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October 18, 2006 |
Council honors Frable
City Planner and Zoning Administrator Garth Frable was honored by Prairie du Chien City Council last night for his dedication and service. Mayor Cheryl Mader presented the framed resolution.
Multi-facility senior complex gets go-ahead
Prairie du Chien City Council last night approved the rezoning of approximately 15 acres of land from low density residential to Planned Community Development, thus clearing the way for the development of a senior village by Community Health Services Corporation.
The facility, to be located roughly between Taylor and Webster Streets east of Fremont Street, would include a nursing facility, wellness center, rehab center, assisted living, senior condominiums and single and duplex cottages for seniors. In addition, there would be a village square with a multi-purpose community room and shops. With the exception of the senior concominiums and the cottages, all parts of the facility are interconnected, making it easier to get from one facility to another.
In describing the plans, Bob Gummer, president of PDC Midwest, Inc., architect and planner for the project, said the projections for the area population do not show a tremendous increase, but they do show that the senior population will grow dramatically and exceed the present capacity of community facilities. "The campus," he said, "is designed for a continuum of living as well as interaction with the community."
Harold Brown, president of Community Health Service Corporation, said he expected Phase One, the construction of the interconnected facilities, to be completed by August, 2008, and the entire project, which would include the condominiums and cottages, within three years.
Winery lands $25,000 grant
Like grapes on a vine, Eagle's Landing Winery continues to grow. Last month the family-operated winery received a $25,000 Value- added Agricultural Product Market Development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for operating expenses for the development of their port wine. According to Jay Halvorson, a big part of the grant will be focused on creating long-term growth in the Iowa wine industry, as well as assisting the family winery business.
The grant will be used primarily to increase the number of port wine grape growers in Iowa, as well as market port wine. The winery received assistance in writing the grant from Northeast Iowa Resource and Conservation Development (RCD), a non-profit based in Postville, Iowa, which serves a six-county area.
Port is a "fortified" wine, as Jay describes it. It has a higher alcohol content and is served as an after-dinner wine in small portions. Eagle's Landing produced its first port in 2004, and port makes up about three percent of their wine sales.
"This port is absolutely fabulous," Dr. Murli Dhar-madhikari, the enologist (wine scientist) for the state of Iowa, said after tasting Eagle's Landing port. He had few suggestion for the improvement of the wine, except to encourage the Halvorsons to continue to make it.
Currently, there are only two port wine growers in Iowa, and the Halvorson vineyard makes up fifty percent of that group.
"They're making an effort to try to educate people about the market they've created for Iowa-grown grapes," said Lora Friest, director of Northeast Iowa RCD. According to Halvorson, most of the grapes the family processes are grown in Wisconsin.
Since it takes three years from the time grape vines are planted to the first harvest, and then two years to process and age port wine, this is a long-term project. "Unless we get everyone moving, it's never going to happen," Jay said. The winery expects to add 8,000 pounds more port grapes to its processing over the next couple of years. Jay wants these grapes to come from Iowa growers if at all possible.
Some of the grant money will also be used to market and promote Eagle's Landing port with print and radio ads as well as wine-tasting events. The grant will also finance the purchase of oak barrels in which the wine is aged.
Eagle's Landing processed 30,000 pounds of grapes during this fall's harvest; up about 12,000 pounds from last year. Additionally, the winery has added three new wines to it's lineup of over 20 wine selections.
The public will have the opportunity to visit and tour the winery and taste the port and other wines this weekend at the Eagle's Landing Oktoberfest celebration. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, October 21 and 22. Winery tours will be held at 11 a.m., 1 p.m and 3p.m. Free wine tasting, snacks and a strolling musician will add to the ambience. KCTN radio of Elkader will broadcast live on Saturday from 10 to noon and there will be a drawing for a one-night stay at the Eagle's Landing Bed and Breakfast.
Joint dispatch project proceeding but there is much to be worked out
The joint dispatch project between Crawford County and the city of Prairie du Chien is still proceeding. Crawford County Chief Deputy Jerry Matousek said that there is a tentative completion date (a goal) of the middle of March.
Matousek said that he feels that the middle of March is probably not realistic, however. "I don't see it happening that soon," Matousek said. "There's a lot to be worked out yet and we want to do it right."
Matousek said that the county and the city both need to formally commit to the project financially before it can get off the ground. "That needs to be done first. That is the most important thing," Matousek said.
Matousek said that the initial cost for just getting the joint dispatch constructed and up and running would be approximately $370,000. Then there would be the year-to-year budget.
There are 17,493 residents in Crawford County and a little more than 6,000 in the city. Matousek said that there has been discussions at the monthly meetings of the City-County Joint Dispatch Committee about a per-capita split in the costs of the project. The county would pay two-thirds and the city would pay one-third of the start up costs and of the yearly dispatch budget.
