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February 10, 2010 |
The 13th annual Bucks of Crawford County Deer Show, hosted by the Prairie du Chien Rod and Gun Club, will be held Saturday, Feb. 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Prairie du Chien National Guard Armory on Highway 35 on Prairie du Chien’s north side. Hunters from Wisconsin and surrounding states are encouraged to enter their head mounts, antlers and sheds of any species from any geographic region.
Antler registration is from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Antlers will be released at 8 p.m. Saturday. Head mounts and racks will be scored for free with paid registration and will qualify for the participants’ door prize, a Remington 700 BDL 30-06 donated by Stark’s Sport Shop.
There is a $5 admission, but children under 12 are free. Food and beverages will be available.
Of special interest again this year will be the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Laser Shooting Gallery, which will be on site for the enjoyment of those attending.
"The shooting gallery is a laser shot firearms simulator," said Chuck Horn, DNR conservation warden supervisor from Dodgeville. "It’s an electronic training aid that incorporates live video of big game animals and turkeys." The laser shooting gallery uses a large video screen wired to a simulated firearm that "shoots" a laser signal at images displayed on the screen.
The laser shooting gallery is used in hunter education. It projects live-action scenes so that a student has to make a decision if it’s a safe shot; a shoot or don’t shoot situation. It tries to incorporate the four elements of firearm safety, remembering the acronym TABK. TABK stands for Treat every gun as if it were loaded. Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it, and Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, said Horn.
Another program in the simulator is called shooter’s challenge, a hunting situation similar to a video games.
"They are designed to show the student the proper aiming location," said Crawford County Conservation Warden Mike Cross. "They are interactive. There is interaction with the system, and the ‘shooter’ knows if the shot has been successful. Both kids and adults will find the shooting gallery really fun."
"The Bucks of Crawford County is a celebration of our deer-hunting heritage," said Curt Kramer, president of the Prairie Rod and Gun Club. "It is the club’s only fund-raising event, and proceeds are used to support the club’s work in improving and protecting the area’s natural resources, and promoting positive outdoor activities."
Head mounts and racks will be scored and displayed. Scoring will be done by trained and qualified scorers without charge to paid registrants. Entrants with suitable scores may qualify for the Boone and Crocket, Pope and Young, or Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club record books. Sheds are welcome and will be scored and displayed but do not qualify for the participants’ door prize.
Vendor booths are available. Vendors can call (608) 326-2718 with inquiries or for space reservation. For lodging and tourist information, interested persons may call 1-800-732-1673. Multiple raffles will be held throughout the day for guns and more.
The Prairie Rod and Gun Club’s service projects have included trout habitat improvement and stream bank restoration, hunter safety education classes, a kids’ casting contest, raising pheasants and quail for release, waterfowl habitat improvements in the Kickapoo Wildlife Area as well as building and placing wood duck houses and goose nesting structures, improvements to boat landings, Mill Coulee gun range, plot master, and other outdoor and community services.
Sponsors of the Bucks of Crawford County include Stark’s Sport Shop, Wal-Mart, Cabela’s, Country Inn and Suites, Design Homes, and Whitetail Fanatic Magazine.
For more information about the Bucks of Crawford County, interested persons may call (608) 326-2478.
Numerous big buck head mounts and racks will be on display at the 13th annual Bucks of Crawford County on Feb. 20 at the Prairie du Chien National Guard Armory.
By Jen Schultz
Mayor Karl Steiner is involved in an ethics dispute with City Police Officer Maxwell Erickson.
According to the complaint on Monday, Feb. 1 at approximately 2:52 p.m., Mayor Karl Steiner called Officer Maxwell Erickson and left the following voicemail:
"Hi Max, this is Karl K. Steiner, um, just wanted to let you know that Dave Hemmer will have to sign your pay check the next time, if you have his sign in your yard, and evidently you want him to be Mayor, so I think it’s appropriate that you have the council president [Hemmer] sign your check. Take care. Bye."
Officer Erickson filed a complaint with the ethics board, stating "I feel that this is a violation of my First Amendment Right, and take it as a threat against my employment for the city of Prairie du Chien."
The Ethics Board, which has the same membership as the Personnel, License and Insurance Committee, according to the city’s Code of Ethics, held a closed session on Monday, Feb. 8 to discuss the matter. Officer Erickson and Mayor Steiner were invited to attend the meeting.
Mayor Steiner did not attend the meeting but rather sent a written response addressed to the Ethics Board stating, "I feel that this complaint is ridiculous. Max has an opinion but I am not allowed to? I will want another meeting of the Ethics Board against Max. I also will sue him for defamation of character. The thing that makes this country great is anyone is allowed an opinion, even me. Dave has a right to sign checks so it isn’t a big deal. I did the same thing to Denny White [former street worker] and there was no stink then and there should be none now."
Ethics Board Chair Jaaren Riebe said David Hemmer is on the board but abstained from comments and voting. It was decided by a 4 - 0 vote to hold a public hearing on Monday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at the City Hall.
According to the Municipal Code, a public hearing shall be conducted in accordance with all common law requirements of due process and, in written findings of fact and conclusions based thereon, make a determination concerning the propriety of the conduct. Officer Erickson and Mayor Steiner will also have the opportunity to present their claims.
