COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 32 NO. 45 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
PAVEMENT: May residents hoping for road repair. PAGE 6
BOLD passes
Sight and service Ophthalmologist reflects on lifetime of helping people see BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Morning light filters through the windows of James Standefer’s Marine Stuga. Outside, woodpeckers and cardinals take turns at a feeder. Inside, tools for watching the night sky are stationed around the sun porch. Bird and star watching seem appropriate pastimes for a man who made a life of helping others see – first as a career, then as a volunteer. Last November, Standefer’s decades of work and service were recognized by the American Academy of Ophthalmology with the 2015 Inter-
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
James Standefer at his Marine Stuga.
national Blindness Prevention Award. But growing up in small-town Iowa, Standefer had no idea he’d become an ophthalmologist. “My father was a family physician, a G.P. (general practitioner), and that’s what I wanted
to do,” recalls Standefer. “But I found out that that kind of doctor was disappearing.” Still, he drifted toward medicine, attending Harvard College on scholarship, then Cornell Medical School. He took an internship in Vermont, and studied internal medicine for a year. His direction began to change when he joined the military. “I joined the Navy during the Vietnam War,” he says. “When I was training in Pensacola to become a flight surgeon, there was a lot of attention paid to sight and heart — pilots have to see well and have a strong heart. “During the training, I didn’t know what I was going to be, going to do. … But the captain who taught ophthalmology in SEE OPTHAMOLOGIST, PAGE 5
Majeski and Otis Former Scandia deputy taking on K9 partner BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Majeski has a new partner to lean on. Majeski, the former Scandia deputy, was recently assigned to the county’s K9 unit and began training with Otis, a 1-year-old Belgian malinois, last weekend. Otis has been living with the Majeski family for about a month. The duo will train together in four-hour shifts while SEE OTIS, PAGE 2
KYLE WEAVER
COURTESY STOP BOLD COLD
The Stillwater school board voted March 3 to close Marine, Withrow and Oak Park schools in accordance with the administration’s BOLD consolidation plan.
District 834 to close Marine, Withrow, Oak Park BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
The Stillwater school board voted March 3 to close Marine, Withrow and Oak Park elementary schools via approval of the administration’s controversial BOLD consolidation plan. “Whether or not this recommendation passes, the board cannot wait to fix the academic problems we have,” said Board Chair George Hoeppner before the vote. “If we do not immediately address our inequities the board is not accepting its most important responsibility.” BOLD’s most vocal opponent on the board, Vice Chair Mike Ptacek, called the proposal a false dichotomy that had been constructed without following procedure. “I think (BOLD) basically says, ‘This is the only way to go,’” he said. “I object to the proposal and even stronger to the lack of process. … We have an extremely talented, gifted, well-educated, articulate population. My number one disappointment is that I don’t think we’ve paid enough attention to (their criticisms and suggestions).” Seeming to encourage the communities that stood to lose schools, Patcek said, “Ultimately, I believe very, very firmly that communities get the schools they want.” Parents and the broader community expressed frustration and anger in the wake of the decision, saying they felt the administration and board majority had not truly listened to well-researched concerns with BOLD, and that the decision flew in the face of what district voters wanted according to the administration’s own survey. In comments before and after the vote, respectively, Board Chair Hoeppner and Superintendent Denise Pontrelli urged families to work with District 834 toward transition.
Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Majeski’s new K9 partner, Otis, clears a hurdle during their first training day last weekend.
SEE BOLD, PAGE 2
Dermatologist joins OMC Dermatologist David Nelsen, MD, of Forefront Dermatology, has joined the medical staff at Osceola Medical Center. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 715-294-3566.
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