Portage County capsules BLOOD DONORS REACH NEW LEVELS: During recent American Red Cross Blood drives at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Plover and Trinity Lutheran Church, several persons reached new donor levels. Oscar Hopp led the way, reaching 20 gallons. Deborah Pierce-Johnson reached 13 gallons, and Gail Tubbs and Carol J. Walther reached eight gallons. Anita Polzin, Jerry Lineberger, Albert Gostomski and William Sankey achieved five gallons; and Kathy Schilling and Betty Przekurat got to four gallons. Reaching three gallons was Marjorie Jakusz. At two gallons are Greg Disher, Margaret Camlek, Nancy Peissig, Trisha McCaffery and Marilyn Knitter. Christopher Hergestad, Karen Poffinbarger and Aaron O'Keefe reached one gallon. An individual may donate blood every 56 days. The next scheduled blood drive in Portage County is March 15 and 16 at St. Paul's United Methodist Church. * * * PLOVER TOWN BOARD MEETS ABOUT POWER PLANT: The Plover Town Board and the town Zoning Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at the Town Hall to discuss a future site plan with representatives from Southern Energy Inc. * * * COUNTY BOARD MEETS ABOUT POWER PLANT: The Portage County Board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, in conference rooms 1 and 2 of the Courthouse Annex, 1462 Strongs Ave., to act on a zoning request by Worzella and Sons Inc. to change a 54-acre parcel from A1 Exclusive Agricultural District and A4, General Agricultural District to Industrial District. This is the site for the planned Southern Energy Inc. merchant power plant. Southern Energy also needs the approval of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to build the facility. * * * AMHERST RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION: The Village of Amherst Water Department and Dave Dombrowski, its administrator, have received national recognition from the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) for their usage of the "Quality on Tap" logo. Dombrowski was honored for using the logo on fire hydrants in the village. NRWA gives the award out quarterly to the water system that publicizes the logo in a unique way. A photo of the fire hydrant will be published in the next National Rural Water Magazine. "The Wisconsin Rural Water Association (WRWA) is proud that Dave and the village of Amherst has brought national recognition to our state," said Ken M. Blomberg, WRWA executive director. "They are Wisconsin's first public water system to win this prestigious award." * * * HUNTER, ZACHARY, EMILY TOP BABY NAMES: Hunter and Zachary tied for the most popular baby boy names and Emily led the girls' list for babies born at St. Michael's Hospital in 2000. In 2000, 751 babies were delivered at the hospital, 383 boys and 368 girls. Hunter and Zachary tied as the most popular baby boy names (9) with Matthew (8) and Andrew (7) and Nicholas (7) close behind. Closing out the most popular boys name list with a five-way tie for sixth place names was Benjamin (6), Dylan (6), Jacob (6), Samuel (6) and Steven (6.) Steven had three different spellings (Stefan, Stephen and Steven. Emily was by far the most popular girl's name with 13 of the newborns taking this name. Second went to Kaitlyn (10) spelled three different ways (Caitlin, Caitlyn and Kaitlyn.) In third place was Hailey (9) and in a four-way tie for the fourth most popular name were Rachel (6), Ashley (6), Elizabeth (6) and Taylor (6.) Elizabeth was spelled two different ways (Elisabeth and Elizabeth.) And in eighth place, another four-way tie between Autumn (5), Brianna (5), Morgan (5) and Olivia (5.) * * * ACADEMIC NAME CHANGES: Reflecting changes in course offerings, two academic departments in the Stevens Point Area School District will be changing their names in the 20001-2002 school year. Home Economics will be changed to Family and Consumer Education, and Foreign Language will change to Department of World Languages. The changes were approved by the School Board at its Dec. 11 meeting. * * * SOLID WASTE MEETING: The League of Women Voters will have a meeting on solid waste management at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the Pinery Room of the Charles M. White Library. Portage County Solid Waste Administrator Gene Edwards will be the guest speaker. * * * HOSPITAL OPENS NEW PRIVATE SHORT-STAY UNIT: St. Michael's Hospital opened a ten-bed short-stay unit on the hospital's fourth floor this month. Open every Monday through Friday, all 10 rooms in the unit are private, enabling the hospital to provide private rooms for all patients nearly 100 percent of the time. According to Shari Mau, R.N., clinical coordinator for the new unit, roughly nine of 10 patients on the short-stay unit are surgical patients. Patients most commonly classified as short-stay include those who have shorter recovery periods from procedures such as cholecystectomies, appendectomies, mastectomy/lumpectomies, torn ACLs, rotator cuff repairs, tonsilectomies and kidney stones, among others. * * * DOWNHILL HOURS ADDED: The Standing Rocks County Park downhill ski area will be open for skiing on Monday, Jan. 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in addition to normal weekend hours. For more information, contact the Portage County Parks Department at 346-1433 or Standing Rocks Park at 824-3949. * * * SPASH FOOD LAB WILL GET RENOVATION: The Stevens Point Area Public School District board approved a $130,000 renovation to the Stevens Point Area Senior High School food lab when they met Monday, Jan. 8. Most of the funding will come from an unexpected $93,000 refund from the district's workman's compensation insurance. According to Superintendent Emery Babcock the renovation is necessary because the current lab lacks the equipment to sustain the classes the school offers. He said students currently taking cooking classes are unable to do any cooking themselves and are only able to watch demonstrations. The food lab is also used for the school's food biology program, which helps students learn biology through food. * * * SCHOOL BOARD WANTS EAST AVENUE AS PEDESTRIAN MALL: The Stevens Point School Board approved a request to the city to convert East Avenue in front of Jefferson School into a pedestrian mall Monday. Treasurer Mike O'Meara said that the mall would provide green space for the children. Because the board is not requesting a vacation of the property, the city would retain ownership and there would still be access to the sidewalk