BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017 VOL. 55 NO. 19 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
TOLBERT: Burnett County’s new Emergency Management Director. P2
Tracking drugs in Burnett County BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
SUBMITTED
Burnett County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitch Olson (left) with Tracker.
January thaw closes trails BURNETT COUNTY—The ink was barely dry on last week’s front page story about the snowmobile trails being open before the unseasonably warm temperatures caused parks department officials to close the trails. In fact, had last week’s warm weather not done the trick, Saturday’s rain would have. Even though the official snow trail closure came last Thursday, the frozen ground ATV trail system remains open. The system is marked with green blazers. According to Burnett County Forestry and Parks Department officials, enthusiasts may ride their ATV/UTV on the Gandy Dancer Trail from Tewalt Road, (just south of Siren), and continue north in Burnett County. by Todd Beckmann, Sentinel
SIREN—If all goes according to plan, Tracker, the Burnett County Sheriff Department’s K-9, the newest weapon against the drug epidemic which is sweeping the county, will be on patrol and fully operational by the end of the summer. Tracker, a purebred German Shepard, born in Slovakia at the end of 2015, has been in-country since Dec. 14, 2016 and was first introduced to the Burnett County Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Thursday. “We are looking forward to him becoming an integral force in our war on drugs,” Burnett County Sheriff Ron Wilhelm told the supervisors. Accompanying the sheriff was Mitch Olson, the deputy who will serve as the K-9’s han-
dler. “Coming from Slovakia, does the dog know English?” one supervisor joked. “He knows ‘Down’ and ‘Sit,” Olson remarked as the dog romped around the room. “He’s learning ‘Leave it,’ because he hears that a lot.” As Wilhelm had previously pointed out, even though the dog is a year old, it still has a
‘We are looking forward to him becoming an integral force in our war on drugs.’
lot of puppy in him. The first thing to do was to get him a name. “As soon as the kids were back from Christmas break, we approached all three elementary schools and asked all classes, first grade through fifth grade, to submit a name for the dog,” Wilhelm stated. “Several classes actually picked the name ‘Tracker,’ so that’s what we are going with.” Until the end of the month, Tracker is riding along with Olson on his normal patrol and the two are having a chance to bond, plus Tracker has become the newest member of the Olson household. “He gets along great with my three boys at home.” Olson commented. “It’s good for him
Ron Wilhelm Sheriff
SEE TRACKER, PAGE 6
A trick to raising kids? BY TODD BECKMANN SENTINEL
SIREN—It’s no secret kids do not come with an instruction manual. “I think as a parent, you have to try a lot of different things to see what will work,” Beth Rank, 4-H Youth and Families Educator for Burnett County, said of the newly launched “How to Raise a Thinking Child Program.” “This is one opportunity for them to learn some parental education — some new approaches to try.” The program is an evidence-based program which other counties in the state are doing, and Rank wanted to bring it to Burnett County. She went to an early childhood meeting and the teachers and professionals there were talking about how the kids wouldn’t listen, how the kids were naughty, how they’d get stuck on little problems they couldn’t figure out on their own, how so-and-so stole their toy, and on and on. “Bells and whistles were going off in my head when I heard all of that,” she recalled. ‘Boy, do I have a program for you.’”
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When the UW-Extension office in Burnett County blended the offices of 4-H Youth Development and Family Living agent, Rank decided this fell perfectly into her purview. “In my blended position, it falls under the family development portion of my job but it’s also working with youth, so it is a little bit of both,” she described. “It works well with both parts of my job.” Rank taught “How to Raise a Thinking Child” when she was an agent in Green County, so she knows what the program could do. She said it makes sense to offer the course to parents with kids age four to seven. “Parents are the first teachers kids ever have,” Rank pointed out. “The research shows that some kids have acquired problem-solving skills by the time they are four years old.” But problem-solving is just one skill the program looks at — critical thinking, looking at alternative solutions and consequential thinking are the other targeted skills for SEE CHILD, PAGE 7
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