WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 122 NO. 12 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: OHS volleyball wins conference title. PAGE 10
Igniting the conversation on housing affordability BY KELLY HOLM CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rebecca* had been living with her husband and children for over five years at the same Osceola residence when, earlier in 2019, she received a notice of termination of tenancy. Over the previous year, mold was a common problem for the household, and had even spread to the furnace. A repair tech advised that the furnace should be replaced, but that never happened. “Instead of running a furnace with mold, since we had already been facing multiple issues of cleaning it up, I was just going to run space heaters,” she said. The heaters were set up in the living room, where the family of six camped out through the winter. Rebecca believed that the eviction notice came partially as a result of a Child Protective Service (CPS) report after her son told his guidance counselor about the lack of heat. “I say that the termination was definitely a good thing,” Rebecca admitted. “It allowed the homeowner to go in there and get things done that you can’t do when you’ve got six people in there.” After vacating the premises, the family spent a few weeks camping on Rebecca’s grandmother’s lawn, but had to quickly seek other housing options due to legal restrictions on camping for long periods of time. They turned to Northwoods Shelters, and were placed in temporary housing in Luck. While there, they cannot have guests, drink alcohol or go out past 7:30 at night, although an exception to the curfew was made for Rebecca’s husband due to his work schedule. Rebecca’s children receive federally-mandated transportation from Luck to Osceola schools, and although she considered transferring them to the Luck school district, she wanted to give them
the stability she did not have in her youth, having to move around from place to place. With one child chronically ill, she fears what the colder weather may bring. “Prior to the furnace being moldy, I had been looking [for new housing], just because I was sick of cleaning up mold messes from walls,” Rebecca said. But, “the moment there is a three-bedroom [house] available
‘This summer we had one gentleman come in, and he let us know that he was without housing.’
How to save a life Local emergency teams train for worst case scenarios BY MATT ANDERSON EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Emergency responders are often called to car accidents that are so violent that the driver and passengers are unable to get out of the car. In this event, emergency responders have to use specialized equipment to cut their way into the car to rescue people stuck inside. Osceola Fire and Allied Emergency Services practiced that life-saving measure Oct. 14 during their training. “Twice a year we have extrication training where we actually bring in cars and we practice popping doors open, cutting out windshields and getting people out of their cars after an accident,” says Osceola Fire Chief Don Stark. “This was probably the best one we’ve done so far.” Partnering with Allied Emergency Services is what made this year’s exercise the best so far according to Stark. “We SEE SCENARIOS, PAGE 14
ROBYN FOSTER
Osceola Fire partnered with Allied Emergency Services for their extrication training October 14. The crew can be seen using powerful hydraulic tools to pry open a car and remove the ‘driver’ sitting in the front seat after a hypothetical accident.
Lisa Jensen Express Employment Professionals anywhere, there are like 10 people [wanting it].” Marc Gilker of St. Croix Falls can confirm the competition. He and his wife once planned to sell their house and move to Osceola. After checking out a rental home that he had found through a Facebook group, Gilker said the landlord offered him tenancy on the spot. “I said, ‘I need to talk to my wife’,” Gilker said. “Then literally [the landlord] called me the next day and said, we offered it to somebody else.” After this loss, Gilker’s family decided against selling their house after all. Lisa Jensen, the front office and payroll coordinator for Express Employment Professionals, has heard numerous stories of homelessness and housing insecurity from job-seekers. “This summer we had one gentleman come in, and he let us know that he was without housing,” Jensen said. “He had just lost his job at a company in Dresser.” To assist the man, JenSEE HOUSING, PAGE 14
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MATT ANDERSON | THE SUN
Public works coordinator Todd Waters reported seeing people using the new solar powered charging bench only hours after installation at Mill Pond Park. Pictured is Oscar Rauch-Borgerding.
Sit down and charge up New solar power charging bench at Mill Pond Park BY MATT ANDERSON EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Osceola residents, visitors and joggers alike will be able to charge their dwindling phone ADVERTISING 715-294-2314 ads@osceolasun.com
batteries via a solar powered charging bench installed at Mill Pond Park in September. Xcel Energy, Village of Osceola public works and the Osceola Chamber worked together to bring this new addition to the park. “Upon installing it, I think it was probably two hours later
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that we were already seeing it being utilized,” said public works coordinator Todd Waters at the monthly board meeting Oct. 8. “I think it’s going to be a great addition to Mill Pond Park.” The bench itself is a product of SEE BENCH, PAGE 14
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