Hennessy. “Getting bag limits out now allows us to save money on

Inland waters not listed below have a total daily bag limit of 5, unless listed in the regulation pamphlet as a special regulation water. THESE BAG LIMITS ARE EFFECTIVE FROM MAY 5, 2012 TO MARCH 3, 2013 INCLUSIVE. The total daily bag limit for walleyes is five. If the lake you are fishing has a bag limit less than five, you can fish other lakes to fill your daily bag limit. While fishing, you cannot possess fish in excess of that lake's daily bag limit. Therefore, remember to remove all fish from your boat prior to fishing on a second lake that also has a restricted bag limit. BARRON COUNTY BAG LIMIT Bear 2 Beaver Dam 2 Big Moon 3 Duck 3 Granite 3 Horseshoe (115ac; T36N-R14E-S3) 3 Lower Devils 3 Lower Turtle 3 Prairie 2 Red Cedar 2 Sand 3 Silver 3 Upper Turtle 3 BAYFIELD COUNTY Atkins Bladder Diamond Long Middle Eau Claire Namekagon Owen Pike Chain (Buskey Bay, Hart, Millicent, & Twin Bear Lakes) Upper Eau Claire BURNETT COUNTY Big McKenzie Devils Dunham Lipsett Little Yellow Rooney Sand Yellow CHIPPEWA COUNTY Chain (Chippewa/ Rusk Cos.) Holcombe Flowage Long Sand (Chippewa/ Rusk Cos.) Wissota

3 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3

DOUGLAS COUNTY Amnicon Lower Eau Claire Minnesuing Nebagamon Upper St Croix Whitefish

3 2 3 2 2 3

DUNN COUNTY Tainter

FLORENCE COUNTY Fay Halsey Keyes Patten

3 3 3 3

FOREST COUNTY Butternut Crane Franklin Howell Jungle Lily

2 3 2 3 2 2

SAWYER COUNTY Barber Chetac Chippewa Flowage Connors Durphee Grindstone Lac Courte Oreilles Lost Land Nelson Round Sand Sissabagama Spider Teal Tiger Cat Flowage Whitefish Windfall Windigo St. CROIX COUNTY Cedar

BAG LIMIT 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2

Annual Meeting Saturday, May 26, 2012 Eagle River Inn Hwy. 70 West, Eagle River, Wis. Agenda

9:20 9:40 9:50 10:15

10:35 10:45

11:15 11:30 11:40 11:50

12:00

Coffee/treats and socializing Call to order Roll call/quorum call Committee reports Fisheries – Tom McKale Water Quality – Joel DeAngelo Aquatic Vegetation – Maribeth Park Reading and approval of the 2011 annual meeting minutes Treasurer’s report and audit submission Year in Review – Tom Carlstedt Proposed Plan of Actions – Tom Carlstedt Presentation and Discussion a) How and why we chose Onterra b) Why we need a rapid response plan for EWM c) What will this Rapid Response plan cost the property owners d) Why we need a Comprehensive Lake Management Study e) What is the cost of the lake study f) How property owners can help reduce the cost of the study Discussion/Action – Approval of the 2012-2013 base Lake District budget Consideration of additional budget items* Discussion/Action – Sign contract with Onterra, LLC for evaluating EWM in Kentuck Lake, contract with aquatic herbicide application contractor and apply for AIS Grant from State of Wisconsin. Add $6,200 to 2012-2013 budget Discussion/Action – Sign contract with Onterra, LLC to conduct and complete a Comprehensive Lake Management Plan and application for State Grant Add $12,000 to 2012-2013 budget Discussion/Action – Lake District Special Charge Election of BoC members Old Business KLDistrict website New Business Dry Hydrant at both boat landings New Buoy committee Meeting adjourned

Immediately following the annual meeting, the Board of Commissioners will meet. Nancy Steenport, Secretary *Budgeted items expensed through November 2013

960

the 2011-’12 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations, signs at boat landings and the Revised Ceded Territory Walleye Bag Limits pamphlet for lake-specific information. An administrative rule passed by the state Natural Resources Board in 1998 allows the department to adjust initial bag limits annually to reflect actual spring spearing harvests and projected summer harvests.

2012-2013 Revised Ceded Territory Walleye Bag Limits.

Kentuck Lake P&R District

8:30 9:00 9:05 9:10

posting and to avoid the confusion of bag limits changing in the middle of the season,” he said. Due to the timing of setting these bag limits, it was not possible to have printed bag limit pamphlets in the hands of anglers and license vendors prior to opening day of fishing. Printed bag limit pamphlets will be distributed as soon as possible. In the meantime, anglers should consult the chart on this page,

FOREST COUNTY, cont. BAG LIMIT Lucerne 2 Metonga 2 Mole 3 Pickerel (Forest/ Langlade Cos.) 3 Pine 3 Roberts 2 Stevens 3 IRON COUNTY Echo Gile Flowage Lake of the Falls Spider Trude Turtle-Flambeau Flowage

3 3 3 3 3 3

LANGLADE COUNTY Enterprise Otter Pickerel (Forest/ Langlade Cos.) Rolling Stone Rose Sawyer Upper Post

2 2 3 3 3 2 3

LINCOLN COUNTY Alice 3 Jersey City Flowage 3 Mohawksin 2 Rice Reservoir/Nokomis Chain (includes Rice R. Flowage, Nokomis and Bridge Lakes) 2 Spirit R Flowage 3 MARATHON COUNTY Big Eau Pleine Reservoir

MARINETTE COUNTY Caldron Falls Reservoir High Falls Reservoir

3 3

OCONTO COUNTY Archibald Bass Boot Maiden Wheeler

3 3 3 3 3

ONEIDA COUNTY Bearskin Big Carr Big Fork Big Big Stone Blue Booth Buckskin Catch and Release ONLY Carrol Chain Clear (846 ac; T39N-R7E-S16) Crescent (612 ac;T36N-R8E-S21) Dam Fifth Fourmile George Gilmore Hasbrook

3 3 2 2 3 3 3 0 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3

VILAS COUNTY BAG LIMIT Alder 3 Allequash 3 Annabelle 3 Anvil 3 Arrowhead 3 Ballard 2 Big Arbor Vitae 2 Big (T42N R06E S04; Hwy K) 2 Big(T43N R08E S24;Cisco Chain) 3 Big Gibson 3 Big Muskellunge 2 Big Portage 3 Big Sand 2 Big St. Germain 2 Birch 3 Black Oak 3 Boulder 3 Brandy 3 Catfish 2 Clear 3 Crab 3 Cranberry 3 Dead Pike 3 Eagle 3 Fishtrap 3 Forest 2 Harris 2 High 3 Horsehead 3 Island 2 Jag 3 Johnson 3 Kentuck 2 Lac Vieux Desert 2 Laura 3 Little Arbor Vitae 3 Little Crooked 3 Little John 3 Little St. Germain 3 Little Star 3 Long 2 Lost 3 Lower Buckatabon 3 Lynx (339 ac; T43N-R7E-S18) 3

ONEIDA COUNTY, cont. BAG LIMIT Island 3 Julia (401 ac; T38N-R11E-S1) 3 Katherine 3 Kawaguesaga 3 Laurel 3 Little Fork 3 Long (620 ac; T39 R11E S8) 3 Manson 3 Medicine 3 Minocqua 3 Moen 3 Muskellunge 3 N Nokomis 3 Pelican 2 Pickerel (736 ac; T39N-R8E-S18) 3 Planting Ground 2 Rainbow Flowage 2 Rhinelander Flowage 3 Rice Reservoir/Nokomis Chain (includes Rice R. Flowage, Nokomis and Bridge Lakes) 2 Sand (540 ac; T39N R9E S20) 3 Sevenmile 3 Squash (392 ac; T36N-R7E-S24) 2 Squaw (Vilas/ Oneida Cos.) 3 Squirrel 3 Thompson 3 Thunder (1768 ac;T38NR10E S3) 3 Tomahawk Lake Chain (includes Tomahawk and Little Tomahawk ) 2 Two Sisters 3 Virgin (276 ac; T38N-R11E-S14) 2 Willow Flowage 2 POLK COUNTY Balsam Big Butternut Big Round Half Moon N Pipe Pipe Wapogasset

2 2 2 2 3 3 2

PRICE COUNTY Butternut Lac Sault Dore Long (419 ac.; T37N R01W S14) Pike Round Solberg Turner Wilson

2 3 3 2 3 2 3 3

RUSK COUNTY Chain (Chippewa/ Rusk Cos.) Dairyland Reservoir Island Potato Pulaski Sand (Chippewa/ Rusk Cos.)

3 3 3 3 3 3

VILAS COUNTY, cont. BAG LIMIT Mamie 2 Manitowish 3 N Turtle 3 Otter 3 Oxbow 3 Palmer 3 Papoose 3 Plum (1033 ac; T41N-R7E-S36) 3 Presque Isle Chain (Averil, Presque Isle & Van Vliet Lakes) 2 Razorback 3 Rest 3 Round 3 Scattering Rice 3 Snipe 3 S Turtle 2 Spider 3 Squaw (Vilas/ Oneida Cos.) 3 Star 2 Tenderfoot 2 Trout 3 Twin Lake Chain (includes North and South Twin Lakes) 2 Upper Buckatabon 3 Upper Gresham 3 W Bay 3 Wh. Sand (T42N R7E S27;HwyK) 3 Wild Rice 3 Wildcat 3 WASHBURN COUNTY Balsam Bass (130 ac; T37N-R10W-S7) Bass Patterson (188 ac; T40N-R10W-S17) Birch Dunn Long Middle McKenzie Minong Flowage Nancy Shell Stone

3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2

SPECIAL SIZE AND BAG LIMITS: WALLEYE IN LAC DU FLAMBEAU RESERVATION WATERS: There is a bag limit of three and a minimum length limit of 18" for walleye on the following waters: 1. Shishebogama Lake, Oneida County; 2. Big Crooked Lake, T41N R5E S22, Vilas County; 3. Gunlock Lake, Vilas County; 4. Lac du Flambeau Chain, including Big Crawling Stone, Little Crawling Stone, Little Sand, Fence, Flambeau, Long, Interlaken, Moss, North Placid, Pokegama, South Placid, To-To-Tom, White Sand (T41N R5E S27) and Whitefish Lakes and all connecting waters, Vilas County; 5. Little Trout Lake, Vilas County. MUSKELLUNGE IN LAC DU FLAMBEAU RESERVATION WATERS: There is a minimum length limit for muskellunge of 40" on all waters that lie within the Lac du Flambeau reservation. 962

WNAXLP

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

NEWS

Vilas delays action on new towers to resolve funding ___________ BY KEN ANDERSON NEWS CORRESPONDENT

___________

VIETNAM WALL — Trinka-Weber-Rogers VFW Post 8637 and the Ladies VFW Auxiliary recently donated $500 each to assist in bringing the Vietnam Traveling Wall to Eagle River June 29 to July 4. Taking part in the presentation were, from left, auxiliary

Secretary Connie Jurkowski, auxiliary President Elaine Peter, VFW Senior Vice President Mert Jensen, VFW Commander Tom Unti, and Terry Tryggeseth and Todd Achterberg of the local wall committee. —Staff Photo By GARY RIDDERBUSCH

Tribal spearers from 6 bands harvest over 32,000 walleyes 342 muskies speared in ceded territory ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

The six bands of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians speared this spring a total of 32,321 walleyes and 342 muskies as of Monday, according to a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) official. The record walleye harvest was 34,123, taken in 2010. Figures provided by the DNR show 20,195 walleyes were harvested in Vilas, Oneida, Forest and Iron county lakes. Tom Cichosz, treaty data coordinator for the DNR Bureau of Fisheries Management, said the tribes announced spearing declarations on 537 lakes statewide in early April, but less than 200 lakes were speared this spring. The preliminary harvest figures aren’t complete because a slight amount of spearing activity is still anticipated. “There was not spearing activity Saturday or Sunday nights,” said Cichosz. “On Friday night, the only activity involved two spearers out on Big St. Germain, who harvested a single largemouth. It’s not uncommon for the tribes to stay off the water opening weekend, so it is possible that more spearing will occur this week.” The spearfishing season was prolonged this spring due to early ice-out followed by cold weather that extended the spawning runs to shallow water for walleyes and muskies. The largest walleye harvest in the four counties came on the sprawling TurtleFlambeau Flowage in Iron County, where spearfishers took 2,157 walleyes. Other big walleye numbers came from Willow Flowage, 1,471; Twin Chain, 1,052; Big Arbor Vitae, 940; Big Muskellunge, 906; Pelican, 717; Butternut, 622; Rainbow Flowage, 613; Star,

510; and Presque Isle Chain, 503. On the Eagle River Chain, spearfishers took 228 walleyes out of Catfish Lake, 150 from Cranberry Lake and 120 from Eagle Lake. The Three Lakes Chain saw 277 walleyes taken from Big Lake; 226 from Planting Ground Lake and 144 from Big Fork Lake. Of the 342 muskies speared in the ceded territory, 219 muskies were taken in Vilas, Oneida, Forest and Iron counties. By county, 150 muskies were taken in Vilas County, 67 in Oneida County and one each from Forest and Iron counties. The largest muskie harvest came in Lake Tomahawk, with 22 muskies. Fifteen muskies were harvested in Trout Lake, 12 in Big Arbor Vitae, 10 in Squirrel, eight from Big St. Germain, and seven each from Ballard, Plum and Star lakes. As part of a 1983 federal Appellate Court decision affirming Chippewa off-reservation gathering rights, the six bands of Wisconsin Chippewa set annual harvest quotas for off-reservation lakes in the Wisconsin Ceded Territory. As part of the court agreement, the DNR reduces bag limits for recreational hookand-line anglers in lakes declared by the Chippewa bands, to assure a combined tribal and recreational angler harvest does not jeopardize the ability of walleye to sustain its population in any lake. After a review of the tribal harvest, the angler bag limits were revised by the DNR on many northern Wisconsin lakes last Friday, prior to the opening day of the general fishing season. Generally, those revisions would not be announced until just prior to Memorial Day weekend.

