WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 118 NO. 31 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Wrestlers end season at state tournament. PAGE 12/13
Dresser woman charged with bank fraud
Osceola grad researches treatment for food poisoning
BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
Official charges were filed Feb. 24 against a Dresser woman. Tiffany D. Madsen, 27 of Dresser, allegedly cashed a fraudulent money order at Osceola’s Hiawatha National Bank in November, and admitted to attempting a similar deposit at least once before, without success. According to the criminal complaint, Madsen deposited a $1,000 Postal Money Order at the bank on Nov. 9, 2015. According to bank staff, although a hold SEE FRAUD, PAGE 21
Sun columnist appointed to UW Board of Regents BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
As she begins to wrap up her degree at the University of Wisconsin– R River Falls, L Lisa Ericks son, Osceola, w will join the U UW System B Board of Reg gents to help c create the Erickson policies that
govern the university’s network of schools. Erickson, founder of the gourmet catering company Wild Chow Catering, television cooking host, food blogger and author of the Sun’s Wild Chow food column, was appointed by Governor Scott Walker in February to serve a two-year SEE ERICKSON, PAGE 10
BY LAURA JANISCH SPECIAL TO THE SUN
A group of University of Wisconsin-Platteville students are collaborating on a research project that examines Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), a toxin responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning in humans. Erin Geddes, senior chemistry criminalistics major from Osceola, will present the research on Wed., April 13, at the Posters in the Rotunda event at the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. “SEB causes cells to spontaneously undergo cell death, or apoptosis,” said Geddes. “The purpose of our research is to understand the pathways this toxin may take to reach apoptosis and to see if an inhibitor successfully reduces apoptosis.” An infection from the toxin, in low doses, results in common food poisoning symptoms such as nausea and fever. In high doses,
COURTESY UW–PLATTEVILLE
Erin Geddes, an Osceola graduate studying chemistry criminalistics at UW—Platteville, examines the way DNA in blood cells interacts with a toxin that causes food poisoning.
however, the infection can have more serious effects. “It can cause toxic shock within the body or even death,” said Geddes. “If we can find an inhibitor to stop it from killing the cells within the body, we can stop the discomfort of
food poisoning.” The toxin is resistant to antibiotics, so the students are looking at a C-Jun N-Terminal Kinase-specific inhibitor to stop cell death from occurring. To do this, the students used a reverse transcription poly-
merase chain reaction to convert RNA into cDNA, which is a copy of the DNA. Then, they used a polymerase chain reaction – a technology used to amplify a single copy of cDNA – to make it easier to look SEE GEDDES, PAGE 21
OHS Future Business Leaders take first again For the second year in a row, Osceola High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members brought home first place Outstanding Chapter. Fifty-two students competed at the Regional Leadership Conference held at Chequamegon High School on Feb. 6. The Osceola FBLA chapter traveled to the competition with the Somerset FBLA members and enjoyed getting to know those members better, which enriched the experience for everyone. The National FBLA theme this year is “CONNECT” and the local addition to that theme has been “Connect 4 Success.” The Osceola FBLA members did just that, competing against more than 800 students in over 20 schools across Northwestern Wisconsin and coming home with gold. At the conference, members
attended an opening session with keynote speaker, Roberta “Bobbi” Damrow, BSBA, MA, about living true to their authentic selves, competed in their chosen events and attended workshops. FBLA has more than 60 competitive events from written tests on networking concepts, financial math, marketing, economics, computer problem solving, healthcare administration and business law to competitive presentations in public service announcements, job interviews, public speaking and business ethics or students can showcase their computer skills in word processing, database, and desktop publishing competitions. Students who place in the top three in their events earn a place at the State Leadership Conferencewhich will be in LaCrosse, April 11 and 12.
NEWS 715-294-2314 editor@osceolasun.com
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Students who participated in the Regional Competition (*state qualifier): Gavin Anderson*, Spencer Anderson*, Burcu Balakar*, Brooke Bents, Jason Bents, Samantha Bents*, Olivia Bull, Payton Busick, Mia Campeau, Cory Coone*, Jessica Cormican, Reagan Ekstrom, Joshua Elmer*, Jack Feldt, Parker Gangestad, Carissa Holdt, Katherine Jennings, Mattea Johnson, Melanie King*, Molly Korzenowski*, Jack Lalim*, Frankie Larson*, Caitlin Mallin, Addy Methvin, Courtney Miller*, Rachel Nelson*, Brittany Newman*, Kaija Newman*, Mattie Newman, Christina Nygren*, Isabella Osterbauer, Lindsey Pennel, Patrick Pfannes*, Becky Ringlien*, Ellie Ringlien*, Ryan Rogers, Casey Sajna*, Matt Schultz*, Emily Shakal*, Maren Sjolander*, Macie Steffen, Emma Stocker*, Devon Sundt, Josi Sundt, Anna Swanson, Joe Swanson, Sam Tomlinson, Angelique Tretzven, Shane Vazquez*, Linnaea Wallis*, Breanna Wallner*, and Jada Wyman.
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