Turn back your clocks, check your batteries
Daylight savings time starts this weekend, so be sure to turn your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night, April 6.
Members of the Prairie du Chien Fire Department and the rural Bridgeport and Prairie du Chien Fire Department would like to encourage everyone to change their smoke detector batteries when turning their clocks ahead for Daylight Savings time this weekend.
They encourage everyone to turn ahead clocks, change batteries and test smoke alarms on Saturday night.
They note this biannual habit is a good one to get into, because it could be the key to saving lives during the fire.

New assistant principal hired at PdC High School
Prairie du Chien High School will be getting a new assistant principal.
The Prairie du Chien School Board approved the hiring of Joe Zydowsky at a special board meeting Friday, March 29.
Zydowsky will take over the position on July 1 from current assistant principal Andy Banasik. Banasik has been hired as the new high school principal to replace outgoing principal Duane Bark.
This will be the first administrative position for Zydowsky, who has been a science teacher at Cochrane-Fountain City High School in Wisconsin since 1999.
Zydowsky completed his undergraduate studies UW-Evansville in Indiana and Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. He will receive his masters degree from Winona this spring.

Close races decide council's 4th ward, county board seats
For the Fourth Aldermanic District on the Prairie du Chien Common Council, Incumbent Ted Sheckler defeated challenger Sharon Boylen by six votes - 59-53.
Phil Dagnon was elected unopposed in the 3rd Aldermanic District (W.J. Jones filed papers of non-candidacy).
Incumbents on the Prairie du Chien Common Council who ran unopposed and were elected are:
District 1 - Jerry Matousek;
District 2 - David Hemmer;
District 4 - Ted Sheckler;
District 5 - Bonnie Homuth; and
District 6 - Dale Boldt.
Incumbent Mayor Mary Jane Faas was reelected. She ran unopposed.
County Board
There was one contested race for the Crawford County Board of Supervisors in District 11 (Towns of Haney and Scott and the Village of Bell Center). Challenger Ron Leys defeated Incumbent Robert Zinkle by one vote, 77-76.
Those who ran unopposed and were elected to county board were ("I" means incumbent):
District 1 - Gary Knickerbocker (I);
District 2- Virgil Butteris (I);
District 3 - Art Conley (I);
District 4 - Ted Sheckler (I);
District 5 - Charles Elvert (I);
District 7 - Leslie Leirmo (I);
District 8 - Albert Wee (I);
District 9 - Harold Dull (I);
District 10 - Pete Flesch
District 12 - Joe Hartley (I);
District 13 - Kay Garvey (I);
District 14 - Ray Martin;
District 15 - Gerald Krachey;
District 16 - John Karnopp (I); and
District 17 - Larry Kapinus (I).
School boards
Incumbent Mary Hosford-Jorgensen and Joseph Atkins were uncontested on the ballot for the two three-year terms on the Prairie du Chien School Board and were elected. Atkins received 567 votes and Jorgenson 505 (with nine of ten precincts reporting). Barb Matejka ran as a write-in and received 182 votes.
There were two open seats on the Wauzeka-Steuben School Board and only the incumbents ran. They were Karen Fisher and Todd Krachey.
In the River Ridge School District, there was one contested race. In Area 1, Incumbent Jeffrey (Scott) Myhre was uncontested and in Area 2 Incumbent Dennis Mulrooney defeated Challenger Stacy Barr.
In the Seneca School District, there were two seats up for election. Incumbents Jerry Jones and Mark Johnson defeated challengers Emile Smith and Pat Thomas. Johnson received 172 votes, Jones received 112, Thomas 83 and Smith 66. Jeff Pintz received eight write-in votes and Brenda Kramer received one.
Villages
In the village of Wauzeka, three trustees were up for reelection. Incumbents Larry Zeeh and Bruce Zinkle were reelected, receiving 55 and 42 votes respectively. Bill Kapinus, Sr. was elected with 50 votes and Incumbent Donald Atkinson, Sr. was defeated with 25 votes.
