Star News Top Stories

October 15, 2009

No back room involved in alley ruling
I am replying to Mr. Gene Moser’s letter in the October 8, Star News. Mr. Moser accuses the City of Medford of cronyism in the Emmerich Alley litigation. Specifically, Mr. Moser complains that “Bixs” did not receive a summons notifying them of the summary judgment proceedings. I am the City of Medford attorney and I disagree with Mr. Moser’s assertions.
There were six individuals in the legal action that were named defendants with an ownership interest in the Bix property abutting Emmerich Alley. This includes Lee Bix and Esther Bix who reside on the property (life estate interest) and four other individuals with an ownership interest in the same property (remainder interest). All six of these defendants were properly served with a summons and complaint when the legal action was initiated. Lee and Esther Bix were entitled to notification of future court proceedings because they answered the complaint. The other four defendants with an ownership interest in this property did not provide an answer to the complaint and consequently were not entitled to future notifications.
The city’s notice of notion and notion for summary judgment documents were properly mailed from my office to Lee and Esther Bix, as well as all other defendants that had answered the complaint, at least 20 days prior to the summary judgment motion hearing. No summons or personal service of documents is necessary after the initial complaint is served. I filed documentation of mailing these documents with the clerk of court, including the detailed post office receipt setting forth the individual mailings. In spite of Mr. Moser’s assertions otherwise, the findings of fact portion of the judicial decision correctly states, “All defendants in this action have been properly served with the summons and complaint, and all answering defendants have been properly served with the summary judgment motion. No defendants filed a response to the motion for summary judgment.”
I believe all parties to the alley litigation were treated properly and according to law. The City of Medford’s purpose in the litigation was not to argue specifically that the roadway involved should be an alley, but rather to have the matter finally decided so that all property owners and the city know their individual obligations and rights. The judge applied the appropriate laws to the facts and determined that the roadway had become an alley by its manner of use since at least 1970. Other than Lee and Esther Bix, no other defendants answered, or formally advocated, that the roadway should be private.
— Kenneth Schmiege, City of Medford Attorney

It is illegal to abandon unwanted litters
To whom it may concern,
I would like you to know that my siblings and I are safe and warm and are in homes of owners who love us. I know there may have been certain circumstances that forced you to consider leaving us in a box by the dumpster behind Family Dollar. But the people who found us contacted the sheriff's department and they said to take us to the Humane Society. Otherwise, we would have frozen to death because the temperature was near freezing that evening.
Luckily, there were several people looking for a cute puppy like us to take home and care for so we didn't end up at the pound. I hope the next time you end up with an unwanted litter, know that we found out it is illegal to abandon litters like us in places other than the Humane Society. So please, use those resources. We were lucky, the next batch may not be.
Sincerely,
TuTu (the name my new owner gave me)
— submitted by Sandra Peterson, Rib Lake

