Seneca heading to state tourney sports ❘ PAGE 14
COURIER PRESS
PUBLISHED IN HISTORIC PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WI 53821
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volUme 163 • no. 85 ❘ PDCCOURIER.COM ❘ WednesdAY, november 2, 2016 ❘ ONE DOLLAR
City notifies Regal Marina of lease default, termination By Correne Martin
The Prairie du Chien Common Council voted Tuesday night to serve notice on Regal Marine Group of a default of its lease and termination of the lease to operate Regal Marina in the city. The city attorney was directed by the council to serve the papers and begin necessary action to secure an eviction of the municipallyowned marina. The Regal family has leased the property for its business since 1963. For the 2016 boating season, the Regals were under a one-year lease, from Nov. 1, 2015 through Oct. 31, 2016. This was agreed to by both parties, despite the Regals’ request
for a 20-year lease, or at least a lease that would be longer in term than just one year. The Regals proposed a long-term lease because they anticipated spending tens of thousands of dollars to bring marina issues up to code. City Attorney Lara Czajkowski Higgins said the city had safety concerns about the marina and didn’t want to sign a long-term lease for fear of getting into litigation. As the Courier Press reported in May, electricity to the docks at the marina was disconnected at the start of the season, after state inspectors uncovered several state electrical code violations. See CITY, page 3
River Ridge asks for one site, again
District could gain financially if referendum passes By Correne Martin Through a long-range planning process in which residents shared goals for the River Ridge School District, wishes expressed were for the district to be more fiscally responsible, energy efficient, structurally sound, thorough with communications, and focused on academics, technology, co-curricular and extracurricular activities. The result of that long-range planning is a referendum on Nov. 8—the third request for public voting input, and tax dollars, in the past two years. The previous two referendums failed. Two questions will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. In summary, they ask voters: 1.) to authorize general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $9.5 million for additions/remodeling to cre-
ate one pre K-12 campus at the district’s Patch Grove site. 2.) to authorize general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $1.5 million for athletic field additions and improvements at the Patch Grove site. Currently, the fifth and sixth grade classes take instruction at the district’s Bloomington building and the football field and track are located in Bloomington. All other students attend classes and take part in activities in Patch Grove. According to Superintendent Jeff Athey, the biggest financial gain of moving all of the students and staff to one location is an estimated savings of $250,000 annually in operating costs. “That estimate is conservative,” he pointed out. See REFERENDUM, page 3
Canned goods, not candy, for Halloween Janeen Thomas and Hunter Smrcina, 4-year-old kindergarten students at B.A. Kennedy Elementary School, were pretty pleased to have picked up some canned goods downtown on Halloween, as part of the school’s annual costume parade and food drive. Each elementary class stopped at a designated business to take their collected non-perishable foods and personally deliver them to the Couleecap Food Pantry in Prairie du Chien. Dozens of merchants participated and Peoples State Bank generously donated one food item per student, or about 275 goods in total. This was a good lesson for the students in giving back to the community and helping those in need. (Photo by Correne Martin)
Numerous races at stake Nov. 8 Southwest Wisconsin, along with the rest of the nation, is prepared for the Nov. 8 presidential election. A rundown of the names voters in Crawford County can expect to see on Tuesday’s ballot follows: President/Vice Presi-
dent—The biggest race of this political season will come down to Republicans Donald Trump/Mike Pence and Democrats Hillary Clinton/ Tim Kaine for the nation’s top seat. On down the line, in terms of pre-election support percentage are Libertarian
candidate Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld, as well as Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka. According to the Crawford County Clerk’s office, there are three See NOV. 8, page 4
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