Portage County capsules FORUM ON POSSIBLE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION: The Stevens Point Area Public School District School Board will hold a public forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in the SPASH auditorium on school district finance relating to possible elementary school consolidation, possible relocation of the Alternative School program and possible reorganization of school boundaries. The purpose of this forum is to allow community input on these issues. Due to revenue limits imposed on school districts and a declining enrollment, the amount of revenue generated for the district is much less than the rising cost of labor, supplies, materials, insurance, utilities, etc. As a result, the School Board must consider the possible changes in order to stay within the state-imposed revenue limits. The district is facing a shortfall of more than $1 million in revenue this coming year. That same deficit is estimated to be more than $4 million in 2002-2003 and $5 million in 2003-2004. * * * DOT SCHEDULES HIGHWAY 10 INFORMATION MEETING: A public information meeting for the second phase of the Highway 10/Clark Street project will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in the auditorium of P.J. Jacobs Junior High School, 2400 Main St., in Stevens Point. At the meeting, the prime contractor will present the construction schedule for the project. DOT staff will also be available to answer questions. Residents, business owners, and property owners affected by the project are encouraged to attend the meeting. Crews will reconstruct 1.3 miles of Highway 10 between Division Street and Minnesota Avenue. Improvements will also be made to the intersection of Clark Street and Michigan Avenue and realignment of the Clark Street-Minnesota Avenue intersection. During construction, traffic will be detoured north on Division Street to Interstate 39/Highay 51 and back to Highway 10. Construction is scheduled to begin in April and should be finished by the end of October. * * * SAFE GROUND WATER SESSION: The Stevens Point Area League of Women Voters will hold a meeting on "Safe Ground Water" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in the Courthouse Annex. Ray Schmidt, Portage County water quality specialist, will be the speaker. * * * TELEVISED ELECTION FORUM: Videotape of "The Candidates Forum" on Thursday, March 15, sponsored by the Stevens Point Area League of Women Voters will be shown on Public Access Channel 3 on the Stevens Point area cable system at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, and 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 29. Candidates for local School Board, city of Stevens Point alderman and village of Plover president took part in the forum. * * * STATE SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATES INTERVIEW: A 30-minute program featuring interviews with the State Superindendent of Public Instruction candidates was scheduled to be aired on Public Access Channel 3 on the Stevens Point area cable system at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 22, and 3 p.m. Saturday, March 24. Kathy Johnson, state League of Women Voters president, interviewed Linda Cross, an English teacher from Hortonville, and Elizabeth Burmaster, principal of Madison West High School in Madison. * * * MC DILL POND WEB PAGE: The McDill Pond organization has a Web site at http://home.g2a.net/~gomcdill/ to keep members informed about events and the planned weed harvesting on McDill Pond. * * * WAR BIRD, AEROBATIC AIRCRAFT DISPLAY: A War Bird and Aerobatic Aircraft display will be part of a "Chili Fly-In" from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at the Stevens Point Municipal Airport. The event will feature Big Brothers Big Sisters of Portage County. Little Brothers and Little Sisters will each have the opportunity to fly in a four-person plane as part of the EAA Young Eagles Program. Participating children will receive a Young Eagle Certificate from the EAA. The Young Eagles program mission includes providing a flight experience for 1 million children by the year 2003. The program is sponsored by Pegasus Aviation, Community First Bank and County Market. The public is invited to attend this event and participate in activities throughout the day. In addition to the aircraft displays, activities will include children's games and crafts, music, karaoke and dancing. Information about flight training and Big Brothers Big Sisters will be available, as well as a chili dinner for a fee. For more information about the "Chili Fly-In" call Big Brothers Big Sisters at 341-0661. * * * DRIVER'S LICENSE GETS FACELIFT: Wisconsin is replacing the magnetic stripe with a two-dimensional bar code on state