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Honor Roll, Page 3 • Ice Fishing Winners, Page 4 • One Act Play, Page 5
50th Win - Page 8
Boys Top Pierz - Page 9
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
www.evwvoice.com
QUICK HITS
EV-W to have
long weekend
The EV-W Schools, in
honor of President’s Day,
will have a long weekend,
with no school on Friday,
Feb. 13, nor on Monday,
Feb. 16.
Craft day
at library
Preschoolers thru sixth
graders are invited to the
Eden Valley Area Library
on Saturday, Feb. 14, from
9 a.m. to 12 noon, to
make valentines for a favorite family member.
Supplies are donated by
the summer reading program, and all are welcome.
Alumni tourney
this weekend
The EV-W Alumni
Basketball Tourney will be
held on Saturday, Feb. 14,
and Sunday, Feb. 15, at
the secondary school.
Turn to Page 8 for the
tournament bracket.
Author coming
to local library
Author Andrew Peterson
will talk about his book, The
Pools of Solomon, at 10
a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14,
at the Eden Valley Area
Library. The book discusses humanity’s ability to transcend war and violence
through the lens of struggles in the Middle East.
Everyone is welcome,
and refreshments will be
served at the event.
Conferences
coming soon
to EV-W
Volume 4, No.6
USA BOXING
James’ fighting spirit aiming for Olympics boxing ring
EV-W graduate
Joe James placed
third at national
championship
By Laurie Schultz
In 2012, Joe James nervously stepped into the ring at
Golden Gloves Boxing in St.
Cloud, and, with ten seconds
left in the third round, he
knocked his opponent out to
win his first match. From that
moment, James has been
hooked on the sport.
Recently, James competed
in the USA Boxing National
Championship in Spokane,
Wash., and placed third. He
had the opportunity at the
week-long national tournament to qualify for the 2016
Summer Olympics if he had
placed first.
James has always had an
interest in mixed martial arts
and boxing. His brother Josh
introduced James to the boxing club. Almost three years
later, his goal is to qualify for
the Olympics.
To win a gold medal at the
Olympics is the greatest
achievement possible in amateur boxing and a great way to
start a professional boxing
career. James needs to qualify
for the Olympic Games
through regional qualifying
tournaments.
James, an EV-W graduate,
lived in Eden Valley most of
his life before moving to Sauk
Rapids. Police chief Ernie
Junker and his wife Tina have
been James’ foster parents
since he was 12 years old. “My
mom (Tina) has been one of
my biggest supporters,” said
James.
Photo by Laurie Schultz
Last month, EV-W graduate Joe James placed third in the USA Boxing National Championship in Spokane, Wash. The 22-yearold’s goal is to qualify for the Olympics in boxing.
Another supporter of
James, and one of his biggest
fans, is his younger brother
DeShaun. He attends most of
James’ fights. “He has worked
very hard the past two years
and is very dedicated,” said
DeShaun. “I’m very proud of
him,” he added.
James has traveled to several states to compete with some
of the best light welterweight
boxers from all over the U.S.
Cindy Schumacher, owner of
the Golden Gloves gym in St.
Cloud, sets up most of James’
boxing matches. Locally, he
has won most of his fights. “If
you’re not completely confident in your abilities, you’re
not going to win,” said James
when questioned about how
good of a boxer he felt he was.
Overcoming some of life’s
tribulations, James feels the
boxing club has become a
sanctuary for him, a place to
go to forget the world around
him for a few hours, five days
a week. “Boxing is like meditating for me,” said James.
He has seen many people
come into the club wanting to
become a boxer only to realize
it’s a lot harder than expected.
James conditions and trains
intensely with his trainer
Charlie “Chaz” Haag and
coach Jon LaPlant.
He understands the dedication it takes to compete on a
national level and become a
professional boxer, and he’s
completely willing to sacrifice
many things to achieve his
goals. “This is a lifestyle for
me,” said James. “I don’t get to
be a 22-year-old like most of
my friends. While they are
out partying and having a
good time, I’m in the club five
2015 LEGISLATURE
Two Roads
for Roads:
Eden Valley-Watkins
Elementary School will
hold
parent-studentteacher conferences on
Thursday, Feb. 19, from
3:30 to 8 p.m. and on
Monday, Feb. 23, from
3:30 to 8 p.m.
