Researched by Michael J. Caylor Jr
11-14-79
The DNR has high hopes as hunters take to the woods this weekend to begin the nine day gun deer season. Ads throughout the paper note activities outside of the woods to distract a hunter or his widow. A front page photo shows plenty of snow awaiting hunters.
Have to cook next week for Thanksgiving? The paper has some great specials. At Drew’s Jerome’s Miss County Fair turkeys are .69 per pound, butterballs are .79. The meat department has hams starting at $1.19 per pound, you can pack your sandwich with Thuringer for $1.79 per pound, or you can get a whole family pack of Banquet fried chicken for $3.69. Spending the day alone? Cans of Manwich are $1.20 with coupon while a gallon of milk is $1.63, bread is .59 a loaf, yams are .25 per pound and a 30 pack of Old Style is $3.09. At Mel’s Piggly Wiggly Top Frost turkey are .59 per pound, a box of Ritz crackers are .89, cool whip is .57, pumpkin pie filling is .99, bacon is .59 per pound, and 50 pounds of potatoes are $1.59. For those with guests with high taste, 12 packs of Pabst are just $3.19. In mid-city Merrill Dave’s Red Owl has pounds of butter for $1.39, Gold Medal flour is .89 for five pounds, ham sandwiches to go are 3 for $1, eight packs of Pepsi bottles are $1.25, and turkey from Juicybird is just .79 per pound. At Merrill’s newest supermarket, Freedom Foods in the Town of Pine River, ground beef is $1.08 per pound, turkeys start at .59 per pound, Gold Medal flour is $3.38 for 25 pounds, and a five pound bag of apples is just $1.28.
The record run of the Merrill High School football team is long over but the accolades are still coming in. Seven of the team members were named to the 1979 Wisconsin Valley Conference all-league first team. Unanimous choices were Rick Bonnell and Pete Weber who were joined by Jerry Boquist, Kevin Deates, Dave Grisa, Al Renken and Marshall Wolowicz. Testifying to the maturity of the conference, all but three of the 26 selected players were seniors. Local observers were surprised none of the members of the stingy defense made the first team although Steve Saal and Dave Mielke each received honorable mentions.
11-15-89
The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors has finalized the 1990 budget which lowers taxes but brought cries of foul from supporters of the Sheriff’s Office and Highway Department. The supervisors cut nearly $300,000 from the budget including $60,000 that had been approved by the board last month to add three deputies, a move Sheriff Ron Krueger is calling a back door approach to budgeting. He cited the growing number of juvenile crimes and the ever growing overtime costs within his agency. The board also cut $405,000 from the highway department budget, part from the machinery budget and part from planned construction projects. The board did however add $250,000 to the highway budget in order to complete County Rd R, the new route to the county landfill which was just opened. Former County Clerk Ken Oldenburg spoke at public comment and asked the supervisors to make more cuts out of concern for those living on fixed incomes. The city of Merrill budget is expected to be adopted by the council on December 5th; residents there can expect a tax increase of .50 per $1000 of assessed value where a major cut to the $7,179,566 budget is $230,772 from the fire department.
The MAPS Board of Education is looking at salaries for the next few years and has approved raises for the top administrators. In total salaries will increase 7% over the next two years, a move Superintendent Thomas Strick says is necessary in order to be competitive in the market. Strick’s own $64,483 salary will increase to $71,092 under terms of the raises. Principals of schools will an increase of around $7000 over the same term.
A teacher, a soldier, a builder and designer, a pilot, father, and friend has soared into the air a final time. John Hatz, creator of the Hatz biplane, passed November 8th at Wausau Hospital at the age of 64. Besides building planes Hatz taught students from his own airfield in the Town of Schley for 43 years.
Kenneth Johnson has been appointed as District Attorney in Lincoln County. Governor Tommy Thompson appointed Johnson to finish the term of Karen Smith who resigned.
11-17-99
The Lincoln County Building Committee will continue working on. A resolution drafted by Supervisor Phil Cohrs and Melissa Schroeder was ultimately defeated 13-9. The pair introduced the measure after public outcry by the lack of action by the committee which has been working for years to build a new jail or justice center but still cannot come to any consensus.