driver's licenses. The first bar-coded licenses were issued March 5. It will take eight years for all current licenses to be completely replaced by the 2-D bar coded licenses. The 2-D bar codes are significantly more fraud proof because they are nearly impossible to reproduce, according to the manufacturer. The bar codes can hold significantly more data than magnetic stripes, are more durable and can be printed on paper such as vehicle titles and certificates of registration. Other improvements on the license are a larger size for the signature, a thicker overlay to increase durability and red typeface for license holders under the age of 18 or 21. * * * HEALTH PROGRAM FEATURES AREA PROVIDERS: The Saturday, March 24, installment of Ministry Health Care's "Health Connection television specials "Keep on Movin': Maintaining Healthy Bones, Muscles and Joints" features many area health care providers. The special airs at 5 p.m. on WAOW-TV, Channel 9, in Wausau. Dr. Jim Banovetz Jr., an orthopedic physician in Point Sports Medicine Center, a joint venture of Rice Medical Center and St. Michael's Hospital, is a special guest co-host, looking at hip replacements, spine surgery, sports medicine and a procedure that grows new, healthy cartilage to replace damaged cells. Other local experts include Dr. Daniel Kraeger and Dr. James DeWeerd of Rice Medical Center and Tina Kurkowski, a registered nurse in Rice Medical Center and St. Michael's Hospital surgical services. * * * JUNCTION CITY POST OFFICE HONORED: The Junction City Post Office has a new flag flying in recognition of high marks from customers. Junction City postal employees received the "Order of the Yellow Jersey" award that recognizes teamwork for the high marks from customers in surveys of performance. The award reflects the yellow jersey worn by the daily leader and winner of the Tour de France bicycle race. A flag-raising ceremony was held at the post office Tuesday, March 20. * * * SHIBILSKI WORKS FOR STATE CONTRIBUTION TO FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL: State Sen. Kevin Shibilski, D-Stevens Point, told the Wisconsin State Firefighters Association at its meeting in Stevens Point Saturday that he will work for a state contribution to the construction of the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial. The memorial will be situated along the Wisconsin River at Ben Hansen Park in Wisconsin Rapids and will feature an information center, pavilion, flag court, statue and wall of honor that will include the names of every firefighter who has died protecting lives and property in the state. More information about the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial can be found at the Web site www.WSFM.org. * * * NICARAGUAN FIREFIGHTERS VISIT: Nicaraguan Fire Chiefs Hector Sevilla and Jaime Delgado, Managua, Nicaragua, arrived in central Wisconsin Wednesday, March 14, and spent five days visiting their counterparts to share experiences, attend the Wisconsin State Firefighters Convention at the Holiday Inn on March 15-18 and to discuss possibilities of exchange training. The pair were hosted by members of the Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas (W/NP), and Dr. Bradford Martin, general surgeon and assistant fire chief of Whitehall. Sevilla and Delgado represent the Direcion de General de Bomberos (Nicaraguan National Fire Service) that includes the seven fire departments of Managua and 12 fire departments in major cities throughout the country (including Stevens Point's Partner City of Esteli) and represent both governmental and volunteer firefighters. In December W/NP shipped three fire trucks to Nicaragua. Stevens Point Fire Chief Mark Barnes organized a tour of firefighting units in Portage County last week. * * * MAN DIES IN FIRE: A house fire Thursday evening, March 15, claimed the life of a 76-year-old Stevens Point man, authorities said. The Stevens Point Police Department received a nonemergency telephone call at 5:55 p.m. of suspicious activity at 3008 Prais St., a Police Department report said. When police arrived, they saw flames in the unoccupied home and summoned the Stevens Point Fire Department to the scene. Firefighters entered the building and found John A. Pliska, 726 Portage St., authorities said. Pliska was unconscious and not breathing. He was immediately removed from the home and paramedics began advanced life support care. He was taken by ambulance to St. Michael's Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Pliska was the former owner of the home, which was sold last year in a sheriff's auction, authorities said. Investigators believe he used a liquid accelerant to start the building on fire and succumbed to smoke inhalation after he was unable to escape.