2022: A Year in Review — Part II
As we get started in a new year, we reflect back on all that took place over the last year. Last week’s TRG covered some of the top headlines of the first half of 2022. This week we take a look back at some of the top stories from Granton, Greenwood, Loyal and Spencer in the latter half of 2022. JULY July 6 — Clark Board preparing for decision on broadband proposal The Clark County Board of Supervisors will meet in a special session on July 6 to get more information on a proposal from a private carrier to use the county’s bor rowing power to finance a major broadband communications upgrade around the county. Bug Tussel Wireless, a private company, is looking to build a fiber optic network to improve broadband internet service.
At a May 19 meeting, Bug Tussel presented a plan that asks the county to use its borrowing power to obtain $18 million in financing for the fiber optic upgrade. Clark County would not actually be borrowing the funds, but would allow Bug Tussel to use its municipal borrowing capacity to get the money.
July 13 — Greenwood senior running for Rodeo Queen title Ashlee Hamm is taking part in the Amherst Little Britches Rodeo Queen competition, the winner of which will be decided at the end of August. She has been horseback riding since she was 3 years old. Hamm specializes in events such as barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying and this is her second year running for the title of Rodeo Queen.
July 20 — The big farm show has its run near Loyal Farm Technology Days completed its three-day run July 14 at Roehl Acres and Rustic Occasions near Loyal, with 46,000 people attending. The first-ofits- kind Farm Tech Fest country music concert the evening of July 13 sold out, with 4,000 tickets purchased, in addition to the 20,000 who attended Farm Technology Days earlier in the day.
Many local businesses and organizations participated in the event, which was hosted by Dennis and Suzie Roehl, owners of Roehl Acres; and Doug and Kim Roehl, who manage Rustic Occasions, the barn-turned-eventvenue on Erlin and Bonnie Roehl’s property.
July 27 — Clark Board rejects plan for better broadband service The Clark County Board of Supervisors July 21 narrowly voted down a proposal from a broadband internet provider to bring expanded service to the county at competitive prices for customers. The proposed project would not have cost the county anything and in fact would have brought in revenue, but the county would have had to lend its borrowing authority to the company and take on financial risk if the company defaulted.
On a 20-8 count, the board voted in favor of the proposal from Bug Tussel wireless, but a three-fourths majority (22 votes) was needed because it involved adding to the county’s debt load.
Bug Tussel was asking the county to use $15.7 million of the county’s borrowing authority, in exchange for installing 190 miles of fiber optic lines and 10 towers throughout the county to improve broadband capabilities. Bug Tussel is under similar contract with at least 12 other counties in the state. AUGUST Aug. 3 — 150 years at the fair: Clark County’s annual late summer tradition dates back to 1873 While the Clark County Fair got its start in 1872, the first fair was actually held a year later in 1873. The first year of the fair’s founding was spent purchasing the 40-acre grounds southeast of the then village of Neillsville — population 300 — to hold the event and forming the Clark County Agricultural S o c i e t y, wh i ch was responsible for promoting both agriculture and the growing Clark County.
Fast forward to 2022, and the fair featured many o f the same familiar activities from over the years, including animal shows, midway amusements, truck and tractor pulls, the crowning of the Fairest of the Fair and the livestock show, held for the second year in the new multipurpose livestock barn.
Aug. 10 — Spencer top citizen and business named Bill Hoes received the 2022 Spencer Citizen of the Year award from Jeremy Carolfi of the Spencer Chamber of Commerce during the first Concert in the Park of the summer held on Aug. 3. Hoes is the longtime former Spencer police chief and has been active in the community since his retirement. He sits on the Spencer Village Board and is an active supporter of Spencer Kids Group and Chamber events.
Paul Hensch received the Spencer Business of the Year award on behalf of the Spencer Kids Group. Hensch is the president of the organization’s Board of Directors. The Kids Group is recognizing its 25th year in existence in providing local youth a place to engage in positive a c t iv i t i e s, complete homework and participate in summer recreation activities.
Aug. 17— Court action delayed in highway worker death case Court action has been postponed by three months on a change of trial venue request from a Neillsville man who’s accused of causing a traffic crash that killed a Clark County Highway Department worker and seriously injured another last August.
The defense lawyer for 29-year-old Cory Neumueller asked the judge in the case last week to schedule another motion hearing on the change of venue request so he can have more time to gather information. Judge Daniel Diehn granted that request and set a new hearing date for Nov. 30. Neumueller is charged with eight felony counts related to an Aug. 8, 2021 crash south of Willard on County Road G that claimed the life of 57-year-old Russell Opelt and injured his co-worker, 60-year-old David Murphy.
