WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015
Serving Polk County’s St. t Croix C i Valley V ll since i 1897
VOL. 118 NO. 17 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE INSIDE
We are the champions! Osceola completes season with state championship BY RON JASPERSON SPORTS WRITER
After losing the first game of the 2015 season by a field goal, the Osceola Chieftain football team still had reason to be hopeful in achieving their ultimate goal. After all, the state championship team from 1984 did the same thing. In 1984 the Chieftains then went undefeated in conference play; so did this year’s Chieftains. In 1984 the closest game in their title hunt was the semi-final game of the playoffs where Osceola defeated Edgar 7-6. This year the closest the Chieftains came to losing in the playoffs was in the semi-finals when they held off Freedom 28-21 with the Irish 36 inches from the tying score. In 1984 Osceola was
paired up against Marshall for the state championship. Marshall is a town just a stone’s throw from Madison, 69 miles away. This year Osceola was paired up against Lodi, just 26 miles from Madison. Obviously the Chieftain opponents would have an easier time getting the fan base to the championship game. Osceola took care of business in 1984 with a dominating 42-6 win over Marshall. Spin the clock ahead 31 years. It happened again. Osceola left Madison with a convincing 28-0 win over Lodi and now can put the second State championship trophy in the Chieftain’s display case. “Words cannot describe the feeling I have personally for this team and coaching staff,” Chieftain head coach Scott Newton said. “I am proud in how we were able to maintain our composure and focus JO JASPERSON | THE SUN
SEE CHAMPIONS, PAGE 12
The Osceola High School Chieftains football team celebrates its state football win.
Rogue scholar Amid hubbub, Arnell’s save rates reach 76 percent BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Before her desire to brew ales for a living fully defined itself, Georgia Danielson had little to follow but her intuition. The Dresser native (Amery graduate) was told her interests didn’t exist in academia, that she should be a waitress or go to culinary school. She didn’t listen. Instead, after attending the University of Minnesota—Duluth for two years, she packed her bags and headed to Corvallis, where Oregon State University offered a bachelor’s degree in food science with a focus
on fermentation. Now a senior with her feet set firmly on the brewer’s path, she’s one of seven recipients of this year’s Jack Joyce Scholarship. Named for the founder of Oregon’s Rogue Ales, one of the nation’s most successful craft breweries, the scholarship supports students in OSU’s fermentation science program, a.k.a. future brewers. Danielson’s story hints at early success, but her journey hasn’t been easy. “I moved across the country for this degree,” SEE BREW, PAGE 24
Early deadline Due to the Thanksgiving holiday the deadline for submitting advertising or press releases for the Dec. 2 edition of The Sun will be Nov. 25 at noon. Our office will be closed Nov. 26 and 27.
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BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Though Arnell Memorial Humane Society has been criticized in recent years for its refusal to institute a “no kill” policy, recent data from the shelter shows a sharp decline in euthanasia rates. Through the third quarter of 2015, the shelter has euthanized 84 animals: 16 dogs and 68 cats. The total represents 24 percent of its intake (342 animals, plus 10 carried over from 2014), making the save rate 76 percent. In 2012, the save rate was roughly 55 percent. The shelter has kept 90 percent of incoming dogs from euthanasia this year, and 66 percent of incoming cats. “As years have gone by, our euthanization rates have continued to drop,” said the shelter’s director, Mary ADVERTISING 715-294-2314 sales@osceolasun.com
Bruckner. “We are using all the means available today that weren’t as readily available in 2012. There are more rescue groups and more people are interested in fostering. “Our goal is to have zero euthanasia, and we’re working toward that, within reality. We’re always trying to improve our shelters, whether that’s in euthanization rates, care of the animals or increasing reclaim rates. Our rate for returning stray dogs to owners this year is 61 percent – we’re great at that.” Tanya Borg – a former Arnell board member who has been leading the charge to make Arnell a no-kill shelter via her organization, the Shelter Community Action Team – seemed encouraged by the latest data, if skeptical. “If this is what’s occurring, then yes,
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that’s much better,” she said of the increased save rate. “Here’s the thing we have to be sure of – they’ve been telling people for some time
that they adopt out 100 percent of adoptable animals. But they call kittens with upper respiraSEE ARNELL, PAGE 19
THE SUN
Twenty-four percent of cats and dogs admitted to Arnell Memorial Humane Society this year have been euthanized. In the graph, “untreatable health” includes failure to thrive, injury, upper respiratory infections and other health conditions deemed untreatable by the shelter’s veterinarians. “Behavior” includes aggressive, unsocialized and feral animals.
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