2012 Spearfishing Harvest Activity through May 7, 2012 VILAS COUNTY Lake

Walleye Muskie

Alder 59 Allequash 23 Annabelle 30 Anvil 85 Arrowhead 7 Ballard 221 Big Arbor Vitae 940 Big Gibson 26 Big (Boulder Junction) 268 Big (Mich. border) 128 Big Muskellunge 906 Big Portage 134 Big Sand 62 Big St. Germain 301 Birch 112 Boulder 108 Brandy 3 Catfish 228 Circle Lily 2 Clear 117 Crab 162 Cranberry 150 Dead Pike 21 Eagle 120 Fishtrap 71 Forest 108 Harris 117 High 113 Horsehead 87 Island 325 Jag 10 Johnson 2 Kentuck 170 Lac Vieux Desert 184 Laura 122 Little Arbor Vitae 113 Little Crooked 4

0 0 0 0 2 7 12 0 3 0 4 0 0 8 1 0 2 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 5 3

Lake

Walleye Muskie

Little John 37 Little St. Germain 28 Little Star 42 Long 362 Lost 3 Lower Buckatabon 3 Lynx 37 Mamie 90 Manitowish 107 N. Turtle 50 North Twin 0 Otter 43 Oxbow 108 Palmer 6 Papoose 91 Plum 212 Presque Isle 0 Presque Isle Chain 503 Razorback 78 Rest 128 Round 3 South Turtle 108 Scattering Rice 9 Sherman 31 Snipe 48 Spider 40 Squaw 175 Star 510 Tenderfoot 124 Trout 265 Twin Chain 1,052 Upper Buckatabon 10 Upper Gresham 25 West Bay 37 White Sand 49 Wildcat 21

3 4 0 1 0 2 0 1 2 0 4 4 0 0 2 7 2 0 3 6 2 0 1 2 0 1 0 7 0 15 0 6 0 0 5 5

ONEIDA COUNTY Lake

Walleye Muskie

Bearskin Big Fork Big Booth Buckskin Carrol Chain Clear Crescent Dam George Gilmore Hasbrook Katherine Kawaguesaga Thompson Little Fork

186 144 277 15 85 24 48 271 313 155 148 4 79 124 140 6 25

6 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 6 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0

Lake

Walleye Muskie

Manson Medicine Minocqua Muskellunge North Nokomis Pelican Planting Ground Rainbow Flowage Sand Squash Squirrel Tomahawk Tomahawk Chain Two Sisters Virgin Willow Flowage

42 78 276 23 32 717 226 613 107 131 325 0 316 57 93 1,471

0 0 1 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 10 22 0 0 2 0

FOREST COUNTY Lake

Walleye Muskie

Butternut Franklin Jungle Lily

622 116 103 71

0 0 0 0

Lake

Walleye Muskie

Lucerne Metonga Roberts

56 283 162

0 0 1

IRON COUNTY Lake

Walleye Muskie

Turtle-Flambeau Fl

2,157

Figures compiled by the Department of Natural Resources

Broadband program to accept grant applications Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications through the Community Connect broadband pro-

gram for grants to provide broadband service to residents of remote, rural communities. The Community Connect program serves rural communities where broadband ser-

BUYING ALUMINUM, COPPER, BRASS, BATTERIES Saturdays noon to 4 p.m. STARTING MAY 5 LOCALLY OWNED. LOOK FOR THE SIGNS!

Hwy. 45 & Bloom Road

DON SCHARF AUTOMOTIVE Also accepting electronics & computers. Buying your junk car $200 to $300 complete. ***CALL FOR A PRICE QUOTE*** (715) 479-8597

vice is least likely to be available, but where it can make a difference in the quality of life for citizens. The projects funded by these grants will help rural residents tap into the

potential of the Internet. More information on Community Connect grants, including the application guide, can be viewed at rurdev.usda.gov/wi.

BID NOTICE The Watersmeet Township School District is soliciting bids for three (3) different contract services: Request for Proposal #1: Request for Proposal #2: Request for Proposal #3:

Cleaning Services Maintenance Services School Meal Services

The request for proposals can be found on the district’s website (www.watersmeet.k12.mi.us) under the “ADMINISTRATION” tab. The bids are currently open and are due by 3:00 p.m. on May 30, 2012. If you have any questions or wish to obtain a hard copy of the RFP from the district, you may contact Sandra Robinson, Business Manager or George R. Peterson III, Administrator, at: Telephone: Fax Number: E-mailing:

(906) 358-4555 (ext. 1 or 2) (906) 358-4713 or 3036 srobinson@watersmeet.k12.mi.us gpeterson3@watersmeet.k12.mi.us

946

A proposed project to solve communication gaps to fire departments and emergency responders costing more than $1 million was sent back for further review by the Vilas County Finance and Budget Committee last week after opposition rose over selling municipal bonds to cover the cost. A number of areas in Vilas County are billed as “dead zones” where fire and emergency responders cannot receive pages from the county’s dispatch center. A plan to get agreements for three additional communication towers was developed to provide adequate coverage at a cost of almost $1.3 million. These would be located in Arbor Vitae, Conover, and Presque Isle, adding to the current eight existing towers used for law enforcement. Finance Committee Chairman Chris Mayer said he was concerned about bonding costs to be added to the county budget, indicating so far overtime costs for 126 county employees was at $114,000 “and will be a halfmillion by the end of the year if this continues.” Supervisor Ed Bluthardt was in favor of proceeding with the project as intended and new Supervisor Gary Peske, who was the communications officer in the Justice Center prior to his retirement from the sheriff ’s department, also wanted to proceed. “I don’t want to see this fall apart,” said Bluthardt. “This is public safety and is necessary. It saved my life and I’m sure there are others out there who were saved and the cost is not a barrier to not go forward,” added Bluthardt, referring to the heart attack he had. “Delaying the three sites is counterproductive and you’ll just be extending the problem we have,” said Peske. “I’m totally against delaying this. This is not a system I want, it’s a system we need.” Mayer asked the town chairmen present if the towns might contribute to the price, with all indicating they don’t have extra money — like the county’s general fund — and have contributed in other ways. “We helped with the Lac du Flambeau tower with $150,000 and provided the site on town land,” Lac du Flambeau Town Chairman Matt Gaulke told Mayer. “We’re stretched.”

Conover Town Chairman Steve Rhode indicated they understood the importance of communication, but the town also provided land, a building for equipment and a backup generator for a tower. “We’re strapped,” said Cloverland Town Chairman Scott Maciosek. “Doesn’t the county have a $7.5 million unencumbered general fund?” Mayer indicated the county did, but “we need to have about 25% of our budget (in that fund) and don’t want to go below that.” Supervisor Jim Behling said, “No one thinks this is a project that shouldn’t get done.” While Supervisor Mark Rogacki supported the project, but not bonding for it. “There is no money and the tax base can’t go up because the economy sucks,” Rogacki said. “All of it ends up here and this doesn’t solve the problem.” Behling suggested the issue be sent back to the county’s Communications Committee to explore other funding options. “I’m not willing to go forward today,” Behling said. “Bonding isn’t the only option; we could borrow from ourselves.” Mayer summed up the meeting, saying “We’re committed to the project; it’s the funding issue we need to decide.” Communications consultant Jeff Nelson explained to the Finance Committee and a dozen town officials present at the meeting that the Conover and Presque Isle sites wouldn’t likely be operational until 2013. “Equipment isn’t ordered until the sites are ready for deployment and we’ll still have a few areas where coverage won’t be the best,” Nelson said. “These include an area in southwest Lac du Flambeau, northwest Winchester, and east of Phelps, mostly due to topography.”

Correction Technical information supplied to the newspaper for an article in the May 2 issue on buoy placement on the Eagle River Chain of Lakes was incorrect. It should have read: When navigating upstream, the red buoys will be on the boater’s port (left) side, and the green buoys on boater’s starboard (right) side.

Phone Discounts Available to CenturyLink Customers The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin designated CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service area for universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates for residential voice lines are $13.40 - $23.89 per month and business services are $20.92 - $43.97 per month. Specific rates will be provided upon request. CenturyLink offers Lifeline service to customers who meet eligibility requirements. The federal Lifeline program is undergoing some changes in 2012, but customers may be eligible if they participate in certain federal or state assistance programs or have a household annual gross income at or below 135% of the federal poverty level. Lifeline is available for only one wireline or wireless telephone per household. Lifeline is not transferrable and documentation of eligibility is required to enroll. Qualifying residents of American Indian and Alaskan Native tribal lands may be eligible for additional discounts. Lifeline eligible subscribers may also qualify for reliable home high-speed Internet service up to 1.5Mbps for $9.95* per month for the first 12 months of service. Further details are available at centurylink.com/internetbasics. If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call 1-800-201-4099 or visit centurylink.com/lifeline with questions or to request an application for the Lifeline program. *CenturyLink Internet Basics Program – Residential customers only who qualify based on meeting income level or program participation eligibility requirements, and requires remaining eligible for the entire offer period. First bill will include charges for the \first full month of service billed in advance, prorated charges for service from the date of installation to bill date, and one-time charges and fees described above. Qualifying customers may keep this program for a maximum of 60 months after service activation provided customer still qualifies during that time. Listed High-Speed Internet rate of $9.95/mo. applies for first 12 months of service (after which the rate reverts to $14.95/mo. for the next 48 months of service), and requires a 12-month term agreement. Customer must either lease a modem/router from CenturyLink for an additional monthly charge or purchase a modem/router from CenturyLink for a one-time charge, and a one-time High-Speed Internet activation fee applies. A one-time professional installation charge (if selected by customer) and a onetime shipping and handling fee applies to customer’s modem/router. General – Services not available everywhere. CenturyLink may change or cancel services or substitute similar services at its sole discretion without notice. Offer, plans, and stated rates are subject to change and may vary by service area. Deposit may be required. Additional restrictions apply. Terms and Conditions – All products and services listed are governed by tariffs, terms of service, or terms and conditions posted at centurylink.com. Taxes, Fees, and Surcharges – Applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges include a carrier Universal Service charge, carrier cost recovery surcharges, state and local fees that vary by area and certain in-state surcharges. Cost recovery fees are not taxes or government-required charges for use. Taxes, fees, and surcharges apply based on standard monthly, not promotional, rates.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

Sommer joins race for 12th State Senate Susan Sommer, a resident of Phelps and native of Rhinelander, announced her candidacy for Wisconsin state Senate District 12 last Thursday. Sommer is running as a Democrat for the position being vacated by Sen. Jim Holperin (D-Conover). “It is because of my love for the North Woods and the inability of our current legislature to promote and protect this area that I’m running for state Senate,” said Sommer. “This recent legislative session, which focused only on partisan politics, has divided and polarized our communities. Our government has acted in violation of the ethics we hold true. As senator for the 12th District, I will strive to produce legislation that honors our ethics. It is time to stop the partisan politics and work for the sake of our common good.” Sommer said she seeks the office of state senator in order to provide thoughtful and responsible leadership in service to the district’s values. “We believe in a community ethic that demands our children and elders receive necessary resources to thrive and succeed. We are proud of our work ethic, based on an honest day’s labor for fair compensation. We stand strong in our land ethic, which recognizes the land as a community to which we belong, one that must be protected and supported sustainably,” said Sommer. “Each one of us has concerns we want our government to handle. My plan is to sit down and talk with the folks of District 12 to better understand what those concerns are so that, as senator, I can make certain our legislature deals honorably with our common issues.” Sommer said she experi-

SUSAN SOMMER enced the best in public education as a child growing up in Rhinelander, where she attended public schools and graduated from Rhinelander High School in 1978 with honors. “I received an excellent education through the Rhinelander public school system that provided me with a strong foundation for further education and success,” she said. Sommer obtained a degree in journalism at the University of Missouri Columbia, with a minor in Spanish, in 1982. She went on to receive her law degree from Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee in 1987. Sommer began her legal career with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office and later the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office, where she served as a prosecuting attorney for a total of 17 years. As a prosecutor, Sommer said she endeavored to honor and protect that truth had a voice in the court and that it was heard. “For 17 years, I was privileged to strive for justice on behalf of victims and offenders and to find the humanity within our stark criminal justice system,”

NEWS Nine conservation interests appeal U.P. property exchange

she said. “It is with gratitude that I reflect on those years of public service to the state of Wisconsin.” In 2004, Sommer left her work as a prosecuting attorney to join the Americorps program where she built houses with Habitat for Humanity in South Carolina. “I learned to build houses from the ground up,” said Sommer. “Working in partnership with volunteers and the families who were becoming homeowners was incredibly rewarding. I will live always with a grateful heart for the chance to have been of service to those families in need.” Sommer returned to Wisconsin in 2008, where she has been employed as an associate attorney at the Eagle River law firm of O’Brien, Anderson, Burgy & Garbowicz LLP. “My husband, Tuck Daniels, and I moved home to the northern Wisconsin without jobs,” she said. “We know firsthand how difficult it is to find work in this economy and the North Woods, in particular. “I want to become state senator for the 12th District because so much that is precious here is at risk,” said Sommer. “As your senator, I will work diligently in service to our district to ensure that what we care about most is protected — our communities, our jobs and this area’s incredible natural resources.” The 12th Senate District consists of all or parts of 11 counties in northeastern Wisconsin, including all of Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties. The other candidates in the 12th District state senate race include 35th District state Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) and Lisa Theo, a Democrat from Tomahawk.

