Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
5-16-79
It appears the future of the Lincoln County Jail is up in the air once again. Last month members of the Lincoln County Board took a huge step forward when they approved a new Safety Building which would be built next to the historic jail on 1st St in Merrill. Yesterday, the board refused to fund it. The nine supervisors who voted against funding the project were not in the majority, but the two thirds majority needed for the estimated $1.95 in bonding was lost. Members of the Safety Building Committee reminded board members that inflation is driving up the cost of the project monthly noting how the cost for the facility has jumped $200,000 since when the plans were first conceived. Sheriff Ronald Krueger also warned board members that his jail may face shutdown by the state jail inspector due to the overcrowding and archaic conditions. Shipping inmates to surrounding jails may no longer be an option Krueger told the board as most surrounding jails are in the same boat as Lincoln County. In the end the nine supervisors who voted no said they wished to study the matter some more. (I am starting to see a theme here year after year)
The lucky first 100 new occupants of Jenny Towers, the elderly housing high rise in downtown Merrill, are hoping to get the phone call inviting them to come and pick out an apartment. The order in which the tenants pick their apartment will be based on the signup sheets according to acting executive director of MAHA, Ray Galipeau Sr. He expects the first apartments to be occupied on May 25th, but it may take weeks to move everyone in to avoid congestion.
Sunday was a momentous day for the congregants of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hamburg as they laid the cornerstone to their new church. Norman Koenig, bricklayer, placed the cornerstone which was filled with over 40 different items as the Rev. Ronald Nichols offered a prayer. The new church is built on property which was donated by the Fromm Brothers and had to be cleared of old fox pens before construction could begin.
5-17-89
The Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a membership drive in hopes of raising the group’s membership from its current 227 members to 250 or more. Chamber President Gary Wright and Membership VP Nancy Kwiesielewicz will seclude themselves in the bell tower of the court house on Tuesday from 12:30 to 4:30 PM while the drive takes place, and if the goal is reached Wright and Chamber Director Dee Olsen will take pies in the face at business after hours that evening.
Local Boy Scouts took over City Hall last week for the annual Scouts in Government Day. Participants included: mayor – Chad Plautz, assistant mayor Kurt Lindquist, street commissioner – Kory Kleinschmidt, chief of police – Shawn Tomajcik and Tony Tibaldo, transit administrator – Jason Blake, library director – Paul Schnae, park and rec director – Roger Plautz and Fuad Ahmad, airport manager, Jeremy Thompson, fire chief Robert Savaske, engineer and building inspector Jason Hommering, clerk/treasurer – Jeremy Thompson – city attorney – Kevin Hanson, and aldermen – Pete Rajek, Farhet Ahmad, Adam Bartelt, Dana Rice, Brien Konkol, Dom Mass, Kevin Hanson, Jason Maas, Bill Sorensen, and Randy Olson.
5-19-99
The State Railway Commissioner was in Merrill this past month looking for public input on the proposal to exempt eight railway crossings in Merrill from requiring buses and vehicles that carry hazardous materials from stopping at crossings with signals. Current rules require the described vehicles to stop and look at all railway crossings even if they have signal lights, but Railroad Commissioner Tom Running feels this creates more of a hazard from vehicles crashing into stopped trucks and buses then the rare chance a signal is not working properly. The state may also allow those vehicles to proceed without stopping at the crossings at South Genesee St, South State, South Foster, John, Thomas, Eugene and West Main Street as that route is no longer even being used. Mayor Michael Caylor along with Merrill Transit Director Richard Grenfell and MAPS Transit Administrator Greg Kautza are coordinating the local effort to reclassify these crossings.
Prom is coming up, the MHS Prom Court this year includes: Brook Hunter, Melissa Manthei, Mollie Kautza, Nicole Gebert, Joe Fink, Clint Williams, Isaac Mattson, Ryan Ourada along with King Luke DeBroux and Queen Lacy Lemon.