DFL, Republicans offering
differing transportation plans
MnDOT says
state transportation funding is
$6 billion short
75¢
Eden Valley Watkins
VOICE
103 Stearns Ave. E.,
By Briana Bierschbach,
MinnPost
P.O. Box 7,
Eden Valley, MN 55329
Phone: 320-453-8642
Fax: 320-243-4492
www.evwvoice.com
• Copyright 2015 •
Index
Blotter
2
Correction
2
Manannah News
2
Honor Roll
3
Speech
4
Sups Corner
4
Watkins Ice Fishing
4
Book Notes
5
One Act Play
5
Bulletin Board
6
Community
6
Spelling Bee Winner
6
Classifieds
7
Public Notices
7
Scoreboard
8-10
Alumni Bracket
8
Boys Hockey
8
Girls Basketball
8
Wrestling
8
Boys Basketball
9
Girls Hockey
10
Valentine’s Day
10 & 12
Wrestling Salute
11
days a week training to
become a better boxer.”
In the future, James would
love to see a boxing match
held in Eden Valley. He feels it
would be great exposure for
the community.
James’ advice to those who
think they may be interested
in boxing is: “This sport is not
for the faint of heart. You
must be prepared to work
hard. But remember to just
have fun,” he added.
Photo by Laurie Schultz
The Eden Valley City Council began the new year with a new mayor and a new councilor.
Members of the council for 2015 are (from left): new councilor Janice Sheets, councilor Jeff
Bradshaw, mayor Brent Bengston, councilor Dan Thielen, and councilor Mark Kern.
EDEN VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
Running water to avoid service
line freeze-ups on city residents
Eckerly raises
concern over city
not adjusting
water bills
By Laurie Schultz
Eden Valley resident Mark
Eckerly is concerned about a
notice the city ran last month
in the Eden Valley-Watkins
Voice regarding the possibility of frozen water service
lines. The notice stated that
water service lines are the
responsibility of the proper
owners and not the city and
that, this winter, the City of
Eden Valley will not be paying
any costs to thaw water service lines and will not be making any adjustments to water
bills for water use related to
preventing freeze-ups.
The Eden Valley City
Council made a formal motion
that the city would not pay for
thawing customer’s service
lines at their meeting on
Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Eckerly is concerned by the
potential costs that residents
would have to pay if they are
required to run their tap
water. The estimated water
used to run a faucet at a pencil
thickness nonstop would be
10,800 gallons in 30 days at a
cost of $4 per day or $120 per
month. “It’s your job as representatives for the people of
Eden Valley to understand
how charging them for the
extra water usage would effect
them financially,” Eckerly
stated to the council last week.
CITY COUNCIL – see page 5
One plan raises $6 billion
over the next decade and has
been criticized as a burden on
the pocketbook of Minnesota
families.
Another plan raises $0 has
been called “pure fantasy.”
Welcome to the 2015
Minnesota
Legislature’s
transportation debate.
The parameters of what
could be an ugly fight at the
legislature over how to fix the
state’s dilapidated transportation system are now set, after
DFLers in control of the
Senate released their transportation package on Monday,
Jan. 12. The House Republican
majority released their plan
last week, and DFL Gov. Mark
Dayton has been talking about
the top-line details of his
transportation package since
last fall’s election.
The last time Minnesota
lawmakers raised revenue for
transportation was in 2008,
and state officials say those
funds are falling short of current needs. But finding agree-
ment could be tough this year.
The parties are far apart on
how to solve the problem – and
how big the problem is.
“I say $6 billion, and they
say nothing?” a frustrated
Dayton said last week during
the press conference at which
he made his “pure fantasy”
remark about Republicans’
proposal. “This is not a beginning of a sensible conversation.”
Here’s an overview of the
major plans, and how policymakers think the 2015 transportation debate will play out:
DFLers Go Big
DFLers at the Capitol and
transportation
advocacy
groups are presenting a (mostly) united front on how to tackle what the Minnesota
Departmentof Transportation
(MnDOT) estimates is a $6 billion funding shortfall for
transportation over the next
10 years.
Dayton was the first to
detail the broad outlines of
his plan to maintain the state’s
crumbling roads and bridges.
His proposal: apply a 6.5 percent sales tax to gasoline at
the wholesale level – that’s on
top of the state’s current gas
tax at the pump – and increase
the license tab fees that car
owners pay every year. The
plan also includes a sales tax
increase in the metro area for
ROAD PLANS – see page 3