___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

WATERSMEET, MICH. — A group of conservation interests, led by Partners in Forestry (PIF) Cooperative, has brought a proposed land exchange on the Ottawa National Forest to U.S. District Court. The nine plaintiffs are represented by Marianne Dugan of Eugene, Ore., an attorney specializing in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The land exchange features 320 acres of National Forest System land, including wooded parcels within 10 miles of Watersmeet, Mich. Officials with PIF say the Watersmeet parcels include natural features such as Wildcat Falls and old-growth hemlock, hardwood and cedar, as well as unique geological features with rock outcrops and Scott and Howe creeks. In return, the plaintiffs claim the Ottawa would gain a heavily cut-over parcel located south of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The appraised value on the Delich parcel to be acquired in the trade is $316,000, and the value of the public land to be traded is $290,000. The Forest Service will make the $26,000 difference in cash payment to Delich, according to an appraisal report of federal parcels by Compass Land

100

Consulting LLC. A spokesman for the conservation interests, Joe Hovel of Conover, minced no words in his refute of the land exchange. “This project demonstrates a tragic loss to the public and is a disgrace to the Ottawa National Forest,” said Hovel. “The loss of the intrinsic values of these unique features, as well as the lands, for less than the economic timber value represents an illconceived decision.” According to the U.S. Forest Service decision notice, there are “benefits associated with acquiring the non-federal tract, which is a large, consolidated block of land within a semi-primitive, non-motorized recreation area and immediately adjacent to Porcupine Wilderness State Park and the North Country Trail.” The decision notice also acknowledges that “there are both positive and negative effects on landowners adjacent to the properties involved and to the general public,” but concludes that “the negative effects, as described in the environmental assessment (EA) and within this decision, are minimal and limited in scope.”

Shop the classifieds and grab a great deal on a great deal of items!

NORTH WOODS TRADER — 715-479-4421

COUPON

OFF

• No minimum order • One coupon per customer location • Commercial or residential • For work accepted in the month of May 2012

ROGERS CONTROL INC. (715) 479-6919

Plaintiff and PIF board member Rod Sharka disagreed, questioning how the public involvement could be ignored. “The public spoke out in unison against this poorly thought-out project, which it appears was decided by officials without the normal ‘due diligence’ necessary in real estate transactions,” said Sharka. “The more the public learned about this proposal, the less acceptable it appeared, and yet Forest Service officials continue to defend the indefensible.” Hovel said the citizens’ primary objection is the loss of Wildcat Falls and its surrounding features to a private party. The citizens also have raised concern that the Delich parcel, which the public would acquire, was not sustainably managed, but was severely overharvested in recent years. In addition to PIF, other plaintiffs in this suit are Northwood Alliance Inc., a local conservation group, Upper Peninsula residents from Watersmeet, Iron River, Marenisco and Marquette, as well as a land conservation advocate from the Adirondacks.

ELECTRICAL WORK

• Good for products and services. • Coupons have no refunds or cash value. • Qualifying referrals from an accepted job in May will mean an additional $50 reward.

COUPON

Now offering expanded ELECTRICAL services • RESIDENTIAL • INDUSTRIAL • COMMERCIAL 1029 E. Wall St., Eagle River, WI 54521 (715) 479-6919 • 1-(800) 359-0286

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

OUTDOORS Opener company, bite as good as it gets IT STARTED with a simple cast, the 2012 open water fishing season, as daughter Melissa sent a jig and minnow toward the shoreline in hopes there might be some old or new cabbage weeds holding walleyes. Our sharing boat space for a weekend had been on the calendar for a couple of months, something we hadn’t done since last June around Father’s Day. There’s no ruining a weekend like that, fish or no fish, yet we were hoping that overcast conditions would be right for the walleyes. Our plan was to find the thickest, nastiest old cabbage weeds from last year, which normally are the first areas to harbor the newest weed growth of the season. And it’s those new weeds, the really green, tough plants, that hold the walleyes. The answer came very quickly. Melissa had barely started to retrieve her first cast when she announced a pickup. Subtle head movements that showed on her rod tip said walleye, and the hook set was true. She mentioned something about a nice fish, so I set down the rod I hadn’t had a chance to cast yet, and got the net. Moments later, the scribbler slid the net under a fat 18-inch walleye and we declared that the season’s opening was as good as any we could remember. Who gets a dandy walleye on their first cast? No doubt she was out to show me there was nothing rusty about her jigging skills. You’d think that would have made her happy enough to slow down a little. But no, she had to catch the next four walleyes for the morning and declare a limit — a limit before the old guy had boated anything but a northern and a perch. No justice for the guide, I tell you. But that’s the beauty of it all. I was the guide and, as the guide, my sole purpose was to make sure my daughter had a great time. So not catching

In the Outdoors By Kurt Krueger any of the first five walleyes was sort of a plan, a guide’s plan. Yea, that’s my story. I’m the writer so I can say that I eventually caught up to her catch rate, though she might dispute the credibility of the report. Funny thing, just about every place we stopped to fish, she was catching walleyes and northerns on the first cast. At one point I told her that horseshoe she was sitting on had to be mighty uncomfortable. The wind was from the east all weekend and as the old saying goes — wind from the east, fish bite the least. Well let me tell you that there are exceptions to every rule, and this bite was one of them. It seemed like every fish species was active as our catch rotated from walleye to perch to northern pike. I’m sure people were finding walleyes in the sticks and on dropoffs in deeper water, but the weed walleyes on the Eagle Chain were as active as I’ve seen them in years. No doubt the early ice-out and last week’s warm-up played a part in getting the walleyes past that post-spawn recovery period that plagues anglers on many opening weekends. We were fishing the Three Lakes side of the 28-lake Chain, where the dreaded 14- to 18-inch slot limit has been replaced by a more angler-friendly “one over 14” limit. One can only hope, for the sake of those Eagle River Chain anglers, that someday they too can get rid of the slot regulation. I’ve never been big on the thought of releasing 17-inch walleyes so that tribal spearers

and poachers can have them. But that’s one of the realities of the protective slot. It may be good for the fishery, in some cases, but it’s not good for law-abiding sport anglers. Walleyes are an elusive and fun fish to chase, but I’ll take the halfdozen northern pike we kept last weekend over the walleyes. If walleyes taste great, then northerns are superb. If you ask me, there is not a better eating fish in the waters of the North Woods. It doesn’t matter how you fix them. Deep-fried, panfried, broiled or boiled, northern pike is a more flavorful fish than the walleye. The trick, of course, is learning how to remove all the bones from the northern fillets. I would suggest not using the five-part fillet method often promoted in Wisconsin, including by the Department of Natural Resources. There’s a Canadian method that produces just two fillets instead of five pieces, and you can truly remove all the bones. Opening day was a smorgasbord. We found jumbo perch and northerns mixed with the walleyes in shallow weeds. There also were some crappies lurking in shoreline wood, and we caught and released two muskies. May is the prime time for walleyes and other fishing because just about every fish species can be found in less than 10 feet of water. That means a concentrated population of fish that is available to anglers using several methods, from jig and minnow to bobbers. I saw boats hauling in numerous walleyes and northerns using slip bobbers. After a great opening day, we ate dinner and shook some dice before putting in a movie — knowing we’d hardly get past the introductions without closed eyes and nodding heads. That’s a lot of fresh air when you aren’t used to it. I can’t remember the last opener that produced as many hook sets and netted fish. We released

It’s tough to beat an opening weekend when a Dad can fish with his daughter and the walleyes are on a feeding frenzy. Here’s Melissa holding a couple of nice walleyes on opening day. —Photo By The Author

more than a dozen walleyes that measured more than 14 inches — the sign of a healthy fishery. We even ran out of minnows once, which doesn’t usually happen unless the fish are really hitting. Cloudy, rainy weather may not make the best fishing conditions, but it certainly can produce the best conditions for catching. I’ll take overcast conditions anytime, even rain, before bluebird weather with the sun shining. My daughter is no fair-weather angler, but she would have liked more sunshine, even if she had to

exchange a few hook sets to get it. Not me. In fact, sometimes it’s those openers with the nasty weather that you remember the most. In the long run, of course, what I’ll remember most is that year I got to fish opening weekend with my daughter. Good company and a good walleye bite make for a memorable weekend. I’ll just try to forget how she outfished me. And if she won’t let me forget, I can always lean on the guiding thing. I may have to.

Fishing with the Guides By George Langley

Weed growth will help walleye fishing here

Those huge and entertaining trumpeter swans are thriving so well in the Badger State that the number of nesting pairs is nearing 200 — more than 10 times the recovery goal that was established

25 years ago when the restoration efforts began in northern Wisconsin. This stunning closeup was taken by Kathryn Miller of Three Lakes on the Eagle Creek Thoroughfare.

Trumpeter swans continue thriving 25 years after initial recovery efforts Twenty-five years after efforts began to restore trumpeter swans to Wisconsin’s landscape, state wildlife officials are celebrating a record number of nesting pairs as annual monitoring surveys of the birds begin. “The good news is great news,” said Sumner Matteson, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist who has led the program since it started in 1987. “We had 197 nesting pairs in 2011, the highest number we’ve had to date,” he said. “That’s about 10 times the recovery goal we set in the 1980s, and it’s extremely gratifying and a reflection of the partnerships that made it possible. We hope that this field season we’ll set another new record.” The DNR, with help from

partners and volunteers, conducts several surveys to keep tabs on the swans, including aerial surveys to identify nests and confirm the hatching of cygnets. Those aerial surveys will begin shortly, followed by surveys done by biologists to check nests to see if the eggs are viable. During fall surveys, biologists and volunteers round up cygnets and put numbered bands on their necks to help keep track of them in coming years. After the 2012 field season ends, the DNR will continue to monitor the birds, but not every year. “We’ve been monitoring the flock every year statewide since 1989,” said Matteson. “We’ve come to a fork in the road where we no longer need to monitor annually, so the

next survey will be five years from now.” Market hunting and demand for the feathers of trumpeter swans brought these birds, one of North America’s largest, to near extinction in Wisconsin and other upper Midwest states by the 1880s. Wisconsin put the species on the state’s endangered species list in the 1980s, which made it illegal to kill, transport, possess, process or sell them, and launched a recovery effort that collected eggs from the wilds of Alaska, hatched them at the Milwaukee Zoo and reared the young in the wild using decoys, and in captivity, before releasing them. Scores of organizations, businesses and private individuals worked to carry out the recovery effort with state

wildlife managers, technicians, research scientists, UWMadison wildlife ecologists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff. Trumpeter swans reached the recovery goal early, more than doubling the 20 breeding pairs hoped for by 2000, and Wisconsin removed it from the endangered species list in 2009. Trumpeter swan nests are now found in 24 counties. Matteson said the program’s success has been tremendously satisfying. “In the early years of the program, we had some slow going,” he said. “But what this program demonstrated over 25 years is to really adhere to a vision and not to give up on a goal but to persist in working with partners and the public in making a project of this magnitude happen.”

