July 12, 2007

 

And More From the News Desk...

Additional News Stories:

Training continues over the Fourth

by Erik Anderson

 

Last week's holiday may mean celebrations and fireworks for many Prescott residents. But the only fireworks Staff Sergeant Robert Glazebrook may have seen would have been training flares, anticollision lights and tracer fire.

Glazebrook is a former Prescott social studies teacher, who left his teaching post last March to report for training at Ft. Sill, Okla. in preparation to be sent to help with the war in Iraq.

During the Fourth of July, Glazebrook was living at a mock Forward Operating Base, undergoing specialized training to prepare him for what he might experience in Iraq.

Glazebrook, a Crew Chief of a Blackhawk unit in the Minnesota National Guard's 2nd Battalion 147th Aviation Regiment, said FOBs were the main type of base in Iraq and the training was a good chance to prepare for what he might experience in Iraq.

He also was trained by Iraqi-Americans at the FOB to help simulate cultural situations his crew might face. Glazebrook and his crew also received training on how to deal with IEDs and sniper attacks, so if they encounter them they will know how to react. One of the main ways they are trained deal with those threats is to travel in convoys, he said.

Before they switched to the ground portion of training, the first six weeks of Glazebrook's time in Ft. Sill was spent concentrating on flight training. In that time he logged about 40 hours of flight-time, with half of that at night under night-vision goggles.

Glazebrook said the weather at Ft. Sill has been frustrating to deal with and impeding their training.

"They are having near record rainfall in that part of the country," he said. "There has been flooding in the local area and major flooding in Oklahoma City, Okla. and parts of Texas."

He said the weather has forced his group to speed up their training in order to complete everything.

Despite the weather, Glazebrook said the highlight of the flight portion of his training was the evaluation.

"We conducted a training mission simulating missions we will do in Iraq," he said. "We were monitored by regular army personnel assigned to supervise our training."

He said after the mission was completed, they were debriefed and were able to discuss what went well and what could have gone better.

"I feel we learned some valuable things out of that," Glazebrook said.

After completing their flight training, Glazebrook said his regiment will see its helicopters again when they reach Kuwait.

"We sent our Blackhawks to Corpus Christi, Tex. over the weekend," he said. "There they will be loaded on to a ship and sent overseas."

With his training nearly complete, Glazebrook said his unit was issued a tremendous amount of new gear for both flying and time on the ground. He said this gear included body armor for the ground - known as IBA - and air.

"IBA weighs about 30 pounds and covers your upper torso and upper arms, but it can be hot and feel very heavy," Glazebrook said. "The flight armor is better and allows more mobility, but can still wear you down after you have worn it for a while during the day."

In addition to having gear issued to them, Glazebrook said his regiment is looking forward to a block of leave time at the end of training, where they would be allowed to visit home and spend time with loved ones before heading off to Iraq.

To the top


Bank program to restore Main Street

by Jon Kerr

 

Forget that Prescott doesn't officially have a Main Street. First National Bank is ready to dole out cash to help downtown and riverfront properties spruce up their images.

The bank's recently unveiled Main Street Improvement Loan Program has an earmarked $500,000 available for low interest loans to businesses. Included among eligible loans up to $50,000 apiece amortized over ten years would be signage and awnings or other building improvements. With a fixed rate equivalent to the Prime rate minus two percent - as of today a loan rate of 6.25 percent - the program should be attractive to many property owners, tenants interested in improving the appearance of their storefronts and even prospective businesses.

"We have a couple of inquiries already and hopefully we'll get more things moving as the word gets out," said Branch President Jim Munson, noting the ongoing success of a similar program in River Falls.

The First National loan program is also an offshoot of the City of Prescott's successful but now terminated Tax Increment District program which gave out a total of $100,000 in small grants for downtown property improvements.

"It's something we've been thinking of for sometime. We're just joining with the city and maybe trying to go a little further," said Munson. "It's in all of our interests to keep Prescott looking good and maybe get some new businesses to relocate here."

Other spinoffs hopefully will include more work for local contractors and builders that might be employed because of the loans.

"Maybe we can get things going for them too," said Munson. "How many times can we turn those dollars over? We'd like to turn them locally."

It's all part of First National's basic mission as a community bank, said Munson - who also volunteers on Prescott's Industrial and Economic development committee.

"We're trying to be a leader in making this an even better community for eveyone," he said. "The Smith family (owners of the over-century old bank) are so community-minded. We're always trying to do things for the area."

Of course First National is also a profit-making institution, Munson noted.

"We have to make money. But we like to go out of our way to do good things ," he said, referring to the loan program. "It all boils down to what the community wants."

 


To the top


Prescott starts making a name for itself in 1851

In 1840, this area was part of a huge St. Croix County when Wisconsin Territory extended into what is now the northeastern portion of Minnesota north to Canada. The Red Cedar River was the eastern boundary. The 1840 census listed 809 residents. An election for the county seat was held with Brown's Warehouse (Stillwater) gathering 45 votes and Prescott's Claim, 13.

