Briefly BURNETT/POLK COUNTIES - It was a chilly fishing opener in northern Wisconsin and Gov. Jim Doyle had little luck at the Governor’s Fishing Opener on Lake Wapogasset near Amery. According to legendary sportswriter Ron Schara it was nearly ice fishing on Yellow Lake in Burnett County, with the water temp at 44 degrees, “with anglers who were bold or possibly foolish enough to show up in snowmobile suits to cast into a raw northwest wind.” This was Polk County’s third time to host the Governor’s Fishing Opener in its 43-year history. Burnett has hosted just one - in 1984 - on Yellow Lake. ••• FREDERIC - The Frederic Ameican Legion, Paul G. Johnson Post #249 has a roomful of medical equipment for loan including crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, even a hospital bed. The Legion post is also serving its Sunday morning pancake breakfasts at it’s headquarters on Lake Avenue, across from Coon Lake Park. ••• ST. CROIX FALLS - Shari Steele of St. Croix Falls will join thousands of other men and women at the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-day benefitting Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust. After months of training and fundraising, participants will walk 60 miles during three days to raise awareness and funds for critical research and community outreach programs. “I am walking in honor of my great-aunt Marjorie who was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 1990 and lost the battle in 1992,” noted Steele. Steele will be walking with four other women from the St. Croix Falls area: Shannon Bryce, Angie Gores, Cindy Lamirande and Gwen Gierke. To help Steele and Team Wildflowers reach their goal make a donation directly to her online or join her team at http://08.the3day.org/goto/sharisteele. with submitted information ••• POLK COUNTY - Bloodmobile dates have been released by the St. Croix Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross: May 17 at Milltown Lutheran Church; May 19 at Grantsburg Community Center and Hope Evangelical Free Church in Osceola; May 20 at siren Covenant Church; May 28 at Fristad Lutheran Church in Centuria; May 29 and 30 at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Frederic and June 4 at the Ameircan Legion Post #143, St. Croix Falls. More information will be published in upcoming Leaders. - with information from Red Cross ••• FREDERIC – The annual Fine Arts Festival, showcasing artistic and musical talents of Frederic students in grades nine to 12, will be held this Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the high school performance center. The concert choir, concert band, high school bell groups and show choir will be performing. The senior state solo and ensemble participants will give a minirecital 30 minutes prior to the concert. There will also be awards presentations. Next Monday, May 12, at 7 p.m. in the performance center, the annual seven to eight spring concert will be held. Performing will be the concert choir, concert band and middle school bell group. There is no admission charge to either event and they are open to the general public. - submitted ••• WEBSTER – Each spring the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Burnett County invites all known cancer survivors and their caregivers for a dinner and program to celebrate their lives. They are pleased to be offering this dinner again at no charge on Thursday, May 15, at Grace United Methodist Chuch in Webster at 5:30 p.m. You and your caregiver are invited to share friendship, food and fun. Seating is limited. Please make reservations by calling Karen at 715-463-5725 or Gary at 715259-7112. Relay For Life will take place on June 13 at the Webster High School track. Come early for cookies and coffee, the celebration begins at 6 p.m. - submitted
MAY 7, 2008 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NEWS SECTION - A - PAGE 3
No GAM decision until July Case at Court of Appeals by Gregg Westigard POLK COUNTY – July is the earliest that a decision on the sale of Golden Age Manor, the Polk County-owned nursing home in Amery, will be announced. A court decision on March 26 allowing the sale of the home was appealed. The issue is now in the hands of the state court of appeals, District 3, based in Wausau. Appeals follow a strict guideline, according to calls to the court offices in Wausau and Madison. The appellants (the side that feels GAM should not be sold) have until May 28 to file written briefs with the court stating their reasons why the decision should be reversed. The respondents (the Polk County side) then have 20 calendar days to file a written response. After that, the appellants have 10 days to reply in writing. This process will take
the appeal into early July. The three judges on the court of appeals will study the case for the first time once all the briefs are filled. They will each read the information before they gather in chambers to discuss the case. That process is not open to the public. They have the option of hearing oral argument, but we are told that is rarely done. The appeals court judges will issue a written decision upholding or reversing the March 26 decision after their review. The appeal was put on an accelerated schedule, but that means that it goes on the “top of the pile” once the briefs are filed, according to a judicial assistant in Wausau. Given all this, it may be sometime in mid-July before the next step in the fate of GAM is known. Background The Polk County Board, on Jan. 22, voted to sell Golden Age Manor. The vote was 12 to 11. A motion to appeal that board action was filed with the
Polk County Circuit Court the next day. The appeal was filed by GAM governing board member Eugene Sollman, GAM employee Marion Posey and GAM resident Anne Nykreim. The issue came to trial before Circuit Judge Eugene Harrington on March 26, five days before the home was to transfer to the new owner. Harrington ruled that the county action was correct and the sale could proceed. He then issued a hold on his decision pending an appeal. Golden Age Manor was still in the county’s hands on April 1. On that day, the first action on the appeal was filed with the court of appeals. Documents were filed over the next few weeks. The appeal was put on record April 28 and the time table leading to May 28 and beyond started. The county has said that the buyer is still interested in completing the sale.
