WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2015
Serving Polk County’s St. t Croix C i Valley V ll since i 1897
VOL. 127 NO. 43
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SPORTS: Osceola girls track wins conference title. P. 10
Summer reading begins with Rhubarb Days BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
The start of summer signals a break from school for kids. But when many teachers, librarians and parents hear the words “summer vacation,” they think “summer slide” — as in a backslide of learning that can put kids behind when school restarts in fall. That’s one reason the Osceola Public Library organizes its summer reading program, says Library Director Kelly McBride. The reading program will kick off this year with a superhero training camp at Rhubarb Days. The “camp” is part of a shift in the festival’s focus, which has renewed its attention on the library. Though other events will comingle with the library’s efforts, Saturday’s emphasis will be on signing kids up for the reading program and raising funds for the library through the Friends of the
Library’s book sale at RCU. “This year we really wanted to focus Saturday on the super hero training camp,” said McBride. “We moved the craft fair to Sunday so it’s really kids and families on Saturday.” The reading program, a collaboration between Osceola’s library and other local libraries, aims to encourage positive relationships with reading and maintain skills over summer break. This year, area libraries will host weekly programs around the theme “Every Hero has a Story,” which will look at heroes throughout history. McBride thinks the sharpened focus will benefit the festival. “I think it’s going to be the best Rhubarb Days so far,” said McBride. “We’re more focused and have more activities to offer for kids and their families.”
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
St. Croix Falls graduation Jake Jacobson, Niko Neuman, Truman Ader and Hassan Telbi pose for a selfie before walking down the aisle at St. Croix Falls’ High School graduation ceremony May 22.
SEE RHUBARB, PAGE 24
Polk County nods to motorized events on Gandy this summer BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Though it didn’t act with ruling authority, the Polk County Board of Supervisors gave a nod of approval for the Model T car tour and veterans’ all-terrain vehicle ride to use the Gandy Dancer Trail in 2015. No amendment has been proposed tp allow motorized vehicles for special events on the trail in summer months, but a consensus was reached among board members May 19 to allow the classic car and ATV organizers to plan their events as usual this year, since any revisions to the master plan will likely take months. The call was made in part to be consistent with Barron County, which voted not to allow motors on the trail in summer after 2015. “Up in Barron County last month … they voted to allow two permitted events, the Model T tour and the veterans’
All hands on deck SCRA’s plan to manage invasives relies on public involvement BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Supervisor James Edgell (foreground) expressed worry that the veterans ATV ride and Model T car tour might not happen this year due to ongoing bureaucratic processes. Supervisor Kim O’Connell (right) voiced concern that allowing the events this year would deviate from the established amendment process.
ride, to continue through 2015,” said Board Chair William Johnson. “We know the CDRE [Conservation, Development, Recreation and Education] Committee will be dealing with what NEWS 715-294-2314 editor@osceolasun.com
to do with our master plan at subsequent meetings. … There’s a planning process for both events and [Polk’s indecision] kind of leaves SEE COUNTY, PAGE 6
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Asian carp, zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil are a few species the St. Croix River Association [SCRA] hopes to quash, or at least prevent further spread of, with a newly drafted plan to manage aquatic invasive species [AIS]. The organization released a rough draft of the strategic plan, which addresses the St. Croix River’s entire watershed, earlier this month. After holding a series of public meetings this summer, the river association’s invasive species coordinator, Angelique Edgerton, plans to send a final draft to Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service between January and June, 2016. “It’s still very much a plan in progress,” said Edgerton, SUBSCRIPTIONS 715-294-2314 office@osceolasun.com
“but now [we have] a complete draft.” Edgerton hopes to have a copy of the plan on the SCRA’s website soon, possibly as early as this week. The plan outlines four key strategies, each backed by goals and specific actions to meet them. Three strategies focus on prevention, control, research and monitoring. Many elements of the plan rely on participation from those living or recreating in the watershed, such as expanding volunteer citizen monitoring efforts. “The watershed doesn’t just refer to the geography, it’s the people,” said Edgerton. That fact is evident in a fourth strategy, which centers on application of the plan and might prove to be the most difficult. Educating people is not enough to change behavior, said Edgerton. A review of people’s preventative practices — or lack thereof — showed that charts, graphs, signs and SEE INVASIVE, PAGE 22
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