If the Board of Ethics decides that Mayor Steiner violated the code of Ethics, the penalties could constitute suspension, removal from office or employment, or other disciplinary action. City Attorney Tom Peterson said "Since Mayor Steiner is an elected official, he cannot be dismissed by the Ethics Board."
Efforts by the Courier Press to reach Officer Erickson and Mayor Steiner failed. Mayor Steiner’s cell number is temporarily disconnected.
February 8, 2010 |
By Jen Schultz
It’s that dreadful time of the year—tax season.
For the do-it-yourself filer, keep in mind there are lots of new changes taxpayers can receive on their 2009 returns, especially with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
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The internet is great for finding free tax help and information on the changes. H & R Block’s website, hrblock.com, has lots of great tips. Some of the changes for 2009 that H & R Block is reporting on their website include: |
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Making work pay credit - a refundable credit available to individuals who are employed or self-employed. |
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Economic Recovery Payment - a one-time payment of $250 that was paid to individuals who received Social Security Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, SSI, or VA pension or disability benefits during the period form Nov. 2008 through Jan. 2009. |
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Unemployment Compensation - the first $2,400 of unemployment compensation is not taxable in 2009. |
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COBRA - jobless individuals paying for COBRA insurance who were involuntarily terminated between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009 may receive a federal subsidy of 65% of monthly COBRA premiums for 9 months. |
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Earned Income Credit - an increased tax credit for families with three or more children. |
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Additional Child Tax Credit - lower income families with children will receive increased eligibility for the refundable portion of the tax credit for lower income families with children. |
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Homebuyer Credit - first-time homebuyers who purchase a home after April 8, 2008 and before May 1, 2010, can receive up to an $8,000 refundable tax credit. |
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Nonbusiness Energy Credit - taxpayers who invest in energy improvements, such as new windows and doors, to their homes can claim a tax credit of up to $1,500. |
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Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit - homeowners who invest in such energy improvements as solar heating and geothermal pumps will receive an increased tax credit. |
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American Opportunity Tax Credit - an enhanced Hope Credit that can be applied to qualified education expenses for the first four years of higher education. |
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Section 529 Plan Distributions - the expanded definition of qualified higher education expenses now including the purchase of computers and related equipment for college. |
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Vehicle Purchase - if you buy a new vehicle after Feb. 16, 2009 and before 2010, you can get a tax deduction for the state and local sales or excise tax. |
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Plug-in Electric Vehicles Credit - a modification to the tax credit benefits people who purchase a qualified plug-in electric motor vehicle after 2009. |
Another new law that President Obama has recently signed is bill HR4462. Taxpayers may deduct contributions made to the Haiti relief effort following the earthquake after Jan. 11, 2010 and before March 1, 2010 on their 2009 tax returns instead of waiting for 2010 returns.
There are plenty of resources to help taxpayers file tax returns for free including:
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) offered by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. VITA provides income tax assistance to low-income individuals, handicapped, or elderly. VITA sites are located in La Crosse, Madison, Menasha, Milwaukee, Spooner, and Stoughton. For more information about VITA sites, contact the Wisconsin Department of Revenue at 608-266-2772 or visit revenue.wi.gov.
Taxpayer Counseling for the Elderly is a service of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). This free program provides tax information and help in preparing federal and Wisconsin income tax returns for elderly, low-income, and handicapped individuals. This service is available in Prairie du Chien for only two days—and they are already booked full—however interested individuals can set up an appointment at the La Crosse office at 608-7890-7443.
Taxpayer Assistance Centers are offered by the Internal Revenue Service and are a source for personal tax help. These centers are available in Appleton, Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, and Rothschild. For more information about the La Crosse Center, call 608-785-0246. Visit irs.gov/localcontacts for more information.
Telephone Assistance for individuals is also available from the Internal Revenue Service at 800-829-1040.
Internal Revenue Service website at irs.gov also has useful information, tax tips, and ways to help you file your taxes for free.
In anticipation of the mayoral primary on Feb. 16 and the mayoral debate on Feb. 11, The Courier Press asked the three candidates the following question:
What are the major issues facing Prairie du Chien, and as mayor what would you do about them?
The following are each of the candidate’s responses.
Dave Hemmer: Two of the main concerns that we face as a city are constantly rising property taxes and lack of good paying jobs. I can’t promise to lower taxes, but we can keep them in line in a couple of ways. We can become more efficient in how we run our local government services and we can expand our tax base to spread out the overall tax burden and create jobs.
I will work to attract new businesses to town in several ways. As mayor, I will act as ambassador of the city and provide good information that describes what Prairie has to offer to potential new businesses and developers. I will attend regional and statewide development conferences to promote our city as a good place to live and work. At the same time, I will work with our existing businesses and industries to improve and expand. We should also maximize our TIF efforts to help grow jobs and infrastructure. We are the second oldest city in the state and we have a lot of old infrastructure. We need to continue to carryout the plans we have in place to fix our sidewalks, roads, water and sewer, so we don’t fall behind on maintenance and end up paying more in the long run.
