WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018
Serving Polk County’s St. t Croix C i Valley V ll since i 1897
VOL. 120 NO. 23 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Osceola girls basketball wins Glenwood City Tournament. PAGE 8
St. Croix Falls fire claims life
The Sun 2017 Year in Review BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
A month-by-month review of the Sun’s top stories of 2017, determined by page views online.
January Following vote, Osceola passes ‘We the People’ The Village of Osceola formally moved to “reclaim democracy from the expansion of corporate personhood rights and the corrupting influence of unregulated political contributions and spending,” requesting that state and federal representatives enact legislation toward campaign finance reform. Also in January • Accused of attempted murder, Paul Krueger’s bail was withdrawn and he was taken back in custody • St. Croix Valley business woman said she hoped her pink, knitted cat hats — part of a nationwide “pussyhat” effort — would unite voices at the Women’s March.
February Super Bowl Sunday marked by two serious crashes Two serious collisions
occurred within hours of one another Feb. 5. The first crash was on the Minnesota side of the Highway 243 bridge. The second was on Highway 35, south of downtown Dresser. People in both crashes were injured. The Sun did not receive updates on anyone’s condition. Also in February • Two female inmates who were sexually assaulted at the Polk County jail were awarded a combined $11.5 million in a civil suit against former Polk County jailer Darryl Christensen. A year earlier, Christensen was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting five women in the jail. • The Osceola High School held its variety show as a benefit for Wyatt Olson, a high school student fighting cancer.
March Osceola School Board identifies cuts The Osceola School Board approved $851,000 in potential cuts to the district’s 2017-18 budget, but warned the schools would eventually become ‘unrecognizable’ without
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
After responding to a fire in St. Croix Falls early Friday morning, Dec. 29, first responders found the remains of an adult, according to a release from the St. Croix Falls police department. Fire and police were dispatched at 5:30 a.m. to a structure fire at 906 North Washington Street, and saw flames coming from the residence upon arrival. As of press time the remains had not been identified. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
SUZANNE LINDGREN |THE SUN
The Highway 243 bridge in Osceola was closed for nearly a month while repairs were made to the deck.
an increase in taxpayer funding. Also in March • Police search for missing St. Croix Falls girls • Voter’s guide to the Spring Election
April Osceola school referendum fails In a 52 to 48 percent split, voters denied the Osceola School District’s request for progressive levy increases of $950,000 for the next four years, building up to an eventual $3.8 million
annual increase. By municipality, voters in the village and town of Osceola approved the levy increase by slim margins, but voters in Alden, Farmington and Garfield tipped the scales against the measure. Also in April • Dresser railroad arm struck in one-vehicle crash • Osceola announced it would buy the former Fullerton Lumber property to use as a new fire hall SEE REVIEW, PAGE 16
Osceola drone racer competes in national competition BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
It feels a little like flying. But instead of wings, Osceola resident Steve Nelson wears a head-mounted display showing a live feed from a tiny camera attached to a drone. It gives him a first-person view into what the drone “sees” as he navigates through the air with a hand-held radio transmitter. “When I’m racing it’s like I’m on the quadcopter,” Nelson said. “It’s quite addicting.” Last summer, he was one of 150 Americans to compete in the MultiGP national championship competition in Reno, Nevada. On the racecourse, competitors fly their drones through “gates” that mark the three-dimensional racetrack. Races typically last two minutes, during which competitors do as many laps
as they can. In Reno, Nelson finished a little behind the middle of the pack but, having competed in only a handful of first-person view (FPV) drone races leading up to the championship, he surprised himself by getting that far. “I did better than I expected to (in the qualifying competition),” he said. “It’s a fair amount of skill but it takes a lot of luck. There were a lot of really good pilots who didn’t qualify because they were in a competitive region, or they crashed.” He credits practice time — lots of it — for some of his success. But skill in flying is only part of the equation. Building the drone is another. “For me part of the fun of it is coming up with a build that can be competitive,” Nelson said. “I’m an engiSEE DRONE, PAGE 13
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Brrrr. That was cold. BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Ten degrees Fahrenheit might feel almost warm after a week in which high temperatures barely crept above zero. Although it was cold last week, the low temperatures did not break records in this region, said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff.
‘We are in a La Niña weather pattern, which means there’s a better chance for below normal temperatures.’ Bill Borghoff Meterologist National Weather Service
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Steve Nelson with a first person view drone he built himself.
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“We get a shot of cold air toward the end of December seemingly every year,” he said. “Maybe not quite this cold, but negative 10 to negative 20. … It’s not record breaking — just the one we get a couple times of year.” Still. Since 2002, there have been only four years with overnight temperatures below zero between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. By contrast, this year overnight temperatures dipped below zero all week and daytime temps stayed in the single
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SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
The bitter weather may hve moved on, but it could be a sign of a colder than average season ahead.
digits. According to Borghoff, the typical high for this time of year is 24 degrees and the low, about 8. Even if the cold wasn’t record breaking, Borghoff described it as hazardous in some places, with wind chills of -30 to -40. But after a weekend with forecasted highs of 5 below zero, the temperature was expected to warm to about zero on Monday and hit double digits (just barely) on Tuesday and Wednesday. The bitter weather may have moved on, but it could be a sign of a colder than average season ahead. “(This cold snap) doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” said Borghoff. “But we are in a La Niña weather pattern, which means there’s a better chance for below normal temperatures than above normal temperatures. To the degree of how cold, it’s anybody’s guess at this point.”
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