First snow fall brings back memories of growing up
October 12th, 2009. Snow has been falling since about midnight and the accumulation is about two inches. Impressive for the first snowfall, but it's a little bit early. As I drove out of the Wal-Mart parking lot I looked at the trees and although they were beautiful displaying a winter wonderland affect, I shuddered when I thought about walking under the trees.
I could just feel that cold snow going down the back of my neck. Burr...
But just as quickly as that thought came into my mind, another thought stopped by to pay a visit. I remember days long ago when that wouldn't have bothered us at all. In fact, there was a time I enjoyed the challenge of winter and all it had to offer. A time when we went sledding down long hills and then taking at least ten minutes to walk up the hill just so we could go down it again. But time was something that didn't seem to matter much when we were growing up.
Piling into each other at the bottom of the hill and rolling in the snow was just all part of the game. Each and every one of us took it in stride. Even carrying some young girl's sled up the hill wasn't too much too ask. After all, the sledding party was usually followed by other activities like sitting around a bonfire roasting hot dogs, drinking hot chocolate and toasting marshmallows and then cuddling up to each other pretending that we were grown up. (Just don't let mom and dad see you doing that stuff.)
I remember walking the distance of two eighties through snowdrifts that were at least five feet deep and rising, crossing three barbed wire fences in the process and carrying our skates and enough equipment to shovel half of the neighbors pond off just so we could ice skate. Doing those things was not questionable as to whether we should or should not do it. It was something that had to be done. I guess that's the way we looked at things like that back in those days.
Hunting in the last part of November in weather that was most of the time anchored around zero on the thermometer was not a hindrance either. Although now when it's zero out and I have to shovel snow off the walk, I have second, third and even fourth thoughts about it and I put it off as long as I possibly can. Somehow I have grown up to be quite a bit more sympathetic towards spring, summer and fall and I have definitely achieved an attitude problem about cold weather. I simply don't care for it like I used too.
My thoughts turn back to the time when Dad bought an old Allis and had the factory put on a plow. We three boys fought about who was going to drive the Allis. Being the oldest, I usually won unless Dad was there to tell us whose turn it was next. Why, I remember actually praying for snow so I could go out with the Allis and plow for three or four hours, and once again, it never seemed to matter how cold it was at that time in my life.
A blizzard would come in and everyone was told on the radio that they shouldn't be out on the roads, but that was just all the more reason to go out driving in the wintertime. There were always three or four buddies with me that could get us out of a snowbank.
One night we went out during a snowstorm and I had my dad's '57 Plymouth wagon and my friend had his mother's '57 Ford. We were driving probably a little faster than we should have been driving for the conditions and we both came to a tee in the road. My friend kinda made it cause he found the farmer's driveway. I kinda didn't make it because I found the ditch filled up with snow.
Yeap, got her stuck that night. Then I called Dad thinking he would come out in this snowstorm and help the boys and myself, but it sure didn't work that way. He called the wrecker man and the wrecker man came and pulled me out. After that, the man that brought the wrecker handed me the bill and said that my Dad told him I would pay the bill.
Oh for the memories. One hunting season when I was old enough to be in the woods with my cousin back in about 1960, we all decided to go on a little hunting trip in the swamp. He had a '54 Ford that was not in the best of shape but it's all he had and we used it. We went down this little hill to the start of the river to do our hunting and when we came out we had accumulated about three inches of new powder.
My cousin's tires left a little to be desired, and actually be it told, the fact was they left a whole lot to be desired and we ended up pushing that car up the hill because there was no tread whatsoever on the tires. But it was all part of the game and pushing that car for over a mile uphill was apparently not too much to ask. There was no problem with being cold after that exercise. We were all toasty warm.
Yeah, those were the good old days when I was young and didn't have a care in the world. And much like my Dad used to say; "You know son, the good old days are still 20 years from now..." And after thinking about it, I must agree.
— Denny Frey, Medford

America needs to learn to provide for people’s needs
Many say that the U.S. cannot provide good health care, education and other basic needs for its people. The U.S. is considered the richest country in the world so what prevents it from providing these basic services to its people? Aside from giving the wealthy about $1 trillion in bail out money, the U.S. has spent over $1 trillion dollars on two invasions and occupations, and trillions more will probably be spent on these ventures. This is a waste of not only money but the lives of thousands of our young and over a million more people in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are told that we need to protect ourselves from the terrorists in these countries. However, we have terrorism in our own country. Over 65,000 Americans are injured and 30,000 Americans are shot to death with guns each year right here in the U.S. (The Harvard Injury Research and Control Center) We have terrorism in our own back yard yet we ignore this, and send our young abroad armed to the teeth to invade another countries to “stop terrorism,” and then cry when they come home mentally sick, maimed for life and many times dead. Is this really what we want to fund with U.S. tax dollars?
We have yet to learn that the way to provide for peoples’ needs and stop terrorism is by doing good things to all, including those who do harm to us. This is what Christ told us to do. (Matt. 5) If we truly wanted to help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan we would help them to get their basic needs of life.
Acts of terror in the U.S. increase when Americans lack their basic needs, and the same is true in other countries. If we continue to threaten, maim and kill others we only exacerbate the problem. If we terrorize those who terrorize how can we say we oppose terrorism? If we say we care about the people and then take away their means for survival how credible are we? Instead of spending trillions on weapons, invasions and training of our young to do violence to others I suggest we use that money to provide for the basic needs of people both here and abroad.
Then and only then may we call ourselves followers of Christ.
— Rev. Don Timmerman, Park Falls