WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 118 NO. 39 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
POLLINATOR GUIDE: Learn what’s new and how to help pollinators thrive. PAGES 13-16
Boundary committee faces quarry group’s critique BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Members of the Cooperative Boundary Agreement Committee opened their meeting to questions and critique last week at the request of the Blue Rock Quarry families. In March the group of three families, who have informally proposed annexing into Dresser and establishing a trap rock quarry, claimed the committee had a hidden agenda to lock their land out of Dresser through the budding boundary agreement. Representing the Blue Rock Quarry group on April 18, Michael Loescher asked committee members whether they’d established clear
TERESA HOLMDAHL FILE PHOTO | THE SUN
Bear sightings have been reported in Osceola, notably near the Braves ball field and Industrial Drive.
Bears spotted in Osceola SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Neil Gustafson, chair of the Cooperative Boundary Agreement Committee, explains a map showing proposed areas of growth for Dresser.
goals before beginning to draft the agreement, and wondered what could happen at the end of the 14-year agree-
ment if outcomes were not carefully planned. Planning is the point of the agreement, said committee chair Neil
Gustafson. “From the town’s standpoint, there’s no SEE DRESSER, PAGE 11
How to make a librarian smile BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
An Osceola resident’s trip to a little-known trove of free books means everyone who uses the village library will enjoy an expanded collection. And it all began with a lucky coincidence. Ed Vater, president of the local paddle-crafting company Bending Branches, was planning to take his uncle, a decorated Vietnam veteran, to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. His sister, a librarian in eastern Wisconsin, caught wind of the trip SEE LIBRARY, PAGE 10
SUZANNE LIDNGREN |THE SUN
Ed Vater, Kelly McBride and Anne Miller stand with boxes worth of books procured by Vater for the Osceola Public Library through the Library of Congress Surplus Books Program.
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
The Osceola Police Department has received several reports of bear sightings in Osceola. A sow and two cubs have been spotted near the Braves ball field and a male bear has been observed near Industrial Drive. But the bears haven’t been staying put long enough for police to confirm the sightings. “It’s intermittent,” said Police Chief Ron Pedrys. “They’re coming and going. By the time we get there they’ve moved on.” That was the case with a bear break-in reported on the 800 block of Cascade Street Sun., April 17. The resident called police at 9:25 p.m., but when officers arrived on the scene they didn’t see or hear a bear. After speaking to the homeowner, police checked the porch, where they saw that a screen had been torn and a rabbit hutch on the porch had been opened. The rabbit was gone. According to bear expert Linda Masterson, author of the “Living With Bears Handbook”
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(livingwithbears.com), problems with bold bears can often be traced back to bird feeders. Easy to access and filled with tasty, nutritious food, the contents of a bird feeder would take a hungry bear many hours of wild foraging to find. And once a bear gets comfortable around a home or neighborhood, it will likely begin to explore other opportunities for nourishment including garbage, pet food, fruit trees, gardens, chicken coops and, apparently, pet rabbits. Ultimately, the bears lose. Allowing bears to associate people with food eventually leads to thousands of bears being killed each year. Masterson advises bringing bird feeders in during spring and attracting birds with water sources, nesting boxes, nectar-providing flowers and sand or dust baths. Folks who just can’t quit should switch to hull-less seed and bring all feeders, including hummingbird feeders, inside every night. Avoid storing birdseed, pet food or anything with an odor or calories on or under your deck or porch.
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