The fishing opener has come and gone. The Saturday part of opening weekend of the general fishing season was pretty good, with reports of a fair amount of decent walleye fishing in the area. Sunday, as anglers know, was awful with rain, wind and cold temperatures most of the day. It’s another temperature roller coaster on area lakes as the water temperatures were solidly in the 50s before the cold rain that fell on Sunday. The rain dropped the water temperatures by at least five degrees, and fish that were either spawning or thinking about it (muskie, crappies and bass) just vacated the shorelines and are now back in pre-spawn mode. It is frustrating to have this happen year after year. What anglers need from this point forward is consistent warming and an absence of cold fronts. Don’t hold your breath, as the patterns of the last few springs have been just the opposite. Despite the early spring, anglers reported an almost complete absence of weed growth, particularly on the Chain. Hopefully, this will change in the near future and anglers will see more of those nice shallow weeds emerging. Walleye fishing would grade out in the C-plus range for the Saturday opening. Most fish were caught deeper as those good cover weeds are yet to be found on a consistent basis. Jigs and minnow fishing was the ticket for the weekend and will be for several weeks. Higher water temperatures are needed to get action on crawlers and leeches. The conditions closely resemble a normal Memorial Day-type weekend, with the fish starting to complete their post-spawn recovery phase and starting to feed in deeper water. As soon as lakes get some green weeds, they’ll be up in those areas feeding. Northern action was great, with the fish in big numbers in any shallower weeds they can find. They seem to be mixed in the weeds wherever anglers found crappies. They are hitting on minnows of any size but, as always, use bigger minnows for bigger fish. Bass, which are catch-and-release only at this time, were starting to move into the shallows until the cold front hit Sunday. They’ll be up again as soon as it warms up, so be ready to fish right away for them. Panfish action has been good, with good crappie action throughout the area until that cold front. They are a good way through spawning, but some are still going to spawn. Perch are in the weeds and the ’gills are just ready to come up. We’ve got a lot of good panfish fishing in the next several weeks if the weather warms and gets consistent. Let’s hope for that consistent warm weather, which should lead to some great spring fishing. Good luck and good fishin’.

SERVICE OF:

EAGLE SPORTS

EAGLE RIVER GUIDES ASSOCIATION

10A

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

OUTDOORS Trout stocked in 12 waters here

Grouse dog giveaway Lucky young hunter will win English setter The Chain of Lakes Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society and Tall Tail Kennels will be giving away an English setter puppy to a lucky young hunter. Willard Greenman, owner of Tall Tail Kennels, will donate an 8-week-old English setter puppy to a local youngster younger than age 21. To be considered, an applicant simply has to fill out a questionnaire, according to Dan Anderson of the chapter. “It is important that applicants have complete support and approval from their parents and have the ability to provide a good home for the puppy,” said Anderson. “A successful applicant must have completed, or have plans to complete, a hunter safety course.” Greenman said the puppy comes from an excellent line of purebred English setters, and, with the right training, can be expected to be a quality bird dog. The mother’s family tree includes a dog named Bozeann’s Mosely, a legendary field trial champion. The father’s line comes from setters bred by Dr. Marty Smith, co-founder of the Dr.s Foster and Smith pet supply company. In addition to donating the puppy, Greenman has offered to help the new owner train the puppy. The Chain of Lakes Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society’s oversight committee will choose the winning applicant by June 1. The committee will use the questionnaire to decide who the winner is and may contact applicants and their parents directly to ask

This 8-week-old English setter puppy will be presented to a lucky young hunter June 1. —Contributed Photo

additional questions. “To get the puppy, just answer the following questionnaire in your own words and to the best of your ability,” said Anderson. • Provide your name, phone number, address, email and age. • How do you plan to take care of the puppy, where do you plan to keep the dog and how you propose to exercise him? • Do you currently own dogs and have you owned dogs in the past? • Give the committee a brief description of your hunting experience or why you are interested in learning

to hunt. • Include a short statement from your parents giving their approval for you to own and care for a dog. Answers to the questionnaire can be submitted to hellmo@frontier.com or to Tall Tail Setters, 2050 Brown Road, Eagle River, WI 54521 Questions can be directed to hellmo@frontier.com or (715) 617-4668. The Chain of Lakes Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society holds a sportsman’s banquet each year the last Thursday of August. For information about participating or attending, use the contact information listed above.

More than 330,000 catchable-size trout were stocked in dozens of inland trout waters across Wisconsin before the May 5 inland fishing season opener, including 12 waters in Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties. “We were able to start (stocking) a little earlier this year, and we had good conditions for stocking the entire spring,” said David Giehtbrock, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) statewide fish production manager. DNR fisheries crews stocked rainbow, brown and brook trout raised at Nevin Fish Hatchery, Osceola Fish Hatchery and St. Croix Falls Hatchery. In Vilas County, Stormy Lake was stocked with 13,050 brown trout, Stevenson Creek Flowage got 251 brook trout and Allequash Springs received 209 brook trout. In Oneida County, the following water bodies were stocked with trout: Brown Creek, 157 brook trout; Gudegast Creek, 157 brook trout; Hawk Lake, 421 rainbow trout; Mercer Springs, 261 brook trout; and Starks Creek, 261 brook trout. In Forest, trout were stocked as follows: Armstrong Creek, 523 brook trout; Little Cub Lake, 523 brook trout;

Overall stocking In other stocking news, anglers can go online at dnr.wi.gov to see which waters have been stocked over time, including in 2011, when 21 million fish were stocked, including nearly 8 million larger fish. “We had an extremely good year with muskellunge production and average or aboveaverage years on walleye and northern pike production,”

Muskie league plans meeting

NORTHLAND DOCKS

The Monday Night Muskie League will have an informational meeting Monday, May 14, at 7 p.m. at Club DeNoyer in Eagle River. League members and all interested anglers are invited to attend. For more information, call Jared Adamovich at (715) 617-8426.

SWIM RAFTS

Cedar or Carpeted We also sell dock hardware.

Order now & receive a

10%

Spring Discount!

Turkey management meetings set in Minocqua, Stevens Point Public input meetings on revising the Wisconsin Wild Turkey Management Plan will be held in Minocqua and Stevents Point next week. Since wild turkeys were re-introduced into Wisconsin in the 1970s, their population has flourished, according to Scott Walter, upland wildlife ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The public input meetings are intended to both share information on wild turkey management and gather information from hunters, landowners and others about the turkey population where they live, hunt or farm. Meetings should last no longer than two hours, and are open to the public — no registration required. The public input meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the following locations: — Monday, May 14, Minocqua: AmericInn Minocqua Conference Center, 700 Highway 51 N. (Zone 7); and — Tuesday, May 15, Stevens Point: UW-Stevens Point, Dreyfus University Center, (Room 230), 1015 Reserve St. (Zone 3). Meeting attendees will be able to view a presentation giving the historical background of the existing Turkey management plan.

WINTER CLOTHING & BOOTS

25%-60% OFF

Think Spring!

Check out our 2012 rods, reels and tackle.

! W O N G N I HAPPEN

Dianne Briggs of Sayner shot this 21-pound turkey with a 10inch beard April 28 at 2 p.m. in the Janesville area. She was accompanied by her 12-year old nephew, Ian Williams-Lohr of Madison. —Contributed Photo

Concealed Carry Training Classes

NEW! MSA 160 C-BQ CHAIN SAW

34995 12" bar

Learn More @ www.gwps.me

BG 55 HANDHELD BLOWER

14995

Proven handheld blower at an affordable price Optional vacuum and gutter kit attachments available

No fuel. No cord. No emissions.

GUN WORKS

Powerful enough to get the job done quickly with no gradual drop in power

N SHOOTING

FS 45 TRIMMER

15995

“This class taught me to be very thoughtful and careful.” Battery and charger sold separately

Bill Washburn is a veteran hunter safety instructor. He was not required to do so, but thought he had better ﬁnd out more about the law, so he enrolled in a class taught by Dan Tomasoski of Gun Works Precision Shooting.

SAVE NOW ON THE STIHL BATTERY KOMBISYSTEM!

“Dan did a great job. Concealed carry is to be taken very seriously. These are not toys. There are options out there for shorter classes but to spend any less time learning about something so important is unreasonable.”

$100 REBATE

Classes should prepare folks not only how to handle a handgun, but also how to survive an attack physically, morally, ﬁnancially and legally so they gain the conﬁdence to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their assets, and how to stay out of prison.

Lightweight, reliable and fast starting

WHEN YOU One STIHL Lithium-Ion PURCHASE Battery

One STIHL Lithium-Ion Unit

Mail-in rebate is available at participating STIHL dealers with registered purchase of STIHL Li-Ion battery and a STIHL Battery Kombi unit between 4/1/12- 9/30/12.

Upcoming Classes Tues.,March May 1517 – Land O’ Lakes Sat., - Rhinelander 23 –20 Lakeland Tues. &Sata., Wed.,June March - Eagle River

Eagle River

Woodruff

Nelson’s Ace Hardware 606 E. Wall St. 715-479-4496 NelsonsAceHardware.us

Quality Equipment, Inc 517 First Ave. Hwy 47 W 715-356-5156 QualityEquipmentInc.us

PLEASE ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE APPAREL WHEN OPERATING ANY OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT. 3990507-01

Call Gun Works Precision Shooting @ 715-367-1144 To Sign Up

Easy-to-use, well-balanced trimmer

“I would highly recommend Dan’s class.”

www.eaglesportscenter.com

ALUMINUM BOAT LIFTS AV 10840 Hwy. 70 East, Arbor Vitae, Wis. (715) 356-4381 Neal Anderson neal@northlanddock.com

PRECISI

Rental skis and snowshoes for sale at reduced prices!

Giehtbrock said. The stocking database contains information on stocking from 1972 through 2011. Stocking data for 2012 isn’t available because those fish are being stocked now and the process will continue through the fall. To access the database, search the DNR website for “fish stocking” and then click on the link for the “stocking database.” The vast majority of Wisconsin lakes and rivers are naturally reproducing, but some people like to fish waters where stocking supplements low, natural reproduction or provides a fishery that otherwise wouldn’t exist, Giehtbrock says. The stocking database will give them an idea of what was stocked when and where, and what kind of fish. In 2011, the DNR raised and stocked 21,206,820 fish weighing a total of 430,919 pounds. About 13 million of these fish were fry, days-old fish. The rest, 7,871,706 fish were fingerling or larger. The numbers mentioned include fish stocked by DNR hatcheries, ponds or coop ponds. No private stocking is recorded in this table of data, Giehtbrock says.

North Branch Oconto River, 421 rainbow trout; and West Branch Armstrong Creek, 261 trout. Altogether, there will be 331,731 catchable-size trout stocked this spring, with rainbow trout comprising the largest share, 155,822, followed by brook trout at 105,160 fish, and 70,749 brown trout, according to Rachel Koehler, DNR assistant production manager and microbiologist. The trout are stocked in waters where the habitat is marginal and there is no natural reproduction. They are a small subset of the state’s overall trout treasury — more than 13,000 miles of classified trout water and trout populations that have generally increased statewide over the last 60 years.

STIHLdealers.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

11A

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

SPORTS Three Lakes softball takes second at Invite ___________ NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

Three Lakes senior pitcher Zana Lorbetske got ready to let one fly against a Phelps batter last

this invite, Algoma was the No. 3-ranked team in the state in Division 3, so for us not only to compete with them, but be able to beat them was very big for our program at Three Lakes,” said coach Lorbetske, who credited coaches Amanda Jorata and Fran Bloemer for helping to build the program. In the championship game, the Lady Jays had to face Algoma again due to tiebreaker rules.

Thursday. Lorbetske struck out 15 during the game. —Staff Photos By ANTHONY DREW

Three Lakes jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, starting when Brooke Welch singled and moved to second base after a sacrifice from Sowinski. Zielke then singled to get the Lady Jays on the board. Zana Lorbetske then hit a double to center field to drive in Zielke. “We took that lead into the bottom of the third, but had a very tough inning, giving up four there,” said the coach.

The umpire looked on as Three Lakes freshman Abbie Bauman slid into home just in time last Thursday to score a run against the Phelps Knights. The Lady Jays won the contest 13-0.

“Between a combination of a few errors and a couple timely hits, we gave up the lead going down 4-2, but we fought back to tie the game in the top of the fourth.” The Lady Jays scored two on an RBI triple from Schmidt and an RBI double from Welch. Algoma answered with a run in the fifth inning to put an end to the scoring and get the tournament win. “As coaches we were all very proud of the way the girls performed in this tournament,” said coach Lorbetske. “But we also are always honest with them and let them know that we can play even better if we clean up the little things.” In the game against Phelps last week, Three Lakes put up six runs in the first inning. Welch, Sowinski and Zielke each collected two hits during the game and Zana Lorbetske got three. Zana Lorbetske got the win on the mound, giving up only one hit while striking out 15 batters. Against Goodman-Pembine, the girls took advantage of some walks with some timely hits, and put up 12 runs in five innings. Wick and Zana Lorbetske led the way with two RBIs each. Defensively, Zana Lorbetske pitched a nice game, striking out 11 and giving up no hits. The Lady Jays’ record stands at 11-1 overall and 8-0 in the NLC. Three Lakes will host White Lakes in an NLC game Friday, May 11, before hosting Elcho in another conference match Tuesday, May 15. Both games will begin at 5 p.m.

Eagles place second hosting track ___________ BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

The Northland Pines High School track team hosted an outdoor meet last Tuesday, taking second place out of six teams. The Eagles scored 97 points, placing ahead of Rhinelander with 83, Hurley with 39, Three Lakes with 18 and Wabeno with 8. Tomahawk won the meet with 120 points. For Pines, Evan Hartwig won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.92 seconds. He also scored first place in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.05 seconds.