Matousek gave a rough estimate of the yearly costs as $600,000. This would go towards everything that it would take to run the joint dispatch, including employee salaries, maintenance, 911 costs, teletype costs and many other costs. Matousek emphasized, however, that $600,000 is nothing but an estimate. "We would have to operate the joint-dispatch for a year before we could see the actual yearly costs," he said.
Other areas of the joint-dispatch project that need to be worked out include the physical and technical aspects and the integration of employees.
Consultants Stacey Black and John Harbaugh have been hired for approximately $27,000 and they are working on the physical and technical aspects of the project. Matousek said that the joint-dispatch will likely be located at the current police department dispatch room. A wall may have to be removed and the room expanded. Also, new equipment may have to be purchased. Black and Harbaugh will give a presentation at a public meeting of the City-County Joint Dispatch Committee on Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in room 236 of the new County Administrative Building.
As far as employees are concerned, Matousek said that there will be either eight or nine dispatchers for the joint dispatch, depending upon the work schedule that is adopted. All dispatchers would be county employees. There are 12 jailer-dispatchers in the Sheriff's Department and three dispatchers working for the city, which has one such position vacant.
Matousek, who gives recommendations but has no vote, said that he would like to see the joint dispatch be its own entity, not a part of the Sheriff's Department. He would like to see it have a director who would answer to the county's Public Safety Committee.
"I would love to see it as a separate entity. In my view, that would be a fair way of doing it," he said. "It would help to eliminate favoritism."
Matousek also said that the director could be hired at no extra cost to the county if the director were hired from a group of current county employees who have the qualifications.
Matousek also said that a date should be set when the city dispatchers would become county employees so that they would know what their wages and benefits would be well ahead of time. He said that it's not fair to have the city dispatchers up in the air, as they have been for about a year already. The unions would have to work out the pay and benefits.
There will soon be a new sheriff elected and Matousek said that the new sheriff should have input to the county's Personnel Committee concerning the joint dispatch project.
Matousek said that it is realistic to have a new joint dispatch center up and running by the middle of 2007, "with all of the bugs worked out."
"I think that a joint dispatch would be better for everyone, the city, the county and the citizens," he said.
October 16, 2006 |
Either-sex, unlimited deer season Oct. 19-22
A four-day gun-deer season opens on Thursday, Oct. 19 in portions of 19 Wisconsin counties around the two chronic wasting disease eradication zones.
Portions of Crawford, Grant, Vernon and virtually all of Richland County is included in this Herd Reduction Zone.
Hunters may shoot either sex in the Herd Reduction Zone during this special season, which runs from Oct. 19-22. Hunters may kill as many deer as they want.
Hunters can get four free either-sex carcass tags per day. The tags will be issued at license outlets and registration stations. These extra tags are the same, regardless of whether a buck or doe is being tagged.
In addition to the free 2006-2007 CWD Deer Carcass Tag, hunters can attach their Gun Buck Deer Carcass Tag or their Any Antlerless Deer Carcass Tag to any deer, buck or doe.
Hunters who use their Gun Buck Deer Carcass Tag during October, will not be issued another gun buck tag for other units that are not in the CWD Management Area, so they may want to avoid using this tag in the Herd Reduction Zone.
Archery tags should not be used to tag deer killed with a gun. Archery season runs at the same time as this October hunt.
All hunters, except waterfowlers, must meet the blaze orange clothing requirement. This includes turkey hunters and archery hunters.
Any deer killed in the Herd Reduction Zone must be registered in the same unit or an adjacent unit in the Herd Reduction Zone or Disease Eradication Zone.
There is no restriction on carcass transportation in the Herd Reduction Zone once a deer has been registered.
This special Oct. 19-22, either-sex, unlimited season is only in the Herd Reduction Zone, not in the similarly named Herd Control Units (formerly named Zone T Units).
There is no general October Zone T hunt this year.
There is a gun-deer season of Oct. 14-22 that is open in the Disease Eradication Zone southeast of Unit 71-CWD.
Deer killed in the western Wisconsin region are being tested for CWD this year, but the Department of Natural Resources will not be conducting surveillance sampling during the special Oct. 19-22 hunt.
There will be taxidermists and meat lockers who will be removing some deer heads for testing if the hunters are interested.
In addition, several area food pantries will be accepting deer donations. Kickapoo Locker, Westby Locker, Pa's Meat in Chaseburg and Eastman Locker are some of the locations that will be accepting deer donations. Hunters can get additional names of lockers from the DNR Web pages.
