County Capsules 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND' DISCUSSION: The Stevens Point Area League of Women Voters is sponsoring a panel discussion lead by Karen Farley-Halverson on the "No Child Left Behind Act" and its impact on the Stevens Point Area School District. The panel will be held Saturday Jan. 24, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Pinery Room of the Portage County Library in downtown Stevens Point. Halverson is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Stevens Point Area School District. The public is invited to attend. Questions from the audience are welcome. * * * BLOOD DRIVES SCHEDULED: The Blood Center of Southeast Wisconsin reports a critical shortage of blood, and donors are asked to help replenish the blood supply. Donors are being asked to donate at one of the following Blood Center blood drives: Friday, Jan. 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Good News Fellowship Church, 801 Highway 10 West, Stevens Point. Contact Tiffany at 341-3275 ext. 1 for an appointment; Wednesday, Jan. 21, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at F & M Bank, 5597 Highway 10 East, Stevens Point. Contact Lorraine Glodowski at 341-6691 ext. 0 for an appointment. * * * UNITED WAY OF PORTAGE COUNTY SCHEDULES ANNUAL MEETING: The 2004 United Way of Portage County Board of Directors will hold its annual meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin, 2801 Hoover Ave. in Stevens Point. The meeting agenda will include the election of new officers. Meg Erler will step down as board president at that time. The public is invited to attend. * * * STEVENS POINT PLANS KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION: Registration for 2004-2005 kindergarten students attending the Stevens Point Area Public Schools will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Parents are to enroll their kindergarten child at the elementary school in their attendance area. For those unsure of the school a child will attend, contact the transportation office at 345-5477. Children entering kindergarten in the fall of 2004-2005 must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2004. Parents should bring the child's birth certificate and immunization information with them when registering. The School District offers a full-day kindergarten program. Parents who desire a half-day program must complete a curriculum modification request at the time of registration. Enrollment cards will be sent home with children currently in kindergarten through grade 5 on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Parents should complete the enrollment card and return it to school on Friday, Jan. 30. * * * FROZEN ROAD DECLARATION TAKES EFFECT: Wisconsin's frozen road declaration, which permits operation of heavier trucks on state trunk highways if the loads are forest products or salt and sand for winter maintenance, went into effect statewide on Monday, Jan. 12. Beginning on Monday, Dec. 29, the frozen road declaration went into effect on and north of Highway 10, with some modifications to the route in Wood, Portage and Waupaca counties. "This is the fourth time in the last six years that we have phased-in the declaration," said David Vieth, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's (WisDOT's) Bureau of Highway Operations. "The declaration is issued once the ground under the pavement is frozen. That allows the maximum gross weight for trucks hauling logs or salt and sand for maintaining roads in winter to go up to 98,000 pounds." The exemption applies only to the Wisconsin state trunk highway system, which are those roads marked with state or U.S. numbers, but does not include the Interstate highway system, with the exception of I-39 from Portage to Wausau, Vieth said. Special permits for hauling the increased weights are not required. However, the vehicles must be legally licensed to handle the increased weights. The higher weight limits are not in effect on county or local roads unless authorized by the local agency having maintenance authority. The higher weights may not be transported on any highways or bridges that are posted for lower limits. Vieth said the frozen road declaration will remain in effect until March 1 statewide, unless an early thaw necessitates an earlier rescission of the declaration or continued cold weather allows for an extension of the declaration period. Additional information on the Frozen Road program is available on the WisDOT Web site at www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/truck/frozenroad.htm or by contacting the Bureau of Highway Operations, 4802 Sheboygan Avenue, P.O. Box 7986, Madison, WI, 53707-7986, or by calling (608)-266-3745. * * * POLICE SEEK INFORMATION ABOUT BURGLARY: The Stevens Point Police Department is asking for