By Gary Ridderbusch

Journeys runners need fan support

BY ANTHONY DREW

The Three Lakes softball team added two more shutout victories to its Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) record last week, defeating Goodman-Pembine 12-0 Tuesday and Phelps 13-0 Thursday. The girls then competed in the Pulaski Invite Saturday, taking second place to Algoma. The Lady Jays defeated Pulaski 4-0 and Algoma 1-0, but lost 5-4 in a rematch against Algoma in the championship game. In game one against Pulaski, Three Lakes started off quickly in the first inning with freshman Lauren Sowinski hitting a double and senior Zana Lorbetske driving her in with another double. The Bluejays got another run in the fourth when junior Brigette Schmidt hit another double to drive in freshman Maddie Lorbetske. Two more runs came in the seventh off RBI singles by junior Abby Zielke and Zana Lorbetske. Zana Lorbetske pitched a good game, striking out 14 batters and giving up only one hit. “It was a very nice win for the program with Pulaski being a Division 1 team that plays in a very tough conference in the Green Bay area,” said Three Lakes coach Tony Lorbetske. “The teams there are always very experienced and very well-coached.” Game two against Algoma was a classic pitching duel, with the only run coming in the top of the second when Zana Lorbetske tripled to center field and was driven in off a single from Sela Wick. Algoma’s pitcher had four strikeouts and gave up five hits. Meanwhile, Zana Lorbetske gave up two hits and had 15 strikeouts in the game. “This was a very good win for our program. Coming in to

Sports Sidelines

“Evan had an amazing meet,” said Pines coach John Hayes. “He’s really come a long way in our program and is becoming a blue-chipper in our program, consistently scoring in the hurdles every meet.” Johnny Schwenn also scored two firsts, winning the 400-meter dash in 50.53 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 23.38. Dylan Weber secured second place for the Eagles in the 800-meter run, finishing in 2:10.88. Gander Spencer took third in the same event for Pines, coming in just behind Weber in 2:10.89. “Tim Kopanski also had a great meet, getting his best in

both the discus and the shot put,” said Hayes. “Tim has worked hard this season to get over that 100 foot mark in the discus and he is really becoming a great thrower for us.” Meanwhile, Walker Nelson joined the sub-five club as he ran the 1,600-meter in 4:59 for the first time. Devin Sauvola ran a 10:13.86 in the 3,200meter by himself, dominating the field from the front. Both Jacob Bozic and Steven Vogel turned a 54 second 400-meter dash, which were personal bests for them. “I’m excited to see what these guys are gong to get done for us in the 4x400,” said Hayes. “All in all, it was a pretty good meet for our runners

and we saw a lot of personal bests.” For the Pines relay teams, Steven Vogel, Bozic, Weber and Ryan Ozelie scored a first place in the 4x400-meter with a time of 3:44.08. Austin Ramesh, Weber, Lucas Ferber and Ozelie got second in the 4x200-meter relay in 1:36.86. Duncan Hosking, Tavish Perry, Tanner Perry and Cody Holewinski got third in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 49.70 seconds. Pines will travel to Minocqua for a meet at Lakeland High School next Tuesday, May 15, at 4 p.m. They will host a meet Thursday, May 17, at 4 p.m.

Spectators are being urged to come out to Riverview Park in Eagle River to cheer on the runners in the 16th annual Journeys Marathon this Saturday, May 12. The Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center has announced that nearly 800 runners from more than a dozen states have registered for the Journeys Marathon, to be held on the back roads of Vilas County. Journeys Marathon will spring into action Friday night, May 11, from 5 to 9 p.m. with runners registrations at Northland Pines High School. An all-you-caneat spaghetti dinner will be served from 5 to 8 p.m. The public is welcome. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for age 6- to 12-year-olds and free to those 5 and younger. The full marathon will start at 8 a.m. Saturday on Highway K between Star Lake and Boulder Junction; the half-marathon/power walk will start at 9:15 a.m. at the corner of Highway K and East Buckatabon Lake Road; and the 5-kilometer run will start at 10 a.m. at Riverview Park in Eagle River. “All races are open to runners and walkers and there is still time to register,” said Kim Emerson, events coordinator for the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center. At the finish line in Riverview Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be music, food, beverages, a Kids Fun Run and the Journeys Marathon awards ceremony at 2 p.m. “This is a great opportunity for the community to enjoy a beautiful spring day full of excitement and activities for everyone,” said Emerson. “The runners really appreciate the fans cheering them on at the finish line.” A postrace celebration — offering an evening of relaxation and friendship — will be held at Eagle River Inn & Resort, located at 5260 Highway 70 W. The evening will include a hot buffet from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for youths age 12 and younger. From 7 to 11 p.m., live music will be provided. There also will be many door prizes. For more information about Journeys Marathon and other activities, contact the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center at (715) 479-6400 or visit journeysmarathon.org. With a great spring day in the forecast, Riverview Park will be the place to be this Saturday.

Pines girls get third in track ___________ BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

The Northland Pines girls track team took third place last Tuesday at the Eagle Invitational, scoring 59 points to put them ahead of Hurley, Wabeno and Three Lakes. Tomahawk won the event with 141 points, with Rhinelander taking second with 85.5. “This was a great meet for us with excellent conditions,” said Pines coach Josh Rhode. “The team performed extremely well and we had a lot of athletes get their personal best marks of the season.” The team’s meet Most Valuable Player Award went to Samantha Goll, who scored 22 team points. Goll finished first in the 4x800-meter relay with teammates Taylor Neis, Kylie Rhode and Emilie Robins with a time of 10 minutes, 56.4 seconds. She also won the 200-meter dash in 28 seconds, took first in the 300-meter hurdles in 50.47 seconds and took third with an 8-foot pole vault. “Samantha is versatile and able to compete and win in so many events,” said Rhode. “We need to narrow down her events and figure out which events will be her strongest to advance in the tournament series.” The team’s meet Most Outstanding Performance award

went to Robins, who broke the school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:28.97, edging Sarah Ludwig’s record of 2:30.2 from 2010. “It’s great to see an athlete set a goal, work hard and then achieve their goal,” said Rhode. “Emilie still has more to do this season and is determined to keep working hard and improving.” Also earning points for the Lady Eagles were Brooke Dreger, Lauren Czarapata, Ellie Zyhowski and McKenna Harsla, who took second in the 800-meter relay in 2:04.2. Autumn Pittman, Kelly McGinnis, Nicole Sullivan and Angele Gehrke took second in the 400-meter relay in 59.26 seconds. Taking third for the team were Kylie Rhode, 400-meter run, 1:07.63; and Czarapata, Zyhowski, Harsla and McGinnis, 1,600-meter relay, 4:56.76. Earning fourth place in the 1,600-meter run was Taylor Neis with a time of 6:21.06. Dreger took fifth in the 100meter dash in 14.38 seconds. “Our relay teams came through in this meet, as we had 20 points in relays,” said Rhode. “The girls still have room for improvement and will be working on having quicker exchanges.” The Lady Eagles will host another meet Thursday, May 17, at 4 p.m.

Golf classic planned at Eagle River course The 19th annual Walter E. Olson Library Golf Classic will be held Sunday, June 10, at Eagle River Golf Course, beginning with registration at 1 p.m. Four-person teams will tee off for the 18-hole scramble at 2 p.m. Carts will be provided. A silent auction, raffles and awards dinner will be

held at the clubhouse from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The entry fee for the event will be $55 for course members and $80 for nonmembers. There will be $1,500 in prizes awarded for two different flights. For more information or to enter, contact Fred Prange at (715) 479-9215.

12A

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

SPORTS Eagles soccer team falls to Rhinelander; hosts Mosinee next ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

Displaying their first-place trophy from the Ashland Invitational were Northland Pines High School golf team members, from

left, Jacob Stephan, Jack Sarama, Dan Finke, Sam Lacko and Zack Herfindahl. —Contributed Photo

Pines golfers win GNC meet, then finish first in Minocqua The Northland Pines High School golf team is off to a good start this season after a first-place finish at home for last Friday’s Great Northern Conference (GNC) meet followed by another win in Minocqua Saturday. At the GNC meet, Pines took first with 341 strokes, followed by Antigo with 344, Rhinelander with 354, Tomahawk with 355, Medford with 357, Lakeland with 366 and Mosinee with 397. Eagles golfer Dan Finke finished in fifth overall at the meet, scoring three strokes behind medalist Josh Willis of Rhinelander who finished at 78. Jacob Stephan finished at 85 for Northland Pines, followed by teammates Sam Lacko with 89, Jack Sarama with 86 and Zach Herfindahl with 100.

in a goal to make it 4-1. Rhinelander scored just under three minutes into the second half which was followed by a Pines goal. Carly Ridderbusch crossed the ball right in front of the Rhinelander net and a Hodag defender deflected it in to make it 5-2. Rhinelander found the net a sixth time with 17 minutes left in the games. “We had some injuries during the game because Rhinelander is a tough, physical team and we were not backing down,” said McCormack. Rhinelander outshot Pines 23 to 16 with 14 shots on goal. Pines had 12 shots on goal compared to just a couple shots on goal against the Hodags back on April 10. “We are still lacking on our offensive drive and shooting, but I see improvement in each game we play,” said McCormack. Pines goalkeeper Allyson Sima had 16 saves in the game. “This was probably Allyson’s best game to date,” said the coach. “The score doesn’t reflect it, but she was more aggressive to the ball and challenged the Rhinelander players more than she has. I think she is getting more comfortable in the net and gaining more confidence in herself.” The Eagles, 2-4-1 in the GNC and 2-6-3 overall, were scheduled to play at Antigo on Tuesday of this week and will host Mosinee this Thursday, May 8, at 5 p.m. Pines will play at the Waupaca tournament this Saturday, May 12.

Three Lakes girls get two shutouts in soccer

The next day, Pines beat out Tomahawk, Rhinelander and Lakeland with a team score of 346 to take home the win.

___________ BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

“Dan Finke was top for our team with 82 followed by Sam Lacko with 84,” said coach Rob Erickson. “The varsity team is currently in fourth place, but is moving up fast in the field.” Earlier in the season The Eagles also had a strong win at the Ashland Invitational last month, followed by a second-place finish at Niagara and a thirdplace finish at Medford. Then the team went into conference play, placing sixth at Tomahawk and third at Mosinee. “The year is looking excellent for the Eagles as they keep improving in meets

The Northland Pines girls soccer team lost to Rhinelander 6-2 in the Eagle’s only game last week. The second matchup between the Geat Northern Conference (GNC) teams proved to be more than Pines could handle. The Eagles lost to the Hodags 1-0 earlier in the season. “We switched some players around and the comeback of Lauren Lenz following a head injury shook up Rhinelander’s midfield and defense for a good part of the first half,” said Pines coach Wendy McCormack. “Paige Healy was moved from the center mid position to the outside right, which produced some really good runs up the sideline and Lenz shared the center of the field with Sammy Pusateri.” McCormack said Pusateri and Lenz put a lot of pressure on Rhinelander’s Gabbe Milot, which helped keep the ball on the Eagles’ half of the field. “Our defense did a great job holding their shape and caught Rhinelander offside five times, but the speed of Rhinelander’s Katelyn and Liz Krug was just more than our defense could take,” said McCormack. “Defenders Katrina Tameling and Holly Darton were able to slow the Krug sisters down somewhat, but they still managed to get past our defenders to tally four goals in the first half.” Pines got on the scoreboard at the 30- minute mark when Rhinelander had a hand ball in the penalty box. Lenz placed the ball low and to the right of the keeper resulting

Pines golfer Sam Lacko putted on hole two at Eagle River Golf Course as the Eagles hosted a Great Northern Conference meet

with experience and better play,” said Erickson. Although Stephan, Lacko and Finke are consistent

Golf league meetings Plum Lake Ladies The Plum Lake Ladies Golf League will play Thursday mornings beginning May 10. For the first month of events, tee times will begin at 9:30 a.m. For more information, call (715) 542-2598. Eagle River Senior Men’s The Eagle River Senior Men’s Golf League will meet Thursday, May 10, at 1 p.m. at the Eagle River Golf Course. Golf to follow, starting at 2 p.m. The league plays Thursdays at 1 p.m. For more information, call Don at (715) 477-2370. Lake Forest Wednesday Night Women’s The Lake Forest Wednesday Night Women’s Golf League will have a meeting Wednesday, May 9, at 7 p.m. League play will begin Wednesday, May 16, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. For more information, call Mary Ann at (715) 490-3663. Three Lakes Senior Men’s The Three Lakes Senior Men’s Golf League will play Wednesday mornings. An organizational meeting will be held Wednesday, May 16, at 9 a.m. at Harbor Campground Mia Tiki Bar and Grill. For more information, contact Karl Miller at (715) 546-2700, ext. 1204. Three Lakes Tuesday Morning Women’s The Three Lakes Tuesday Morning Women’s Golf League will hold an organizational meeting Tuesday, May 15, at 9 a.m. in the Mai Tiki Bar and Grill at The Harbor Campground. The regular season will begin immediately following the meeting. New members are always welcome. Any women interested in joining can contact Karen Cottingham at (715) 546-4298 or Jan Lederhaus at 546-4066 for more information.

last Friday. Northland Pines took first place in the meet with a combined score of 341. —Staff Photo By ANTHONY DREW

golfers for Pines, the coach has been impressed by Sarama. “The biggest surprise this

season is freshman Jack Sarama, who continues to swing low each meet,” he said.

