BURNETT COUNTY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017 VOL. 55 NO. 33 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00
COUNTY PROGRESS: Groundbreaking for A&W P. 9; St. Croix Hertel Casino opens P. 2
Towns, tribe mull where to house ambulances BY STEVE BRIGGS SENTINEL
SUBMITTED
Grand Opening St. Croix Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Crystal Peterson cuts the ribbon to officially open the new St. Croix Casino Hertel and Hertel Express to the public at a snowy Grand Opening celebration held on Monday, May 1. Looking on at left is St. Croix Tribal Chairman Lewis Taylor, who opened the event with a prayer and addressed the very large crowd.
US NEWS releases high school rankings BURNETT COUNTY— All three high schools in Burnett County scored highly on the Wisconsin Best High School Rankings list which was released by US News. Grantsburg earns a silver medal as the 42 spot in the state while ranking 1,620 in the country. Siren and Webster sit close to one another at 82 and 85 in the state, both earning bronze medals. All three schools hold a graduation rate of above 75 percent— Webster leads at 91 percent. According to US News, “Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college.”
For more infomation about the methodology behind US News rankings, visit https://www. usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/ rankings-overview.
SIREN—As about 40 members of the Burnett County Towns Association pondered the details Thursday evening of the county’s next ambulance contract – including how many ambulances the county needs and where to place them – St. Croix Tribal Council Chairman Lewis Taylor addressed the group for the first time. “Mr. Chairman and members of the association,” Chairman Taylor began. “As you deliberate your options on how to have a cost savings and still maintain full ambulance coverage, we are here to work with this group.” Chairman Taylor said he was attending the meeting to confirm that the St. Croix Tribal Council is agreeable to participating in the ambulance service and possibly providing garage space or maybe a separate garage for an ambulance, plus staff housing for the ambulance crew on duty. While Taylor was not specific about the location, he appeared to indicate that the tribal council would most favorably consider providing the ambulance
Boone Docks Marine store wins award in first year BY SEAN DEVLIN SENTINEL
SIREN— What do you do when the big city life and corporate job routine gets you down? Move to Siren and run your own boat shop. Well, that’s what Mary Smoliak and Chris Kuehn decided late in 2015 when they began talking with TJ Swanson – who was soon to retire after owning the store for over 15 years – about the storefront on WI-35. Kuehn has been a frequent visitor of Burnett County for over 15 years before co-owning the boat shop. He enjoyed a cabin in Danbury and spending as much time as possible on the numerous lakes in the county: approximately 500. After he and Smoliak met,
she was soon a Burnett County lover. “We love the Midwest waters and woods,” said Kuehn. The couple agrees that while they seem to put in more hours at the boat shop than they did working in two different IT jobs in the Twin Cities, their situation is something most people envy—they enjoy their jobs. “We may work a lot more here, but we love it,” said Smoliak. All that hard work has paid off because in just shy of one year, the duo has made the Top 25 Hewitt Dealers List for 2016 in the country – the fifth spot to be exact. Their store opened March 1, 2016. “We were shocked. We were just SEAN DEVLIN | SENTINEL
Owners Mary Smoliak and Chris Kuehn
SEE BOONE DOCKS, PAGE 7
FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC.
FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC.
Fiedler Ford, Inc.
Welcome to 2017 at
Fiedler Fo!rd Countr y
Complete Ford Sales & Service
— The Quality And Service You’ve Come To Expect —
715-463-5367 • Downtown Grantsburg, WI
FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC. NEWS 715-463-2341 todd@burnettcountysentinel.com
ADVERTISING 715-463-2341 sales1@burnettcountysentinel.com
FIEDLER FORD, INC.
FIEDLER LER FORD, INC INC.
SEE AMBULANCE, PAGE 7
FIEDLER FORD, INC. FIEDLER FORD, INC.
SUBSCRIPTIONS 715-463-2341 office@burnettcountysentinel.com
NEWS & ADVERTISING DEADLINE IS MONDAY AT NOON