A year in review of

feel we have a great plan that will serve our students, staff, and community for many years.”

—Travis Grubbs, Rib Lake District Administrator about a planned referendum project for the school buildings.

“I know it is a lot of money, but last year we had it held together with chicken wire to get it to work.” —City coordinator Joe Harris about the need to replace the boiler at the city pool.

“H

e saw potential in me. He challenged me to be better and to try harder.”

— Dr. Kurt Zimmerman, Rib Lake Alumni Hall of Fame inductee.

“I don’t think it is a good idea.” — Human services director Suzanne Stanfley in response to a suggestion to merge the human services, ADRC and commission on aging under one department.

“W

hy would I do that job when I can work at McDonalds and make way more than that?.”

— Alderman Dave Brandner calling for the city to increase the mayor’s salary.

“W

e already have a budget.” — Forestry committee member Gary Beadles objecting to a proposal to change how forestry department finances are handled.

“I

f you get something faster than fiber you have invented time travel.”

— County board member Mike Bub about the technological longevity of the county’s fiber optic network.

“I

f you want to complain, then be engaged.”

— Medford School Board Member John Zuleger about the need for people to get involved in a potential referendum process.

“N

obody is going to jail because we don’t have it.”

— Mayor Mike Wellner about the city’s comprehensive plan being out of compliance for being more than 10 years old.

“Y

ou have to live on Allman St. or you don’t know how bad it is,” — Allman St. resident Bonnie Lindow raising concerns about how a new multifamily development could negatively impact traffic on the road.

“I should be overseeing them, not investigating them.” — Sheriff Larry Woebbeking about death investigations in the county.

“I

n the 15 years in this district, I have nothing but good memories” — Pat Sullivan announcing he plans to retire on June 30.

“A

sh is not going to be a component of our forest going forward,” — Taylor County Forest Administrator Luke Williams about the impact of emerald ash borer in the county.

“Y

our AC unit is louder.” — Shane Felske of RWE about the comparative amount of noise generated by wind turbines.

“I

f you piecemeal it out, that is what you will get, a bunch of pieces.”

— Laura Lundy about the need to have one person in the curriculum coordinator position in order to make sure everything gets done that has to be done.

“I am not advocating or asking the community to do this,” — Sheriff Larry Woebbeking reporting to the county finance committee over estimates he was asked to prepare for the county to provide law enforcement coverage to the village of Rib Lake.

“I

t seems the county and the city can’t work together,” — Medford resident Betty Herrell about her perception following a dog attacking her grandchild.

“I

f you don’t like what we are doing, drive down and tell us.”

— State Sen. Mary Felzkowski about the need to attend hearings on bills.

“W

e don’t go looking for sponsorship for every maintenance item we do.”

— Medford School Board president Dave Fleegel about a donation offer for redoing the high school gym floor.

“T

he community needs things to do to keep people more local.”

— Ed Peterson new owner of Wicked Events and Rodeo Arena.

“W

e have the survey and we have to listen to the results.”

— School board member Steve Deml about the the need to focus on the items survey takers identified as most pressing for the district.

“I am not trying to make enemies here, I just need to digest this.”

— Sheriff Larry Woebbeking in urging caution before restarting medicine collection at the courthouse.

“W

e are hoping some other people commission their own murals to help beautify the downtown” — Dave Klinner about an historical mural that his family commissioned to go on the Borealis Wellness Clinic building in downtwon Medford.

“W

hat happened to our kindergarteners? They did not meet it in reading or math.”

— Rib Lake School Board Member Rollie Thums questioning test results.

“T

hey want to know what we have to have.”

— Medford School Board Member John Zuleger about the need to have a list of necessary items to bring to voters.

“W

e are working on pulling ourselves together.”

— Jorgen Hamann to members of the Medford City Council about a community coalition to promote mountain bike trail development in the area.

“T

ypically it is a plus for any job.” — Interim airfield manager Jeff Mayer about the value of having military service experience in the workforce.

