other locations, bought Van's Service Station on Main Street next to The
Muffler Shop in 2004, he wasn't sure what he would do with it.
The building sat empty for a couple of years. Mike said to change
the use of the building would have required code updates. But last summer
he said he decided to try a use for the building on a trial basis.
"We opened it up as a rental bay," said Mike, "because in the shop
we hear a lot of people say 'I wish I had a place to do some mechanical
work myself.' And now with the economy being the way it is, handy people
can work on their own vehicles or even a snowmobile."
The little shop offers a heated space along with a hoist. Mike said
there are a few tools that he provides and an air compressor. "Hopefully,
people will bring their own tools but we have the basics. And while people
are working, if they have a question they can come over [to The Muffler
Shop] and tax our knowledge."
Mike said the idea for a rent-a-bay came from his days in the
service when he was stationed at a base in Texas. "So instead of leaving
the building vacant, I decided to try this."
Mike said his son Dan did all the work to renovate the small
station and ready it for rent. "Dan did all the work and was in charge of
renovation. I gave him the idea and said go with it."
Hoist operation will be done by personnel from The Muffler Shop,
Mike said.
Register of Deeds office offers free real estate fraud alert serviceThe St. Croix County Register of Deeds, Kathleen Walsh, is pleased
to announce that her office has released a free on-line automated service
that will allow St. Croix County property owners to have their name
monitored within the Register of Deeds Office in order to track possible
fraudulent activity. Participants will be notified only when the exact name
they have submitted to Property Fraud Alert›(PFA) is listed as a Grantor or
Grantee on a document recorded in the Register of Deeds Office.
Subscribers will be told what type of document has been recorded in
the Register of Deeds Office. Walsh says that if property owners are
notified, they may call the Register of Deeds office for more information
about the document. PFA will not prevent fraud from happening; however, it
provides an early warning system that will allow property owners to take
appropriate action should they believe fraudulent activity has occurred
with their property.
St. Croix County is the fourth county in Wisconsin to offer this
service. Milwaukee, Dane and Winnebago counties in Wisconsin in addition
to several counties in other states are also offering this service.
Fidlar Technologies, based in Rock Island, Ill. developed the
property fraud alert system last year as the FBI focused on mortgage fraud
as a fast growing crime. The FBI ranks Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, California
and Florida in the top 10 fraud hot spots. To date there has not been any
fraudulent activity reported in Wisconsin. Walsh says that being proactive
may reduce the possibility of fraud occurring in this county.
To learn more about PFA and to sign up, visit the website:
www.propertyfraudalert.com. Read Frequently Asked Questions before signing
up.
What's the Holdup?Mark your calendars for Sunday and Monday, January 11 and 12. B-W's
fourth hour drama class is going to be strutting their stuff with an
original production entitled "What's the Holdup?"
Come to the Baldwin-Woodville High School PAC at 2:00 on January 11
or 7:00 on January 12 to partake in theater fun. "What's the Holdup?"
directed by Seth Kersten, is a tale of a down-on-her-luck woman (Heather
Aune) struggling just to make ends meet in absurd and hilarious world. The
audience follows as she battles her burdensome landlady (Nancy Lee), meets
a man with a secret (Seth Kersten) and a blind man (Dan Ramberg), and
confides in an ostentatious cashier (Tana Mabis). Kersten and Ramberg's
original creation will make you laugh and make you cry up until its
shocking conclusion. Tickets are available at the door.
The drama class will be putting on several plays on these two days.
From the Exchanges
Interesting News Items from
Surrounding CommunitiesBURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL (GRANTSBURG): Many church-goers were just settling
in for perhaps the most blessed Christian event of the year last Wednesday
evening when the power went out for a little more than two hours around the
Grantsburg area. "We had just sat down for church when the lights went
out," one Immaculate Conception Catholic Church parishioner said. "The
members of the choir all lit candles and sang a capella - it was just
beautiful," she continued. Officials at Northwestern Wisconsin Electric
said about 7,000 customers were without power from just after 5 p.m. to
7:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve. "There was a fault at the substation behind the
diesel plant here in Grantsburg," John Dahlberg reported. "The breaker at
Rock Creek 'saw' the fault and opened the circuit, causing the outage."
MONDOVI HERALD NEWS: Strokes are medical conditions not usually associated
with youth. But 13-year-old Tanner Franson of Mondovi is the exception. He
recently experienced a bleed in his brain caused by a rare condition known
as an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). An AVM is a congenital defect
meaning that it is present at birth. With this defect, arteries and veins
are not connected by capillaries (very fine blood vessels), but are
connected directly to one another forming a tangle of blood vessels. The
lack of capillaries allows blood to flow more rapidly under a higher
pressure than the vessels are designed to handle. The vessels may then
hemorrhage, or bleed, which can cause stroke, paralysis, the loss of
speech, memory of vision, or even death. This rare condition sent Tanner to
the hospital on December 7 when doctors performed surgery to remove his
tangle of blood vessels that had begun to bleed. Tanner has now been
recovering from surgery at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire. With
continued daily therapy, Tanner is expected to make a complete recovery.
TRIBUNE PRESS REPORTER: After allegations of shortchanging customers on
their fuel, John Rassbach of Rassbach Oil was officially charged December
17 with one count of class H felony forgery and four counts of class A
misdemeanor theft of movable property. The allegations come after an
investigation and surveillance in August and September involving the St.
Croix County Sheriff's Department, the state Division of Weights and
Measurers and several area farmers. The case has been delayed after Judge
Howard Cameron recused himself. Judge Scott Needham will now be presiding
over the case with Rassbach's initial appearance on January 9. The felony H
count of forgery has a penalty of fines up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment
up to six years. For each of the misdemeanor A counts, the fine is up to
$10,000 and/or up to nine months imprisonment.
CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS (HAMMOND): The lights were on and the door unlocked
at the Hammond Hotel Monday evening, but those who ventured inside realized
quickly the bar and restaurant were not open for business - in fact, it was
being remodeled for its "Grand Reopening" on New Year's Eve under new
ownership and management. "I hope as many people come in after we're open,"
co-owner Cedric Ellingson said after turning away a family with young
children but not before extending an offer: "They could come in and paint
if they want. That's cool." While Ellingson was painting his partner, Don
Fowell, with whom he also owns Bo's 'N Mine in River Falls, was helping
kitchen manager Matt Minter, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate and chef at both
corporate and non-corporate restaurants, get his new digs arranged. "We're
adding a charbroilier so we can get those steaks and burgers done to
perfection," Fowell said.
RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: A frozen copper pipe at the high school burst
overnight Sunday and left standing water on an area of the first floor by
the lockers and in about ten rooms, especially those where math is taught.
Superintendent Tom Westerhaus was on the scene Monday as the cleanup effort
began. This included running fans and dehumidifiers, pulling up carpeting
and moving furniture out of classrooms. Westerhaus said the discovery was
made just before 6 a.m. by a janitor coming to work. As of 1 p.m. Monday
Westerhaus said it was too early to give a damage estimate. The school
district's insurance company. School in River Falls is closed until Monday,
January 5 because of the holidays. The pipe that cracked in two places was
in the wall of a math classroom.
