WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 118 NO. 32 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Osceola boys basketball season ends. PAGE 10
‘Church of Felons’ Filmmaker tackles addiction in Polk County BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Polk
County has a problem, ssays Osceola f i l m maker J Jordan Mede erich. In fact, he ssays, “Wisc consin as a Mederich w whole has a big problem. But a lot of people aren’t aware of it because they’re participants.” The problem? Addiction. Mederich starts by citing Wisconsinites’ penchant for alcohol.
According to the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS), when it comes to adult binge drinking, Wisconsin consistently ranks highest or second highest in the nation. And while the rate of alcohol abuse and dependence fell from 10 percent in 2007 to 7 percent in 2012, according to the DHS, the state still outpaces national averages. But alcohol is only part of the problem, says Mederich. Especially in Polk County, where the meth problem is unprecedented. “It’s evolved from people manufacturing it here,” he says. “Now they’re distributing small amounts – bringing it over from the Twin Cities – and drug enforcement is having
COURTESY JORDAN MEDERICH
Snowmobiling on Wisconsin’s “bar-hop” snowmobile trails at over 105 miles per hour led to a crash that took both of Bill Chantelois’ legs, an eye, and caused internal damage and 45 days in a coma. Now living with a daily reminder of what his addiction cost him, Chantelois hopes to convince others not to make the same mistakes.
Latest plan would keep motors off Gandy BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
COURTESY JORDAN MEDERICH
Osceola filmmaker Jordan Mederich plans to release “Church Of Felons,” a documentary about local crime and addiction, later this year.
a hard time catching people. … As the cops get smarter, the addicts get smarter.” It’s one nugget of wisdom Mederich has picked up in the making of his documentary film, “Church of Felons,” which follows four men convicted of crimes from drug distribution to vehicular homicide. “We have four stories,” says Mederich, “but that’s four of many. Everyone (in Polk County) either has a problem or knows someone with a problem.” Whether the film’s subjects hurt themselves or others, at the root of each story is an addiction – and the desire to overcome it. “Each of them is wildly different in what they were addicted to and what they did – alcoholism, drug use, violence,” he says.
No motorized vehicles would be allowed on Polk County’s slice of the Gandy Dancer Trail in summer – even by special permit – if the full county board approves the latest version of the trail’s master plan later this month. Amendments that would have allowed two motorized events on the trail each summer and two non-motorized events each winter were removed by the Conservation, Development, Recreation and Education (CDRE) Committee after a nearly two-hour long public hearing March 2. The new draft will go before full board for discussion and possible approval March 15. At the hearing, the question of whether to
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Amy Middleton, who sits on the Town of Osceola’s planning commission, said the town has a directive from its constituents to create more non-motorized trails, and that allowing motors on the Gandy Dancer Trail in summer would represent a move in the wrong direction.
allow motors on the trail proved complex and conSEE GANDY, PAGE 5
“But we try to show that anyone can turn their life around.” The Church of Felons is a real place: the Osceola Community Church. “Out of no design the church became a safe haven for people looking for a second chance,” says Mederich, a congregant at the church. “We’re saying, ‘If you’ll try to take a second chance, we’ll take a second chance on you.’ “It’s not always pretty,” he continues. “Family members are substantially impacted, sometimes more than the person themself. The financial burden is extraordinary.” And inevitably, some damages prove irreversible. “These choices will impact them for the rest of their lives,”
Two women, two minivans, ten boxes and 168 shakes: It all adds up to one imaginative way to say “thanks.” They called it Operation Shamrock, and last Wednesday the secret mission found Angeline Semmens and Leanne Waterworth each loading five large LEANNE WATERWORTH boxes into their respective mini- Leanne Waterworth and Angie Semmens with their own shakes. vans. Inside those boxes: dozens of Shamrock Shakes, gifts for classmates of Semmens’ sons who had offered support for the fami-
SEE MOVIE, PAGE 2
SEE SHAMROCK, PAGE 6
Operation Shamrock BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
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