“B

y the time we need to do that Mike will probably have sold it.”

— City Coordinator Joe Harris about the city’s eventual need to do maintenance on a stormwater pond in the Simek development.

“E

veryone deserves a lawyer and you should not be turned away just because there isn’t a lawyer available.”

— Law school student Justice Moore about a shortage of attorneys in the state.

“T

here is a lot of pressure on social media for the kids,” — Principal Jill Lybert explaining one of the reasons why Medford Area Senior High School will be going cell phone free next school year.

“T

here is stuff going on that is ridiculous from a firefighter’s point of view,” — Derek Romig, Gilman assistant fire chief about response to ambulance calls.

“T

here needs to be transparency and guardrails in place to protect property owners. ”

— Resident Kathy Cypher raising concerns about granting a conditional use permit to build two new duplexes on the property across from her 9th St. home.

“H

opefully it will be seamless to the staff and community.”

— Sheriff Larry Woebbeking about working with his replacement, Corey Dassow, and whoever is selected to replace Dassow as chief deputy prior to leaving office on December 31.

“W

hen we wreck something when we dig we replace it.”

— Joe Harris explaining why the city put a new culvert in on a Hwy 13 property.

“I

t is crazy that one test takes the tie breaker.”

— Rib Lake school board member Karah Grzanna questioning where ACT test scores place in breaking ties for GPS for class ranks.

“I

t feels like we have gone old school.”

— Medford Area Senior High School Principal Jill Lybert about seeing students in the building talking and socializing face to face after implementing a cellphone ban.

“I know it is a lot of money, but how much is a life worth?”

— County clerk Andria Farrand speaking in support of a installing a metal detector and doing security screening at the courthouse entrance.

“I

f you’re able to come up with your own ideas from your imagination, great. I think it’s a tool to help others who maybe need a little help.”

— Medford district administrator Laura Lundy about the potential benefits of AI in educational settings.

“A

nytime you spend big dollars it hurts. It really hurts when you don’t have big dollars to spend.”

— Stan Schmidt, town of Medford representative to the Medford Area Fire Commission about how much can be set aside for a new fire truck.

“I have a lot on my mind right now. I am going to prison.”

— Convicted murderer Cory Carlson apologizing to Judge Ann Knox-Bauer for seeming to be distracted when she asked him a question during the plea and sentencing hearing on Aug. 22.

“I

t seems like a lot per year.” — Highway commissioner Ben Stanfley about the cost of having GPS tracking devices on all the highway equipment.

“W

e don’t know what we don’t know.”

— Law enforcement committee member Lorie Floyd about the need for an ambulance study.

“T

he mission of First Baptist Church is to treasure God and love people.”

— Tawnya Smith, worship and communications director at First Baptist Church.

“A lot of it boils down to employee education.”

— Medford City Clerk Ashley Lemke about what employees can do throughout the year to reduce healthcare premiums in the future.

“I imagine there will be some days that it will be pretty boring.”

— Chief Deputy Corey Dassow about the workload of the deputy that will be hired to screen people coming into the courthouse.

“T

he goal is to provide them better care.”

— Dr. Julie Thums of HealthView Eyecare Center about the benefits of the move to a new building.

“I struggle with it.” — Medford school board member Brian Hallgren about shifting more health insurance cost onto district employees.

“I

t is frustrating to see our composite score fall when our students are doing better.”

— Rib Lake administrator Travis Grubbs about the state school report cards that discount student achievement in favor of growth.

“T

he sun shines in all communities.“ — Medford city coordinator Joe Harris about a proposed solar project to include all member communities of the Great Lake Utilities group.

“I don’t know if the county is in a position to add staff because of an opportunity.”

— County board member Scott Mildbrand objecting adding a position to the human services department

“W

e don’t need any more dam problems.”

— County board chairman Jim Metz about the dam failure plan for Clear Lake Dam during the county highway committee meeting