Aug. 17 — Not enough teachers: Local schools struggle to fill staffs The current teacher shortage is affecting school districts across the area. For example, the Spencer School District had to hire for 33 positions this school year, well over a third of the total number of staff. The COVID pandemic over the past two-and-a-half years caused more retirements and people leaving the education field, with not enough people to replace
One big highlight of 2022 for Clark County was Farm Technology Days just outside of Loyal, which saw more than 46,000 people July 12-14.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
them.
“There are not as many applicants,” said Spencer School District Administrator Mike Endreas. “Back in the day we used to have 80 to 100 applicants for a job. Now we get seven or eight.” The lack of teachers has caused schools to resort more to long-term substitutes or sharing staff between school districts.
Aug. 31 — Tractors for Autism and Disabilities finds new headquarters The Loyal organization known as Tractors for Autism and Disabilities is planning on completing the move into the former convent at St. Anthony Catholic Church by October. The organization reached an agreement with St. Anthony Catholic Church and the Diocese of La Crosse to lease the former convent back in April. The building will house TFAD’s afterschool tutoring program. TFAD also hopes to eventually run a summer program to help students retain school skills even when out of the classroom. A ribbon cutting for the new location is scheduled for Sept. 15.
SEPTEMBER Sept. 7 — For Granton honored citizens, volunteering is a way of life Gary and Roxy Eibergen were selected as the honored citizens of the year by the Granton Rotary and the couple will ride through this year’s Fall Festival parade as part of that honor. They were part of the Granton Young Adults that put up the jungle gym in the park. They also helped build the softball diamond at the school. As members of the FFA Alumni, they have helped with many events over the years. In addition, Roxy has been part of the Romadka Homemakers Club and has helped at Zion Lutheran Church. Gary has been a member of the Granton Fire Department for 38 years.
Sept. 14 — Defiant Contreras Perez gets life without parole In his sentencing hearingattheClarkCounty Courthouse Monday, Jesus Contreras Perez, 42, of Mosinee said he did not kill Cassandra Ayon of Loyal in October 2020 and that he will appeal his June conviction on a first-degree intentional homicide charge. He’ll have to deal with that appeal from a state prison cell, as Jackson County Judge Daniel Diehn sentenced Contreras Perez to life behind bars without the possibility of parole. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide-domestic abuse/ as party to a crime, hiding a corpse/as party to a crime and stalking-domestic abuse after a weeklong jury trial in early June.
Sept. 14 — CCRLC centennial celebration planned The Clark County Rehabilitation and Living Center (CCRLC) east of Owen will commemorate 100 years of providing health services with a centennial celebration this Saturday. Events will begin at noon and will include a pulled pork meal, live music by Marshall Star Band, balloon twisting and face painting for kids. CCRLC will also celebrate with fireworks Sept. 15 at 7:45 p.m.
Sept. 28 — Greenwood Elementary School receives national honor Greenwood Elementary school has received an elite award among the nation’s schools. In a Sept. 16 announcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 297 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2022. Greenwood Elementary was among eight Wisconsin schools chosen. The recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups, as shown by student test scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates.
Greenwood Elementary was named an Exemplary A ch i eve m e n t G ap Closing School, meaning it is among Wisconsin’s highest-performing schools in terms of closing achievement gaps between a school’s student groups and all students. OCTOBER Oct. 5 — UTV/train crash claims life A 57-year-old Unity woman died at the scene of an Oct. 1 crash between a UTV and a train, with authorities saying it does not appear she stopped at the crossing. Department of Natural Resources recreation warden Justin Bender of Woodruff said Colleen Reis was killed at approximately noon on Oct. 1 when the northbound UTV she was operating crossed the railroad tracks in front of an oncoming train. The accident occurred in the town of Unity near Riplinger.
Oct. 5 — Grant filing mistake causes Granton street project delay Due to an error in paperwork, the upcoming road project that would have seen new water and sewer lines installed under neath County Highway K that runs through Granton has been delayed. The project, which had originally been planned for next summer, is now expected to be pushed back by another two years as the village tries to secure the funding needed for the project.
The village was working with Cedar Corporation to complete a Community Development Block Grant application. The grant would have awarded up to $1 million with a 50 percent match. The village updated its fair housing ordinance for the purpose of submitting the grant application. However, when Cedar Corporation submitted the application, it used the 1987 version of the fair housing ordinance instead of the updated version, which resulted in the village’s grant application being thrown out.
