Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
10-11-78
It is Fire Prevention Week and Chief Ray Priebe and his firemen are out in the community educating both young and old about fire safety. On the front page employees of Holy Cross Hospital participate in a live fire education session on the use of fire extinguishers. Chief Priebe leads a force of 25 men, 21 of whom are also cross-trained as emergency medical technicians and do double duty on the ambulance. Starting salary for a firefighter is $11,600 per year or for a veteran with at least 16 years of experience $16,500 with a department operational cost of $442,028 per year. In a separate article three young entrepreneurs are doing their part to help stop fires; Greg Schield and his partner Tim Banaszak have formed the company “Ye Olde Chimney Sweep” providing cleaning of your smokestack. Bruce Iattoni assists the pair in their work which is mostly provided on weekends due to college schedules.
General Telephone Company is bragging about their latest innovations in the phone world and hope to keep increasing customer service to their 290,000 customers in Wisconsin. The company is installing Phone Marts in Wausau, Black River Falls, Marshfield and Portage in order for customers to be able to come and get the latest in services from the company. GTE is spending $10.8 million to upgrade equipment at locations such as the Harrison Hills, Irma, Schofield, Rib Mountain and Marathon. Touch tone calling, which involves pushing a button instead of using a rotary to dial is now in 14 exchange areas and GTE expects to have it in all 50 of its exchanges by 1979. (The EPA estimates we throw away 350,000 cell phones a day)
The Merrill High School football team is looking for their sixth win of the season Saturday when they host the Marshfield Tigers. They boys picked up their fifth win last weekend by beating the Wisconsin Rapids Red Raiders 21-14 in overtime. Merrill led the Raiders until a fourth quarter score put them ahead 14-7 after the Jays fumbled the kick off. Aided by a roughing the passer call and a 41 yard pass between Dave Pyan and Jeff Luterbach, Merrill drove from its own 31 yard line to the Raiders five. On fourth down, with 19 seconds to go Mitch Wickman fired a pass to Pete Weber who fought off tacklers to make the catch. In overtime, John Wais drove from the ten to score on the first play while Rapids stalled in their four attempts by fullback Ed Seen. Coach Ira Rebella named Pete Weber the offensive player of the week while Dean Simon gained the lineman of the week honors.
10-12-88
The City of Merrill Common Council has approved an arcade license for Catherine Joyce to operate a coin arcade at 417 Grand Avenue. Two alderman dissented on the measure, a sign of the past discord and discussions over past attempts by various business people to gain an arcade license in the city. No one objected at a September public hearing on the matter and Joyce assured the committee the arcade would not be open until after school and would be locked by 10 p.m. every night. Further no smoking, eating or loitering would be allowed at the arcade. Further stipulations by the council include front windows which would allow a full view into the building from the street, bike racks off the sidewalk, a litter free sidewalk and curb and adult supervision at all times. (For some of you, that was in the former Fleischfresser building). The council also approved taking control of the summer pool program. Merrill Area Public Schools had previously operated the outdoor pool over the summer months assuming the costs of maintenance and staffing, but the board of education balked after losing $1,411 this past summer, the pool will now be operated under the Park and Recreation Department.
The Lincoln County Medical Society has announced they are behind their patients in more ways than one this month. October is colon rectal health month and every doctor in the county is offering free screenings. For more information, call your family doctor.
October is restaurant month and in a full page ad the following eateries are hoping you celebrate with them: Mary’s Homestead Inn is located at 1304 E. Main St. (apartments now) and features an all you can eat Friday fish fry and Sunday chicken specials; Champ’s Family Restaurant is located on North Center Avenue, they invite you to stop by on Thursday evenings for their all you can eat potato pancakes special; the Highway 51 Truck Stop restaurant north of Merrill has daily specials along with their homemade soups and pies; Club Modern is Merrill’s premiere dining facility, located on South Center Avenue it is a Merrill staple with a huge snack bar and a family atmosphere; Pizza Hut on North Center Avenue has a salad bar and hand tossed and traditional pizzas, delivery is available; 3’s Company on the east side has great prime rib and combo specials every Saturday night; Hardee’s has a drive through for your convenience and offers a seniors discount; Skippers Restaurant in downtown Merrill has daily breakfast specials and is open until 8 p.m. on Fridays with their famous fish fry; Hometown Café, formerly the Ritz on East Main Street (pawn store now) has a welcoming staff, new owners Bob and Lynell Craven invite you to stop in for their breakfast specials which start at 5:30 a.m. every day; Kozy Korner is located on Grand Avenue and has Saturday steak specials, open by six for breakfast every morning by six, Pine Ridge Restaurant is open 24 hours on Merrill’s far east side, the feature daily specials and a bottomless cup of coffee, South of the Border, located one mile south of Merrill on Bus Hwy 51 has just installed a soup and salad bar, they offer authentic Mexican food along with Italian and seafood specials. (Not many left).
The Merrill Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominees for their annual Merrill-On-The-Move Awards Banquet which will be held Nov. 5 at Les & Jim’s. This is the 13th year for the award program and nominees are being accepted for the Hall of Fame Award, Ambassador Award, and the Merrill-On-The-Move Award. Tickets for the event can be bought at the chamber, Snyder Drug, Fowler Drug, Johnson Pharmacy, city clerk’s office, M&I Bank, Lincoln County Bank and Lincoln Lanes.
The Merrill Area Board of Education has approved the tax levy of 3.8% for the 1998-1999 school year. This is lower than proposed 6.4% which was set at the annual meeting in September. According to Jim Becker, finance coordinator for MAPS the levy was decreased thanks to an additional $189,000 in state aid. The total budget for the term is set for $14,199,319 or 7.99% more than last year’s budget.
10-14-98
The City of Merrill is going through an epidemic of bike thefts. So says Det. Mike Hamann. He says police have been finding what is left of then stripped bicycles all over town. Some of the bikes are valued up to $400 so finding the thieves is a priority, although Hamann is encouraged by a few arrests. He encourages bike owners to register their bikes with the police department and keep them locked up while parked.
Lee Krueger has pumped his last gallon of gasoline at his Main Street service station. In an advertisement Krueger, owner of Lee’s Mobil Service, announces that the gasoline tanks will be removed and his business will be focusing solely on automobile service. (Gress Chiropractic now;, wish I had $1 for every car that gassed up there while heading north during the summers).