Horseshoe league to start mid-May The Three Lakes Horseshoe League is now preparing for summer league play and will hold all meetings and the fall party at Paul’s Pine Lake Pub, located on Highway 32 East in Hiles. Horseshoes are played every Thursday throughout the Three Lakes area. Play will begin in mid-May and usually ends around Labor Day. The annual fall party will include a horseshoe tournament, food, prizes and awards. Sponsors will include Black Forest, Briggs Bar, Lindy’s Hideaway, Irish Waters, Jake’s Loon Saloon, Oneida Village, Pine Lake Pub, Pine Isle, Rummy’s, Sankey’s Pub and Wonders

Pit Stop. New members, returning members and substitutes can join a team by signing up at a sponsor bar. Team captains will arrange teams. “We look forward to seeing returning players, new members and also people who have never played,” said league contact Chris Kloiber. “This could be a great opportunity to learn a new game, meet people and enjoy our beautiful landscape, lakes and weather.” The membership fee will be $3 per week and will include the cost of the fall party. For more information, contact Kloiber at (715) 891-0637.

YMCA to host basketball league The YMCA of the Northwoods will host an adult men’s basketball league this summer. The league is designed for intermediate to advanced players. League games will take place Wednesday nights from 6 to 10 p.m., beginning the

week of June 6 and continuing through August. The season will be 12 weeks long with a post-season double-elimination tournament. Registration is now open at ymcaofthenorthwoods.org. For more information, contact the YMCA at (715) 362-9622.

The Three Lakes Lady Jays were on a roll last week with a 6-0 win over Bayfield last Tuesday and a 4-0 win over Ironwood, Mich., Thursday before ultimately going 1-1 at a triangular match Saturday against Merrill and Antigo. Erika Running and Cassie Hoger contributed two goals apiece in the convincing win over Bayfield. “This was an excellent outing for us,” said Three Lakes coach Stacy Stroud. “We were coming off a couple close games and a disappointing overtime loss; this win was well-deserved.” Natalie Miller and Holly Belland each added one goal in the game. Assists were credited to Indigo Yeager, Miller and Hoger. Goalkeeper Ashley Dorpat got the shutout victory for the Bluejays. In another impressive showing, the Lady Jays shut out Ironwood two nights later, with Miller getting two goals and Yeager and Erika Running adding one apiece. Hoger, Karlie Stefonik and Emma Beavers were each credited with an assist. Goalie Kacey Running made nine saves on the way to the shutout victory. “We really played well

against Ironwood,” said Stroud. “We were passing well and were able to maintain possession for the majority of the game.” In the triangular match, Three Lakes played Merrill to a 0-0 tie in regulation. “The rules of the triangular don’t include overtime, so we went right into a shootout,” said Stroud. The Lady Jays lost the game after a 3-2 shoot-out. Three Lakes played Antigo next and capitalized in the final 10 minutes, when Kacey Running scored a penalty kick after a foul in the box. “I was really proud of the girls,” said Stroud. “We had a quarter of our team not with us due to the Solo & Ensemble competition, but the rest of the team stepped up and fought hard against bigger schools.” The Lady Jays will travel to Kingsford, Mich., Thursday, May 10, at 5 p.m. before hosting Antigo Monday, May 14, at 5 p.m.

Wisconsin’s

North Woods

The fun starts here…

WEEKDAY GOLF SPECIAL Brad Missling PGA Professional

Golf Digest ★★★★ Rating

457 E. McKinley, Eagle River

www.eaglerivergolfcourse.com 715-479-8111 800-280-1477

9 Holes walking ..............$9 18 Holes walking.......$18 9 Holes with cart........$19 18 Holes with cart ....$33 VALID MONDAY THRU THURSDAY. CALL FOR RESERVATIONS. PRICES GOOD THRU MAY 24.

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

13A

SPORTS

Eagles collect 15 hits to defeat Phillips 13-3 ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

The Northland Pines Eagles softball team collected 15 hits and committed only one error in a 13-3 victory over Phillips in a nonconference game last Tuesday. The Eagles started fast and scored in six of the seven innings, which kept the pressure on the Loggers and was a key to the win, according to Pines coach Steve Sawalski. “This is the third game in a row where the girls have played solid defense, pitched well and were very successful offensively,” said coach Sawalski. Stephanie Sawalski

pitched seven strong innings to get the win for Pines. She struck out three, walked one and gave up four hits. On the offensive side, Kelsey Bergum was 3-for-4 including a double, with three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base. Sami Norman was 2-for-3 with a triple, three runs scored, two RBIs and three stolen bases. Stephanie Sawalski also had three hits, three RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base. Morgan Munnik continues to hit the ball hard, collecting three hits including two doubles, two runs scored and four RBIs. Jordan Welnetz had a triple, scored a run and had two RBIs. “Every win is important

when you look toward the postseason and you’re striving for a home game,” said coach Sawalski. “The girls are improving and our confidence is getting better with each game. Each girl continues to work hard as we head into the second half of the season.” Pines, 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Great Northern Conference (GNC), was scheduled to play at Rhinelander on Tuesday of this week and will host Houghton, Mich., in a nonconference doubleheader this Thursday, May 10, starting at 4 p.m. The Eagles will travel to Antigo this Saturday, May 12, for a GNC doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.

Grid Iron Club plans eighth golf classic event Three Lakes senior Ben Pitlik slid and was called safe at third base during last Thursday’s game against Phelps. The Jays won the con-

test 23-5, earning a Northern Lakes Conference victory to keep their hopes alive for the title. —Staff Photo By ANTHONY DREW

Bluejays top Knights ___________ BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR

___________

The Three Lakes High School baseball team fell 21-1 to Goodman-Pembine last Tuesday before getting a 23-5 Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) win over Phelps Thursday. The game against Phelps was tied 1-1 after the first inning when the Jays’ bats got going and came up with 10 runs on seven hits and some walks. “Once again, a lot of the younger players got an opportunity to get some innings and played well,” said Three Lakes coach Jeff

Liebscher. Jake Schneider went 3-3 with four RBIs and Riley Liebscher was 3-4 with five RBIs. Liebscher also got the win, striking out six in less than three innings. Michael LaGalbo came in as the closer and struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth to end the game. The Bluejays came into the Goodman-Pembine game earlier in the week with the chance to knock off a contender and keep their chances strong for a conference title. “Once again, however, walks, errors and, quite honestly, lack of effort led to an embarrassing loss,” said

Bluejays senior Ross Thorn scrambled for a grounder during last Thursday’s game against the Phelps Knights.

Eagles drop two in GNC; host Hatchets Thursday ___________ BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR

___________

The Northland Pines baseball team dropped two Great Northern Conference (GNC) games last week, falling to Antigo and Lakeland. Last Tuesday, Antigo got 16 hits in a 20-2 victory over the Eagles. Four Pines pitchers combined in the loss, trying to slow down the Red Robins offensive punch. “We allowed 16 hits and walked seven Robin batters which did not give us much of a chance,” said Pines coach Rob Govek. For Pines, Jacob Schlitt went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Brandon Wallace went 2-for-2 with a walk. The Eagles faced the Lakeland T-Birds Thursday, losing 8-3. Pines jumped ahead in the first inning when Dominic Caroselli drew a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and was driven in on a base hit from Wallace. Lakeland came back with the tieing run in the bottom of the second and the T-Birds

scored two more in the third to put the T-Birds up 3-1. The Eagles were able to rally back in the top of the fourth when Brett Hughes came through with a big twoRBI base hit down the third baseline. However, Lakeland added three in the bottom of the fifth and two in the sixth to get the win. Wallace was the top hitter for Pines, going 2-for-3. Schlitt, Hughes and Beaman each added a hit apiece for the Eagles. Beaman started on the mound for Pines, pitching five innings, and Wallace pitched the final two innings in relief. “This week we didn’t play confident baseball,” said Govek. Pines, 0-9 in the GNC and 4-11 overall, was scheduled to play at Mosinee on Tuesday of this week and will host Tomahawk this Thursday, May 10, at 4:30 p.m. The Eagles will host Phillips in a nonconference game next Tuesday, May 15, at 4:30 p.m.

coach Liebscher. Brent LaDuke pitched well aside from some early walks, but errors piled up on the Jays. Dillon Church threw a one-hitter for the Patriots, making use of a good fastball. “Our batters were intimidated,” said Liebscher. “The one good thing about the game was some solid play by some of the younger players.” Three Lakes was set to travel to Crandon for an NLC game Tuesday, May 8. They will host White Lake Friday, May 11, before hosting Elcho Tuesday, May 15, in a third NLC game. All games are set to begin at 5 p.m.

The Three Lakes Grid Iron Club will host its eighth annual Golf Classic Saturday, June 2, at Big Stone Golf Course. The event will begin with sign-in at noon with golf to follow at 1 p.m. The cost of golf and dinner will be $75. An early-bird registration is available to those who register by May 25 for a cost of $70. To rent a golf cart, contact the Tiki Bar at (715) 5463520. The classic will feature hole events, best ball champs and an early-bird drawing. There also will be raffles and a silent auction. Dinner will take place at Oneida Village Inn at 6 p.m. Nongolfers can attend the

dinner portion of the event for a cost of $15. Guests can preregister with Michele Brown at (715) 891-1187. Event proceeds will benefit Three Lakes School District football and other activities. For more information or to register, contact Brown. About the club The Grid Iron Club was organized eight years ago due to budget shortfalls and limited cash available to the high school football program. A group of individuals made a decision to hold a golf tournament to assist coaches with necessary items. Much of the equipment at that time was in fair condition, and much of it had seen better days.

Proceeds from the first year’s event purchased water hoses, material for a watering tree, a cart and wagon for hauling equipment, team socks and other miscellaneous items. Other fundraising events throughout the year have helped provide monies to the club, which have been used to benefit the community. Most recently, the club donated monies and effort into improving the field at Bluejay Stadium. The club spent more than $5,000 over the past three years on fertilizer and soil amendments, along with many hours of labor to improve the playing surface used by the football team, along with the girls and boys soccer teams.

14A

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

MEMBER

EDITORIAL

VILAS COUNTY

NEWS-REVIEW

Eagle River Vindicator Established 1886 Eagle River Review 1890 ~ Vilas County News 1892 Publisher Editor Asst. Editor Lifestyle Editor Production Manager Asst. Production Manager Photo Technician Production Technician Proofreader Circulation Manager Accounting Manager Advertising Consultants

KURT KRUEGER GARY RIDDERBUSCH ANTHONY DREW MARIANNE ASHTON JEAN DREW ELIZABETH BLEICHER SHARINA ADAMS CARLY RATLIFF JEAN FITZPATRICK ELIZABETH SCHMIDT TERRY POSTO MARY JO ADAMOVICH DIANE GLEASON MARCIA HEYER MADELINE MATHISEN JULIE SCHIDDEL

FIRST PLACE NATIONALLY COMMUNITY SERVICE

Published weekly by Eagle River Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 1929, 425 W. Mill St. at Eagle River, Wisconsin 54521 erpub@nnex.net vcnewsreview.com Member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the National Newspaper Association

Our View DNR should take a bow on quick bag limit work For the first time, since walleye bag limits for sport anglers were adjusted in response to tribal spearing declarations, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acted swiftly last week to raise bag limits on 250 lakes where tribal spearers took few or no walleyes. The unprecedented move was aided by a record-setting ice-out that occurred as early as March 20 on some lakes, which prompted an earlier start and end to tribal spearing than any year since the off-reservation activity began in 1985.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

OPINION/COMMENTARY

Who decides if it’s bribery or business? MY WEBSTER’S dictionary defines bribery as the act or practice of giving or taking a bribe. A bribe is money or favor given or promised to a person in a position of trust to influence his or her judgment or conduct. Now begins the job of interpretation. Can any bribe be considered legal? Are bribes, by any measure, illegal and a pox on any system or transaction? It may be hard to think of a situation where offering a bribe would be looked at in a favorable light. In the last two weeks there were two national stories that gained major headlines. The one story featured accusations of bribery and the second story merely referred to typical Washington lobbying efforts. Following are brief recaps of the two articles and let’s see how we differentiate the two. Recently the New York Times (NYT) reported that Walmart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Walmart de Mexico, is being investigated for allegedly spending more than $24 million to bribe Mexican officials to get construction permits to help expand its reach in that country. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun a criminal investigation, and Mexican federal authorities are scrutinizing their public officials. The accusations

People Make the Difference By Byron McNutt stem from activities dating back to 1991 and more recently from 2005-’06. U.S. laws forbid companies from bribing foreign officials and for trying to cover up internal investigations. Since the NYT report, several other major international companies have said they were forced to “step up to the plate” in various countries in order to get into the game. Some people say Mexico has a reputation as a corrupt nation and many big corporations have learned that greasing the palms of government officials is a necessary evil. Failure to do so will delay progress on expansion plans from a few months to a few years, if at all. Mexico has a budding middle class; most of them initially welcomed the convenience and pricing that Walmart offered. While the growth of Walmart in Mexico hurt thousands of small local merchants, the benefits to the country were substantial. As a result, Walmart is a major force in the Mexican consumer economy. So, was bribing government officials to get this economic movement going a

good thing, or a bad thing? Critics say bribery is cheating and cannot be condoned. Now for the second story that was reported about two weeks ago. The headline read, “As scrutiny mounts, Google steps up lobbying efforts.” You probably paid no attention because we have become immune to this dirty little game because it is “business as usual” in the halls of state and national government. The article said: “With Congress and privacy watchdogs breathing down its neck, Google stepped up its lobbying presence in Washington — spending more than Apple, Facebook, Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp. combined — in the first three months of 2012 to $5.03 million, a record amount for the Internet search leader. What did the Google lobbyists do with that $5 million? I’d guess their representatives went around the U.S. Capitol visiting the offices of key congressional committee leaders, holding “informational cocktail hours” where they “educated” our public policy makers about these important priva-

But Secretary Cathy Stepp and the DNR deserve some credit, for they acted to raise the bag limits in record time after the virtual end of spawning and spearing — taking less than two weeks for something that used to take a month or more.