Oct. 26 — “Extremely good news”: Spencer school in line for another $517K in FEMA funding At an Oct. 19 monthly Spencer School Board meeting, school board president Jordan Buss said the state emergency management agency the district has been working with on the FEMA grant award has told the school it is in line for $517,650 in additional FEMA funding, on top of the $2,926,153 the district has already received. The first grant paid for the concrete dome construction as a community storm shelter, and the district spent referendum-approved dollars for related facility improvement projects, including a fitness center, wre s t l i n g a rea and classroom expansion. Now, Buss said, extra funds have become available because another community in Wisconsin that was also to receive a storm shelter grant decided to decline it when total costs for the project were higher than expected. Spencer completed some paperwork “in the off chance” that such funding might become available, and now it appears the $517,650 is heading Spencer’s way.
Oct. 26 — Spencer to add school resource officer A full-time school resource officer could be working in the Spencer School District by early 2023 if plans progress and a suitable officer can be found to take the position. The Spencer Board of Education at an Oct. 19 monthly meeting approved an agreement with the village of Spencer to fund a full-time officer position.
The officer would work in the school full-time when it is in session, and help with village policing the remainder of the time. Plans call for the school to fund 75 percent of the approximately $107,000 annual expense, with the village to cover 25 percent.
A school resource officer (SRO) would take on roles of mentoring students, discipline as necessary and serving as a deterrent to anyone with thoughts of entering the building with ill intent. TheSROwouldalsotakeon the district’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and attend afterschool events for extra security. NOVEMBER Nov. 2 — Granton gets $1.8M grant for electric buses The Granton Area School District was announced this past week as a recipient of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) Clean Bus Rebate Grant. Granton is one of 19 school districts in the state of Wisconsin, and one of nearly 400 school districts in the U.S., to be awarded money for electric school buses from the EPA grant in its first round of funding. Granton will receive $1,885,000, which will cover the cost of five electric buses for $1,785,000 and related charging equipment for $100,000. Four of the five buses will be full-size and the fifth will be a 28-passenger bus.
Nov. 16 — Loyal voters reject cap exemption referendum Seven months ago, voters in the Loyal School District said “no” to spending as much as $12 million to renovate and expand school facilities. Last week, they again declined a Board of Education request for more property tax money, this time for ongoing school operations over the next five years. The April 6 facility expansion referendum went down on a 514-305 count. On Nov. 8, the final tally was 640556 against passage. This referendum asked voters to increase local property taxes by $1.1 million next year, and by $1.4 million for each of the following four years.
Nov. 16 — Drug death leads to homicide charge An Owen man was charged last week with first-degree reckless homicide for allegedly providing the drugs that led to another man’s death near Greenwood last February. Jacob Faude, 31, could face as long as 55 years in prison if convicted on the homicide charge as well as a second felony count of manufacture/ delivery of narcotics. Faude was arrested on Nov. 8 and charged two days later in Clark County Circuit Court. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in court on the charges on Nov. 22.
Nov. 23 — Loyal eyes another school referendum try in April The Loyal School Board is already planning a second revenue cap exemption referendum for April 2023. District Administrator Chris Lindner said the district has “no other option” other than to ask for more money in local property taxes, if the district wants to keep its staff and programming at current levels. The district is currently operating in the last year of a $675,000 cap exemption referendum approved by voters four years ago. That extra revenue will disappear for the district’s 2023-24 budget, and if a replacement referendum is not approved, the district will have to slice spending. DECEMBER Dec. 21 — Winter storm leads to widespread power outages Last week’s winter storm system packed a powerful punch, leading to downed power lines and widespread outages. Xcel Energy had 4,800 customers in its westcentral region without power, including those in Granton, Chili, Neillsville, Colby, Abbotsford, Dorchester and the surrounding rural areas. Clark Electric reported about 1,400 customers without power at the peak of the outages, with the majority of those in Clark County, including customers in Neillsville, Stanley and rural Greenwood.
Dec. 28 — ‘It’s a Christmas miracle’: Loyal Splash Pad receives $150K matching gift Dr. Eldon Hill has decided to match up to $150,000 of funds donated to the Loyal Splash Pad, meaning every donation made will automatically double in value. Eldon Hill grew up in Loyal and graduated from Loyal High School in 1938, and this matching gift will honor the Class of 1938. The matching dollars will re-energize a project that was starting to lose steam after three years of fundraising and roughly $120,000 of the $375,000 price tag raised.