We need to maintain a high quality of life to keep the people here and to attract new residents. I think quality of life is what separates Prairie du Chien from other communities. There are very few other communities that have the beauty, environment and recreational opportunities that we have here. We should build on these assets. We can do this by following our comprehensive, waterfront, and downtown plans. These plans can guide us so we can move forward with logic and common sense.
I was born and raised in Prairie du Chien and Lori and I have raised our family here. I think Prairie is a great place to live, and together we can make it even better.
Joe Ruskey: While we are all lucky to live in this great City of Prairie du Chien, there is still a lot of work that needs to take place in the near future. This is going to start with a mayor who can dedicate time, effort, and expertise to these challenges. I feel that I can be that mayor.
One of the first areas needing focus is attracting new businesses to Prairie du Chien. While I feel that we have a diversity of jobs in our city, we need higher paying jobs to give our citizens additional money in their pockets. This will allow them to have extra money that can be spent at our local businesses throughout the city. This in turn will generate more revenue for the local businesses, which will create even more jobs as these businesses grow. These higher paying jobs will also provide the incentive to our children to come back to our community after they graduate from college or technical school, since they will see more employment opportunities than they currently have. Finally, by bringing more businesses to our city, we will be able to generate more tax dollars from those businesses, allowing our city to provide the services expected without having to go to the homeowners for additional tax money.
I feel another area of need is creating more activities for our children of all ages. The schools do a great job with sports activities, yet we need to provide alternatives for kids who do not want to focus on athletics or may want something in addition to athletics. I feel that our Parks Director, Mike Ulrich, has done a phenomenal job over the past 18 months of creating many opportunities for children and families in the area. However, he is limited due to the funds available at this time. We need a mayor who can partner with Mike and others in the area to bring in more local, regional, state, and federal dollars.
Finally, I feel that we need a mayor who can bring different groups throughout the city together. We have many great groups and organizations working tirelessly, trying to bring improvements to the citizens of Prairie du Chien. Many of these groups have similar goals. There needs to be a facilitator to not only bring these groups together, but to also get them to coordinate their efforts toward common goals. This will help us to achieve these goals much quicker, which will then allow us to begin focusing on new challenges and opportunities. We’ll be able to achieve so much more, due to the power of many working together for the benefit of the whole community.
I feel that my technology career, tenure on City Council, volunteerism, and values/life skills have prepared me to take on these challenges mentioned above. I am sincerely ready to dedicate myself to the challenges and responsibilities of being the mayor of Prairie du Chien.
Mayor Karl Steiner: We as citizens face many challenges—high real estate taxes, high utility costs, the purchase of Prairie Maison, the possible closing of Hoffman Hall, solar power and supervisory issues.
As mayor, I need a council that will work with me, coordinating my abilities to be functional for the citizens.
We need to promote more events on the Island by not charging an event charge, instead of penalizing event makers by charging them. They bring a lot of business into town and those that spend money here get to see our beautiful area and will hopefully return to check our other amenities.
We also need to bring in more industry that pays well so our young people stop leaving town. I have been talking to an industry in Peoria and one in Detroit which would do exactly this.
We need to cut spending by reducing budgets. One possibility is consolidation of the county and city police. Another possibility is getting a single supervisor for the Street Department so it would run exponentially more efficient with better control of staff and equipment. These movements would help decrease taxes that we need to do desperately. If taxes keep going up, there will be more vacant homes than we have now, which is approximately 200.
As far as the purchase of Prairie Maison, not only are we bailing out the hospital, but paying to do so. We have better uses of TIF money than the real estate business. We should leave that to private industry as Leary Peterson once said as city attorney.
Hoffman Hall is a very perplexing question. We are very lucky to have such a facility, but it poses many issues related to cost. We possibly have a $220,000 grant which will help. I was the mayor that got the facility in this city. I don’t want to be the mayor that closes it down. One way is to introduce solar to the city. We could save half our power bills using solar. There are 568 street lights, and with solar, we could have them paid for in less than two years.
Now to the roundabout issue. We don’t need to be a guinea pig for the WDOT to see if they work that close together and that close to railroad tracks. If they don’t work, are they (the DOT) willing to tear them out and pay us the $150,000 of property taxes lost and the $1.8 million that we pay out for our portion of the cost? I stay in contact with my pro-bono blind lawyer and he is ready to fight all the way against them because they do not meet ADA compliance. I like the article by the woman from Lancaster. I feel like let’s take a WDOT employee to Dodgeville and make them get across on crutches, in a wheelchair and blindfolded and see how they do. This is a challenge from me to the DOT. We don’t have the money to build them, let alone losing the tax base.
I have been asked why I have no campaign signs. I feel spending upwards of $4,000 for a $10,000 a year job would make me look unscrupulous and I am too honest for that.
We have many challenges facing us and some that haven’t even surfaced yet. I feel the committee picked a good new administrator. He has a lot of challenges facing him, but I feel he will be good for Prairie du Chien. He has good ideas for the future and I hope the council works with him. I feel he will run a tight ship and get our budget back in good standing. I am looking forward to working with him.