Some of the big winners from the bag-limit adjustments were anglers on the Three Lakes Chain, where only three lakes out of more than a dozen premier walleye lakes retained the dismal two-fish daily limit. All the rest went to either a three-fish or five-fish bag limit.

Of course, anglers have the option of leaving a two-walleye lake and jumping to another, in order to fulfill the statewide daily bag limit of five walleyes. But that’s not always an easy option for a family staying at a resort, and it can be a hazarous option if there’s a potential to transport aquatic invasive species from one water body to another. Every year, the six Chippewa bands declare a spearing harvest on about 450 lakes, though they usually don’t get to more than 200 of those lakes during the rather short spawning/spearing time frame. This year, they harvested 32,308 walleyes from 184 lakes. There has never been a good reason for the DNR to take three or four weeks after the end of the spearing season to adjust bag limits for sport anglers. And now, Stepp has set a new precedent for a more timely adjustment that we hope can be repeated in the years to come.

Behind the editorial ‘we’ Members of the Vilas County NewsReview editorial board include Publisher Kurt Krueger, Editor Gary Ridderbusch and Assistant Editor Anthony Drew.

*** A BIG EVENT, the Journeys Marathon is this weekend in Eagle River. That reminds me: If you think fishermen are the biggest liars, ask a jogger how far he runs every morning. *** AREA GOLF courses have been open for nearly two months, and many people have had the itch to play golf. They used to say the saddest words in all of golf are “You’re still away.” But I can think of a few To McNUTT, Pg. 15A

Is college debt even worth it?

Maybe the higher limits didn’t make enough headlines downstate to make a big difference on tourism traffic for opening weekend, but those anglers who enjoyed the increased opportunity and harvested more walleyes from their favorite lake probably went home less frustrated.

Even anglers who don’t normally catch two legal walleyes a day want to select a fishing location where a five-walleye limit could be a reality. It’s all about expectations and the anticipation of “what if?”

cy issues. I’d guess a big chunk of that money ended up in the re-election coffers of many key congressional committee members, into the political action committees of friendly members who support candidates who share their views and there were a few winks and firm handshakes to close the meetings. There are more than 20,000 registered lobbyists in Washington (most on K Street) with instant access to powerful politicians. They represent thousands of companies and nearly all special interest groups. Combined, they may have billions of dollars to help them seek favorable treatment and legislation for their clients. How do you distinguish legal bribery from illegal bribery? Just ask a lobbyist.

Cal Thomas

By her actions, Stepp becomes the first secretary to truly acknowledge the importance of walleye fishing and higher bag limits to northern Wisconsin’s tourism industry. She didn’t just talk about recognizing it; she did something to help.

Tourism officials have concluded, and we agree, that the two-walleye daily bag limit is terrible news for the recreation industry. The two-fish limit, as compared to the five-fish statewide limit, sends a message about lack-ofharvest opportunity. And to some, it says the fishery is hurting and their chances of catching fish are poor — though that is often not the case.

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER SINCE 1985

Goslings, dandelions mean spring arrived

Two adult Canada geese with a brood of goslings walked across a dandelion-filled lawn along the Eagle River Chain of Lakes last weekend. Warmer temperatures and rainfall finally arrived in the North Woods in early May. —Staff Photo By KURT KRUEGER

The case of the missing opener YOU COULD CALL it the “Case of the Missing Opener.” As mysteries go, it wouldn’t amount to much, but a movie of that name would explain how I managed to miss an opening day of the Wisconsin fishing season for the first time since Hector was a pup. While countless other people enjoyed a great day of sunshine — unexpected — and fish catching — expected — on the water, I settled for working all day and doling out about 4 gazillion dozen minnows and a large number of worms, crawlers and leeches. I could have gone fishing in the evening, which I had every intention of doing, but about the time I planned on going my wife and several good friends put a rope around my neck and dragged me off to the Sayner Pub. Once there, I a) downed a half-pound steak sandwich which was one of the best you could find anywhere in the north, b) drank my quota of two ultra-light beers and c) went home prepared to change into fishing clothes for

Trails & Tales By Will Maines an evening outing. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for the fish — maybe — I barely got inside the door of my house when my recliner reached out and grabbed me in a grip of iron that it didn’t relax until I had spent the next two hours snoozing comfortably in its confines. It was then that I escaped its clutches, only to find myself drawn helplessly to the quilt covering my bed, under which I spent the rest of the night dreaming of walleyes. Lest you think this is just another “fishless” story of which I have many, think again. Though I missed the official opening day of season, I did not miss the day before.

After spending a delightful morning at one of my favorite flower nurseries picking out a cart full of new perennials I didn’t need but apparently could not live without, I grabbed my ultra-light spinning rod, a container of ice fishing jigs and small bobbers and a pack of waxies en route to one of my favorite backwoods bluegill lakes. I found the bluegills in the shallows, and I mean 1- to 2foot shallow, where they were eager to have at the waxietipped ice fishing jig I tossed at them. Suspended a mere 15 inches above the jig, a small teardrop bobber might not even have been necessary as quite a few times the bluegills hit the jig almost before it hit the water. And it wasn’t only bluegills; largemouth bass took an immense liking to the waxies as well. They ranged to 15 inches and were in the same depth as the bluegills. Wearing knee boots, I worked the shore no more than 200 yards from where I To MAINES, Pg. 15A

IT IS SOMETHING of a truism that whenever the federal government steps in, costs usually rise and efficiency declines. That is especially true when it comes to a college education, which President Obama promised during the 2008 campaign to make more affordable. “We’ve got to make sure every young person can afford to go to college,” he said then. Instead, tuition costs keep rising, along with the debt owed by increasing numbers of graduates, who are now campaigning — with bipartisan approval in an election year — for Congress to stop interest rates on their subsidized Stafford loans from doubling in July. I feel about those with crushing tuition debt the way I feel about people who choose to live along the frequently flooded banks of the Mississippi River. If students and their parents choose expensive schools, they should accept the responsibility and cost accompanying that decision. The federal government has no constitutional authority to require people to receive an education. Education should be the primary responsibility of state and local entities (and parents). Taxpayers should not be expected to pay for college tuition when graduates default on loans they agreed to repay. What kind of life lesson is it when this early test of a young person’s character is said not to matter? But, today, is all that college debt even worth it? The value of a college education — at least at the more pricey private universities — is declining. An Associated Press (AP) analysis of government data found more than half — 53.6% — of bachelor’s degree holders under the age of 25, either couldn’t find a job or were underemployed last year. The AP story references a 2011 New York Times article reporting that only half of the jobs landed by new graduates “even require a college degree.” Worse, To THOMAS Pg. 15A

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

15A

OP-ED/READER OPINION Jobs, growth will come if recall is unsuccessful Dear Editor: The backdrop on the upcoming recall election is disturbing and disgusting. The liberals have been brainwashed and led like lemmings to vote for recall. The fuel for this barbecue is being supplied by left-wing extremist groups. They provide the impetus to keep the recall effort alive so the labor unions can eliminate the threat to their existence, namely Article 10 legislation. You have to ask yourself why, in their minds, this is worthwhile. In the case of the outside extremist groups, they simply hate and wish to destroy capitalism. They exploit the labor unions as a means to achieve their goals. The labor unions, on the other hand, whip up voter frenzy brings out support for their goals. However, the unions know that to criticize the extremists weakens their position and that the end justifies the means. So here we have two groups using the useful “idiot syndrome” to complement each other. It’s hard to make any sense of this other than to say each group thinks the other is idiotic. The voting public has to make the choice whether we are going to be led into this trap or not. The unions use thinly veiled arguments such as it’s all for the children, or to protect the teaching profession and bargaining rights.

Make no mistake, it is not about the kids, teachers or bargaining rights, it is about union leadership protecting their turf at taxpayer expense. Sadly, the greatest influence comes from outside the state because power is bought, not earned, in politics. The outcome of this recall election will have far-reaching effects on the power and influence of unions. By now you’d have to be brain-dead not to see the good effects Article 10 has had on our state’s economic outlook. Jobs and growth will come if the recall is unsuccessful as companies can finally evaluate the business climate. If the recall succeeds, we can look forward to a return to budget deficits and higher taxes. The government of Wisconsin was elected by a legitimate majority and our votes should count as such. Instead we have a group fighting to negate our vote for selfish purposes designed to change our founding principles. If they succeed, we can change our name to Willinois, Walifornia, or perhaps even Weece. If we move toward socialism, we can even consider changing our name to Wenezuela. Bob Matson Eagle River P.S. The Willinois, Walifornia, Weece comment came from an editorial read in a Waukesha paper and thought it worth repeating here.

Maines FROM PAGE 14A parked and in an hour and a half I caught maybe 40 bluegills and at least a dozen bass. When my creel held 10 bluegills anywhere from eight to 10 inches I called it quits. That was enough for a meal for my wife and me and a meal for my dad. Actually I had second thoughts about giving him any, at least until we bartered in a slab of fresh turkey breast from one of the two toms he killed during a 10-day hunt in Missouri. Back at the truck I found it hard to leave my treasured little lake, taking a while to sit with my back against a fallen tree as bluegills and bass swirled in the shallows. I talked to a hen mallard for quite a little while and, like my lovely wife on the

phone with one of her friends, she was not shy in holding up her end of the conversation. That was Friday. Saturday was my workday. My plans, hastily thrown together Saturday night during a few semiconscious moments in my recliner, called for a Sunday morning trout outing and an evening foray for walleye. In my younger days I might have ignored the elements and gone forth in the downpour that drenched the countryside most of the day Saturday, but now that I’m older and possessed of at least a little common sense, I let my recliner draw me in once more Sunday afternoon for several hours of NASCAR, PGA golf and Brewers baseball. The thing is, I was not about to let an opening weekend go by without at least one go at the fish, so at six o’clock I finally bundled up in

a winter coat, pulled on my best rain suit and headed for a large “area lake” to cause the walleyes therein some grief. Not surprisingly I was the only boat on the lake. I was semi-protected from the east wind in the bay where I anchored and, with a bluewhite-orange jig on one line and a hot orange jig on the other, I set about to put the year’s first walleye in the boat. I was anchored in 15 feet of water, casting out over a drop-off as I have done for more years than I can remember in that spot. An hour’s worth of fishing used up a half-dozen minnows, produced two tap-tap dropped bites and little else except cold fingers. Then, about quarter to eight, I got the bright idea of casting inward to about 10 feet of water. The very first cast drew a solid thunk and a

very quick dropped bite. A couple of more casts produced another tap-tap, drop, and then I got my second brainstorm. When I got my next hit I gave no slack line or pause for the minnow to be gulped, instead reefing back almost immediately at the first bite. Guess what? The tactic worked, and a few seconds later a 137⁄8-inch walleye was thunked on the head and laid out in the bottom of the canoe. After missing the next hit, I ended my little outing with another quick hook set, this time putting a 16-inch “Walter” in the canoe. My limit was filled, and thus ended my first fishing expedition of the season. What was lost — opening day — had been found. The services of Sherlock Holmes would not be needed after all. And the walleyes were delicious.