When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, the western boundary was moved to the St. Croix River. St. Croix County then included all of what would become Pierce, St. Croix and Polk counties. The county seat was located at Buena Vista (Hudson). When the first St. Croix County Board of Supervisors met, a new voting precinct was set at the Mouth of the St. Croix, or Elizabeth. At the first state election, 115 votes were cast in St. Croix County, an indication of the sparse settlement.

On October 9, 1849, supervisors of the Town of Elizabeth met at the Hilton Doe residence. G.W. McMurphey was treasurer and Hilton Doe, clerk. In March, 1850, supervisors met again, this time approving a $6.00 bill from L.M. Harnsberger for six days assessing property. The framework for establishing a civic structure and tax collection was set up with the property assessment. In March 1851 the town treasurer reported $36.49 had been paid and $8.51 was delinquent.

On January 24, 1851, Wisconsin Governor Nelson Dewey approved legislation stating that the Town of Elizabeth shall hereafter be known by the name of Prescott. In April a town meeting was held at George Schasers, and a full slate of officers was elected. Voters also passed several laws prohibiting cattle, horses or hogs running at large, and approved a $50 tax levy to defray town expenses.

 

Public Improvements Begin

Before 1855, few records of city business exist, but after the city's first newspaper was established in 1855, it's easier to trace development of civic improvements. By 1855, Prescott's population was 843. In the years between 1851 and 1855, many civic improvements were undertaken in the village. One of the first was the organization of the school district in 1852, although the first recorded "school" in Prescott was held in 1843 by Swiss missionary Rev. Samuel Dentan. Schools were then held in private homes.

The first post office was established in 1854 in a store on the levee. A public well was another necessity as the river no longer sufficed for drinking water. Deaths from typhoid and cholera were mentioned in early writings. Citizens were "greatly rejoiced" when the July 27 Prescott Paraclete noted the public well was completed on Broad (main) Street at a depth of 40 feet.

The first newspaper was established in 1855. Streets were cut through the bluffs, linking the levee business area to the increasing residential building "on top of the bluff." The levee was paved with stone to accomodate the steamboat traffic, reported on May 1855 as seven landings per day. Public Square Park on Elm Street was plowed, grass sown, trees planted and the area fenced.

A public library was opened in 1855, and was officially organized in 1857. A "burying ground" was on a triangle of land at Kinnickinnic and Campbell Streets, moved in 1858 to the present Pine Glen Cemetary.

Although steamboats brought many travelers to the Prescott levee, the village was connected by roads as early as 1841 when the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature approved a road from Prescott's ferry to Grey Cloud Island. In the fall of 1847 a road was located from the Mouth of the St. Croix to the Falls of the St. Croix on the east side of the river. Other roads in place by 1855 were south to La Crosse, from Prescott to the Rush River to intersect a road from Eau Galle Mills to the Pierce County eastern border. A stage line was also running from Prescott to Hudson.

In 1855, Prescott was well on its way to changing from a village to a city.

 

Farms produce surplus in 1855

The season of 1855 presented quite a new order of business for town and country, the "Sketch of Pierce County, 1851-1855" noted. The Sketch was written by Prescott editors Gibbs and Young. "Previously a large majority of farmers of the country purchased all their provisions and grain either from old settlers or merchants in town. This year, their farms were sufficiently cultivated to furnish a large surplus, daily the different roads leading to Prescott might be seen lined with loaded teams, conveying the productions of the land to market, Prescott being the principal shipping point of the Mississippi for Northwestern Wisconsin."

The community was experiencing a period of growth that extended over the next six years until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861.

 

This is the sixth in a series of articles celebrating Prescott's 150 years as a city. Information from the Prescott Area Historical Society and the book, "A History of Prescott, Wisconsin," by Mary Cotter Beeler and Dorothy Eaton Ahlgren.

To the top

Carp virus discovered in Upper Mississippi River

Spring viremia of carp, a virus that affects many species of carp, has been discovered in the Mississippi River near Dresbach, Minn., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports. Baitfish species such as shiners and fathead minnows are also believed to be susceptible to this virus and northern pike have been experimentally infected with it in the laboratory.

Late in the week of May 7, the Fish and Wildlife Service's La Crosse, Fish Health Center received reports of a carp kill in Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River, below Lock and Dam 7 in Dresbach. Service biologists were not able to sample fish immediately because recovery operations were underway following a fatal boating accident.

On May 24, Service biologists from the La Crosse Fishery Resources Office and La Crosse Fish Health Center returned to the area and began electroshocking to collect fish for health screening. By June 8, one of the pooled samples had tested positive for the spring viremia of carp virus, or SVCV.

Since the pathogen that causes SVCV is a reportable pathogen as designated by the OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health, samples were sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service lab in Ames, Iowa, for confirmation. On June 28, APHIS informed the La Crosse Fish Health Center that it had confirmed SVCV.

SVCV is not transmitted to humans and poses no health risk. This is the first case of this virus discovered in the Upper Mississippi River. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists collected fish from both Minnesota and Wisconsin waters below Lock and Dam 7.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

The Service manages the 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations.

The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

To the top

Home - The Front Page - News - Letters to the Editor - News From the Past - Legals/For the Record- Classifieds