The traditional, nine-day, statewide gun-deer season is Saturday, Nov. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 26.
"Bulletproof" woman feels lucky to tell her story
On Oct. 8, a Prairie du Chien area woman was struck by a bullet and not only lived to tell about it, she was uninjured. On this particular day, I guess one could say that Jan Prew was bulletproof. And, that is a very lucky thing.
"I was very lucky. It scared me," said Jan. "It was a fluke thing."
Jan recalled that she was sitting at her computer playing a card game at about 5 p.m. when she felt something hit her foot. She looked around thinking that something had fallen off of the desk. She then saw her dog playing with a bullet about three feet away.
The bullet turned out to be a .22 caliber. It had apparently whizzed through the window screen and ricocheted off of Jan's shoe. Luckily, it was traveling slow enough so as to not cause any damage to the shoe nor any injury to Jan.
Jan, who lives on Sand Burr Lane in the town of Bridgeport, said that she thinks someone was hunting in the area and the bullet accidentally came zinging into her house. Jan and her husband surmised that someone was probably squirrel hunting quite a distance away. The hunter may have aimed high at a squirrel in a tree and missed. The bullet then would have traveled in a high arc before landing on Jan's foot. A .22 caliber shot in such a manner might traverse quite a long distance.
No matter how far away the hunter was, however, he or she was obviously not away far enough. Jan says that there are houses all around the area.
"It really bothers me that someone was hunting around houses," she said in noting that her incident should be a reminder to everyone of the importance of firearm and hunter safety courses.
Especially now that hunting season is upon us, hunters should be reminded by Jan"s "lucky" incident and by other hunting accidents that have occurred recently, that safety be of the utmost importance.
Help available for abuse victims
Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part article on domestic violence. This article addresses what can be done for victims of that violence. '
The Crawford County Domestic Abuse Task Force was fundamental in starting a domestic abuse program in the county, according to Robin Bernhard, the task force chairperson. Now that the program is set up, their major task is to provide support for the program and educate the public. As part of that education, they have published a flyer explaining domestic violence and providing information for someone who is being abused. For someone in immediate danger of physical abuse, the advice is:
Protect yourself, especially your head and abdomen.
Try to get away„lock yourself in another room or run outside.
Scream or call for help
Do whatever you need to prevent further violence.
Once the immediate threat has ended, however, an abuse victim should act to escape further abuse. These actions should include putting an escape plan into action, taking any children with him or her, getting to a safe place, calling the police and seeking medical attention. If assistance is needed, the toll-free Helpline, 888-200-8426 can provide it.
For those who need a safe place, shelters are available. These are in a hidden location and will offer emergency housing, short-term counseling and other information.
If the situation allows, a person leaving home should take an emergency supply of cash, clothing, identification, a check book or bankbook, car and house keys.
It is not always an easy decision for an abuse victim to make the decision to leave an abusive situation, and an advocate is also available through the Helpline or by calling 608-326-1616.
The advocate can help explore options, make referrals to other community resources, assist in obtaining legal aid and provide moral support, even accompanying the victim to appointments with other agencies.
Sometimes a victim decides not to leave the situation. This could be for many reasons, said Randi Harris, coordinator of the domestic abuse program for Crawford County. "She or he may want to leave but would have a hard time economically; the partner may threaten to take the children or not support them. Sometimes she may be so badly abused she isn"t capable of making judgments about taking care of herself." Harris can help strategize about safety issues and how to deal with them. If nothing else, Harris said, to be heard and believed is very important.
Harris also offers some advice for anyone who knows or suspects someone else is being abused. She recommends:
´Try to bring the topic up in a non-accusatory way. Direct confrontation often brings denial. Assure the victim he or she is not the only one to suffer abuse.
´It often helps to say "You deserve better," since the victim"s self-esteem is usually damaged.
*It never hurts to say, "I"m frightened for you and your children."
*Assure the person you"re available to listen when he or she is ready to talk
*If there is a noticeable disturbance, it wouldn't hurt to call the police. Although they can"t always do anything if there are no noticeable signs of abuse, they will do what they can.
Harris does not recommend directly confronting the abuser, since it could be dangerous. She does, however, think the general public needs to become more aware. 'In the last 30 years," Harris said, "we've established many services for victims of domestic violence: shelters, legal service, trained police, and educated court system. We have systems and programs and resources for victims. We can increase these victims" safety.
"Maybe what we're up against now is the challenge of public awareness, of male privilege and tradition (most, but not all victims of domestic abuse are female), a public attitude of non-interference. "We've all seen someone grabbed too hard by the arm, someone shoved up against the wall." Said Bernhard, "Even if you aren't a victim of abuse, I'm sure you know someone who is. It affects us all."
