County capsules ROSHOLT RECEIVES MONEY FOR CLEANUP: The village of Rosholt will receive a $30,000 grant to conduct an environmental assessment, site investigation and demolition activities, including removal of abandoned containers, hazardous substance storage tanks and petroleum storage tanks, at an abandoned feed mill site located on East Randolph Street. Rosholt is one of 38 municipalities across Wisconsin to receive a total of $1.7 million in grants in the fourth grant cycle of the Brownfield Assessment Grant Program administered by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Brownfields are abandoned or under-utilized properties where real or potential contamination hinders redevelopment. * * * WOODCARVING SHOW THIS WEEKEND: Wisconsin River Woodcarvers Inc. will hold its Third Annual Woodcarving Show, Competition & Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16, at the Elizabeth Inn & Convention Center, Highway 54 and Interstate 39, Plover. About 40 exhibits and tables will feature woodcarving, and demonstrations will be presented throughout the show. Soap carving will also be available for children. The show is open to the public and admission is $1, with children 12 and under free. For more information contact Bill Kubisiak at 344-2274 or Greg Wirtz at (715) 423-0471. * * * UW-SP WILL BE SMOKE FREE IN THE FALL: Indoor spaces at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UW-SP) will be completely smoke-free beginning this fall. The Residence Hall Association (RHA), an organization representing on-campus students, recently voted 23 to 2 to ban smoking in all residence halls, and the University Centers Policy Board decided to outlaw smoking in the one smoking room left in the University Center (UC) building. Currently nine out of 13 residence halls allow smoking in rooms with doors shut. The sale of tobacco products on campus also is prohibited. The decision was not arrived at lightly, according to Anne Hoffmann, UW-SP assistant director for student development. A series of meetings, an RHA forum and an electronic forum were held during the previous semester. What past meetings and surveys showed was a majority of UW-SP students are nonsmokers who believed that smoking should not be allowed on campus. At a December forum, about half a dozen students spoke in favor of individual rights and against the new no-smoking policy; however, all student speakers said they were aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke. "This is a health issue," said Hoffman. "Closed doors cannot control smoke and any amount of secondhand smoke is harmful. Our students are concerned about the dangers of second-hand smoke." With the new policy in place, UW-SP joins most of the UW campuses. Only three schools still allow smoking on campus. * * * HULL RESIDENT SOUGHT FOR CABLE COMMISSION: Town of Hull residents interested in serving on a Regional Telecommunications Commission are asked to call the town of Hull at 344-8280 by Friday, March 21. Hull will have a representative on the regional commission, which will have a primary role to monitor and supervise the telecommunications agreement with Charter Communications. * * * MAN INJURED IN SHOOTING: Seth A. Gade, 19, Eden, was injured in a shooting incident at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, a Portage County Sheriff's Department report said. Gade remains hospitalized at St. Michael's Hospital. Gade and a companion were hunting coyotes off Haymeadow Drive in the town of Dewey when the incident happened, the report said. Sheriff's Deputies, a DNR conservation warden, the Portage County Ambulance Service and Dewey First Responders were dispatched to the scene. The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff's Department and the DNR, the report said. * * * POLICE WARN OF FINANCE SCAMS: The Stevens Point Police Department warns residents to beware of numerous fraudulent requests for assistance that area residents have recently received in the mail. "All the requests have two similar themes," said Martin Skibba, crime prevention coordinator. "First, there are millions of dollars in an account in a country that can only be accessed if the money is first transferred into your account. If you are able to help and provide your account information, you will receive anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the total value of the account. "Secondly, confidentiality is stressed, making you believe that the person asking for your account information could be harmed if they are not able to withdraw the millions of dollars through your account." If it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true, Skibba said. "To protect yourself and your finances if you have questions about a get-rich-quick letter, phone call or e-mail your local law enforcement agency or your local lending institution," he said. * * * LASSA ASKS PAUL TO PULL AD: State Rep. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, a Democratic candidate for the District 24 seat in the State Senate, has asked fellow Democratic candidate for the seat, Alex Paul of Wisconsin Rapids, to pull an ad she says smears her reputation and paints her as unethical, a lawbreaker and worse. The ad suggests she was "bought and paid for" by special interests because she has received support in the past from Political Action Committees (PACs) and tries to link her to Chuck Chvala, the former Senate Majority leader who has been charged with using state workers to work on campaigns. * * * GREEN PARTY DOES NOT ACCEPT PAC MONEY: The Green Party has reiterated its policy that it does not accept money from PACs following debate and contention in the race for the District 24 seat in the State Senate regarding campaign funding. The Green Party also supports campaign spending limits, saying this would not preclude millionaire candidates from running but would stop them from being able to "buy" an election. Jo Seiser is running for the State Senate as a Green and she has said she will not accept PAC money, and she is not a millionaire. The maximum allowed donation to the Green candidate is $100 per individual. Smaller contributions are also welcome. * * * SCHOOL BOARD ISSUES NONRENEWALS: The Stevens Point Area Board of Education approved final notice of nonrenewal for 36 teacher contracts Monday, March 10. Teachers who were nonrenewed either had temporary contracts for the 2002-2003 school term or had temporary FTEs added to their contract. The board also approved an alteration of teacher contract, hiring of one intern for the second semester of the 2002-2003 school year, retirement of seven teachers (Norm Heitman, Bob Helgert, William Allen, Bob Linzmeier, Ruth Terzynski, Sherlene Schmidt and Terri Witt), retirement of William Palmer, assistant superintendent for finance and approval of teacher contracts for the 2003-2004 school year. * * * OPEN ENROLLMENT SITUATION: Thirty-two nonresident students applied to attend the Stevens Point Area Public School District under the open enrollment process, with more than 66 percent of the students in grades seven through 12. Fifty students applied to attend other districts under open enrollment, with 72 percent of the resident applicants elementary students in grades kindergarten through six. * * * STUDENT FEES: The School Board approved the recommendations of the Finance Committee and Curriculum and Instruction Committee on student fees for the 2003-2004 school year, including creation of a committee to examine all student fees and related issues in the future. Among the recommendations are elementary fees will increase from $10 to $15, increase the parking fee at SPASH from $20 to $30 with an automatic increase of $5 per year until modified by the School Board, increase of driver education fee from $65 to $100 and institute new activity fee of $20 for junior high level for the 2003-2004 school year and of $20 for high school students involved in an activity. * * * CITY WILL CONSIDER LAND PURCHASE: The Stevens Point Finance Committee authorized Mayor Gary Wescott to discuss the possibility of purchasing property on Patch Street at McDill Pond from Stora Enso. Stora Enso is interested in divesting properties in the state, and the Patch Street parcel has been used for the Izaak Walton fisheree in winter. * * * PLOVER BUILDING PERMITS: The village of Plover issued two building permits in February for single family residences, one for $185,000 at 1958 Lepak Drive and the other for $150,000 at 1965 Lepak Drive. * * * STEVENS POINT BUILDING PERMITS: Stevens Point issued one building permit in February, for a $230,000 single residence at 5624 LaSalle Ave.