Thirty-year sentence in stabbing death Clint Mosay sentenced to 15 years prison followed by 15 years of extended supervision for 2005 stabbing death of Ranell Johnson by Sherill Summer SIREN – Clint Mosay, 22, Hertel, will serve a 15-year prison sentence followed by 15 years of extended supervision starting Tuesday, May 6, after a Judge Eugene Harrington sentence at the Burnett County Courthouse. Mosay plead guilty to first-degree reckless homicide, a felony B charge, stemming from the July 17, 2005, stabbing death of Ranell Johnson, who was 41 at the time of her death. On the night of her death, Johnson was driving a van with two passengers in Roosevelt Township. Mosay and Mosay’s mother, Renee Mosay, were passengers in the van. Clint Mosay, who had a history of methamphetamine use and was described as being in the midst of a psychotic episode the night of the stabbing, was paranoid that someone was going to hurt him. He asked Johnson and his mother to stop the van, and when they refused, he stabbed both women. Mosay’s mother was stabbed in the neck, but eventually made full recovery. Johnson, however, bled to death at the scene of the stabbing from eight stab wounds. After the stabbing, Clint Mosay drove off in the van. The van was later recovered near Hayward, and Mosay was apprehended by Hayward police near the recovered van about eight hours after the stabbing incident.
Clint Mosay of Hertel entered the courtroom Tuesday at the Burnett County Government Center to hear the sentence handed down by Judge Eugene Harrington in the stabbing death of Ranelle Johnson. - Photo by Sherill Summer The court took nearly three years to work through this case in part because Mosay plead not guilty due to mental defect. The court then had to rule if Mosay did in fact commit the homicide and rule on if a mental defect relieved Mosay of responsibility of the act. Mosay plead guilty to the act after the court ruled that he was competent
Frederic pool inspection set Could affect repairs, summer use by Gregg Westigard FREDERIC – A state inspector will look at the Frederic swimming pool Friday, May 23, and make recommendations on what repairs need to be done before the pool opens this summer. Brian Hobbs, Polk County Environmental Health inspector, requested the help of a state person with pool expertise after Hobbs was asked to look at the pool by the
Frederic School District. The inspection comes after Tim Gremmer, an engineer hired by the Safe the Pool group, recommended six repairs that should be implemented before the pool opens for the summer. Those repairs include electrical issues, drain issues, and a change in the gas used to sanitize the pool. The school board has started to look at what needs to be done and the costs for the repairs. The school board holds its regular monthly meeting Monday, May 19, before the inspection and may look at preliminary options.
to stand trial, and in January of this year, Harrington ruled that Moasy voluntarily used marijuana that caused the paranoia that then lead to the stabbing incident. Since voluntary drug use does not qualify for mental defect, Mosay was not able to use the mental defect plea. During the sentencing hearing, Harrington described the many failures leading up to this incident. The judge said that Mosay, himself, failed to take personal responsibility for actions leading up to the stabbing incident. Mosay’s mother and family failed Mosay when he was young so that Mosay grew up with drug and alcohol abuse being the norm. The community failed because it needed to be more attentive to the needs of young Mosay. Harrington went further to say that the justice system had also failed since it is now apparent that Moasy has suffered from mental illness for a long time, and despite extensive contacts with the court system, no judge’s ruling has resulted in psychiatric treatment. Mosay has been in custody since the arrest following the stabbing, and his behavior has improved in the last year. Harrington commended Moasy for this cooperative behavior and encouraged Mosay to continue with it. Besides the 15-year prison sentence and the 15-year extended supervision, Mosay is ordered to psychiatric treatment either in prison or in extended supervision. He must maintain absolute sobriety and follow mental heath treatment recommendations. He is to submit a DNA sample, to pay $786.92 in restitution and $113.00 in court costs. It is possible that he will be ordered to contribute to the victim’s daughter’s college education. Hearings on that matter will be upcoming.
Correction Incorrect information was used in one of the Encore cutlines in the April 30 issue of the Leader. McKenzie Swenson, a sophomore at Siren High School, used her free-hand skill as an artist to paint a portrait of her neighbor, Joe Hunter, for use as part of the library wall backdrop in the school musical “The Music Man.” The cutline used the word “photo” rather than painting, an inaccurate choice of words, and incorrectly stated that the musical was “West Side Story.”
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