County capsules YMCA HOLDS COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE: The Stevens Point/Plover Breakfast Optimist Club and the Stevens Point Area YMCA will sponsor a Community Open House at the Stevens Point Area YMCA from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, with open swimming from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The groups are committed to helping youth and families grow strong mentally, physically and spiritually. Activities include beach ball volleyball, wallyball, parachute games, basketball, arts and crafts, adventure alley and open swimming. For more information, contact Darlene Spreda at the YMCA. * * * POTATO GROWERS MEET: The Wisconsin potato industry's biggest event - the annual Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) conference and trade show - takes place next Tuesday through Thursday, Feb. 12-14, at the Holiday Inn in Stevens Point. At the conference workshops, growers will learn more about seed production, soil amendments, potato breeding, fertility, business management and business issues. Several university potato researchers will deliver presentations. Association members also will receive updates on the efforts of the National Potato Council and the National Potato Promotion Board. For the first time this year, the WPVGA is holding its trade show in conjunction with the annual grower conference. More than 65 exhibitors will be on hand. Until recently, the trade show usually took place in early November at the Portage County Highway Facility on County Trunk B. But the county has stopped leasing the building for outside use, and after a poorly-attended trade show held in conjunction with a golf outing last year, the WPVGA decided to combine the trade show with the annual conference. Several hundred growers from throughout the state will attend the conference. At a banquet next Wednesday evening, growers will honor members who have served the industry with distinction. * * * FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION MEETS: The Stevens Point Farmers Market Association will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the Pinery Room of the Charles M. White Library in Stevens Point. The association is open to both growers and consumers and offers a platform by which input and recommendations can be made to enhance, maintain and improve the Stevens Point Farmers Market. The public is welcome. For more information, call Dan Mielke at 344-4104. * * * TRAFFIC FATALITY: A one-car rollover accident at about 7:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the town of Sharon claimed the life of a 19-year-old Rosholt man, a Portage County Sheriff's Department report said. Brandon G. Cieslewicz, 9477 Highway OO, was driving west on Highway 66, near Highway CC, when he began to pass several other vehicles in a no passing zone on a curve, the report said. As an eastbound semi-truck approached, Cieslewicz swerved to his right, lost control and entered the ditch, where his car overturned several times and struck a tree. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car. Cieslewicz was alone in the car, the report said. No other vehicles were directly involved in the accident. The Portage County Ambulance Service, Rosholt Fire Department, Rosholt First Responders and Whiting Fire Department Rescue also responded to the scene. * * * MORE DRUG ARRESTS: Local law enforcement agencies recently made two large drug arrests. On Friday, Feb. 1, the Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force, including the Portage County Sheriff's Department, Stevens Point Police Department and the Wood County Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Lake County, Ill., Drug Task Force, culminated an ongoing investigation of drug trafficking with the execution of three search warrants at residences located in Wood County. About eight ounces of cocaine, with a street value of about $12,000, was seized, authorities said. Five persons were taken into custody. Another suspect turned himself in after seeing media reports that he was a wanted man. Two search warrants and two traffic stops conducted on Friday, Jan. 25, in Stevens Point yielded 3.6 grams of cocaine, one ounce of marijuana, two vehicles and $4,631 in cash, authorities said. The drugs have a street value of about $10,100. Five people were arrested on multiple drug-related charges. The investigation was a joint effort of the Stevens Point Police Department and the Portage County Sheriff's Department as part of the Multi-Jurisdictional Enforcement Group. * * * LAUTENSCHLAGER WILL SPEAK AT DEMOCRATS MEETING: Peg Lautenschlager, Democratic candidate for attorney general, will speak at the Portage County Democrats meeting at 7:03 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Olympic Restaurant in Stevens Point. Interested persons are invited to attend. Lautenschlager is a former state representative and most recently served as a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin's western district. For more information about Lautenschlager, or about the Portage County Democratic Party, contact Chairman Gary Hawley at 345-9586 or visit the Portage County Democrats' Web site at www.portagedems.org. * * * FREE FLUORIDE TESTING KITS OFFERED: To help Portage County households with their dental health, CAP Services is providing free well-water testing kits to all residents. Fluoride has proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay, but most well water in the county does not provide enough. "In order to assure the proper dosage of fluoride supplements, you need to know how much naturally occurs in your well," said CAP Services dental program coordinator Judith Klussendorf. To obtain a kit, residents can call Klussendorf, toll free, at 800-314-3918 and leave their name and address. Kits with instructions will be mailed to them. When residents have the test results, they can go to Portage County Health and Human Services to obtain fluoride supplements that address the shortfall in their well water. Klussendorf noted that there is no charge for the supplements for families with children ages six months to 16 years. * * * CIVIC PARTICIPATION PROJECT PLANS LOCAL MEETING: The Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), a research and policy center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will bring Sustaining Wisconsin, a statewide civic participation project, to Stevens Point on Thursday, Feb. 7. The session will be held at 7 p.m. in the Heritage Room in the University Center at UW-Stevens Point. The project seeks to inform and engage Wisconsin residents through complete, yet easy-to-digest analyses of the issues that impact daily lives. The presentation is sponsored by the Stevens Point League of Women Voters. * * * MAAS WILL HEAD THOMPSON CAMPAIGN IN COUNTY: Ed Thompson, city of Tomah mayor and Libertarian candidate for governor, has named Jim Maas as the Portage County chairman of the Thompson campaign. Maas, a veteran of the Vietnam War, has lived in Stevens Point for 21 years. He graduated from UW-SP with a degree in secondary education and works at UW-SP in the university library as a media specialist. He was treasurer of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin from 1994-1997 and is a member of the Elks Lodge, American Veterans (AmVets) and the Plover VFW. Anyone with questions or wishing to get involved in the campaign in Portage County should contact Jim Maas at 343-0993. * * * SHIBILSKI SCHEDULES OFFICE HOURS: State Sen. Kevin Shibilski will hold office hours from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in conference room D of the County-City Building. The hours are different than those announced last week. * * * CELEBRATE WELLNESS FEB. 16: St. Michael's Hospital and Rice Medical Center will present "Celebrate Wellness: Discovering Health Activities for You & Your Family" from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16. The event will have more than 50 booths of free health-related activities and numerous health-related events for families throughout the day. * * * COUNTY BUILDING PERMITS: The Portage County Planning and Zoning Committee issued three building permits for single family residences in January. Two permits were issued for homes valued at $660,000 in the town of Hull and one permit was issued for a home valued at $75,000 in the town of Plover.