In the village of Eastman, there were three open two-year seats. Douglas DuCharme (74 votes), Ronald Colson, Jr., (80) and Pat Joy (80) were elected, defeating Robert Davies (30) and Incumbents Julie Bell (20)and Richard Bell (25).
In the village of Ferryville, there was one opening for a two-year term. Incumbent Don Egge defeated Don Roberts.
In the village of Lynxville, there was one opening and Jeff Crusan ran unopposed.
In Mt. Sterling, write in candidate David Jones defeated Incumbent Gary Lysne and Challenger David Aspenson for one two-year term.
In Soldiers Grove, there were three two-year terms up for election. Incumbents Jerry Moran and Stanley Turben will be joined by Shyne Chapman on the board. They received 86, 71 and 84 votes, respectively. Lester Peterson was defeated with 66.
In the village of Gays Mills, there were no contested races. Incumbents John Johnson, Ray Lacina and Jerry Raha were elected.
PdC township referendum
Voters in the township of Prairie du Chien passed the following referendum question by one vote (37-36): Shall the township adopt the comprehensive zoning ordinance drafted by the special committee of the town board and presented to said Town Board as to promote the health, safety, property, aesthetics and general welfare of the town?
DeSoto referendum
DeSoto voters soundly rejected plans to build a $17.2 million school by more than a 7 to 1 margin.

World class bass, a vote cast away
Anglers have opportunity to create awesome fishery at Spring Fish &Wildlife hearing
Do you want a world-class smallmouth bass fishery in your own backyard ?
The spring fish and wildlife rules hearings will be held April 8 at 7 p.m. in every county. In Crawford County, the hearings will be held in the Crawford County Circuit Courtroom. In Vernon County, the large lecture room in the Viroqua Middle School will be used. In Grant County, the hearings will take place in the Grant County Youth and Ag Center at the Grant County Fairgrounds. Richland County will use the Richland County Courthouse.
Area and state anglers can make this happen by voting for an 18-inch length and a one fish bag limit for bass in the Wisconsin River from the Prairie du Sac Dam on down to the Mighty Mississippi.
"I anticipate an absolutely tremendous smallmouth fishery within two to three years should the new limit pass," said Gene Van Dyke, Department of Natural Resources fish manager for the lower Wisconsin River. "It should be phenomenal."
The current length limit for bass is 14 inches with a bag limit of five.
Van Dyke said that if anglers vote the new limits in, fishermen of all ages would have a great chance to experience the thrill of a 4, 5 or 6-pound bronzeback brute bashing their lure and bending their rod.
As a bonus to the new limits, largemouth that inhabit the backwater sloughs near the confluence of Crawford County's two bordering rivers, would grow very fat and sassy as well, since the limits would apply to all bass.
"The lower Wisconsin River has the fastest growth rates for bass in the state of Wisconsin," said Van Dyke. "There is a more than adequate food supply, including huge amounts of minnows."
Van Dyke said that the largemouth in the sloughs are already a "fat fish" and that while they are somewhat low in numbers, the protection of the new limit would produce "spectacular results."
"The increased growth would also significantly increase reproduction and increase the trophy fishery," Van Dyke said. "We would have bigger, tougher fish guarding the nests, which would lead to increased eggs and an increased hatch."
Van Dyke also said that the smallmouth population has plenty of room to expand in the lower Wisconsin River.
"Currently, a whole lot of habitat is not being utilized by smallmouth, so we anticipate no overpopulation problems," he said, in noting that populations of smallmouth and walleye are monitored twice a year.
Van Dyke said that the fishing questions to be voted on April 8 in all 72 counties in Wisconsin, "are a very important aspect of our conservation."
"Who's gonna determine what your fishery is gonna be?" he said, in noting that anglers from Crawford, Grant and Richland counties, as well as fishermen from throughout the state have a great opportunity to create nothing short of world class action on the lower Wisconsin River.

