FREE PRESS AMERY
1892 - 2017
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017
125 YEARS STRONG
VOL. 123 NO. 10 www.theameryfreepress.com $1.00
SPORTS: Soccer team opens with two wins PAGE 18
Meth cripples Polk County courts as Attorney General steps in to assist BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
When it comes to slaying the dragon that is methamphetamine, newly elected District Attorney Jeff Kemp is battling through an unprecedented statistic for Polk County, and perhaps for the State of Wisconsin. Methamphetamine-related charges now comprise a staggering 36 percent of Polk County’s felony caseload. As of mid-August, that’s 120 meth-specific cases that have been fi led since District Attorney Kemp took office in January—statistically more than any neighboring
JESSICA DE LA CRUZ | EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
Back on the bus Students and teachers in the Amery School District went back to school Monday morning. After a long day in the classroom, this group of Lien Elementary students learned which bus to get on after school.
‘The effects of these delays? It’s the victims of sex assaults and other crimes, who keep coming to court, and there’s a new attorney every time.’ Judge Jeffery Anderson Polk County Circuit Court
School opposes bills restricting referendums Passage could cost district $2.9 million annually
BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
The Amery School Board has unanimously passed a resolution opposing six pieces of recently introduced legislation that apply directly to school referendums.
The legislation has been proposed by Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville), Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls), Rep. John Macco (R-Ledgeview), Rep. David Murphy (R-Greenville), Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Os-
hkosh) and Rep. Tom Weatherston (R-Caledonia). The resolution adopted by the school board states numerous reasons to oppose the bills, and describe the measures as such: “Eliminating recurring
county, and more meth cases than Polk County fi led in all of last year. And that statistic only paints part of the picture. Its larger impact is more difficult to quantify. Most everyone from law enforcement to judges agree that meth plays a role the majority of burglaries, thefts, batteries, bail jumping, and child neglect cases they see, even if meth is
SEE REFERENDUMS PAGE NINE
SEE COURTS PAGE TWO
Economic recovery continues in Polk County, but poverty persists BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Employment is up and economic growth is strong in Polk County. But many residents are still struggling, according to a recent report from the county’s administrator, Dana Frey. “If you look at the growth in em-
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ployment in the last year, it has really started to move up,” Frey told the county board earlier this month during his annual report on the county’s condition. “We got hit very hard by the recession. That was a couple thousand jobs just gone. They’ve come back, and they’ve come back very rapidly in the last year.”
Still, noted Frey, many of the county’s residents are not seeing the benefits of that recovery. “You can still see problems,” he said. Frey cited the number of FoodShare recipients as one measure. In 2005 the county about 3,000 people receiving aid through the statewide program. As effects of the recession transpired, the
number of recipients peaked in 2012 near 8,000. Although that number has fallen, at 6,500 it’s more than double the pre-recession figure. “There’s still a lot of poverty despite the growing economy,” said Frey. It could be part of a larger trend. A recent report from the Wisconsin SEE ECONOMY PAGE NINE
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