your help in locating the person or persons responsible for a burglary that occurred at the Portage County Humane Society. Sometime between Sunday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 12, at 7:50 a.m. an unknown person or persons broke into the Portage County Humane Society at 100 6th Ave. in Stevens Point. Once inside, the suspect or suspects took more than $5,000 in cash and checks. Included in the currency was a large amount of change recently taken in from Humane Society collection cans. The money taken was in a red money bag, a tan bag and approximately 15 donation cans. The suspect or suspects then broke into a safe where drugs for use on animals were stored. These drugs are highly dangerous and not intended for human use. Persons with any information on who may be involved in this crime can call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-346-6600. Callers can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000. * * * TRUCK AND SCHOOL BUS COLLIDE: Nine people were injured after a semi-tractor/trailer and a school bus collided at about 9:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, on Highway 54 at the southbound exit ramp from Interstate 39 in the town of Plover, a Portage County Sheriff's Department report said. The investigation showed the semi was stopped at the stop sign on the southbound ramp and then proceeded onto Highway 54, striking a westbound school bus from the Gresham School District in the passenger side, causing severe damage to the rear axle of the bus, the report said. The bus driver, Jean M. Zaddack, 60, Shawano, and seven passengers were injured and transported by ambulance to St. Michael's Hospital, where they were treated and released. An eighth passenger received a minor injury and wasn't transported. The driver of the semi, Larry L. Braden, 54, Springboro, Pa., was cited for failure to yield the right of way from a stop sign, the report said. The Sheriff's Department, Plover Fire and Rescue, Plover emergency medical technicians, Wisconsin State Patrol and two Portage County ambulances responded to the accident, the report said. * * * DRIVER EDUCATION PROGRAM WILL CONTINUE AT SPASH: The Stevens Point Area Public School District will offer driver education this summer and during the 2004-2005 school year in the spring and summer at zero cost to the district, which will mean students will have to pay for the program because the state will no longer reimburse districts after the end of this school year. Students will pay approximately $230, which is less than private instruction. The program will be re-examined for effectiveness in one year. Mary Pfeiffer, Stevens Point Area Senior High School principal, and Chris Haka, driver education instructor, were directed to work with automobile dealers, insurance providers and others to provide a scholarship program for students who cannot afford to pay the cost of the driver education program. * * * PORTAGE COUNTY BUILDING PERMITS: The Portage County Planning and Zoning Department issued 573 permits for $34,182,322 worth of new buildings, additions and outbuildings in 2003. Of that amount, 168 were for single-family residences, with 29 in the town of Hull that were valued at $5,506,368. The number of new single-family residences in the other towns and their values were Sharon, 21, $3,101,000; Lanark, 20, $2,424,000; Stockton, 18, $3,044,300; Grant, 12, $1,122,000; Plover, 10, $2,093,000; Buena Vista, 10, $1,769,111; Linwood, nine, $1,816,000; Carson, nine, $1,103,500; Amherst, seven, $922,000; New Hope, six, $1,342,000; Eau Pleine, six, $782,784; Dewey, six, $745,000; Alban, four, $535,000; and Almond, one, $165,000. The towns of Belmont and Pine Grove aren't involved in county zoning, so their construction figures aren't compiled by the Planning and Zoning Department. * * * STEVENS POINT BUILDING PERMITS: The city of Stevens Point issued permits for one new duplex and four new single-family residences in December. The duplex at 5129-31 Walton Road is valued at $200,000. The single-family residences and their value were $265,000 at 1900 Birchwood Ave., $189,900 at 1832 Prescott Drive, $160,000 at 5572 Elmwood Ave., and $130,000 at 1809 Schiller Drive. During 2003, the city issued permits for $13,234,434 in new construction. Those permits include six for commercial/industrial construction valued at $1,873,375, five for 49 units in multiple family valued at $2,091,000; seven for two-family residences valued at $1,148,800; and 50 for single-family residences valued at $8,121,259. In addition, the city issued 650 permits for residential additions or alterations valued at $5,360,047 and 136 commercial additions or alterations valued at $5,532,413, a total of $10,892,460. The total of new construction and additions or alterations amounted to $24,126,894.