Drug dogs check out PdC high school
No narcotics found in school, five arrested following parking lot check
Wednesday, March 27, seemed like a normal day at Prairie du Chien High
School.
But at 12:05 the announcement came over the PA system that the school
was in lockdown and no one was allowed to leave. Teacher were instructed
to shut their doors.
It's hard to say what went through the minds of the students, but most
of them had nothing to fear. It wasn't a dangerous situation. Instead it
was a cooperative effort to hopefully prevent problems.
Offers from the Prairie du Chien Police Department assisted by narcotics
K-9 officer from the Grant County Sheriff's Department, the Barneveld
Police Department, Clayton County Iowa Sheriff's Department and Monona,
Iowa Police Department conducted a drug search of the premises.
The search, which had been requested by the Prairie du Chien School
District Administration, included areas of the high school building and
autos parked in the school parking lot.
No drugs were found in the school after the four K-9 units sniffed the
approximately 1,000 lockers in the building. The dogs did alert at about
25 lockers, but no controlled substances were found in them.
The K-9 units then proceeded to the school parking lot. The dogs alerted
officers to the possible presence of marijuana in 15 vehicles. The
officers ran the license plates of the cars, and school administrators
then called out the students who were driving the vehicles.
Following searches of the vehicle, five students have charges pending
against them. They are: Jamie Becwar, 17, for possession of marijuana;
Robert Millin, 18, for possession of paraphernalia; Levi Prine, 18, for
possession of paraphernalia and possession of alcohol; William Weeks,
18, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia; and Robert Yager, 17,
possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
 Students were asked to sign a consent form to have their vehicle
searched. Most or all of the students complied with the request to
search, but even if they had not the alert of a trained narcotics dog is
considered probable cause to search.
Following the search of the inside of the building, prior to the search
of the parking lot, District Administrator Jim O'Meara said, "If we have
a good school we will find out. If drugs are here, then hopefully we can
do something to slow it down."
Police Chief Mike King agreed the search was a good thing to do. "This
sends the strong message that the signs which say 'This is a drug free
school' actually mean something." He added, "This shows the district
administrator wants to put some teeth into the drug free school policy."
King also said that the search was the result of unprecedented
cooperation between the area law enforcement agencies and area school
districts.
Many area schools in Southwest Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa have had
searches conducted by these or similar K-9 units.
Coda, the dog from Grant County, Cora from the Barneveld Police
Department, and Senna from the Clayton County Sheriff's Department are
all Belgium Malinois (also referred to as Dutch Shepherd, kind of a
"cousin" to a German Shepherd) and are from Holland. They receive many
of their commands in Dutch and their human companions had to be
"trained" to work with them as well.
Wally, the K-9 officer from Monona is a labrador.
The dogs are able to detect marijuana from residue that is four months
old or even longer. So the fact that the officers did not find marijuana
in the vehicles the dogs alerted on doesn't mean the dogs were wrong. It
means that there was marijuana in the vehicle sometime in the past few
months, possibly from a previous owner of the vehicle, or if a friend
borrowed the students car and smoked marijuana in it. Even if a person
had a strong odor on their clothing and they rode in the car the dogs
would be able to pick up the scent.
The vehicles do not have to have the doors open for them to detect the
scent - they can smell it through the cracks of the doors and around the
trunk.
The drug dogs operate much the same way a beagle does when hunting
rabbits - to them it a big, fun game.
Many drug dogs have a toy which is scented with marijuana, which they
relish.
Editor's note: The are no photos of the search inside the school
building because the high school principal said the media was not
allowed. He asked the Courier Press and a representative from the radio
station to leave the public facility.
Council approves emergency routes
In a special meeting of the Prairie du Chien Common Council, designation of a city emergency route plan was approved.
The emergency routes include all major arterials in the city, as well as all of the existing railroad crossings. The plan includes the Haydn street railroad, which is slated for closure by the Wisconsin
Commissioner of Railroad.
The county board approved a similar measure earlier this year.