Change is needed at Vilas Food Pantry Letter to the Editor: I was fired from my volunteer work at the Vilas Food Pantry. Why? Because I shared my issues of concern with the board after they refused to meet with our group of 10 volunteers for over two months. This is a nonprofit group that has more than $100,000 in the bank! I am a nutritionist who has spent my entire career working with limited-income families. They are the reason I was a volunteer at the pantry, preparing samples of foods they would receive, offering recipes and giving hope. It was a wonderful experience to see Pam Zaugg, our

director, show compassion and a helping hand to all in need, a dream come true except for the actions of the board. They were more concerned about the flow — no time to show compassion, instead get them through and out. They were more interested in limiting the number of fruits they can have — predominately canned — offering sugared cereals with no other options, and the first item to greet recipients as they entered the pantry was all the unsold sweets from the major grocery stores in the area. It was painful to see this happen. We have an obesity To PANTRY, Pg. 16A

McNutt

but hit a provisional, just in case.” “God, I hope it didn’t hit anybody!” “Oh, no, don’t go behind that tree!” “Six more inches and you’d have cleared it.” “Was that a new ball?” “Hit a rock!” “I think it plugged.” “Does your wife play?” “Nice putt, that’s a double bogey.” “Don’t worry about it, it’s a par 5.”

FROM PAGE 14A sadder admonitions. Here’s a list of comments most golfers don’t want to hear after they hit a shot: “Fore!” “Get through, baby, get through!” “I never saw it.” “It’s short, but straight, it’ll play.” “You MAY have stayed in,

Agenda 21 issues important in recall election Dear Editor, In a former letter, I noted that Agenda 21 is a United Nations blueprint for worldwide environmental, economic and social justice which was launched into action in 1992 at the first Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro. This time I’d like to point out that the upcoming recall election is hardly limited to just the couple of passionate issues in the spotlight. Of equal importance is that of individual liberty and private property rights which would certainly diminish under a Democratic administration. The Rio+20 Earth Summit is an international conference set for June and underscores the 20-year anniversary of Agenda 21. Participating countries will be urged to pledge renewed vigor in implementing sus-

WHAT OTHERS SAY The truth about postal service reform ___________

BY REED ANFINSON PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION

___________

Now that U.S. Senate has passed a bill, S1789, to reform the ailing U.S. Postal Service, critics are trying to disable the bill on its way to the House of Representatives. Business Week recently cataloged unhappy stakeholders, including postal unions, postal management and some Republicans who wrongly think the bill burdens taxpayers. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, whose own bill awaits action in the House, blasted “special interests.” But Business Week says, “Considering how many people are unhappy with the bill, it isn’t clear which special interests Issa is referring to.” Some see the Senate bill as the inevitable product of the sausage machine. But it is neither a budget

buster nor processed meat. It is the expression of a better vision of the Postal Service. If you consider that survival of the service means maintaining the circulatory system for a $1.1 trillion mailing industry — or, in other words, making sure cash, greeting cards, packages and newspapers and magazines arrive on time — the Senate bill is good medicine. Consider some of the alternative fixes. Issa’s bill would let USPS immediately end Saturday mail, close half the mail processing centers and thousands of post offices, and put a new board of political appointees in charge. The new board would be expected to trim workers’ benefits and maybe wages, and direct the postmaster general to favor profit over service. At the other extreme might be Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, who wanted

to keep everything open. Labor unions backing him say that USPS will heal as the economy heals. Then there is the White House’s notion: to raise postage rates. For Sens. Susan Collins, R-ME, and Joe Lieberman, I-CT, neither extreme is suited to long-term survival of USPS. To many experts, Issa’s approach is likely to frighten away businesses that mail. The LiebermanCollins bill agrees that USPS needs a more flexible, less costly workforce. It keeps mail flowing through today’s network while costcutting is under way. For example, they would end Saturday mail delivery in two years, but only if USPS has taken other big steps toward financial viability. They would allow the closing of postal plants now, if USPS preserves local mail delivery speed. Is their bill the product To REFORM, Pg. 16A

tainable development as well as create a world agency for the environment. For the past two decades, the United Nations, including hundreds of its authorized nongovernmental organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and the American Planning Association have operated under the radar to methodically implement their nature-centered design at all levels of society. Environmental alarmists propagandize that this planet is dying and then feed off that fear in order to steer and control human activity. To date, activists have accomplished getting 60 million acres of federal land, including 69,000 in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, declared offlimits to road building and logging for the sake of nonhuman life over that of human. Similarly, precious water has been diverted from hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland in California’s San Joaquin Valley to save an endangered bait fish and in the process have recklessly transformed fertile soil

into nonproductive dust. And, from the largest cities to the smallest towns, citizens’ lives are becoming increasingly regulated through “comprehensive planning” laws. In Wisconsin, the implementation of Agenda 21 began in 1999 when comprehensive planning legislation was passed as part of Gov. Thompson’s budget bill. It required municipalities to make their zoning, subdivision, and mapping ordinances consistent with an officially adopted comprehensive plan that mirrored President Clinton’s “Sustainable America” — the United States official version of Agenda 21. Wisconsin’s law requires at least nine elements of regulation, including: housing, transportation, agricultural, natural resources, and land use. Or in other words, all of the regulation needed to steer and control human activity. But, fortunately for champions of the Constitution, Wisconsin’s Republican legislators have proposed an amendment to the current

planning law that allows local governments to opt out pursuant to Assembly Bill 303 which passed last fall, but died in the Senate upon the Legislature’s adjournment. In a Senate hearing, bill co-sponsor Sen. Galloway testified: “Assembly Bill 303 is important legislation to place control back into the hands of our local units of government. In 1999, the state Legislature passed a comprehensive planning law, also known as Smart Growth. AB 303 would make comprehensive planning optional. If a community chooses to repeal its plan, it can still enact or amend a subdivision, official mapping, or zoning ordinance as it wishes. Under this bill, if a local governmental unit chooses to keep its comprehensive plan in effect, the ordinances enacted must be consistent with its plan.” Retaining Gov. Walker will likely guarantee passage of this bill during the 2013 legislative session. The amendment is more than

Thomas

require a bachelor’s.” Thirty percent of new jobs will only require “an associate’s degree or a post-secondary occupational credential,” the report found. It recommends a ne w direction by broadening “the range of high-quality pathways that we offer young adults. This would include far more emphasis on career counseling and high-quality career education, as well as apprenticeship programs and community colleges as viable routes to well-paying jobs.” Another surprising fact that argues against costly colleges and universities that impose heavy financial burdens on students, parents and government is found in a study conducted by The Wall Street Journal. It discovered “U.S. companies largely favor graduates of big state universities over Ivy League and other elite liberal-arts schools when hiring to fill entry-level jobs.” This sounds like a winwin-win. Attend a far less

expensive state school and save money; avoid crushing debt that will take decades to repay; and reduce the burden on taxpayers. What’s not to like? Students and parents should have the right to choose when it comes to college, but if they choose a costly private institution, they should assume the financial obligations that go with that choice. Before choosing, they should look at these studies and consider whether, in the long run, the supposed prestige and expense of a well-known school are worth the cost, especially if the job or career the student wants doesn’t require a degree, or worse, that there isn’t a job waiting after graduation.

FROM PAGE 14A numerous studies over the years have found too many college graduates often do not meet minimal requirements employers are seeking. Paying more, getting less. That sounds like what we get from government and the U.S. Postal Service. A surprising new report from the Pathways to Prosperity project, based at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, concludes that four years of college may no longer be the best preparation for a job and career. As noted in Harvard’s education magazine, “...we place far too much emphasis on a single pathway to success: attending and graduating from a four-year college. Yet only 30% of adults successfully complete this preferred pathway. Meanwhile, even in the second decade of the 21st century, most jobs do not

To AGENDA, Pg. 16A

Direct all mail for Cal Thomas to: Tribune Media Services, 2010 Westridge Drive, Irving, TX 75038. Readers may also e-mail Cal Thomas at tmseditors@tribune.com.

16A

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012

VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS

READER OPINION Hats off to welding instructor Dear Editor: Regarding the May 2, 2012, photo in this newspaper of the Three Lakes High School students participating in the welding competition held at Nicolet College in Rhinelander, I would like to say this: Having all four student entries placing in the top 10, against 75 entrants, is a feat beyond compare. My hat is off to welding

Pantry:

instructor Mr. Mike Gorney. And no, Mr. Gorney is not my brother-in-law or anything like that. In fact, I’ve never met the man, but I wish I could have taken lessons from him when I was learning. Three Lakes School Board, make sure this man’s contract is renewed until he’s ready to hang up his welding helmet. Jim Paul Eagle River

FROM PAGE 15A

issue in our nation and among our recipients. The pantry board was choosing free sweets over fresh or frozen fruits. A high percentage of seniors battling diabetes, heart disease and loneliness use the pantry. It should be a refuge for them where they could get foods they can’t afford that would be healthy for them. When suggestions were made for improving what recipients got, the answer was, “We can’t do that,” followed by some excuse that could have easily been overcome. For months, the board argued with the director as she tried to get both eggs and produce — fresh or frozen — for people each month. Finally, the board’s answer was eggs one month and produce the next. They need both every month! Eggs are an excellent, inexpensive source of protein, yet instead lunch meats, hot dogs, pork roasts and hamburger were the regular fare. When the question was raised about why no oatmeal was on the shelf, the answer was, “It’s too expensive right now,” yet we

Agenda:

have a community committed to giving the pantry money for food and much of that money sits in the bank. When I recently spoke with a newer board member about these needed changes, the answer I got was, “Change takes time. Sometimes you need to eat an elephant a bite at a time.” My answer to him was, “I have been eating that elephant for over 12 years and our recipients deserve better food choices and compassion.” We had a director, Pam Zaugg, who was passionate about meeting the needs of recipients, yet a board who wanted to control every aspect of the pantry and sit on funds that could and should be used for wholesome food for the recipients. How long will we let this attitude affect those in need? I was fired by a volunteer board president, who along with other board members, has lost their compassion for the people they serve. We have a community that cares. Who fires the board? Joan Ploetz Eagle River

FROM PAGE 15A

equitable and rightly stands up for the little guy by returning power and local control back to the people of the community rather than into the hands of big-government bureaucrats imposing an oppressive agenda. Witness incontrovertible proof of Agenda 21 in House

testimony from 1992 by searching online: “UN Agenda 21 Concerns are Paranoiac” or the official transcript “Congressional Record 1992 Agenda 21.”

Reform

if postage revenues dry up — which is more likely to happen if the mail slows to a crawl. Finally, members of Congress may differ on how they see USPS. Is it a corporation? Is it a government agency responsible for binding the nation together? Fact: It is a governmentsponsored enterprise or GSE, more like Fannie Mae than like IBM or the Defense Department. It has to use business tools, but carry out a public mission. And it has enormous power in the marketplace. Consider, for example, its new Every Door Direct Mail program, which directly competes with many private businesses. Members of Congress who mistakenly see postal reform as an exercise in deregulating a company may actually unleash a powerful federal agency, while those who look to raising postage so generous workers’ benefits can continue could pull the plug on the economic engine that keeps jobs alive. It isn’t compromise that is needed, but a clear-eyed vision based on a full understanding of the needs of all who the Postal Service serves. Postal management today has an impossible task, expected to accomplish business goals without the cost-controlling tools businesses have, and expected to achieve government ends without federal support. Congress owns this confusion. Only Congress can fix it and it will continue to need to fine-tune its solutions as communications cultures change. No bill passed today will avoid the need for legislation in the future. Neither “deregulating” it nor hiking rates will get USPS to stability. Nor will abrupt and disruptive approaches to labor costs. Senators Collins and Lieberman, along with cosponsors Tom Carper, D-DE, and Scott Brown, R-MA, have devoted endless hours to understanding the challenge and to crafting the next steps toward fixing it. Their approach deserves considerably more respect than it is getting.

FROM PAGE 15A of compromise, or of a different vision? Consider: The Postal Service’s plant-closing plan is based on a desire to amass more mail at automated urban centers, where costly machines sit idle much of the day. To optimize machines, USPS would haul mail much farther. But the hauling would slow the mail stream, particularly in small towns and rural areas that are far from mail plants and create a set of second-class citizens who get and send mail more slowly than urban dwellers. It will also hamper smaller communities’ quests for economic development. Many Americans say they wouldn’t miss Saturday mail. But USPS builds its system around senders, not receivers. Who would be hurt by a fiveday delivery regime? Anyone who depends on timely mail delivery. Shutting down the system two days a week — three when Monday holidays occur — would create delay, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission. Then there are those who need prescriptions delivered when they are at home; small-town citizens who get the newspaper by mail and businesses needing six-day cash flows. Closing small post offices seems a no-brainer to city dwellers who spot those oneroom POs at the roadside on the way to the beach. Surely not all are needed. But rather than closing them entirely, USPS could have circuit-rider postmasters to open them a few hours a day. That is affordable if worker benefits are brought into line with the private sector. For those communities, a circuit rider could continue their links to the world. The Congressional Budget Office says the Senate bill would cost $33.6 billion, adding to the federal deficit. But postage payers, not taxpayers, carry that burden. Taxpayers face a liability as the funder-of-last-resort only

Frank Gabl Prospect Heights, Ill., and Eagle River

Rivers to the People™