for pedestrians. A change to a pedestrian mall would also not require the city to inform residents who live on East of the possible change. However, O'Meara said there would likely be a public hearing about the request, as the board wants to be open about the procedure. * * * DISABILITIES IN MOTION SCHEDULED: "Disabilities in Motion" will be held at CenterPoint MarketPlace on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13 and 14. Local services and products for the disabled will be featured, including a modified van by Advantage Vans. Booths will be staffed with representatives of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill and the National Alliance of the Disabled and demonstrations will be provided by a variety of disabled crafters. For additional information on the National Alliance of the Disabled (NAOTD), contact Dean Choate, NAOTD Midwest director and advocacy trainer, at 888-365-0000, ext 76709. * * * KING DAY SERVICE: A community event in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at CenterPoint MarketPlace. The King family has asked that the holiday be celebrated in service to community, and several community volunteer activities will take place in the morning. Displays, videos and a food drive for area food pantries will be held in the MarketPlace from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Central Wisconsin Children's Museum will be open, with free admission, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering music and activities on friendship, freedom and fairness. Entertainment will be provided in the Center Court area by a drum group playing African music at noon and 1:30 p.m. Volunteers will participate in a pizza lunch and reflection session. The activities, including the volunteer service projects, are sponsored by Portage County Head Start, the Portage County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, the United Way Volunteer Center and the UW-SP Multicultural Affairs Department. * * * TRANSPORTATION AIDS: Portage County and its municipalities received their share of general transportation aids and connecting highway aids from the state recently. The city of Stevens Point was the only one to receive connecting highway payments, in the amount of $51,332.22. In general transportation aids, the county received $473,971.67; the city $272,020.12; and the villages of Plover $68,802.20; Whiting $11,193.59; Junction City, $4,394.90; Amherst, $4,292.33; Almond, $3,392.27; Rosholt, $3,391.96; Park Ridge, $1,938.30; Amherst Junction, $1,401.08; and Nelsonville, $570.84. General transportation aids to towns were Grant, $46,295.95; Plover, $35,191.66; Hull, $33,628.44; Stockton, $32,559.18; Sharon, $28,708.14; Buena Vista, $27,442.92; Pine Grove, $26,810.27; Carson, $26,429.04; Dewey, $22,215.90; Amherst, $21,534.30; Almond, $21,248.88; Eau Pleine, $20,562.13; Belmont, $17,619.36; Linwood, $16,865.34; Alban, $16,541.58; Lanark, $13,815.18; and New Hope, $12,783.85. * * * SURVEYORS WILL MEET IN STEVENS POINT: The 52nd Annual Surveyors' Institute will be held at the Holiday Inn in Stevens Point from Wednesday, Jan. 24, to Friday, Jan. 26. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS), UW-SP Extension, UW-SP Outreach Education and UW-Extension, the annual institute offers a variety of field-related sessions, speakers, vendor exhibits and the WSLS annual meeting. New this year is a panel discussion on the TRIG-STAR program. Sessions also include "Surveying with GPS," "Equipment and Safety Related to the Construction Site," "Wisconsin's New Septic System Code," "Positioning the Survey Firm for the 21st Century" and many others. Fees for the full institute are $200 for WSLS members and $235 for nonmembers before Jan. 12. The full institute fee includes program materials and souvenir, a certificate of participation, refreshments, two luncheons and a Thursday banquet. Reduced rates are offered for single-day attendance. Students may attend for $20, which does not include meals. A guest program is also offered for $45, which includes special presentations, Wednesday lunch and the banquet. To register or for more information, call UW-SP Outreach Education at 346-3838 or visit the Web site (http://www.uwsp.edu/extension/programs) for an online brochure and registration form. * * * LASSA COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: 71st Assembly District Rep. Julie Lassa (D-Plover) has been named the ranking Democratic member of the Economic Development Committee. Lassa was also named to the Agriculture, Colleges and Universities, and Labor and Workforce Development Committees, as well as the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board. "As the ranking Democrat on the Economic Development Committee, I will be able to impact policies that are important to the economic growth of our area," Lassa said. "It is important for the state to recognize and promote innovative economic development strategies like the Business Education and Training Center, which is a partnership between UW-Stevens Point, Mid-State Technical College, and the Portage County Business Council. The success of regional initiatives like this will help make Wisconsin an economic star for years to come." The Economic Development Committee will refine state and local economic development programs and develop proposals to encourage success in the new economy of the 21st century. * * * LIPPERT COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: 70th Assembly District Rep. MaryAnn Lippert, R-Pittsville, has been appointed to six Assembly committees that focus on health care, transportation and economic development. She has been named to Aging and Long-Term Care, Children and Familes, Economic Development, Health, Public Health and Transportation committees. "As an active member of these committees, I can work on legislation that is important to the future of my district," Lippert said. "Specifically, I will aggressively work with my colleagues on the Transportation Committee toward improving U.S. Highway 10." * * * TOWN OF BELMONT WILL HOLD CAUCUS: The town of Belmont will hold its caucus for candidates at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Town Hull at 9110 16th Road. * * * STEVENS POINT AREA BOARD OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES: Five persons are seeking the three at-large seats. Incumbents Barbara Ruesch, Kate Wichman and Ray Haas are seeking re-election, with Elmer Fournier and Dean M. Kovalski challenging them.