Letters to the Editor

Dear editor, Thanks to everyone who signed the petition to improve the safety of the Highway 14 and Rainbow Road intersection. We gathered hundreds of signatures and those are being shared with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and our elected officials.  Safety improvements at the Rainbow and Highway 14 intersection really need to be done.  A July 27th newspaper article reported that there will be a $4 million project to improve the safety of the Highway 14 and Highway 92 intersection in southern Dane County. The article stated: “The project is funded by the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which is a federal aid program that aims to reduce traffic fatalities. According to WDOT, there were 17 crashes at the intersection from 2012 to 2016 that caused two suspected serious injuries, two suspected minor injuries, four possible injuries and six property damage crashes.”  Jamie Ott, the traffic clerk with Sauk County Sheriff’s Department, informed me that there were 14 accidents at the Highway 14 and Rainbow Road intersection between 2016-2021, including the one resulting in serious injury in June.  Shouldn’t this warrant the Highway Safety Program funding of safety improvements at Rainbow and Highway 14 here in Sauk County? Damian Barta Spring Green   Dear editor, Wildlife Forever ATV Club would like to thank all the volunteers who helped at our annual Wildlife Forever ATV Club summer picnic and individuals for their donations during the picnic at Trader’s Campground held on August 14.  Congratulations to the following individuals: 50/50 winners: Brandon Dilley, Greg Reeve, Dena Harrop and Susan Cords; UTV winner: Deb Anstice; $1,000: Jamie Rogers; $500: Kevin McIntyre; $100: Katie Antonson; ice fishing package: Mike Koch.   Proceeds will be used for ATV/UTV road and trail signage and maintenance. Thank you to everyone!  You all make it possible to continue this fun event.  The community support for our Wildlife Forever ATV Club has been overwhelming.  We look forward to seeing everyone in 2022. Sincerely, Diane Halverson Secretary, Wildlife Forever ATV Club  Arena   Dear editor, The Spring Green Police Department is looking for school crossing guards at the River Valley Schools campus in Spring Green. Crossing guards positions available are full time mornings from 7:25 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. and as a fill in for afternoons from 2:50 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Crossing guards work Monday thru Friday during the regular school year. Pay starts at $11 per hour. Applications can be picked up at the Spring Green Police Department, 137 N. Washington Street. For more information please call the Spring Green Police Department at 588-2125.  Thank you, Jeni Kast Administrative Assistant Spring Green Police Department    Dear editor, The microburst that swept through Spring Green two weeks ago brought some mayhem but also reaffirmed the best qualities in our village. We have a municipal government with the resources and commitment to its citizens that brought rapid response throughout town.  And everywhere there were examples of neighbors helping neighbors. We were not at home when it hit but arrived within an hour to discover two separate trees almost split in half dropping huge limbs by our home, one shearing off our rear power line. Members of the fire department were already blocking off Varsity Boulevard to keep people away from the downed wire. Firemen were also clearing a large tree that lay across Wood Street. Alliant Energy arrived and wrapped the cable and secured it safely. This happened all over town.  A neighbor told us later that Spring Green Police officers were at our front door shortly after the storm passed through, to check on our safety. And the village community spirit emerged also. We needed to get the rear tree branch removed from our roof in order get our power line reinstalled by Alliant. Our neighbor, Mike Olson, walked over and said to my husband, “Well, looks like I better fire up my chainsaw.” He worked for hours with my husband, my brother-in-law, Mike Moran, and two other friends, Mike Anstett and Jerry Thering, until that back area was cleared. It was amazing and humbling. Late that night, we heard noise outside and were amazed and delighted to find an Alliant Energy workman, on a ladder outside, reconnecting our powerline!  We were so fortunate. Over the next two days, the Spring Green Public Works Department cleared up debris from our home and from all the other areas in town that were hit by the storm. A couple of days later, our neighbor, Tammy, who had lost a beautiful tree in her front yard, volunteered her son to take some of our remaining fallen branches to the town waste dump.  We truly feel blessed to be in Spring Green. Barbara Mott Spring Green   Dear editor, Just as the animals exhibited at the Iowa County Fair need vigilant care and protection to stay alive and healthy, so does our democracy.  Unfortunately, we are facing two major threats to the health of our democracy: gerrymandering (tilting the odds of winning elections in favor of the party in power) and apathy (“Why bother to speak up when it doesn’t do any good?”).  At the Iowa County Fair Maps Team booth we’d like to hear your ideas on bringing fairness to elections and motivating politicians to listen to voters. We would also like to share with you what we are doing to combat both gerrymandering and apathy. You can talk to Fair Maps team members, who are ordinary Iowa County citizens like yourself, about why and how they got involved in advocating for fair elections and what their experiences have taught them.  There will also be multiple materials on hand for you to, right there and then, participate in the campaign for nonpartisan redistricting and fair maps. You can pick up a free yard sign, a magnetic bumper sign, literature, and you can even write a postcard to your legislative representative. We will provide  addresses, stamps, and sample scripts if you would like to see some. These are simple but effective ways to show your support for ending gerrymandering. In last November’s county wide referendum 73.8 percent of Iowa County voters called upon the Wisconsin legislature to create a nonpartisan procedure for preparing district maps. Let’s reinforce that message. During the Iowa County Fair, scheduled for Thursday through Sunday, September 2, 3, 4 and 5, we will be in the commercial building next to the pavilion housing the 4H club exhibits. Looking forward to meeting you. Allen and Judy Pincus Iowa County Fair Maps Team Barneveld